Three Things I've Learned In SaaS, Sports, Tech & Live Events 2020

The Three Things I've Learned in SaaS, Sports, Tech & Live Events are a weekly collection of what we've learned and observed in building a $100 million dollar technology business from scratch.

Read on to hear what we learned in a year where the Forty Niners made the Super Bowl, we tragically lost an NBA legend, a global pandemic changed everything and we still sold out investors and partners at a nine figure valuation.

Check out our welcome video to learn the who, what, why and where about Three Things: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIr_YWvf8ss

Please enjoy!

1. If considering entrepreneurship know going in there is no "down time." To some, being one's own boss is a vision of free time and autonomy. It's quite the opposite. When you're the name behind it, you're available all the time - no exceptions. As a business partner used to say often "if you can't reach me, you're not trying" and we saw it in action last week.
2. As a CEO, by the time a problem gets to your desk, it has already been through, and unresolved, by layers of incredibly smart and well rewarded professionals. There usually aren't clear or "good" answers - if there were the team would have come to them. Know this and plan accordingly
3. I knew nothing about cap tables, true return, preference rights, carry, or anything related to institutional finance when we started TicketManager and it really hurt me. Reading news and thoughts about the Endeavor/On-Location merger, it's clear many are in the same boat and others are taking advantage by overinflating their success. I'd suggest reading Brad Feld's Venture Deals no matter your current position and trajectory.
4. Conferences, events and hospitality cost more than even the experts account for and usually a lot more. Jason Lemkin of SaaStr shared a terrific thread of all costs associated with putting on a conference and what drives overruns (https://twitter.com/jasonlk/status/1213531284124778496). In smaller events, food and drink are always the culprit. Sometimes companies spend more on F&B than a suite license without even knowing it. And with the big events, be careful who you're talking to - events can be racket and are often terribly managed.
5. "We didn't lose because of (analytics). We lost because we can't tackle." In his talk with Nick Saban, Bill Belichick opined on the "new" types of coaches over reliant on tech and analytics. We can all load up our teams with all the best new tech, analytics, productivity apps etc but if they can't "tackle," we'll lose no matter the venture. Without a baseline of fundamentals, which is achieved by hard work (making the call, writing the code, practicing the pitch, experience), there won't be success. Too many use these terrific supplements as excuses to do less work instead of better work.
6. Enterprise SaaS growth companies are too often misunderstood with headlines stating they "Always lose money" and "aren't profitable." To build high annual contract value (ACV) business with high renewal rates usually requires long sales cycles and an investment, or loss, upfront. After the first cycle, though, great saas can turn very profitable at will but choose to continue to grow and capture an opportunity. The cycle worked, so do it again and do it at scale. In our case, we were profitable all four times we raised capital.
7. "Once you climb the mountain, you become the mountain." Nick Saban. Be prepared to defend your conquest before heading for the next. Much talk about how to take the market and customer churn, but w/ underestimation of new entrants (we were one.) Once proven valuable, the imitators arrive. The best build their defense while taking the mountain. A good exercise: If you were them, how do you beat you?
8. Be specific in asks of partners. People have full time jobs and are invested there. The best partnerships, we have 100s, are specific. Give them exact asks in bite-sized easy-to-digest parts- whether behemoths like Salesforce/Concur or smaller. "Can you intro me to Jon Doe at Acme Inc to discuss X and Y." Nobody else is going to sell your wares - that's your job - but they may want to help where they can. This on channel partnerships from Mark Suster in 2010 is still relevant: https://bothsidesofthetable.com/the-fallacy-of-channels-startups-beware-681355695a7f
9. Teams are starting to provide guidance to customers on how to price tickets in resale. They get outdated quickly (ex: Warriors or Browns on the road) but it is a step toward the new normal. Teams will need external and objective pricing tools to help customers and those tools coming from a firm with a financial interest in the transaction will be questioned. Problem is: studies show people are more adverse to loss than excited at gain and that psychology is impossible to offset. Try explaining a loss in a renewal convo. Painful. 
10. It's not permanent. We interview a lot of candidates and advise a number of start-ups. The disservice we as a society do to the younger generation is the myth of permanence. So many young candidates or founders think every decision, every failure, every outcome is more permanent than they are. Try things. If they don't work, you have time. 
11. RFPs are necessary in the enterprise b2b market. They are time consuming and sometimes, they just aren't right for your business. Just know that if your firm decides not to respond to an RFP, there will be hurt feelings, especially when they choose a competitor. It may not be personal to you, but people hate being told no and react as such. Plan accordingly
12. Sports teams in expensive cities are starting to outsource their sales teams to less expensive regions following the lead of many tech firms (we do the same). The Oakland A's are hiring a team in Mesa, AZ similar to how the Yankees hire in Tampa where they have 70+ reps.
13. Super Bowl weekend is where the pretenders and doers are separated. Newbies, and some overpaid dinosaurs (there are many), spend all weekend wasting time (and big $) being seen at parties by the same guests everyone's seen for years. While they're distracted, take new meetings and hustle. New brands are everywhere. A month worth of meetings can be achieved in 3 days. Plenty of events to take great customers to while avoiding the "professional guests."
14. Airbnb has disrupted the Super Bowl hotel market - as covered by SI. With Tampa and LA up next, package providers and the NFL will need to find other ways to obfuscate the mark-up they're applying to tickets. That room isn't worth $900 a night for four nights anymore and those package prices didn't drop one bit. Tampa has a heavy airbnb presence in Clearwater/St Pete/Ybor/N Tampa. https://t.co/rfNtwBWIT5?amp=1
15. On-Location Experiences and Sam Soni have everyone on their heels. Years ago, there were many who worked the Super Bowl market for $$$ from the arbitrage. The company has done a masterful job partnering with the right providers to maximize value, drive up the price, and cut out the middle. The original plan was for OLE to "kill Primesport" and cut out the secondary. Terrific course correction after a rocky start.
16. Everyone should quit. New teammates are surprised when we openly discuss the day they're going to quit and what we hope to happen. Reality is, there are only three ways out of a job: resignation, termination, or tragedy. We hope everyone quits and has a plan we can share together in advance so that day can be successful.
17. Everyone on the revenue team needs to understand unit economics - even entry level reps. If your tCAC is high b/c you sell high ACV and LTV software, it's imperative the troops know what it costs to get and keep a customer. Too often, people trying to do the right thing will be pennywise and pound foolish through no fault of their own (ex: trying to save $10 or $1000 here or there) when the investment is in line with the businesses assumptions.
