The Dell room, reskinned as Concert
Mark asked what a story room looks like. We don't have one to show him, so this is the mockup: the existing Dell for Startups room, same furniture and tech, renamed Concert and built to tell the 16-year version of a founder story.
Internal draft. Not sent to Mark. Photos are composites, not a built room.The idea
Founders hear the two-year version of startup stories. This room tells the long one: idea in 2010, three company names, a CEO handoff, an acquisition in 2026. The number that does the work is 16 years, and it's a number we can print.
What changes
Four surfaces: the lettering on the glass, the two panels on the blue wall, the sign on the credenza, and the idle screen on the TV. Everything uses mounting and hardware that's already there.
What doesn't
Table, chairs, couch, TV, camera, whiteboard, carpet, paint. No construction.
Three views
Each is today's photo with the new pieces placed in perspective. The 2010 team photo is a marked placeholder until Mark sends one.
1. From the hallway
The frosted band keeps its dots. The lettering changes from "Dell for Startups" to "Concert", in solid vinyl this time. The current letters are cut out of the frost and half of them vanish against the brick. The story wall reads through the glass from the hallway.
2. The story wall
The two perforated metal panels come off their standoffs and two printed panels the same size go on. Left: the name, the 2010 team photo, and the headline. Right: the timeline and one line in Mark's own words. The couch hides the bottom fifth, so nothing important sits down there.
3. The TV wall
The Dell sign on the credenza becomes the room's nameplate. When nobody is presenting, the TV shows one slide. This is where Sam's line lives, facing the founder at the table.
The artwork, flat
What would go to the printer. Readable versions of what's in the room views above.
Sam's line, and the version we can print
The instinct is right: the room should talk to the founder sitting in it. Two parts of the original need a fix before they go on a wall.
"Mark sat in this chair once, too."
The EC wasn't in the trolley barn in 2010, so he didn't start Concert in this room. If Mark ever worked from this building later, the line becomes true and we should use it. Ask him.
"He then made a bunch of money."
The exit number is confidential and stays off every surface. "Acquired" carries it. Founders will look up the rest.
What "calling it Concert" means
The Dell for Startups sponsorship is no longer active, so the room is free to rename. The name has to change everywhere a member meets the room, or people keep saying "the Dell room" for two years.
| Where | Change | In the mockup? |
|---|---|---|
| Glass front | New lettering on the frosted band. The old letters are cut out of the film, so that section of film gets replaced. | Yes, view 1 |
| Story wall | Two printed panels on the existing standoffs. | Yes, view 2 |
| Credenza | Swap the Dell panel for a Concert nameplate. | Yes, view 3 |
| TV idle screen | One slide that plays when nobody is presenting. | Yes, view 3 |
| Room booking | Rename the room in the booking system and on the "book this room" tent card. Every calendar invite then says Concert. | No |
| Wayfinding | Add Concert to the directional signs and the floor map, the way Chase Studio is listed. | No |
| Tour script | One stop, 30 seconds: who Mark is, the 16 years, why the room exists. | No |
| The story online | A page on ec.co with the full story, linked from a QR code on the wall panel. | No |
Two optional extras, not mocked up. One chair in a different color with a small plate ("Founder's seat. Take it."), which gets at Sam's chair idea without a factual claim. And a brass plate on the table edge with the founding year.
Before any of this goes to Mark
- He asked for photos of rooms we've done before. There aren't any.We have named rooms (Dell, Chase Studio). None of them tells a founder's story. The reply should say his would be the first and send these as mockups, labeled as mockups. Rob has a draft reply.
- The Concert name and logo belong to Lyric now.The mockup sets "Concert" in EC type and uses no logo. Using the real wordmark, or the name at all, deserves a heads-up to Lyric. Mark or Rob Metcalf can probably make that a one-email ask.
- The 2010 team photo.Needed from Mark. The wall is designed around it. If he has none from 2010, the earliest team photo he has, with the real year in the caption.
- Every fact on the wall needs Mark's sign-off.All of it is from public sources, listed below. He should correct the timeline before it's printed four feet wide.
- The quote.It's from his July acquisition post, where he gives it as Concert's strategy. He should approve it or give us a better one.
- Measure and price.Panel sizes are estimated from photos. Get the real dimensions and a quote from the sign vendor before a number is attached to this. The $50K level on Mark's page was our figure, not a cost.
Where the wall's facts come from
| On the wall | Source |
|---|---|
| 2010: Mark starts NextGxDx; new Vanderbilt MBA | Concert team bio; Venture Nashville, 2012; Mark's own goodbye post |
| An early check: $15K | Venture Nashville, 2012 (Jumpstart Foundry, 2010 class). Not confirmed as the very first check, so the wall says "early". |
| 2012: $500K Series A | Venture Nashville, February 2012 |
| 2016: Rob Metcalf becomes CEO | Concert press release and team bio |
| 2017: renamed Concert Genetics | PR Newswire, March 2017 |
| 2023: starts working with Lyric | Lyric acquisition release, July 15, 2026 |
| 2026: Lyric acquires Concert | Lyric acquisition release, July 15, 2026 |
| "Do the hard work now..." | Mark's LinkedIn post on the acquisition |