Oren Aks was a designer at Fuck Jerry Media, the agency behind the signature marketing of the now-infamous Fyre Festival of 2016. In this episode, Oren recounts his ground-level realization that the festival was a fraud, sharing new details about the debacle chronicled in two documentaries. Oren also tells us about the backlash he experienced after the festival, shares his well-earned lessons around trust, and offers perspective about our cultural fascination with failure. Jesse Genet is joined by a special guest co-host Matty Mo, an artist who made headlines for putting on a fake fire fest as satire in Los Angeles.
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🎙️ This Won't Last - Eavesdrop on Keith Rabois, Kevin Ryan, Logan Bartlett, and Zach Weinberg's monthly backchannel. They unpack their hottest takes on the future of tech, business, venture, investing, and politics.
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/id1765665937
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Catch up on host Jesse Genet’s own crucible moments from her entrepreneurial story in Episode 6:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3HQKu4vbaIuAvhgKLBuyYk?si=UYb2aGlJTxynO_B8UzMkUQ
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e6-host-jesse-genet-on-selling-her-startup-lumi-while/id1691530886?i=1000622369978
TIMESTAMPS:
(00:00) Episode preview
(03:00) How Oren and co-host Matty first met
(04:35) Oren relives landing at Great Exuma for Fyre Fest
(13:30)The social distortion field Oren witnessed at Exuma
(17:00) Distraction efforts and the angry mob
(20:55) Things take a turn
(34:20) Processing the failure while Oren was on the island, and then back in NY
(44:30) The documentaries
(45:25) The red flags in hindsight
(49:00) Financial breadcrumbs
(54:00) The orange square and power of social proof
(01:00:20) Billy McFarland’s new thing
(01:05:18) Why the Fyre Festival has lasting power in the zeitgeist of colossal failures
LINKS REFERENCED:
Oren Aks agency Atomic Milk: http://www.atomicmilk.com/
Matty Mo's site: https://www.themostfamousartist.com/
X:
@fyrefestival (Oren runs this now)
@jessegenet (Jesse)
@mostfamousartist (Matty)
@inthearena_pod
