Future Fuzz - The Digital Marketing Podcast Ep. 177 - Core Values Drive Real Culture - Jeff Perkins
In this episode, Vince Quinn sits down with Jeff Perkins, CEO of Soundstripe, to explore how music shapes storytelling and why customer obsession is a true competitive advantage. Jeff explains how Soundstripe empowers creators with high-quality, human-made music and innovative tools like AI-powered editing and track customization.
Beyond the product, Jeff shares his leadership philosophy as a CEO, emphasizing the importance of core values, alignment, and culture. He dives deep into what it really means to “obsess over customers”—from white-glove service to personally responding to complaints—and how empathy can turn frustrated users into loyal advocates. This episode is a masterclass in blending creativity, technology, and human connection to build a standout brand.
Guest Bio
Jeff Perkins is the CEO of Soundstripe, a leading music marketplace providing high-quality, artist-made tracks for creators across film, television, advertising, and digital content. With a catalog of over 58,000 songs and partnerships with Grammy award-winning musicians and engineers, Soundstripe helps creators elevate their storytelling through music.
Prior to Soundstripe, Jeff served as CEO of ParkMobile, where he led one of the most widely used parking apps in the U.S. Known for his customer-first mindset and leadership approach rooted in empathy and core values, Jeff focuses on building strong teams, fostering culture, and creating meaningful customer experiences.
Takeaways
- Music drives emotional connection and can elevate or diminish a story.
- Customization (stems + AI editing) allows creators to perfectly match music to content.
- The CEO’s role is to act as a coach, ensuring alignment and clarity across teams.
- Core values must be reinforced daily—not just defined.
- Hiring, promotions, and rewards should all align with company values.
- Customer obsession is built through responsiveness, empathy, and human connection.
- Negative feedback is a powerful tool for learning and improvement.
- Responding directly to customers can turn detractors into loyal advocates.
- Small, unexpected gestures can significantly strengthen customer relationships.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and “Making Beautiful Music”
01:00 What Soundstripe Does and Why Music Matters
02:30 The Emotional Power of Music in Content
03:12 Customization: Stems and AI Song Editing
04:25 CEO Mindset: Being the Head Coach
05:30 The Power of Core Values in Organizations
07:19 Soundstripe’s Six Core Values Explained
10:43 Hiring and Reinforcing Culture Through Values
12:23 Obsessing Over Customers in Practice
13:32 Humanizing Customer Experience (and Coco the Dog)
14:49 Surprise & Delight: Going Beyond Expectations
16:27 Turning Feedback Into Advocacy
17:35 Learning From Customer Complaints
18:57 Responding to Negative Feedback as CEO
20:04 Empathy as a Customer Strategy
22:06 Human Connection Builds Loyalty
22:57 Where to Find Soundstripe
Follow Jeff Perkins on LinkedIn
Follow Vince Quinn on LinkedIn