Eric Garland

Eric Garland is Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Smash Capital. Eric has been building and investing in tech that impacts media for two decades. Most recently, he led venture and growth deals for The Walt Disney Company. Prior to Disney, Eric served as EVP Digital for Live Nation, where he created the company's internal innovation group, led web and mobile strategy, established the corporate venture team and managed Live Nation’s fund. Previously, Eric founded big data company BigChampagne, a leading web and mobile analytics provider to brands, Wall Street analysts, and the entertainment industry. BigChampagne was acquired by Live Nation in 2011. Eric received his B.A. from Rice University, where he has served as an alumni interviewer for years. Eric began his career in management consulting. His earliest work in entertainment and technology was focused on developing online music products with MP3.com and Napster, among many others. WIRED Magazine credits Eric with creating the “Nielsen ratings” of online music. Eric was profiled in the Forbes “40 Under 40” issue. Eric partnered with Radiohead on “In Rainbows, On Torrents,” a critical examination of the band’s pay-what-you-wish album experiment. His work was included in Chris Anderson’s best-selling book, The Long Tail. Colorful stories from his career were told in Steve Knopper’s history, Appetite for Self-Destruction: The Spectacular Crash of the Record Industry in the Digital Age. Eric is a frequent guest lecturer in the areas of media and technology. He advises a wide variety of young companies and non-profits. Eric’s advisory board memberships include Fender Digital, the Entrepreneurship program at USC's Annenberg School and the digital initiative of the Recording Academy (The Grammys), where he has served alongside artists Common and Kanye West. Eric was formally recognized for his outstanding contribution to The Grammys in 2007.