According to a study by the Kauffman Foundation, the average age of entrepreneurs is 45, and at 33, Tyrone Wilson is well ahead of the game. He has founded three companies to date; eZines Ltd (2008), the iCreate Institute (2012) and Vertical Creative (2018). All of these businesses operate within the creative and cultural industries (CCI), which is understood globally to be a key driver of overall economic development.

The concept of “creativity” has come a long way from being thought of as just artistic activities, and successful creative entrepreneurs understand that they are in a high-growth global industry — engaging in activities that generate valuable products with a heavy reliance on intellectual property. Wilson believes that five areas of the creative ecosystem need to be further developed — creative skills training, entrepreneurial/business training, mentorship, distribution, and funding.

“Creative industries are driving economic growth across the UK, growing twice as fast as other sectors, on track to create one million new creative industries jobs between 2013 and 2030.” (Nesta, 2018)

THE ENTREPRENEURIAL JOURNEY

Wilson was born in the community of Kintyre near Papine and then moved to Portmore at age 16. When asked about why he is a creative entrepreneur, he states “I have always been a creative person, but I have a balance of ‘left brain’ and ‘right brain’… I did visual arts and I used to draw and paint a lot, but I also love accounts.”

He attended Jamaica College and upon graduating from the University of the West Indies with a degree in banking and finance, he dived straight into entrepreneurship by launching eZines Ltd, now rebranded as e-Media Interactive.

In 2008, eZines Ltd was originally intended to be a Caribbean lifestyle and culture print magazine, but the model was too expensive so he pivoted the business plan to create a digital magazine. eZines then received a US$350,000 investment to build out the business and at that point, they realised they needed a lot more talent. He saw this problem as an opportunity and decided to launch a training business for young creatives called iCreate.

He describes iCreate as being the first link in the value chain, offering training and development so that Jamaica can shift from having an abundance of raw creative talent to having a critical mass of people with marketable and employable skills.

It is worth noting that iCreate recently listed on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange, successfully raising over $70 million in capital in under two days. Wilson is thinking big, and one of his latest projects is bringing back the iconic music festival, Reggae Sunsplash.

His talent has not gone unnoticed, and over the years he won the Prime Minister’s Youth Award for Excellence for Entrepreneurship, the Utech award for Entrepreneurship, was named the 2012 Caribbean Entrepreneur of the year, and was also included in a list of the 25 most influential people in the Caribbean. Wilson also won the PSOJ “50 under 50” award, which is the one that he cherishes the most.

According to studies, nine out of 10 new businesses fail, and this is why Tyrone believes in celebrating these successes. “As an entrepreneur, you only win one in 10 times — so you need to really celebrate the wins.”

BLUEPRINT FOR SUCCESS

Wilson has attracted investment and built an impressive professional network in a relatively short time by finding the right people to mentor, advise and invest in his businesses. His network has been built by being intentional, laying out the vision for his business, and then deciding who he wants to meet.

Wilson shared that the first network he built was his professors at university.

“When you are in college, you are surrounded by brilliant PhD’s, and it just makes sense to tap into that. These are the folks that you can bounce things off, just free of cost.”

His second network was built through his alumni contacts. He heard about the Carlton Alexander Award dinner hosted by the JC old boys and he wanted to go there specifically to meet Chris Williams and Richard Byles but he couldn’t afford to buy a ticket. His mother purchased the ticket for him and at the function he says that he didn’t feel intimidated speaking to people who were older or wealthier. He says that in those scenarios he is always bold. “What’s the worst that can happen? If they tell me no, that’s where I am now, so I have lost nothing.”

But being bold doesn’t always guarantee instant success. Wison recounted going to a media party after just starting eZines — and they turned him back at the door.

“I felt deflated that night going back home to Portmore, after I drove all the way there to attend.” he said. “But that just encouraged me even more to go out there and build the network.”

Subsequently he has received invitations to the same event and it serves as a reminder of the challenges in the early days and how he has overcome them.

Wilson calls himself a workaholic, and states that he works seven days a week and generally gets up at 4 am. But there is balance, as he goes to bed early, always tries to get at least eight hours’ sleep, and manages his health. He believes that the mantra of “team no sleep”, where entrepreneurs brag about getting five hours of sleep a night, is just not sustainable in the long term.

Wilson says that one thing the creative community can do is to stop looking for help from others.

“Create a sustainable business that is not dependent on government incentives, and once it begins to be successful, then lobby. And what we should lobby for as a creative community is capital. We can do amazing projects if we have the money. For example, imagine if Marlon James were to come together with Storm Saulter to launch a film project, the main thing that would be in their way is the capital.”

So what is next for Tyrone Wilson?

“I plan to continue to deliver. We just completed the IPO for iCreate and so a lot of work is going to go into developing creative talent that is globally in demand. My long-term goal is to build the creative economy — achieving that in Jamaica would be a huge feat and I would be happy with that.”

Andrea Dempster-Chung is the cofounder and executive director of Kingston Creative, a non-profit organisation seeking to transform downtown Kingston through art and culture. She is a structural engineer, strategic business coach, and has held senior management roles in the GOJ, Digicel and Grace k ennedy. She is also the founder of Bookophilia, a bookstore that promotes Caribbean literature. She has served on the boards of Jamaica Social Investment Fund, The National Land Agency, and the Public Health Committee. She recently managed the arts portfolio for the British Council, where she developed strategy and implemented key projects in film, literature and visual art in order to drive the creative economy in Jamaica.