Season 4, Ep. 34 – Founder to Founder: with Asher Weiss, Co-founder and CEO of Tixologi

(THE FRONTIER THEME PLAYS)

Teja (00:05):

What’s up, y’all? Today we’ve got Asher Weiss, co-founder and CEO at Tixologi. This is a fun one. (THE FRONTIER THEME ENDS) 

Teja (00:20):

Tell me about yourself, just like, your background, where you grew up, all that stuff.

Asher (00:25):

Yeah, yeah, for sure. Originally, [I] grew up in Toronto, born and raised Canadian. Always kind of, was very into, kind of, a wide range of interests. I had like, a sports side of me, you know, competitive tennis and competitive racket sports for a while, but I was also really into acting and singing, and so I was always kind of being pulled back and forth between, you know, sports, and music, and business, tech, and so you know like, as a young kid, I never had like, traditional jobs. I always kind of started my own businesses, and so I started my own business at eight years old and, you know, have had several businesses kind of along the way since, and then, yeah, ended up in the US for school in the LA area.

Asher (01:08):

You know, there kind of, again, fulfilled both interests. I studied film and economics as like, a dual major, and kind of, you know, was thinking how could I combine my love of business and tech with entertainment? And so, you know, when I was coming outta school, looking at mostly tech opportunities, but an opportunity came up with the Orlando Magic, and, you know, never thought I’d be moving to Orlando, like, a big city boy, you know, who had been in Toronto and LA, but their innovation lab was one of the first in professional sports, and they were hiring, and so I went for it. I ended up getting the job, you know, moving down to Orlando, didn’t know anyone, and spent a couple years working there on kind of a wide range of strategic projects, like, everything from player health and safety to improving the premium experience, really across the board.

Asher (01:59):

And then [I] was out in San Fran and visiting the new Chase Center, and you know, the Warriors poached me away from the Magic. So I took a job with them, and suddenly, I was a product manager running the mobile app for the Warriors. So kind of a wild journey, and then eventually, you know, that led to kind of this idea for Tixologi, which I’m currently working on today, but just gives you a bit of a sense of kind of my path and how it’s been definitely not linear, but, you know, I think kind of shows like, my interest in and love of kind of a few different topics. So yeah.

Teja (02:35):

Totally. So did you, okay. Were your parents like, entrepreneurs or like, how did you kind of get into like, starting your own businesses?

Asher (02:44):

Yeah, so my parents are entrepreneurs today, still. My my mom actually started a marketing PR agency in Toronto over 30 years ago now, (Teja: Sick.) and then met my dad. He actually joined the company, and they ran it together successfully for, you know, over 20 years, I would say, almost 25 years, and now my mom’s kind of, you know, stepped away from the business and into retirement, but my dad’s still actively involved with that and another startup that he also runs. So, very entrepreneurial family, for sure.

Teja (03:17):

That’s cool. So they weren’t like, surprised that you started your own company?

Asher (03:22):

No <laugh>. No. In fact like, you know, they, I had, you know, kind of obviously like, I had some small companies in the past. I actually started a food business during college, which was a whole kind of crazy story there, and then when I was kind of getting ready to graduate, I was almost, you know, kind of threatening to go right back into the startup world, and they’re like, “Oh, you may wanna get, you know, a bit of, you know, real work experience first,” and you know, I, you know, obviously kind of went that direction, and learned a bit, and then kind of jumped right back into it. So I think, you know, regardless of, you know, where I might end up, I think I’m always kind of gonna get pulled back to this startup, you know, running my own business space.

Teja (04:04):

Yeah, totally. So how many years did you work before starting your company?

Asher (04:10):

Yeah, so I worked…essentially four years, (Teja: Okay.) and then, you know, in college I had like, some internships, like, even during the school year and stuff, so I kind of felt like I had, you know, that those kind of things, like co-ops, kind of you know, gave me the ability to kind of excel in my career quicker, but yeah, out of college, it was like, four years before kind of jumping into Tixologi.

Teja (04:34):

Got it. And so, I mean, this is probably still fresh, but like, do you, like, would you recommend that people, maybe when they graduate, go work somewhere for a few years before starting a company or get started right away? Like, how do you think about that?

