Patreon CEO Jack Conte Wants You to Get Off of Your Phone

Before we really get too far into it, we always start with a little bit of rapid-fire questioning, some warmup. Jack, what is the most active text thread that you’re on?

I am not on any active text threads. I try to do as little of that as possible.

OK, we may come back to that later. What does the algorithm know about you?

Way too much.

Oh yeah, I know the feeling.

It knows that I got a new dog recently.

What kind of dog?

She’s a mutt. She is a little bit of a golden retriever, a little bit of Chihuahua, some pit bull. She’s the most beautiful creature in the world.

I also have a pit bull mutt. Are you getting ads for dog food now?

Yes.

I get it. What is a piece of tech that changed your life?

DAWs, digital audio workstations. The transition from having to have half a million dollars of recording gear to make an album to being able to make an album on your laptop is the most beautiful, wonderful thing in the world.

What is your favorite way to spend a Saturday in the Bay Area? I have to ask, you’re from here, and of course we are here.

Sorry to bring up the dog twice, but she just learned that she can run straight into the ocean. And it’s so great. I love it. And so I throw sticks for her into the ocean. She bolts into the ocean, totally fearlessly swims around, looking for it. Best thing in the world.

What music app do you use the most?

Spotify.

Let’s give our audience a little bit of your backstory, just in case they don’t have it. So you were born and raised here in San Francisco, and music has always been in your life. You studied music at Stanford, you founded Patreon with your old college roommate in 2013, and that was in response to a personal experience, right?