Cohere Co-Founder Balances AI Empire With Indie Rock Stardom
Cohere co-founder Nick Frosst leads a double life as the frontman of Good Kid, an indie rock band boasting millions of Spotify listeners. Despite the band's massive success, Frosst maintains that his $5.5 billion AI startup remains his true life's work.
Nick Frosst, the co-founder of the $5.5 billion AI startup Cohere, leads a double life as the frontman of the indie rock band Good Kid. Composed entirely of programmers who met at the University of Toronto, the band attracts 2.3 million monthly listeners on Spotify and recently plays at major events like Lollapalooza. The group draws inspiration from indie pop rock acts like Two Door Cinema Club and Bloc Party.
The band forms in 2015 as a casual hobby, but quickly surpasses the members' modest expectations with the release of their first single, Nomu. Since that debut, Good Kid releases four albums and earns a nomination for breakthrough group of the year at the Juno Awards. About a year after their debut album drops in 2018, Frosst launches Cohere with his co-founders, a company that now raises over $970 million from major tech backers.
Despite Good Kid's rising profile and demanding tour schedule, Frosst treats music as a relaxing escape rather than a second career. He dedicates the vast majority of his time to building enterprise AI models at Cohere, which he calls his life's work. He maintains a manageable balance by practicing with the band twice a week for two hours at a time.