Asher (04:48):

Yeah. I think it’s definitely valuable to work for a few years before jumping into it. I think like, the biggest thing, though, I always talk about is like, I think it’s really easy for someone to be like, “Hey, I think I wanna start a company,” and kind of like, rack their brain, you know, for a new idea on what to start with, but I think the biggest thing for me, and like, when I knew it was like, kind of my time to do it, was finding a topic that I was not only passionate about, but was also good at and understood the industry. And so I think like, that’s, you know like, something that I think is super important, as you’ve like, probably seen too, like, is, you know, you need to figure out what that is that like, not only are you gonna be excited about working on for 5, 10, 15 years, (Teja: Oh, yeah.) but also something that you’re good at and can actually execute on, right?

Asher (05:38):

And so, when I had this idea for Tixologi, I loved my job at the Warriors. Like, you know, working in professional sports is fun, and it was a great organization and a, you know, really challenging and great role for me, but I saw something where, you know, I was really excited about the opportunity, and I knew there was something here, and I also felt like, at that point, I had built the network and the tools in the sports and entertainment world to really do something with it. So I would say like, yes, you know, getting some experience definitely helps, but I also think, you know, getting experience can give you inspiration and kind of help you figure out if you were to do your own thing, what would it be? Right? What challenge would it solve? What industry would it be in? And then once you decide that, do you have enough connections and knowledge in the space to really make an impact?

Teja (06:24):

What’s the reception of like, your friend group?

Asher (06:27):

In terms of like, doing my own thing?

Teja (06:30):

Yeah, yeah. Like…

Asher (06:31):

Like, generally, like, not to be like, you know, not to be like, arrogant or anything, but I think generally, the reception’s like, really positive. Like, people are like, “Whoa. Like, that’s so cool.” You know what I mean? And like, I realized too, like, I, you know, I chose like, a fairly sexy business, I would think. Like, behind the scenes, it’s not that sexy, but when people think of ticketing, they think of events, and music, and sports, and these are fun, you know, memories and like, fun parts of our lives, right? So I think, you know, people see that the, you know, this side of the business and like, kind of what we’re tackling, which is interesting, and then also just this idea of, yeah, being your own boss and doing your own thing. You know, people are just, you know, my friends have been kind of very, very supportive and some of them have been jealous, right? Like, it’s, you know, without knowing the full extent of what that looks like, but, you know, that’s the general kind of initial reaction, usually.

Teja (07:22):

Totally, but I’m sure it wasn’t unexpected. Like, they expected you in some…

Asher (07:26):

No, especially my like, long-term friends who have seen me, you know, run smaller businesses in high school, and then, you know, a pretty large food business in college, and then now a tech company. I don’t think it really surprised anyone too much.

Teja (07:41):

So talk to me about the food business. So how did you get started? You mentioned that that was an interesting story, I’m just kind of curious.

Asher (07:47):

Yeah, it was a pretty kind of wild and random journey there. So I mentioned, you know, I’m originally Canadian. There’s a famous dessert in Canada called the butter tart. Very few Americans are familiar with it or have ever tried one. The way we usually describe it is almost like, a mini pecan pie without the nuts. You know, it’s a pastry shell with this like, delicious filling in it, and it’s something that’s so popular and spread throughout Canada. Like, you’d find it in Starbucks and, you know, all these kind of like, normal places you would go to get, you know, breakfast or dessert or things like that. So [I] have this idea to bring it to the US and kind of decided randomly to apply to Smorgasburg, I’m not sure if you’ve heard of it, but it’s this massive kind of outdoor food festival in Brooklyn.

Asher (08:35):

They now have an LA location, as well, but [I] decided to apply, and they joke about Smorgasburg, because it has lower acceptance rates than the Ivy Leagues, and so I was like, “Okay, I’m just gonna throw it in. Like, I think this, you know, I think this would be awesome. Like, it’s probably not gonna happen, but you know, maybe we’ll catch their attention.” I did this video on campus of all my friends trying it for the first time and kind of created hype around it, and we got into Smorgasburg, (Teja: <Laugh>.) and so ended up like, essentially having like, I’d say like, a basically three to four week turnaround to essentially come up with like, full branding, staffing, a place to bake, all the resources and materials needed to make the tarts, the tent, and booth for the actual place, and so it was like this very kind of accelerated, unexpected build of a company, and it was all kind of, while I was still in school on the west coast, so I was flying back and forth from LA to New York.

