Episode 151 Lawrence Perelman

After graduation from Macalester College in St. Paul, Lawrence Perelman imagined a performing arts cable channel. So he earned an MBA at Columbia Business School and later founded Semantix Creative Group, a strategic advisory firm for performing artists and global performing arts institutions. As Semantix’s CEO, Lawrence kept pitching his idea, and even discussed it with Carnegie Hall’s Clive Gillinson.

In December 2021, Lawrence, as co-founder, was part of the team that launched Carnegie Hall+, a premium subscription on-demand channel on the Apple TV app.

As you’ll hear in this episode, his parents always encouraged him to take risks: “You want to meet someone and accomplish something? Write them a letter.” That’s maybe the most valuable lesson he learned: “…to put your heart out there and make a statement.”

So, in 1994, he wrote a letter to William F. Buckley Jr. to thank him for emboldening Soviet Jews to come to America, as his parents did.

Suffice it to say that over the years, Buckley became a friend and mentor who changed the course of Lawrence’s life, “because he took time to answer my letter.”

This is indeed a unique episode!