TAO The Accidental Owner
The Pitch
Essays (and tips of the trade) from a writer and creative director who has no business running his business.
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The Manifesto

Who Is This Guy

Eighteen years of running Pilot, and most of the mistakes made personally.
The Essay

Read No. 01

The current essay. New confessions land once or twice a month.
Advisory

A Handful of Owners

No frameworks. No Calendly link. The page ends at an email address.
The Current Essay
The Archive

Essays

TAO
The Accidental Owner
Louis Venezia
Photo: Stephanie Smith

I’ve been running Pilot for 18 years. When I think about it, I’m still not sure I should have been allowed to start it at all.

I’m a writer. I eventually became a creative director. I learned how to entertain people in the entertainment marketing business. Promos. Trailers. Shoot spots. Campaigns. But I did not learn how to do business stuff. Stuff like P&Ls. HR. Billing. Reports. Health insurance premiums. Leases. Like most accidental owners, I trained on the job, trial by fire. I made really big mistakes. A lot of them. But, over time, I also learned a helluva lot from those mistakes.

Now, you don’t see a lot written about the mistakes because it’s super uncomfortable. And, to be frank, with a few exceptions, most of the people who give business advice have already gotten out of the businesses they were in. They are making their case safely from the sidelines.

That’s not me. I’m still running Pilot, every day. I’m writing these essays from my desk. I’ve got the same problems you have. And I’m still getting some of it wrong, too.

So this series of essays — this confessional — is what I wish I had when I started Pilot all those years ago. No gurus with silver bullets. Just real stories and problems. Because I’m still learning.

Advisory

A handful of owners.

Sometimes owners write to me. And we talk. That’s the whole arrangement.

No model. No frameworks. No workbook. No five-step anything. Just eighteen years of running Pilot and making most of the mistakes myself.

I do it because people did it for me when it mattered. And because talking to other owners makes me better at running my own shop.

There’s no Calendly link. There’s no complicated pricing system; we work out the fees simply, based on the engagement. If you’re in it, and you want to talk to someone who’s also in it, drop me a line: