在59歲的年紀(jì),，大多數(shù)搖滾明星都樂(lè)意靠著源源不斷的版權(quán)費(fèi),，在熱帶小島上花天酒地，消磨時(shí)光,。

但布魯斯?迪肯森（Bruce Dickinson）是個(gè)例外,。這位英國(guó) “鐵娘子”（Iron Maiden）樂(lè)隊(duì)的主唱（其嗓音造就了重金屬經(jīng)典歌曲《Run to the Hills》和《Wasted Years》）轉(zhuǎn)而利用10個(gè)月的巡演間歇，試圖為飛機(jī)維護(hù)修理和飛行員培訓(xùn)公司Cardiff Aviation籌集高達(dá)2700萬(wàn)美元的資金。他和別人于5年前共同創(chuàng)建了這家公司,，目前擔(dān)任公司的董事長(zhǎng),。

迪肯森說(shuō)：“對(duì)于這家維修公司，我們是認(rèn)真的,，但這需要一定的投資,。否則，我們始終將徘徊在資金不足和投資不足的邊緣,?！保?017年有迪肯森所謂的媒體惡意報(bào)道稱(chēng)，Cardiff已開(kāi)始拖欠工人工資,，而且迪肯森不得不從自己腰包掏錢(qián)來(lái)支付薪資,。）

有關(guān)財(cái)務(wù)狀況的低調(diào)說(shuō)辭與在演唱會(huì)上與大批粉絲互動(dòng)時(shí)“為我尖叫吧！”的夸張吼叫形成了異常鮮明的對(duì)比,。

At age 59, most rock stars would be happy to while away the time between tours luxuriating on a tropical island as the royalty checks roll in.

Not Bruce Dickinson. The lead singer of British band Iron Maiden, whose voice has propelled songs like “Run to the Hills” and “Wasted Years” into the heavy metal canon, is instead spending a 10-month hiatus from the road trying to line up as much as $27 million in funding for Cardiff Aviation, an airplane maintenance, repair, and ?pilot training company he cofounded five years ago and which he currently chairs.

“We want to get serious about the maintenance business, and that’s going to require a proper level of investment. Otherwise, we’ll always be just bouncing around underfinanced and undercapitalized,” says Dickinson. (There were media reports in 2017, which Dickinson calls “malicious,” saying that Cardiff fell into arrears on worker pay and that Dickinson had to fund the payroll out of his own pocket.)

The finance-speak couldn’t contrast more starkly with his operatic exhortations for his legions of fans to “Scream for me!” at concerts.

迪肯森在上個(gè)世紀(jì)90年代干起了第二職業(yè),，擔(dān)任商用飛機(jī)駕駛員，如今在樂(lè)隊(duì)巡演時(shí)負(fù)責(zé)開(kāi)飛機(jī)運(yùn)送樂(lè)隊(duì)和工作人員,。他自豪地介紹了公司的二阿手飛機(jī)租賃和維護(hù)以及飛行員培訓(xùn)業(yè)務(wù),。他解釋說(shuō)，“飛行員目前十分短缺,?！?

另一個(gè)機(jī)遇：小國(guó)希望組建其自己的航空公司。因此,，Cardiff Aviation所謂的盒中航空公司再次設(shè)立了吉布提航空——提供飛機(jī),、空乘和維護(hù)服務(wù)，然后將其交給當(dāng)?shù)氐氖紫瘓?zhí)行官,。迪肯森表示,，另外兩個(gè)非洲國(guó)家也在考察這一服務(wù)。

即便他是巨星,，他也得準(zhǔn)備好90秒的電梯游說(shuō)說(shuō)辭,，這樣在遇到風(fēng)投資本家之后就能立即用上。他說(shuō)“事情不會(huì)因?yàn)槲沂遣剪斔?迪肯森而不同,，對(duì)于每個(gè)人來(lái)說(shuō)都是完全一樣的,。”

誠(chéng)然,，迪肯森并非是唯一一個(gè)從事投資職業(yè)的音樂(lè)明星,，例如，U2的保羅（Bono）也是私募股權(quán)公司Elevation Partners的執(zhí)行董事,。迪肯森之所以與眾不同,，原因在于他會(huì)全身心地投入到自己所投資的公司當(dāng)中,。

“關(guān)鍵在于重新改造自己，但是不能超出自己的職責(zé)范圍,?！?