18. Ninevah may be somewhere else. A number of talented people will hold onto an idea, job or strategy too long - even in in the face of overwhelming evidence. The tale of our plans not aligning with our destiny is one of the oldest. Better to sell it, close it, or leave it and move on as a good friend did recently. You'll find those who've built a business before will never say a bad word about anyone who gave it an honest try
19. Anyone who tells you they can spot a liar is…a liar? Finished "Duped" and "Talking With Strangers" exploring just how bad we all are at sniffing out dishonesty at all levels - even those who do it for a living in the CIA and from the judges bench. The more sure we are in our abilities, the worse we are at it. Worthwhile reads to counter our biases in hiring, negotiating and planning
20. The most popular "perk" with our team is the sick policy. The people in charge of people here have won a lot of awards but nothing gets as much feedback as the sick policy. Some find it strange when they learn we nearly demand sick people work from home and stay there a few days - even for a minor cold. The office becomes a safe place and our staff is quite vocal in their approval. Who knew hypochondriasis could be a culture positive
21. Had our company all-staff. No problems. A note to new founders: that's very rare. In start-ups, the legal/hr teams, if they even exist, are usually way understaffed creating a ton of liability at company events. As a founder or executive, the job is not to partake, it is to work. Find another place to blow off steam. Same goes for the exec team. Reputations are ruined in a matter of minutes. We did some stupid things in the early years that didn't blow up in our faces. All luck.
22. Vet your partners- all of em. Had a close friend lose his business this week due to world events out of his control. His partners left him with nothing. Make it painful to turncoat with paper in the outset. From "Thinking Fast & Slow" - 50% of marriages end in divorce yet 90% of people believe without doubt that stat doesn't apply to them. The vast majority of partnerships hit choppy water- even at your investors. Paper the deal and vet them. Buddies and family? Proceed with caution
23. Sales turnover has a compound effect which is very costly to try and correct down the road. Hiring for the wrong reasons in the short term has compound long-term impacts. Those SDRs become AEs become RSLs and you can't make up for lost time by trying to hire more later. Hire carefully and invest as if your start-up relies on it...because it does. Our top 5 contributors today? 3 were homegrown CSRs and one was one of our first partners/customers.
24. Sleep. We didn't. We followed the glam stories from other leaders and founders (Mayer, Cuban, Musk.) Nights, weekends, all of it. Working 12 hrs a day/7 days a week for years (yes, years) cost us friends, relationships, health and more. But the mistake I regret most is the sleep. Three years ago I read up on sleep. My life changed. Stress cut in half. Get sick a lot less. Clearer mind. More done. Founding a start-up requires sacrifice. Sleep can't be one. Mini-hacks: Use blue light filters, wear a mask, sleep 8 hours no matter what. Set a "reverse alarm" knowing you'll wake up before it and stay in bed until it goes off. The first three weeks are rough. It feels like too much sleep and foggy/groggy. Stick with it. LeBron gets 9 hours. Brady 9 hours. JJ Watt 9.5. Ariana Huffington 8. Trust em- it works! ??
25. Fee transparency is coming (as we predicted) and will be complicated. If fees are fully transparent, it will be easy to figure out if the seller is a fan, a broker, or owned by the "marketplace" themselves which leads to a number of arbitrage opportunities and trains the fan better on how to time a market. If done right, it will be terrific for the fan and bad news for "marketplaces" who have long charged higher fees than advertised.
26. Secondary retailers, who play in the primary market and buy inventory themselves to re-sell, are still using the "marketplace" claim as a broad defense for most actions. At some point, this definition will need to change to be better for the fan as it is a bit misleading. There is nothing wrong with a curated marketplace. They are a part of our lives everyday. The disclosure of this curation, however, is better for the fan/customer. More here: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/marketplaces-more-end-era-tony-knopp/
27. Congress invites the wrong people. The primaries want fee transparency and an end to speculative selling. The secondary wants open transferability. We knew these things already as they serve their self-interests. Difficultly in the industry is- nobody is really in the middle. The only times these firms begrudgingly work together is when forced by the content provider (ex: NFL) and asking them to solve together is unrealistic. If we're not careful, the Government is going to get in the middle.
28. Corporate guests and hosts are actively cancelling sports hospitality...not just conferences. A few fortune 100s eating sizable ticket inventories by cancelling invitations including expensive VIP stuff. Clamped down business travel the culprit. Not asking for refunds, just no-showing.
29. But they aren't cancelling sponsorship or packages nor is that conversation even starting. Current plans are all short term. Many just taking the loss or reselling the tickets so they can live to entertain again late spring.
30. Arbitrage exists and there are always those ready to pounce. Have already spoken to brokers consolidating buying power to pounce on a drop in event prices for summer/fall in the hope of recovery and resale by the time the actual event comes around
31. Boy is ebay happy they're not going to have to report public numbers on StubHub for Q2 2020. Timing is everything. They were selling and timed that short-term goal well.
32. Force Majeure. Many events do not have coverage for pandemics under a force majeure clause. We're about to see quite the fights over the meaning as some will claim pandemic was an act of God in the plagues of Egypt. Events needed someone else to cancel for them (usually the government) to take responsibility off their plate - hence the delays for some.
33. Timing is everything. The virus is going to destroy many businesses which are just getting going. Have had multiple friends in diligence lose deals, lose businesses, or are about to lose their jobs. We have so much less control of our "success" than many believe/trumpet with ego driven certainty on social platforms.
34. Government programs in times of need can work - we are proof of it. So please use them. We started in the financial meltdown. Research what is available to you. The programs we didn't understand at the time kept us in business/are a part of creating 100+ jobs.
35. I learned to keep a journal. 'The journey is the reward' for most and I really regret not having a journal, a blog or a three things from 2007-'10 as we navigated so much in our lives (got married, bought a house, started a company, economy collapsed, investor bailed, had twins, raised money - all In 3 short years)
36. Every downturn in my life has had a moment of excess right before it where we stop and wonder how this can continue. Super Bowl LIV and the ticket/party market around it will likely be that moment. Covid-19 was in full outbreak in China while we were all in Miami
37. Was reminded to smile, to laugh, to be creative, and not to let the very hard times around us take away our whole lives. Saw it in too many people around us this week. TicketManager is in a good place but so many people I care about are hurting badly and it can be easy to let that overwhelm life. I let that happen in 2008-09 b/c it felt like we were all supposed to be somber and measured- and I regret it. To that end, this chart is a great laugh- and so true. As an example: all the WFH advice we're getting online from the newbies. Fun reads for those with years of experience WFH
38. We learned billionaires can be tone deaf as can some Fortune 100 co's with tons of cash on the balance sheet. A company with mms/blns on-hand stiffing a ten person shop who just laid off half the staff is a real bad look.
39. Had a coach in HS who had a policy: "There are no excuses here, only reasons." Waiting to drive to practice to the last minute and hitting traffic = Excuse. Tire blowing out = Reason. I'm tired today = Excuse. I am legitimately hurt = Reason. Covid-19 is a reason for so much pain. It makes those trying to attach excuses to it opportunistic in the worst way. And there will be many…for years.
40. Keep moving. We all want to work. I met my first mentor on 9.11.01. The meeting had been planned, we didn't know what to do, so we had a beer while Bush addressed the nation. It led to my first sports job at the Dodgers. 9.3.2008, The day after our investor bailed on us, we flew to Houston anyways, walking the airport while Palin gave the RNC speech, and sold a deal to save the company. We got one of our first big customers on the phone the day before Thanksgiving 2009 - when nobody was at work. These are awful times but, as Dory so aptly teaches us..."Just Keep Swimming"
41. "We'll see." So many in live events just waiting. In 2004, Hockey locked out and we believed it would end soon. It didn't. Month after month our paychecks evaporated. It was awful. AEG was great to us. Once the season cancelled my boss, Chris, told me to go try something else and I could always come back when hockey did. 3 months later I started at StubHub. This recession will create similar stories. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2cjVhUrmI
42. Nobody follows ALL the rules. They just expect others to. And you're no different. Watching people's shock at others not following quarantine rules is no surprise to anyone who has led a bigger team. People think ALL the rules is for everyone else and they can choose the ones to break. That's where budgets break, micromanaging begins, and culture is tested.
