November 13, 2020
“My five year plan for Chrd is to give musicians all over the world a real opportunity to turn dreams into reality.”
One might think Google searching “How to Become a Billionaire” might be outlandish, but a Forbes article encouraging you to do what you love and couple it with technology inspired Jack Frieden to expand on the course of his education, and his life.
Jack is a college student in his junior year at Wentworth Institute for Technology pursuing a degree in Construction Management. At an early Co-op experience, he realized that a desk job in the field might not be for him. “I was working at a desk most of the day answering emails and reviewing plan documents,” Jack said, “out of curiosity I googled ‘How to Become a Billionaire’. After reading the article, I knew how I wanted to pursue my passion for music in a way I never thought possible.”
The music community was lacking a resource that connected musicians with venues, and a lightbulb moment happened for Jack. He said, “I noticed the void of resources for musicians to not only connect with each other, but connect with venues seeking talent. I knew this was my opportunity to make a difference so I came up with an app.”
Chrd, or chord, is a musicians networking app that allows musicians to post their music and includes explore, play and join navigation capabilities. The app has been in progress for the last two years. Jack pitched his business model and idea at his school's Accelerate Program and went through 8 developers before finding the perfect fit with Saum Ghosh of SEG Universe. The app is anticipated to launch in 4-6 months. Jack said, “My goal with the app is to make musicians' dreams come true through networking. In music, it’s a community not competition. This platform is designed to put musicians out there and to network with each other.”
Jack and his team will develop markets in Boston, Nashville and Los Angeles to start out. He hopes in five years that musicians from all over the world can use Chrd to pursue their dreams and make them reality.