Asher (09:31):

I was hiring employees. I was finding, you know, a place to bake the tarts, and, sure enough, we launched at Smorgasburg that year and ended up, you know, getting some really amazing kind of coverage around it. I was on the Rachael Ray Show, we were in the New York Times, it was kind of just this wild journey that kind of came outta nowhere. So that was like, my first real like, big business like, jumping into it and really having to deal with a lot of complexities and challenges along the way. So, yeah.

Teja (10:01):

It’s like the YC of food or something like that.

Asher (10:04):

<Laugh>, I guess so, right? Except they don’t give you any guidance. Like, they just set you free, and it’s like, okay, now you gotta deal with, you know, thousands of people a weekend, right?

Teja (10:15):

Yeah <laugh>. Yeah, I know that’s a whole thing. I mean, one of the things that’s nice about building a tech company is like, you’re not having to deal with like, as many logistical challenges.

Asher (10:24):

A hundred percent, yeah. I think like, ultimately, that’s what ended up happening with that business. I mean, there were several things that happened. The food space we were baking out of in Brooklyn went bankrupt and actually locked it out when we were headed back there. So there was a whole thing there, but the bigger issues were around the logistical challenges and the cost to produce a really high quality good like that with, you know, butter, maple syrup, premium ingredients. It’s just not a business where the margins could be super high, and we could still maintain the quality, and so, you know, ultimately made the decision that that wasn’t something, you know, I was gonna pursue full-time, and we kind of phased, you know, the business down over time, but you never know. Who knows? Maybe someone will try one one day and we’ll resurrect it <laugh>.

Teja (11:10):

What a like, great insight. I mean, you sort of wish that more people just came to like, that rational conclusion. Like, “Hey, this is just not gonna make a lot of money.”

Asher (11:22):

Well, now, whenever someone asks me, you know, about food business, I’m like, “Just don’t do it.” (Teja: <Laugh>.) Like, don’t <inaudible>. (Teja: <Laugh>.) Like, it’s, you know, it’s fun. You all have a good, you know like, family recipe or food idea or something, but it couldn’t be any more logistically challenging. Like, I can’t think of many industries that are, to be honest.

Teja (11:44):

I’m with you. Yeah, bro. I read an article, though, on CNBC about this guy who started Vital Farms. Do you know that? Like, the (Asher: Yup.) egg company and like, (Asher: Yeah.) nice. I have a carton of Vital Farms in my fridge right now, but (Asher: Yeah? <Laugh>.) that’s apparently like, a $400 million a year revenue.

Asher (12:02):

It’s nuts. The other one I’ve been paying attention to is Liquid Death. I’m sure you’ve seen all of that. I mean, you know what, like, sorry to burst everyone’s bubble, it’s just like, tap water filtered in a can, (Teja: <Laugh>.) but like, you know, everyone’s really, really excited about that. So kudos to them for some incredible marketing and a really high markup on a product that we could just get out of our taps, right? So, you know, that’s kind of an interesting one, because I’m sure there’s a lot of logistic challenges, but it’s not the same as producing, you know, a good at-scale, and packaging it, and keeping it, you know from expiring, and things like that. So it’s, yeah, it’s crazy.

Teja (12:38):

Yeah, it is interesting. I mean, Liquid Death is like, what a great case study in marketing. I mean, it’s insane, you know?

Asher (12:46):

A hundred percent. Like, how do you make water cool? Like, who thought of that? You know, like…<laugh>.

Teja (12:51):

Oh my god. Crazy. I know a dude who, he is like, one of my good buddies. He’s like, “I only drink Liquid Death,” and I’m like, “Even at home?” He’s like, “No, at home I drink tap water.” I’m like, “What? How?” It’s like…

Asher (13:03):

Well, I think, you know, it’s funny, because I think brands have done it. Like, I know we’re going down this like, water rabbit hole now, but like, brands have done it in the space, right? Like, people are willing to pay more money for a bottle of VOSS water. (Teja: Yes.) Is the water any better? Like, you know, (Teja: Yes.) who knows, right? Like, people would say yes, but you know, it’s that marketing, it’s that prestige, it’s that branding, it’s that, you know, community that they’ve built. Like, it’s like, a weird thing to think about, but that’s exactly what it is, right? Like, just powerful marketing and community building.