43. Talking to companies about their plans for tickets going forward and we are headed for mass cancellations way beyond anything we saw in 2008. It's a lot worse and a lot sooner than many think. The return date doesn't seem to matter anymore, many planning just to stop paying. Teams sued during the financial crisis and will do so again.
44. "The loudest one in the room is the weakest in the room." - American Gangster. Few things more true in business or the fight gym. Whether a negotiation, competition, legal tiff or a stand-off - be wary the quiet and ignore the loud. In our gym, it was a 5'11 quiet Englishman who drove a Volvo, had 3 kids and taped his earrings to spar. He'd mop the floor with all of us- and some of those dudes were scary. https://twitter.com/tonyknopp/status/1248622650332594176
45. The "Nuremberg" defense of "I'm just doing my job" only works if the defendant were forced into said job by poverty or fear of death (like in Nuremberg). If carrying a college degree in a first world democracy, it is merely a public proclaiming of just how inexpensive integrity is. (Spoiler: It didn't work at Nuremberg) https://twitter.com/tonyknopp/status/1248622653142794241
46. In enterprise software few things more expensive than a lack of discipline in the process. In building, selling, on-boarding and servicing, confidence comes from discipline. Any slip has an exponential cost down the line. Like tech debt, it compounds and costs companies money. Discipline to the process is table stakes to a healthy and growing business. https://twitter.com/tonyknopp/status/1248622654661095427 
47. Panic porn wastes our most precious resource: Time. My biggest regret from the '04 NHL lockout was all the time spent on conjecture. Articles with no real info were out everyday. Will they, won't they, who knows the latest (hint: nobody knew anything). The current situation in sports/content is no different (Arizona? North Dakota!? August! 2021!...) Better to spend 10 minutes on real news and move on to something productive.
48. The strong get stronger in hard times. When an industry gets hammered, there emerges active institutional dollars and strategic buying. Ticketmaster bought Rival, which was happening before the fallout, and is just the beginning of consolidation in sports/live events which will look a lot like the major finance industry consolidation of 2009. Banks we never saw together paired up quickly then.
49. Take note of the investors who were out publicly proclaiming lower valuations, slower deal flow and deal hunting on social media like they were happy about it- and there were plenty. The one person you don't want in your foxhole is a coward. Most companies take a decade or more and will see a downturn. We all need good partners in those times
50. Teams/Leagues have been stalling (understandably) but they're about to run out of time. Companies want to be "good partners" but they're starting to get pressure internally and the majority don't want to be in the building right when sports comes back. Someone needs to offer some direction as money can't be held much longer without fights coming. Everyone has good faith until there is a disagreement. And, per a past three things, once a disagreement arises everyone, unfortunately, devolves down to the lowest denominator....contracts. We're running out of time before things get ugly.
51. "You know what I hate about f**king banking? It reduces people to numbers." - Ben Rickert in The Big Short - applicable to almost anything- comes up all the time when leading a business, especially in tumultuous economies. (The rest of the quote is terrifying given today's context- "every 1% unemployment goes up, 40,000 people die")
52. "You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end - which you can never afford to lose- with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be" - James Stockdale. Talking to a lot of really optimistic leaders when it comes to post Covid-19 life. I hope they're right but worry about their survival.
53. "Layoffs" and "Furloughs"- Execs may think there's a big difference, but it's still telling someone they're not getting paid and released into a historically bad job market with few hiring. That's just sucky no matter the semantics. I learned that's lost on some who are delivering awful news the past month.
54. Great crooks are charismatic and believable - at all levels- that's what makes them good crooks! We all seem to know this when confronted with it yet many still hire the crook or trust the bandit due to our assumption of truth (Gladwell/ Talking To Strangers). Charm and charisma, useless attributes in most scenarios, sway too many decisions. Hard times are breeding grounds for con-men/women. Plan accordingly. 
55. One strong personality influences a group more than we all think. We held 5 roundtables with over 150 people last week. We asked at the end of each: "would you go to a live event tomorrow." The answers for each group were swayed dramatically by the answers of the first few respondents. If a strong personality, it influenced the groups answers even more. For those curious, it ended up about 50/50 yes/no and that was heavily driven by geographic region.
56. Many companies are looking at P&L's the same way we're all looking at our past months credit card bills and seeing more can be done with less. The new normal is looking worse than many believe for the very long unemployment lines.
57. Do the simple things great and you can't be stopped. In the early days of the Air Raid offense, with far lower rated recruits, Coaches Hal Mumme and Mike Leach didn't stretch, didn't run sprints, and had no playbook- just 12 plays- so their kids wouldn't be confused. It's all they practiced. Teams knew exactly what was coming, and couldn't stop them. The famous Texas Tech upset drive over #1 Texas? They ran the same play four straight times. Texas knew it. Harrell to Crabtree TD anyway. Now that's a goal for any business.
58. History is repeating itself in ticketing. The sins of the fathers are front row center as events are trying to control too much. Heard one venue order their naming rights holder they couldn't re-sell inventory (they were laughed at and ignored) - while most teams now encourage resale. Better to have some of something than all of very little - and easier to move to all of everything- just ask Wal-Mart and Amazon.
59. Suites are all the talk in tickets right now- but many assumptions are off the mark. Yes, suites will be more popular than regular tickets as we come back, but many seem to believe companies will be buyers. They will not. 2020 budgets are wiped out. Buyers will be more like traditional groups - and those are not signing 2/5/7/10 year deals. Companies will be sellers, not buyers.
60. "A crisis is a terrible thing to waste" - Unemployment is awful. The bright side? There are many talented people who hadn't yet broken their "fuzzy handcuff" jobs to take the leap into pursuing their great ideas. Live events, in particular, are ripe for new entrants. Similar to all the new tech entrants after the internet bubble of 2000. Incumbents in the space are kneecapped and a major industry is a pariah….no better time.
61. Hell hath no fury like a lover scorned. A tale as old as Joseph and Potiphar's wife will happen again and again in enterprise software (and sponsorship, tech, etc), especially when letting an abusive customer know it is time to move on. No need to worry - it's part of growing up. It'll be an annual thing beyond year three as a company grows and challenges status quo.
62. Treating vendors like indentured servants will not help your business. In our experience, you 'catch more bees with honey.' Many point to Walmart, Amazon, Apple etc who all hammer their vendors, but that's a different game than enterprise saas & services. We don't want our vendors rolling their eyes when we call -and that's helped us significantly.
63. Sports jobs will be available. The recovery may be slower than many think. There will be a # of furloughed staffers at teams, leagues and sports tech who find something else to do and don't return to their good jobs. It's how I ended up at StubHub from AEG during the hockey strike. Now is the time to get in front of execs where you want to be as they aren't as busy. Spoke to one of the best recruiters in the game and they agreed.
