When Caren Kelleher was thirteen, she had her first startup idea: a Beatles-themed restaurant called The Octopus’ Garden. It was such a good idea that the band’s lawyers threatened to sue her over it, which only went to further her interest in the music business.
Today, Caren is the founder and president of Gold Rush Vinyl, a new record manufacturing company that helps musicians take advantage of the renewed demand for vinyl. Once thought a dying format, vinyl has become a$1B industry once again, but one that has seen little innovation since the 1970s. Caren’s team recently launched a new state-of-the-art plant here in Austin to deliver high-quality records at a fraction of the time most plants can.
Before starting Gold Rush, Caren was Head of Music Apps at Google, where she also launched Google’s own music service, Google Play. She started her career at Paste magazine and is also a former band manager, work that helped her see the vinyl opportunity. Caren holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BBA from Emory University. The Beatles are still her favorite band of all time.