NYT Taking Chances Article Profiles Borchetta

The New York Times Sunday Business section (3/14) prominently features a story titled, The Secrets of the Talent Scouts which attempts to get inside the heads of executives competing to find the next big thing in various fields including entertainment, technology and medical research. Executives profiled seem to agree that taking chances on passionate people early in their lives, focusing on what can go right and offering rewards that no one can match, are some of the principles they adhere to.

Among the executives profiled are Silicon Valley venture capitalist Michael Moritz, Recruiter Robin Reed and Nashville Big Machine leader Scott Borchetta.

Borchetta retells an example of how he saw early on that Taylor Swift would thrive in the spotlight during a radio visit in Bristol Tenn. “Often they just say hello for a few minutes and don’t let a brand-new artist on the air. But they liked one of Taylor’s songs and told her so. Without missing a beat, she replied: ‘Thank you. Can I play it right now for your listeners?’”