64. I don't want to be like Mike. "Winning has a price. Leadership has a price." Truth. And the price is steeper than many think (certainly has been for me). But the ends don't justify the means. There are countless examples of those who've accomplished much more for society or in their profession who weren't fueled by slights. I love good trash talk, but I'll otherwise pass on following his lead.
65. StubHub completed 200+ layoffs with news staff is returning June 1. Nobody knows how secondary comes back or just how tarnished the brands are for not refunding. Marketing material for competition for years. Customers in ticketing are not very loyal- even less so than airlines. Sometimes the fish eating the whale doesn't end so well.
66. Companies usually die quietly. What do we expect as a message from a floundering company? "We're dying please go tell everyone?" This sentiment came to a head when ScoreBig went under and the ticket industry was furious it was a "surprise" (it wasn't). Customers and teammates are, sadly, often last to know. It's happening now to many. Great thread here: https://lnkd.in/g4tJVc8 .
67. All are Copernicus/Galileo until they learn how C&G were treated. Changing the status quo is met with vitriol, not a wave of 'congrats.' Many "contrarians" ironically trumpet ideas on social media for likes then are upset if disagreed with (and even block dissents). Real truth is always mocked, then attacked, then accepted. Your start-up will be the same. "Artists lead while hacks ask for a show of hands" - Jobs
68. Defense of any institution always comes from those invested in it. Galloway nails modern academia here but it is applicable to any industry: https://profgalloway.com/post-corona-higher-ed-part-deux/ .The same is true in start-up growth tech. Only those comfortable with conflict can be great teammates, partners and customers. Find those who think like Galloway in your industry and build your community of customers and partners around them. Identify those who are "the institution" and don't waste your time for awhile
69. Whether we see an iconic moment live from a luxury club or the $2.50 left field bleachers at Candlestick behind Kevin Mitchell - watch on a big screen or from a sidewalk outside a bar as Tiger Woods iconic chip on 16 rolls in - attend in person or sneak a listen to Warriors games on a hand-me-down Walkman from the bottom bunk on a school night- the experience of live is singular to each of us exactly where we are in our journey. It's personal and one of a kind to only us. One taste of that drug and live will roar back bigger than ever
70. An idea stands on its own merit. Social media has taken confirmation bias to a new level and leads new founders to over-index the ideas of those who have had a win or two. So many mistakes are made trying to copy others or assigning an idea value based on the author. Finding great advice is step one. But it's just that - one step. Applying advice appropriately is the difference between our businesses living or dying. I've made that mistake too many times and it's been costly.
71. People will leave…and some poorly. It's not new but founders struggle when those leaving a company look to extract as much as they can on the way out the door. Often these behaviors lead founders to implement policies which can hurt the great ones after the actions few. It's tempting to put things in place to try and protect against it happening in the future, I get it, but that's toxic. Know these actions coming and it isn't personal to them, so it can't be to you.*
72. Everyone has very different definitions of what a "win" is. Talk to your leader about what hers/his are in detail. Really dig in. Some want money, clout or fame at any cost- staff/partners be damned. Some want prestige. If you understand what drives the leader, there won't be surprises when the chips are down. You'll know if they'll protect you or take the money and head for the door accepting congratulations along the way leaving you with a crummy boss or, worse, in the layoff line.
73. Protect your equity! Lotta people starting businesses/borrowing in a recession. I have plenty of advice on what not to do (I'm experienced at it) but #1 is: protect your equity. Use loans, debt, cash, notes - anything to save equity for those who will matter most.
74. Ticket Brokers have eyes on the Trump rally tomorrow in Tulsa. Multiple people in the live events business have told us they're watching closely how the event, and the weeks following, play out. They believe it is the first major data point towards a return to live sports. What a world.
75. Pressure never goes away - for anyone. Enjoyed reading JR's book on the backstage world of the WWE. The most interesting tidbit: Stone Cold Steve Austin checking into a Seattle hospital the night before his Wrestlemania 19 match with The Rock. Anxiety and panic attacks, so pervasive (#SameHere), have nothing to do with toughness. Even at the top, the greats sometimes put too much pressure on themselves.
76. There are no guarantees. Especially in start-ups. Reading about the downfall of the XFL and how so many demanded guaranteed contracts (something inexplicably done way too often in team sports) to join a "start-up." That's not much of a start-up. Rewards are tied to risk. Take none, get none. https://www.espn.com/xfl/story/_/id/29297846/how-xfl-came-crashing-its-collapse-means-future-spring-football 
77. My parents were laid off 7 times in tech. Hard working overachievers victims of big companies. How leadership handles layoffs changes lives forever. It's a big reason why I've chosen careers with more control of my own destiny. Never underestimate what a furlough/layoff does to a family when making decisions. They're not numbers…they're our future
78. Do what you're best at and do not let go of it. For years we were told to delegate or we'd never scale. And that's true, for most things. I've learned, however, to stay involved in what you're exceptional at. I wasted a lot of money delegating what I shouldn't have. Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Sam Walton, Vince McMahon, Lorenzo Fertitta and many others did what they did best no matter the size of the team/business
79. Network "down." A mentor, who was networking down at the time, showed me it is important to network with the entire org chart. It works. Stars are easy to spot and time flies. They'll be in the big jobs before you know it. I personally know a dozen CEOs I met early in their rise.
80. Net dollar churn + lost LTV are killers in sports. Todays' cycle: new venue opens, buyers are overextended into season/psl/suite deals by an outsourced firm, and few teams incentivize farming. Losing customers is an inevitable part of business for everyone but replacing them without a new building or superstar? Some teams are about to find out how hard that reality is and quickly. The sins of the past are made and there are going to be some really hard hit teams who move through the venue evolution cycle faster than they planned.
81. The "Ivy" is taking over baseball…so why not the business offices? Many in sports underpay entry level staffers as there are "100s of resumes waiting." Yes, that's true, there are so many who will give up so much to chase a job in sports. But imagine the talent if there were 10,000 resumes generated by wages competitive with other industries? These jobs can compete with Google, Amazon, FB, McKinsey etc if they were just somewhat wage comparable. It's a lost opportunity.
82. Resulting holds us back. Talking to many laid off in a pandemic apologizing/blaming themselves. Results matter, yes, but they don't make our decisions any more right or wrong. Even great bets can, and do, lose. And quite often. 10 out of 100 on a 90% bet we'd all take. A mentor told me during hard times in 2012 "You can't promise the universe, your family, your team or your investors you'll be successful. That's dishonest. You can only promise you will try your best." Wrote it down then and follow those wise words to this day.
83. Time for me to stop doing back-to-back meetings for a number of reasons: a) Good meetings require time to digest, gather notes, update CRM and set action items around b) They promote busywork. If a meeting is so easily closed, was it necessary? c) Need time to decompress, use the bathroom, answer email, address personal inquiries w/out being late d) They cap great meetings leaving no room to extend. e) They can be taken as rude by others and I don't want that. Hasta luego back to backs
84. 84. Short-cuts are hard. Otherwise it would just be 'the way.' So many want to "skip the line" in the professional world w/out appreciating that "line" is millions of people working hard through legacy orgs for decades who will defend their stature and cushy checks at all costs. Skipping the line requires a hefty dose of risk, really hard work, and uncertainty. There's a reason millions opt for "safer" paths at bigger companies. Many in the workforce are considering start-ups and surprised by the sacrifices necessary to jump in line. Don't be.