例如，他會(huì)親自從事Trooper craft ale的產(chǎn)品開(kāi)發(fā)和營(yíng)銷(xiāo)業(yè)務(wù),，該公司是鐵娘子樂(lè)隊(duì)與Robinsons Brewery的合資企業(yè),，以樂(lè)隊(duì)最流行的歌曲命名。在與釀酒師共同合作打造啤酒口味時(shí),，迪肯森意識(shí)到，如果要讓Trooper的啤酒產(chǎn)品走的更遠(yuǎn),，光靠鐵娘子這個(gè)噱頭是不夠的,。

他說(shuō)：“如果它只是由鐵娘子樂(lè)隊(duì)冠名的啤酒，我們的銷(xiāo)量不可能達(dá)到1900萬(wàn)品脫,，或成為英國(guó)超市的頂級(jí)品牌之一,。”

然而迪肯森還嫌自己不夠忙,，他還自己掏錢(qián)（約合33.5萬(wàn)美元）,，以種子投資者的身份加入了英國(guó)Hybrid Air Vehicles，該公司致力于讓巨大的齊柏林式飛艇重返天空,。（該公司在11月遭遇挫折,，其Airlander 10脫離其錨泊塔升空，后墜毀在田地中,，造成兩人受傷,。迪肯森表示，他對(duì)該項(xiàng)目依然有信心,，而且“我們會(huì)再建一艘”,。）

在很久以前，也就是在迪肯森意外地發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的搖滾嗓音之前,，他曾懷揣著創(chuàng)業(yè)的夢(mèng)想,，他在其暢銷(xiāo)自傳《What Does This Button Do? 》 (Dey Street)中對(duì)此進(jìn)行了詳細(xì)的描述。在10歲那年,，他便開(kāi)始進(jìn)行首次創(chuàng)業(yè)——Rent-A-Pencil（租鉛筆）,，針對(duì)的是那些忘帶鉛筆的同學(xué)。然而,，他很快便學(xué)到了資本主義殘酷的一面：“當(dāng)我問(wèn)同學(xué)要回我的鉛筆和租金時(shí),，沒(méi)有人付錢(qián)?！?

30多年來(lái),，迪肯森運(yùn)用同樣的經(jīng)營(yíng)理念,，讓粉絲們不知疲倦地掏腰包購(gòu)買(mǎi)鐵娘子樂(lè)隊(duì)的專(zhuān)輯和演唱會(huì)門(mén)票：“關(guān)鍵在于重新改造自己，但是不能超出自己的職責(zé)范圍,?！?

他在談?wù)撟约旱臉?lè)隊(duì)時(shí)指出，“我們創(chuàng)建了自身的生態(tài)圈,，而且變得越來(lái)越大,。”他自己的商業(yè)經(jīng)營(yíng)又何嘗不是如此呢,？

本文發(fā)表于2018年1月1日期《財(cái)富》雜志上,，標(biāo)題名為《空中金屬》。

譯者：馮豐

審稿：夏林

Dickinson, who in the 1990s launched a second career as a commercial airline pilot and now flies Iron Maiden and crew when they are on tour, describes with pride how the company leases and maintains used airplanes and trains pilots. “There is an airline pilot shortage,” he explains.

Another opportunity: smaller countries wanting to build their own airlines. Hence, Cardiff Aviation’s so-called Airline in a Box, which relaunched Air Djibouti—providing aircraft, crews, and maintenance—before handing over the keys to a local CEO. Dickinson says two other African countries are looking at the service too.

His megastardom doesn’t spare him from having to keep a 90-second elevator pitch at the ready in case he meets a venture capitalist. “Nothing’s different because I’m Bruce Dickinson,” he says. “It’s exactly the same as for everyone else.”

To be sure, Dickinson isn’t the only music icon who doubles as an investor: U2’s Bono, for example, is a managing director at private equity firm Elevation Partners. What makes Dickinson unusual is his deep involvement in the companies he invests in.

“The key is to reinvent yourself, but within your own terms of reference.”

He is, for instance, very hands-on in the product development and marketing of Trooper craft ale, a joint venture between Iron Maiden and Robinsons Brewery named for one of the band’s most popular songs. While working with a brewmaster to come up with flavors, Dickinson understood that for Trooper to have longevity, it couldn’t just be a gimmicky beer.

“We would not have sold 19 million pints of beer or been one of the top brands in U.K. supermarkets if it was just an Iron Maiden beer,” he says. The beer is now sold in 50 countries.

And if he weren’t busy enough, Dickinson has also put his own money (about $335,000) as a seed investor into Hybrid Air Vehicles, a British outfit? that aims to bring enormous zeppelin-like airships back to the skies. (The company suffered a setback in November when its Airlander 10 broke free from its mooring and crashed into a field, injuring two people. Dickinson says he is keeping the faith and that “we will rebuild.”)

Long before Dickinson accidentally discovered he had a rock star’s voice, he had entrepreneurial ambitions, as detailed in his bestselling autobiography, What Does This Button Do? (Dey Street). At just 10 he started his first venture, Rent-A-Pencil, to take advantage of fellow students who had forgotten theirs. But he soon learned a brutal lesson about how hard capitalism can be: “When I’d ask for my pencils back and for the rent, nobody paid.”

Dickinson relies on the same philosophy that has kept fans buying Iron Maiden records and concert tickets for over three decades: “The key is to reinvent yourself, but within your own terms of reference.”

“We’ve created our own niche, and it’s gotten bigger and bigger,” he says of his band. He could well have been speaking about his business ventures too.

A version of this article appears in the Jan. 1, 2018 issue of Fortune with the headline “Air Metal.”