Teja (13:30):

Totally, and you feel like, not as bad if you’re out, and you’re drinking VOSS water, like, right? Versus like, you’re just holding like, one of the plastic cups that you got at the club, but for some reason, you just feel like this is more appropriate, and your friends make fun of you less (Asher: <Laugh>.) <laugh>. Yeah. Cool. So, okay, you have your business now. How did you kind of conceive of the idea, and maybe walk us through like, the founding journey?

Asher (14:02):

Yeah, so the very initial kind of stages of the idea is actually like, not really where our main focus is today, but I think it’s interesting like, to talk about. What I was seeing in the NBA, and I mean in sports in general and entertainment, it was in this shift to, there was a heavy shift to digital ticketing, and that was starting before Covid, but Covid like, a hundred percent accelerated that in moving people away from hard copy tickets, (Teja: Yep.) and so with that, people were missing the collectible aspect of the ticket stub, right? And I don’t know about you, but like, me and like, my friends and family and, you know, we all have like, ticket stubs from concerts, and festivals, and events that we’ve been to in the past. It’s, you know, it’s something, it’s a memory.

Asher (14:44):

It’s something that, you know, is cool to look at and share with our friends, and we kept hearing from fans and season ticket holders, like, you know, “Can I get a ticket? Like, I want that ticket. Like, can you print me a ticket?” Right? And so I started thinking about how could you bring back the, you know, ticket stub in a digital world? And so that was like, kind of the very initial idea of this, and at the same time, I was learning a lot about blockchain technology and, you know, the power there, and so that was, you know, kind of where it all started, but as I got further down that, you know, kind of Web3 blockchain rabbit hole, I became a big believer in the tech beyond just, you know, creating a collectible, you know, collectible asset, and really how it could not just solve that, but a lot of the other pain points I was also seeing in the ticketing industry. [I] started working on something like, just, you know, whenever I had a moment on weekends at nights, right?

Asher (15:37):

Like, you know, and you know, [I] just kind of put together thoughts on what this could look like, and brought in a co-founder, and kind of, you know, at one point, got to a point where it was like, hey, you know, we think this could be something. Now we need to start talking with real customers and talking with investors, and I’m not gonna do that while, you know, committed to a full-time opportunity with the Warriors. So that’s kind of when I decided to jump into it, and luckily it was a hot market, you know, from a fundraising perspective, but also from, you know, with people interested in blockchain and Web3 applications. So I left the Warriors in September, started raising in November, and closed financing in January. So it was a pretty kind of crazy start for sure.

Teja (16:25):

That’s awesome. So you sort of conceived of the idea while at the Warriors, then worked on it at night, and then basically just went all in. (Asher: Yeah.) What has kind of surprised you about the journey in terms of building the company so far? 

Asher (16:42):

Whew. Oh my gosh. That could take up the rest of the call, I think. (Teja: Yeah.) Yeah, I mean, definitely a few things. Kind of the most like, obvious and kind of top-of-mind right now is like, you can’t take a good market for granted. Like, you know, it’s such an interesting time. When I look at the trajectory like, just, you know, how long we’ve been working on this like, over the past couple years, three years here now almost, we’ve seen like, the very top of the market, and now we’re seeing kind of the very bottom of the market, and so it’s just a very, like, when we started the business, it was a very different time to raise capital and how you thought about building the business, than it is now.

Asher (17:22):

You know, and so that’s been one thing, just in terms of growth and, you know, how you think about hiring and, you know, all those kinds of things have dramatically changed. The other big thing for us that changed is like, we set off to build an enterprise-level software mostly targeted at pro teams and large venues. (Teja: Right.) Given, that was the world I came from and had most of my connections in, but what we realized, is while there’s a big opportunity there, there are some really high barriers to entry there, in terms of breaking into the space. There’s crazy contracts that could be anywhere from like, three to eight years sometimes with ticketing providers, big signing bonuses and sponsorship dollars, you know, 20 year plus relationships, right? And so when we looked at the ticketing industry, we said, “Hey, the things we’re solving for, they’re prevalent at the top, but they’re also prevalent all the way down the chain,” and so we pivoted, I’d say a little over a year now, to what we talk about as kind of the self-serve ticketing market.