85. We all have different goals. In JR's memoir he recounts the night Shawn Michaels retired in a Wrestlemania rematch with the Undertaker. When huge after parties and VIP treatment awaited them, what did HBK, Taker and JR decide to do after the match? They blew it all off to make a small fire in the parking lot, sit in lawn chairs and drink beer till morning. "Just a couple of rednecks where we were most comfortable" That's my kind of VIP. Too many leading with promises of wealth when we have a very different definition.
86. Venture / PE meetings are worth the time*. Often leadership teams refer to capital raise / acquisition talks as a time suck and lament funds who "waste founders time." If approached correctly, they are a great audience to hone messaging and test theories with.Free consulting from smart people has served us well and helped us prioritize our roadmap. If they're going to openly use your time to try and fit their fund, there is nothing unethical about you doing the same. If it isn't a fit, and done professionally, everyone still gains
87. Life is open book/open notes. So are job interviews, sales calls, customer meetings, even friendly meet-ups. Information is everywhere and easily accessible. Coming in unprepared in today's world is impossible to recover from. Such a simple point missed by so many. An easy rule of thumb - Spend 1:2 time preparing. If an hour meeting/interview, spend half hour preparing notes and doing research. An easy formula and it works when we bring notes and come prepared. Your stress level will drop significantly too.
88. Go or don't but do not hesitate. The middle is where people get hurt. With so many looking for new work, new education, or starting a company the biggest mistake it going halfway in on an idea. In big wave surfing there is a point of no return- hence "go or don't." Once you've began the process, make a decision to go or not. Once you do, things get hard, but you've made the decision to Go. Hesitating leads to failure nearly every time. Business is no different
89. War Games with the whole team at all levels helps align your business or department. Do them annually and the team will align bigger picture. Some observations: everyone hires themselves away to competition - but they don’t get hired by any of the other groups. Teams blow through budgets quickly while underestimating tech costs, time to market, competition and much more.
90. Everyone looks out for themselves. Founders struggle when those leaving a company look to extract as much as they can on the way out the door. The common reaction is to put in place processes to discourage later. I get it, but it's foolish and toxic. Know it's coming and it isn't personal to them, so it can't be for you. Celebrate the great ones - ignore the others.
91. Despite what is often said in process - the whole firm matters when picking an investor. VC's/PE's have a ton of turnover. There's a good chance your contact point will change and it won't be positive. We've been lucky we've had the same involved from the beginning at both, but many who pitched us hard in 2015 with big promises are looong gone from their firm.
92. Plan for the "ladder leapers." In the enterprise they are the ones moving up at all costs, part of the game at big cos with rotations. Trying to negotiate to please them is often a loss as goodwill is gone the minute they move on and up, bridges burned and all.Know they're coming, it isn't personal, and if your product is good you'll survive them. And make sure your team isn't incentivizing the same kind of behavior. It's harmful as they treat their team the same way which leads their careers to stall with nobody left to help
93. Lose graciously. Back in 2012, we were the frontrunner for what would have been our biggest customer. A ladder leaper showed up last minute and we lost. Our team was devastated and we did not lose graciously. When the customer returned, it was difficult for them to reach out. Thank goodness they did, they're a great partner now but that was out of their maturity, not ours. Always leave the door open and believe in your product.
94. Fear of titles is the top differentiator in deal makers at all levels - even internally. Deal makers who are scared of titles, both internally and externally, set a ceiling for themselves. I was one once - over cautious around those in big jobs and over respectful. Those who are willing to ruffle some feathers close more big deals. Check out the commentary for a few examples in our journey of how this advice has helped us.
95. Fare is what you pay to ride the bus. Man, I heard this one 1000x growing up. Fair is just, right, true and what we should all aspire to for everyone. Especially now. But it is not our reality today - not yet. Complaining about fair and being paralyzed by it is wasted breath and too common- especially by some of us who have little to complain about. Use the energy to change things for the better - especially now, when so much is so unfair for so many. I learned the hard way by complaining about an injustice done a friend while at AEG. It was foolish.
96. You get what you pay for with lawyers in enterprise sales. In tech, names don't matter all that much. In law, they matter quite a bit. And they will help those who look to profiteer off you know you're not kidding around. It took me a long time to learn legal is an investment and that legal spend has immediate ROI. The legal world is full of the same snakes, bottom feeders, and "night school drop-outs" as one of our friends calls them. Having the size and strength of a good lawyer behind you will save you money. It has us.
97. They're not even at the wheel. Working from home is still just for the select few- despite the headlines today. If your team wasn't accustomed to it, many aren't actually doing it. I know, I know, this is where everyone says "Not US!" I'll take that bet every time. Why? 82% of gym members go 1x per week and 63% not at all. Many aren't asleep at the wheel, they're not even at the wheel. It's really hard. We hired a full team at StubHub remote and have had a number of remote workers here. It is very hard and filled with distractions. We all have friends who are "working from home" but we see them out and about on social etc. It's happening at all of our companies and now it is more noticeable than ever.
98. The road to mediocrity is smooth and easy. People say they want "happy customers" who don't challenge them. That's a sure fire way to fail. When you find a customer who pushes you as a partner invested in your future, give them an audience. They will help you by spotting holes and motivating your team, and you, to be better while treating everyone respectfully. We're not that smart. Our clients are. Silence is our enemy as it doesn't allow us to tap into the future of our business and our products.
99. Everything looks easy once it's done right. The best make it look easy, whether products or people, and that comes from endless work. When you find those who make it look easy, get as close to them as you can. Take their investment. Hire them. Work for them or with them. Often, people will attribute to "luck" or "timing" that your product seems so simple, your sales seem so easy, or your network so useful. It's no different than watching a great athlete - they make it look so easy to do superhuman things after a lifetime of practice.
100. Large deals don’t usually feel real. Often times the biggest deals don't come through natural channels and almost feel "fake" so sales people won't pursue them. Some of our largest deals have come about in ways that didn’t seem like real prospects. That means you'll waste a lot of time on deals which never materialize to get a few big ones, but that's much better than the alternative. Our largest customer came through a non-traditional channel. As did our seed/A investors and some of our best partnerships
101. The best ability is availability- Danny Ainge. It's a bloodbath in live events w/ mass layoffs and bankruptcies weekly while big players are kneecapped w/o resources for their core business, let alone something new. There are a number of very lucky well-capitalized businesses. who hit the jackpot in live raising rounds right before the pandemic. Didn't matter who was #1 or #2 - Covid changed everything and many who were perceived to be in the 2, 3 or 4 spot are thrust into pole position for roll-ups, acquisitions and a restart. I learned this one the hard way in my first sports sales job. I wasn't #1 and couldn't figure out why. Finally did: One of the other reps was coming in on weekends and taking inbound calls- which wasn't against any rules. They were available. I wasn't. They won.
102. Loyalty, the rocket fuel of growth, can't be bought. But it has been lost by many in live. There will be a huge talent gap at many companies once we're back. If a company cut bait there will be a very tough road ahead rebuilding great talent. Great talent only comes with trust and loyalty. There is a lot of resentment out there and that takes awhile to forget. I'm told often by those defending them "but they're just furloughs or temporary." (as we've covered earlier). We talk to them. They don't see it that way.
