After watching “Straight Outta Compton”, there’s no doubt you’ll leave feeling like you can take over the world. Dre and Eazy-E were definitely vital assets to the group, but Ice Cube’s story resonated with me on a different level. I’ve always respected Cube as an artist, but the movie shed light on him as a businessman and a person. *Spoiler Alert*  if you haven’t seen the movie you may want to stop reading at this point.

In NWA’s early beginnings, Cube (played by his son O’Shea Jackson II) started out as a ghost writer for the group, but his strong persona garnered him a lot of attention from the masses as time time went on. He continued to write and make appearances on tour with the group without solidifying a contractual agreement with Ruthless Records (Eazy-E’s label). He learned a hard lesson early on about the importance of not putting off the uncomfortable conversation of contracts, when his manager eventually offered him a deal that did not measure up to his contribution to the group. The most respectable scene in the movie was when he walked away from a $75,000 check and the lie that “that’s the best he was going to get”. He knew his worth and his vision went far beyond the deal that was offered to him that day. He went on to start his own record label with countless successful records, a movie production company, and played a huge part in cult classics like Friday and Boyz in the Hood. He also showed how far you can get with little to no resources when you focus on what you excel at and keep moving forward without the ones that hold you back.

As an entrepreneur with little resources, I can relate to Cube and I admire him for walking away from the deal. If you are an entrepreneur and don’t have the luxury of affording a lawyer to draft up contracts for you, I would recommend using  Cooley Go to help simplify the process. It’s a do-it-yourself platform that provides free information and guidance to help you do business the right way.