Asher (18:21):

So independent event producers and venues across North America and eventually the world that, you know, don’t rely on those big ticketing giants that you maybe think of when you think of ticketing, but rely on self-serve providers like Eventbrite, Universe, Brown Paper Tickets, there’s a few others, So that was another kind of really big thing that we learned and we changed along the way, was where we focused our energy, and where we could make, you know, a big impact in the early days of our company as well.

Teja (18:49):

Yeah, that’s so interesting. I mean, it’s similar to our business, too, where, at the highest level, like, the biggest LTV like, in our parlance is like, you know, people are locked into multi-year contracts. It’s all relationally driven, and, you know, it’s hard to get in. I almost feel like, you have to be like, an influencer, (Asher: <Laugh>.) right? Like, you just have, like, you have to be like, a name already, and it doesn’t even really matter what type of value the business provides. It just, you have to be like, a known person, (Asher: Mm-hmm <affirmative>.) and that opens the door to get that.

Asher (19:27):

Yup, yup. For sure.

Teja (19:28):

That’s, I mean, and what a great point about like, the macro climate and just a view on like, how to build a business evolving over the last couple of years. How’s your approach kind of changed, beyond maybe the pivot and market focus? You know, like, in terms of operating as a CEO? Like, have you changed?

Asher (19:48):

Yeah, it’s, I mean, it’s super challenging, like, you know, ’cause I think what founders are having to balance today, is we were coming from this world where the narrative was very much like, “Grow, grow, grow,” right, “and show that crazy growth, like, and do what you need to do to show that growth,” and I think now it’s shifted to, “Yeah, we still wanna see growth, but you gotta be really cautious with how you’re gonna get there, and you need to do a whole lot more with less,” right? (Teja: Yeah.) And so I think that’s, you know, one of the biggest things, and how that impacts things is like, I guess the reason why I say it’s such a struggle, is because you have to balance the product growth and development with the sales growth and the commercialization strategy, because, you know, with the less engineers you have, the less, you know, the less cool features you can build, and the less your product advances, right? And the less your product advances, the harder it might be to sell, right? But I think, you know, that’s kind of the thing that all founders are having to balance now, is how do you continue to push your product forward while also having, you know, enough resources to really focus on sales and marketing as well, right?

Teja (21:06):

Yeah, totally. Do you have any sort of like, heuristics, rules of thumb to think about that like, that you’ve developed as far as frameworks go?

Asher (21:16):

I’m trying to think. I mean, nothing comes top-of-mind. I mean, is there anything that you think of when you think of, you know, kind of the challenge that founders are faced with today?

Teja (21:29):

I mean <laugh>, boy, to kick it back to me. (Asher: <Laugh>.) <Laugh>. I think..so, no. I mean, I think it’s definitely a challenge. I mean, for us, the way we think about it is like, we try to achieve a baseline level of growth per year, (Asher: Yeah.) and like, whatever. Which is basically a function of sales activities and marketing activities, right? Growth in that year seems to be a function, not of like, product development, because the arc of product development takes at least 3, 6, 9 months to like, (Asher: Yeah.) you know, iterate on to get to a final state, (Asher: Mm-hmm <affirmative>.) and so any given year, I think we first try to figure out like, what type of growth we need to achieve and what the inputs are, in terms of (Asher: Yeah.) marketing, based on best assumptions, and then whatever’s left over, you know, in terms of either cash from operations or from, in terms of what we wanna burn, as far as financing goes, we then deploy that into product and engineering, (Asher: Yeah.) because that enables next year’s growth (Asher: Yeah.) <inaudible>.

Asher (22:35):

I agree. I agree completely. The other thing you made me think of, like, which I think is super relevant, I mean, it always should be relevant to companies, but continuing to force leadership and founders to look at their talent pool and look at their company and say, “You know, who is really driving the most impact here?” (Teja: Oh, yeah.) Right? And asking people, some people to deliver more than they’re currently delivering, because you know they’re capable of it, you know, I think is a big part as well, right? So looking internally, you know, everyone has to be, you know, playing their role. The earlier stage company, the bigger role the person has to be playing. (Teja: Yup.) Something that’s, you know, that’s a big thing. That’s a big thing too, right?