103. "Friends like these." It's really tough out there and work is hard to find. Be authentic in asks. I can't tell you how many reach out telling us how big a fan of our business they've been when we haven't heard from them in years. It's humbling and flattering people want to work with us. There is no greater compliment and it is more than enough. Pretending to be long-lost friends when there's something to sell is transparent and could hurt our chances. We all have those transactional relationship people. Just tell the truth with humility. Good people are really hard to find and the truth is always enough. Anyone with a heart knows how hard it is out there today. It's not a scarlet letter to get laid off in a pandemic. My parents were laid off 6x just during my HS years.
104. "To die would be a great adventure"- Peter Pan. All kinds of "new" ideas reframe Pan's statement from 1904. Call it "Grit," call it "win or learn" call it whatever you want. Covid19 has many asking "what if my business goes away?" Unfortunately, that question is always there. You'll just get more comfortable with the prospect. It wrecked me for years. WTD? Plan your funeral. Lean in. Get your "affairs in order." Who you'll call. What you'll try next. Even write the failure release. Then file it away. It's done. And go focus on the fun part.
105. "Sounds like she's not the one" Rolling on the floor laughing. Hard decisions are clearer than we want them to be and that's where experience is invaluable. Accept the truth when focus has been distracted and get back to clarity. My dad offered only that one line to a heartbroken college kid. He was right then. Still is. And this kind of clarity and brevity continues to guide us, especially now when many are pivoting for the sake of busy work or pouring resources into short term half-baked ideas. People who have 'done this before' cut through bullshit quickly.
106. They're saying all of it. Sit down and write down all the possible bad things your team would say about you. Anything you can think of and be brutal. No self-protection or defending oneself. Take a few days to add to it. Then accept that they're saying all of it and that's OK. Leadership is taking people somewhere else. A lot of people are content right where they are. It's natural friction. A leaders job isn't to appease the masses and some of the list is best ignored. Says here you'll find some gold. And now, we have a list of where we can be better.
107. The sins of the past. In the ticketing / live events industry we've seen our share of high profile flame outs. More are occurring every week during the pandemic. We all pay for the sins of others - has always been that way- and we need to plan for it. The start-up going under and leaving liabilities makes teams and companies more trigger shy to work with smaller firms. Big company decisions reflect on the industry as a whole around refunds, layoffs, sponsor deals and pressures on incumbents. Arguing these narratives or using them as excuses is wasted breath. Use them. We had a lot of pretty big challenges when we started off but one of the biggest was the sins of the companies in front of us. Two in particular made our lives difficult: 1) The thousands of times re-sellers tried to mask what they were doing when working with teams/leagues, which made nearly everyone assume our intentions were exactly that. 2) New tech makes huge promises and never delivers. All the vendors who went into companies in front of us, be it CRM, Martech, ERP etc, all missed implementation forecasts and budgets by a mile. We could have complained about those things, and we did a bit to be honest, but then we realized those beliefs were hindering anyone trying to compete with us as well and, if successful, we could be a very sticky business. The bar is set pretty low right now. Companies in sports and live events are doing some pretty crappy things to their customers and employees. That's an opportunity, not a hindrance.
108. Equity in partnerships has become the norm in sports (and pretty common in all tech). If looking to build on teams, leagues, brands, or incumbents, better set aside part of the cap table for those needs from the start. Incumbents learned long ago to carry a portfolio of those in their ecosystem. In exchange, stand firm on measurable deliverables. Many a company has been put under by draconian or bad partnerships - especially in sports tech. Time flies but not long ago we were starting to form partnerships with major companies and incumbents in enterprise tech and sports tech. Often we were met with boilerplate partnership deals. Don't sign those - see sins of the past. There is a give and take and always will be, but too often other companies are reckless in partnership which misleads the incumbents into unrealistic expectations. I had drinks with one in 2012 after we couldn't come to an agreement. He gave me three companies to use as a model. I was super conflicted. It made me feel like maybe we were wrong. But we held onto our principles, even though we weren't sure, b/c their deals didn't pass the smell test for us. Today, all three have gone bk and we've got some wonderful partnerships where everyone is winning.
109. 9 out of 10 sales people (and many execs) are hasty, impulsive and impatient- usually due to incentives. Use this to your advantage- and incent your team with these in mind. Good people like to help good people. Leave the pitch at the door and they may just be the oxygen you need at some point in the future- as Centerpoint and Waste Management were for us when we least expected and most needed it.* This week we signed a customer we met four years ago. Time flies. When we started the company in 2007, we tried to make the landing as soft as possible. We has some relationships we thought would come with us (some did, most didn't. Young reps are much easier replaced than they believe). There were two customers who kept us alive. I had been calling on them for years in a crowded space where everyone was calling on them and neither one did anything with me when I was at StubHub. When we started a new firm, they chose us bc of how respectful we'd always been. Those two customers, Waste Management and Centerpoint Energy, were more than half our revenue through the very lean years in 08 and 09.
110. Pay the recruiter. Hire the best to hire the best. We didn't for the first few years as a start-up and it was a huge mistake. We tried it all. Contingency. Listings. Postings. And that's all well and good for a number of positions but the big jobs? That recruiter fee sure did look too expensive for us (sometimes up to $75k per placement). We learned the very hard way that it is much more expensive to go it alone.. When bootstrapping, cash is so valuable. Every single penny comes out of your own coffers. At one point, we were down to $30k in the company and I had $6k to my name. We raised a pretty big seed round - $2.5mm - which is a healthy size for a b2b saas - and had big plans. Throwing $60-$80k at two hires right off the bat sounded crazy. So we didn't do it. We worked our networks and spent way too much time trying to do it ourselves. It was the wrong decision. We learned, hired the best headhunters, and got talent which has grown us to where we are now while I watched - a business which has exited two founders and had multiple offers. It's expensive, but worthwhile investment.
111. "There is nothing with more scrutiny which people know less about than NFL Football." Being a start-up or growth CEO isn't much different. Everyone "results" regardless of how good the decision. It is a very public role and everyone has an opinion on how the job should be done. You'll be tempted to explain yourself or question yourself. You will be criticized. Prepare, call the play and live with the results- even if they are Russell Wilson to Malcolm Butler. We all know how the super bowl heavyweight fight between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks ended - with Butler intercepting Wilson while the whole world wondered why we didn’t get another serving of "Beast Mode" - an easy hand off to Marshawn Lynch. In "Thinking in Bets," as we've discussed here, Annie Duke makes the case that Head Coach Pete Carroll's play call was, actually, the safest and best play call. It had the lowest turnover probability, allowed for the team to save a time out to run another play, and beast mode could be called next. Doesn't matter. He'll be criticized for the rest of his life. And he's okay with that. We can all, and should, get to that place ourselves.
