Shaun Masavage knows that you might have tried learning guitar via a local instructor or Youtube.
He thinks he has a much more intuitive way to learn an instrument.
And he’s bringing his fast-growing startup to Buffalo.
Founded in 2017, Zealot Interactive’s Fret Zealot device is a bluetooth-enabled LED strip that fits under the fretboard of a guitar. The company's software includes how-to-play lessons and a curated content marketplace from leading instructors.
Masavage said the ability to look at the guitar and listen to a lesson – rather than glancing back and forth – is a much more immersive and successful way to teach music.
"Our users start actually listening to the lesson, to the instruction, and they're subconsciously dedicating the sound to memory because they know it's the correct sound," he said. "The are fundamentally learning better and faster."
The hardware is where Zealot Interactive started. But the marketplace is a big part of its future. As the music industry cracks down on videos that illegally teach songs without their publishing rights, the company has spent a year striking deals with publishing houses.
In sum, FretZealot courses could someday soon become the online place to learn "Back in Black."
“The vision of the company is to become an all-inclusive resource for musicians,” Masavage said. “We started with guitar but we plan to expand to other categories. And if someone is playing and they want to learn a song, we think they’ll come to us first.”
Masavage has been building this company out of Arlington, Virginia, but recently moved back to Buffalo. He plans to open a new Zealot Interactive headquarters in the Tri-Main building in August and start to build a local team.
The company has 10 existing employees, and for now Masavage is the only one moving to New York, but he said that could change as Zealot Interactive's base of operations in Buffalo grows.
Masavage said that he’s become acquainted with Western New York because it is his wife’s hometown, and he's come to believe in its post-industrial resurgence.
“The people I meet here are excited about life and excited about what they’re doing, whether it’s construction or a high-tech startup,” he said. “It seems like a great place to establish ourselves and grow.”
Masavage also said that he’s excited to move to a city with a robust musical culture.
The couple has a toddler, and the family-friendly quality of life, relative lack of traffic and affordability were all selling points for a young family, he said.
“This seems like a very good place to raise a family and that’s important to myself and my employees,” he said.
The pandemic hastened the startup’s trajectory, with sales growing by double digits nearly every month. The company is pushing forward on its plans to capture more customers as it also works on music-industry partnerships and new technological innovations.
“Ultimately we want people to accomplish their dreams of learning what they want to learn,” he said. “It’s an open-ended and difficult question, but our ecosystem makes it possible.”
