What parts of yourself have you been told to give up in order to succeed? We are taught that excellence requires choosing: the engineer or the artist; the practical career or the culture. At some point, if we want to be taken seriously, we are expected to decide what we are—and leave the rest behind. Brandon Thorpe refused to choose. By 15, he taught himself to code, eventually becoming a senior engineer at Apple and a staff engineer at Google AI. He founded a technology company and raised more than $2 million in venture capital. At the same time, he pursued a career in music, earning an endorsement from Timbaland and signing a deal with Grammy-winning producer Dallas Austin. There was just one problem: how to integrate these identities. Multidream is the story of how he did that—not by looking forward toward his dreams, but backward toward his roots. From Brockton to Atlanta, Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, and the Philippines, Brandon retraces the people, environments, decisions, failures, and unlikely relationships that made him realize that the dichotomy itself is the lie. What appeared to be a collection of separate lives had been connected all along. From his journey of discovery, Brandon draws unexpected connections between the principles he learned in engineering and the lessons he learned through music, entrepreneurship, fatherhood, and faith. Multidream is not a formula for doing more. It is a different definition of artistry. For anyone who has ever felt pressured to leave their identity behind in order to move forward: the choice between them has been an illusion all along. BRANDON THORPE Brandon Thorpe is an artist, engineer, and entrepreneur who has built his career at the intersection of art and technology. A former staff engineer at Google AI and senior engineer at Apple, he went on to raise millions in venture capital to launch a new streaming platform powered by smart contracts. As a recording artist performing under the name Brandon Tory, he has worked with music legends including Grammy Award–winning producer Dallas Austin. His story has been featured by the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, CNBC, and CNN. RICHARD BUSKIN Richard Buskin is a New York Times bestselling author and award-winning journalist whose nearly 40 nonfiction books span music, pop culture, and business. His work has appeared in publications including the New York Post, Observer, Independent, and Daily Mail, and he has written for notable figures ranging from business tycoons to Michael Jackson.