112.  Fear is louder than Hope. It's why we "feel" bad news so much more than good. As pointed out this week, new things, like an NFL season with limited fans, are always met with fear. Whenever something goes wrong, especially early in start-up land or in an engagement with a new customer, fear amplifies every element tenfold. Don't let fear, and fear mongers sway decision making . In short: Do what you'd do if you weren't afraid. Starting a business comes with gut punches. Physical ones. You can feel them. Like the time a co-founder accidently sent our second best term sheet to our best one. I remember that one. Cost us half a million dollars and three weeks of sleep. I'll never forget walking home knowing I had to tell my family the deal was gone for now. Or losing a big RFP in 2011 (they eventually returned). Felt that one too. Or our investor leaving us high and dry in 2008. Felt that one in my legs. Fear is so powerful and bad news so negative, if we don't check it it will push us into bad decisions. Played golf with a psychologist in Maui about ten years ago and asked him what's the one life hack you'd give a stranger. His response: Imagine you didn’t have any fear. Now make the decision. Do what you would do if you weren't afraid. Great advice repeated often with Team Knopp.
113. Time is all that matters to great salespeople. They don't "have to make 500 calls," they know they only "have" ~500 calls before time expires. They don't even look at activity stats. Once they see the world through the time lense, they prioritize what closes deals. They don't waste time on people who can't say yes. They get to No quickly. They ruthlessly eliminate busywork. Like Bill Walsh says - "The score will take care of itself" Whenever we talk to a sales team about the difference between the #1 person and the rest, we get excuses. She or he knows the product better. They had a bigger network when they started or a better territory or they got lucky. Once we weed through it, it really comes down to time. Too often we all get caught working for the sake of work and not protecting the outcome. I learned that one day the hard way. When I played volleyball at USC, there were a few of us who would stay after practice and hit the weight room (4 or 5 of the 18 of us). Honestly, it's the only way I could stay on the court as the people around me were more athletic than me and I had started playing so much later than them. Sometimes I would get to practice knowing I would go to the gym after and the coach would inform us, as a team, we were all going to the gym after practice. As a teenager, I would bitch and moan and just "get through" the workout I was being told to do. Until, as simple as it was, I realized - I was going to be here anyways. Why not do it well. Why view it as I "have" to do these exercises instead of using that time to do them well. Time matters. In the end, it's your most precious asset.
114. Why use destruction when distraction works better. "If I were Satan, I wouldn't destroy the church with big bombs. I would distract them with the two to three things they disagree on so they didn't pay attention to the hundreds they do agree on. Little bombs over and over. Then, they'll destroy themselves." Yikes. We've seen dynasty's crumble over the little bombs. Teams, countries and businesses. Covid is hurting us all so badly but we have to keep our attention on the little bombs. Losing teammates sucks. Attrition is part of running a business or department. Sometimes, they're good losses where they're on to bigger and better things. But others? It's a break-up. And the craziest thing about the business break-up is when we actually dig into why, it's rarely a big bomb. They wouldn't have come to work with us if it was. Never a missed promotion or something big done. It's always something small. A small disagreement. Bob Hamer asked this week on Twitter what the most challenging part of leadership is. Our answer is communication. Everyone has a unique narrative for why they choose to work with a leader. They are intricate. They are delicate. And they are important. What's is a "little bomb" to some is a deal breaker to others. What may seem like it has consensus, may actually not. We've lost a few team mates to small things which we could see.
115. Find someone close to you who cares about you enough to tell you No. We're so blessed as entrepreneurs to have done this for so long. As such, we get contacted about ideas- many of which won't work. It's so hard to say no for two reasons: 1) it hurts feelings and 2) even if you're right, many will dislike you for it. Starting a new business is a no game. We all know it. It's been glamorized to a point it is almost a badge of honor. But those no's are usually coming from where we expect them...banks and investors (side note; go get those nos...one of the best places for feedback. ) the yes are just as big a problem. We all have friends who start businesses and the community wants to be nice so we don't save them from themselves. They spend money and time chasing down bad ideas. If you have a friend who cares about you enough to tell you no...don't attack them. Cherish them. When running east looking for a sunset, the person who turns around first is the winner. When on location raised a bunch of money we went and met with their team. It was a friendly meeting and their top execs, like john, were terrific. Inquisitive and open to dialogue. One meeting ill never forget, however, was when some of the generals went on and on about how they were going to kill Primesport. Exact words. When we asked how they were going to do so? We assumed price and inventory would be the answer but it wasn't. We voiced our concern. Some in the room grew angry and wouldn't listen to any feedback. Others listened. It didn't work. They eventually bought Primesport and course corrected into a sale to endeavor. Some in that room are still upset about it. 
116. We gotta move! Too many live events companies and professionals - employed, laid off and furloughed - seem to believe all they need to do is stick around in the live events industry, wait it out, and they'll be rewarded. Big mistake. We are not "going back to the way it was" or even close. Those who are using the cover of night/indifference of the status quo will be those who reap the rewards. Some terrific examples in the commentary including those who used bias to their advantage in programming and law. There is a terrific history of those who used the cover of massive downturns (Honda creating motorcycles in the ruble of WW2), oppressive bias (Malcolm Gladwell writes in Outliers about how the Jewish litigation and corporate takeover attorneys of the 70's and 80s couldn't get work outside of corporate law, which wasn't lucrative at the time. They became the experts as it became a lucrative practice. Walter Isaacson and Steven Levy in "The Innovators" and "Hackers" write about how men in the 40's, 50's, and 60's only wanted to work in hardware engineering leaving the code writing to the women, like Grace Hopper, Jean Jennings and Betty Snyder who were overlooked for hardware jobs. They created big chunks of the framework of our computing today. I talk to execs and job seekers every day in live events. Too many of them are making that Thursday at 2pm tee time and waiting to "get back to what they were doing." It won't be there. Not in the same way. And they'll quickly learn that many of us used the dark of night to work even harder on the future they didn't see. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/02/fashion/the-innovators-by-walter-isaacson-how-women-shaped-technology.html
117. "If someone builds a big beautiful building others have two choices: 1) build their own or 2) tear yours down. The latter is clearly easiest. Many will come and try to destroy your work. Know they're coming and respond by continuing to do good. My daughter started a community rock garden. It's beautiful and on a busy street. Someone will destroy it. When they do, we will build it again. Do the same with your business, your reputation and your pipeline. As you grow, competitors and stakeholders will get envious, jealous, or spiteful. Then the nonsense will come - excuses, lies, attacks and lawsuits. Keep rebuilding. Over and Over. In the end, love wins. As my dad told me growing up "Cops, Lawyers and Firefighters are either jaded and miserable or the most wonderful people you'll ever meet. They see the worst of us every day and some get pulled into it. Others, they're changing the world…get close to those."