Teja (23:17):

Yeah, totally. There’s like, so many different like, Pareto-esque laws. One law, like, one thing that I heard is called like, “Prices Law”, which is like, (Asher: Okay.) half of the productivity of any organization is driven by like, the square of the number of people in it. So you have a 25% company, five people are doing 50% of the work, you gotta figure out (Asher: Yeah.) what the five are, right, and make sure they’re adequately compensated and, you know, motivated. It’s just interesting. There’s so many different things like that. (Asher: Yeah.) Is your company remote, by the way?

Asher (23:55):

We are. We’re actually like, pretty much fully remote at this point. We have kind of a west coast bias. Like, we have several employees in California, but we also have two engineers in Uruguay. So we’re fully remote. I mean, we do what we can to get the team together, and I think we will have, you know, some sort of home base as we continue to grow, but my mindset, like, you know, I know it’s controversial these days, like, to some extent, but my mindset is like, “Let’s hire the best talent wherever they may be,” and especially at this stage when, you know, we have enough competition to hiring people, right? Like, we’re a small company, we can’t necessarily offer the same salaries. You know, we don’t have the same security. I mean, I don’t think anyone can really offer security at this point, but intact, but you know, we’re already competing on enough factors to get the best employees. Why would we add another limiting factor, you know, to our stack of, “Hey, you have to be based in this city or this state,” right? So that’s how I’ve thought about it up until now. Maybe my view will change as we grow, but yeah.

Teja (25:07):

No, I think that’s wise. I mean, I totally agree with that, and I feel like, you know, the times where I’ve had issues with people working remotely, they just weren’t productive, you know, and you want <inaudible>.

Asher (25:21):

I can’t tell you, me, personally, I know not everyone feels this way, but me, personally, I’m always more productive at home than I am in an office setting. Like, because I’m a social person, I like to talk with people. (Teja: <Laugh>.) I get distracted by other conversations that may be happening. You know, I want to go grab lunch somewhere. It’s like, all that stuff limits the amount of actual focus time and focus work, and especially these days, when so much business is being conducted on calls, like, not necessarily engineering and product as much, right? Like, if they’re in person, they can work together, but from a sales and marketing perspective, almost all of it has shifted to virtual, right? Or a lot of it, at least, from what I’ve seen in tech, right, and so that’s another factor, right? If you’re on calls all day, do you wanna be in a crowded office where everyone else is on calls all day, right? It’s like, are we just going to a place to all be on calls all day? So it’s, I don’t know. It’s interesting,

Teja (26:16):

Dude. I vibe with that a lot, because anytime I would go into the office and be, you know, about 30% of our staff is in Nashville, I would get so distracted, and like, I would be like, really stimulated by everybody there, but I just want to hang out the whole time. (Asher: Yeah, yeah.) I’m like, shit, I need to do like, at least another five hours worth of work.

Asher (26:36):

Exactly. So what we’ve found works really well is like, let’s find some times for the team to get together and, yes, spend some time working, and strategizing, and working on those things where it’s really important for like a brainstorm or something to happen in person, but then also dedicate a bunch of that time to team building and fun, like, you know, because that’s the reality of it When you work remote and you finally get to spend time with those people in person, you don’t wanna just work the whole time, right? (Teja: Yeah.) That’s not the most important thing. The most important thing is kind of building that team dynamic and building that comradery, because then everyone goes home and is so much more motivated and bought in to what they’re a part of, you know?

Teja (27:16):

I’m a big believer, even in like, 10 to 20% of every meeting, to be like, totally non-productive. Like, I think especially in a remote context, like, if all you’re doing is like, being really clinical about like, “Okay, here’s what we gotta do. All right. You know how to do it. See ya,” then like…

Asher (27:37):

It’s really tough.

Teja (27:38):

It’s tough, and like…

Asher (27:39):

Yeah, we do like virtual team building as well. Every, like, we try and do it every week or every two weeks, right? We do, you know, if [it’s] someone’s birthday, we’ll get on and like, we’ll just kind of hang out and like, sing them “Happy Birthday.” You know like, stuff like that. Like, you have to do it, otherwise, people just get into this, you know, monotonous feeling of “it’s all work, and I don’t have any friends at work,” like, especially people that, you know, I’m lucky I’m recently married, so I have a roommate for life, right? But like, there’s so many people that are single and going through this, you know, even, you know, in a major city, or their friends have left, or whatever it is, and like, they’re not seeing a lot of people, right? (Teja: Right.) And so I think like, in the past, like, pre-covid, a lot of people relied on work for their best friends, like, their, you know, their closest friends and their people to hang out with on weekends and evenings and stuff, (Teja: Yes.) but you know, that’s one thing that’s been lost a bit, right? So how do you kind of bring that back in a virtual setting? Like, you know, not that everyone has to be friends, but you know what I’m saying, right? Like…

Teja (28:38):

Ah, it’s challenging. Yeah. I play Overwatch with Ashley, our head of operations, which is like, a fun online (Asher: Yeah.) video game. Like, you gotta <inaudible> like that, yeah. (Asher: Awesome, yeah.) Cool. So what’s on deck for your company? Like, in terms of product or maybe like, who you’re hiring. It’d be interesting just to…people listening may want to go, and apply, and join, and be a part of…

Asher (29:02):

Yeah, for sure. So yeah, so the biggest thing right now, like, we launched this, you know, V2 of our product, this self-serve offering kind of in late June, early July. So it’s still early days. We’ve already onboarded a bunch of customers. Today we’re ticketing a really kind of interesting mix. We’ve got a private airline in the Pacific Northwest. We’ve got an immersive ice cream experience in New York. Who knew that was a thing? We’ve got some, you know, kind of emerging up and coming sports teams in leagues. So we’re getting some really interesting traction. So a lot right now is just continuing to bring on new customers. From a product standpoint, we’re really focused on how do we help our customers, obviously sell more tickets at the end of the day, but you know, kind of, you know, on the road to doing that, how do we help them build a community of fans and attendees that are continuing to engage with their brand or their events, and how do we help them re-engage that community over time for future events or promotions or things like that.

Asher (30:05):

So that’s like, kind of, you know, I won’t share any specific features. We’re still working on a few things, but like, that’s how we’re thinking about our product growth and our product vision. It all has to drive, you know, those topics of community building, selling more tickets, re-engaging your community. So that’s really our main focus, and then, in terms of, you know, in terms of kind of the team right now, you know, we’re still kind of working through what that looks like, but we likely will be adding to our sales team at some point in the coming months. So we’ll definitely keep you and kind of your network posted there as well, but you know, that’ll be kind of the biggest thing for us as we continue to scale our customer base.

Teja (30:45):

That’s awesome. If you had one piece of advice for other entrepreneurs, what would it be?

Asher (30:52):

Wow, that’s really tough, again. I would say, one of the biggest things for me, like, I mean, there’s so many directions I could go here. One of the biggest things for me has been surrounding myself with the right people, and I say that from like, a hiring, but also from like, an advisor standpoint. You know, we have like, we have a few advisors. You know, some of them are more involved than others, which was kind of agreed upon. Some of them have really, you know, helped guide me through my first like, tech startup experience, right, and so I think, you know, the biggest thing that a startup founder can do is quickly identify what they’re really good at and what they’re not good at, and pick out those, pick out those gaps early on in your company, and do everything you can to fill those gaps as you grow, and not try and take on tasks where maybe you could do them, but that doesn’t mean you should be doing them, right? And so I think finding those gaps, filling those gaps with either employees or advisors, and then continuing to reassess what’s working, you know, where you think you should be adjusting your time, and therefore how that affects the rest of your team and who you’re surrounding yourself with. So that’s just one piece. I mean like, there’s other stuff, but I think that’s been one of the biggest things for me.

Teja (32:15):

That’s awesome. Where can people find you and your business on the interwebs?

Asher (32:20):

<Laugh>. Yeah, so we’re, you know, active on all social platforms. Our website is Tixologi, T-I-X-O-L-O-G-I, not Y. We’re kind of, you know, playing around with that. So you can find us there. We’re on all the social platforms, and please feel free to reach out personally, I’m just [email protected]. I always like to hear from, you know, folks, whether it’s investors, potential employees, potential customers. (THE FRONTIER THEME FADES IN) I think that’s a big thing, too, is just being available to your customer base has kind of become a lost art when it comes to leadership, (Teja: Yeah.) and so I’m trying to kind of change that for a while. I don’t know if I have it anymore, but I think I had my phone number on our site for a while. So my email’s definitely on there. I’m always happy to hear from folks, so please reach out.

Teja (33:08):

Awesome. Well, Asher, thank you so much for your time, man

Asher (33:09):

Thanks again so much for having me. I really appreciate it.

Abbey, via previous recording (33:12):

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