118. "Just know you're leaving this decision to a politician in a costume" Lawsuits suck, and we're going to see a lot more of them going into next year in sports as teams are going to need to get fans/sponsors back in buildings. The deferments will end before the sponsors want them to and it's 2021 budget season. The inexperienced don't understand court and get emotional based on too much court TV. As Caffey said so famously "it doesn't matter what I think, it matters what I can prove." This was the lost year - next year….there'll be some battles. Lawyers gonna get paid ya'll. How the courts decide on major cases between the NHRA/Coca-Cola, UnderArmour/UCLA and others will change the way we paper sponsorship deals going forward. Force Majure has already been defined from the bench and I have a feeling these sponsors and companies dipping out on bills with teams, and the many more coming when they have to make decision on budget for 2021, aren't going to get the results they want
119. "Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it, you can influence it. Once you learn that, you'll never be the same again" - Jobs. Imposter syndrome is ravaging people looking for work right now. First time CEO's also fall victim & get bullied b/c of self-doubt as we're reminded of our "lack of experience" often. Ignore it. We've all had it. Trust me I talk to a lot of CEOs. We have our experience, investors, staff and partners for a reason. They chose us. Get to work. The biggest mistake we can make in those situations is letting those doubts influence our decisions- especially the temptation to play it safe by siding with the board, the crowd, or your boss. Give experience the respect it deserves - but do the same for yourself as well
120. What's you and what's the brand? Hard to watch when a tech or sports exec leaves their post and their social engagement falls off a cliff. Unfortunately, posting a win - a new deal, partner or release- and seeing a bazillion "likes" is more about the brand than the author. People want to work in tech and sports. If we're in that role, people will engage. If we're not, not as much. Depth matters. The rest is empty calories. Besides, the ones who are still there? Those are our "ride or dies" who we can build our careers and companies with.
121. Chronical the journey. 13 years in this past Monday. We haven't traveled since we started these. So much missed fun. The 16 cities in 14 days for 21 teams tour of 2009. Multiple Masters, Super Bowls, Sundances, Finals, Conferences, Concerts, Iconic games, awards shows and all the road trips. I did an awful job of documenting with pictures and videos. Learn from my mistake. I couldn't even find pictures of our first office, first sale, first client event. I remember them like yesterday and remember the faces, but wish I had more photos.
122. China's tourism surge has many in live hoping for a similar bounce back. Won't happen. Unlike hotels/air/cruise etc, all those "postponed" events have to be fulfilled first, in an already crowded calendar with less consumer spending power and 8% unemployment. What makes live so valuable- limited supply - is what will slow its return. 80% of tickets went without a refund https://www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2020-10-05/half-a-billion-travelers-show-china-s-economy-moving-past-covid?__twitter_impression=true. What makes live so valuable is the control over inception of and the limitation of supply. So many things we do are disrupted by tech - shopping, taking a class, and many forms of entertainment and communication. Tech can create a megaphone for so much as well, such as virtual concerts embedded. But what it can't do is replace the live experience- it can only augment it. Says here we're not going to see a full recovery until there is a clean slate schedule, post make-ups, in 2022. Even in China, this "surge" of good news is only 80% of past levels. 2020 really is the forgotten year.
123. "Don't worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you'll have to ram them down their throats." Innovation is often 'hiding in plain sight.' AT&T shot down packet switching (the internet). Nike was pitched Air second. Blockbuster/Netflix we all know. In 2009 we told our top competitor exactly what we were going to do- step by step. They laughed at us and sent a gift card ($200!) for our time. Now? They're an also ran.  Hiding what you're doing makes it more difficult for it to become the norm. And if you build your business the right way, you'll have defensible moats to assure you're that norm. Don't worry about people stealing your ideas. You're going to out execute them. Think Texas Tech and Texas from a past three things.
124. NBA ratings dropped 50% for a finals with a flagship brand (Lakers) and big star (LBJ). This comes at the same time Travis Scott broke McDonald's supply chain by offering $2 off a burger they've had for 40 years. Leagues need crossover stars now more than ever as youngsters have more choice today. What do the two have to do with each other? McD's last celeb-collab? Michael Jordan in 1992. https://www.yahoo.com/news/travis-scott-broke-mcdonalds-supply-145205917.html . A scary statistic for those in live. The boom we've seen in hospitality and luxury comes on the backs of generations of us raised on our teams while having access to them. I used to go to Giants games at Candlestick park for $2 to sit in the left field bleachers. I felt a part of it. Yes, the stats show the next generation is watching. What it doesn't show is where live sports are on their priority list- well below interactive video games for many and we need to adapt and get involved in their world or they're never gonna spend in ours. 
125. SPACs are the latest innovation in a competitive finance market. An answer to the need brought on by the evolution of private equity keeping many firms private longer, the pricing inefficiencies in IPOs and the looming public market for sports teams and holdings. They'll put pressure on the $1.5 trillion in PE money looking for deals to be deployed. If PE can't deploy, they can't raise their next fund and that puts pressure on the entire institutional market. For more on SPACs, here is Bill Gurley with a good summary which has informative links: https://abovethecrowd.com/2020/08/23/going-public-circa-2020-door-3-the-spac/… A16z with a simple primer on the current IPO process: https://a16z.com/2020/08/28/in-defense-of-the-ipo/… and Sportico's list of sports SPACs: https://t.co/eDnK6lTnGK?amp=1 
126. The Spin Zone - If a company gets bought/sold and you're interested, ignore the press and investors and go get the real answers. There have been a few high profile "kick saves"....sales which were not wins being spun as such. In those circumstances, it is, unfortunately, the employees who get nothing while the CEO smiles and talks about bright futures. Call the most recent execs to leave - they love to talk. People always ask how we knew about deals. Simple: we asked. "To be successful, one must always portray an image of success" - The Real Estate King. Investors, when institutions, are protected. They can force deals, even when it crushes the employees/execs. The job of the CEO is to spin these as positive- usually on the way out the door
127. Espousing a "we're in this together" "servant leader" mantra while taking private cars to work, eating at steakhouses and flying first class while the team flies coach makes it easy for the rest of us to poach talent. The most ridiculous sin in sports business? Forcing a dress code then showing up in custom suits to highlight the wealth/status gap between the management and minions. Might as well write "hypocrite" on the name tag. Don't get me wrong, there is a ton of viability to the "east coast" way. It is motivational for so many and works fantastically in a number of industries. It is the opposite of the Gordon Moore and Robert Noyce "Intel way" which shaped silicon valley culture and it works. There is no right way, only a wrong- the hypocrite path. Our dress code is simple: "No pajamas. Try to wear shoes." And it's not for everyone. But I'll never forget how pompous the custom suited execs were when I was on the team side. Worst part...they thought it looked good.
128. "Do" diligence. We are all afraid to ask the hard questions of ourselves and of our prospective investors, employers and partners. We can't be. Anyone who doesn't welcome transparent diligence or gets defensive has something to hide. The downside, for everyone, is much greater than short term discomfort for anyone. Jay shared a terrific blueprint here: and we add our experience here: I could spend an hour on this one given our experience, but here's a minute. Nobody is perfect. Anyone who has built anything, or invested in anything, has those who dislike them. As Denzel says in American Gangster "That line goes around the block." Same for us. Same for me. Same for you. It was my response when a prospective buyer for our company defensively asked me what those we've terminated or our competitors say about us Deals are exciting and people rush into them way too quickly. Every two weeks of good diligence is worth three years of trouble. Please don't find this one out the hard way. Jay makes great points. Use them.
129. Don’t hire someone you don’t want to work for. The job of a leader is to help people get better while paying them at the same time. Any leader is judged by the outcomes created by their team. Don't get it confused: they do not work for you. You work for them. It led us to question this viral post. This post from linked in garnered many's attention. The reactions were overwhelmingly agreeing. I thought about it all week. About how many of us have habits which aren't nefarious which we pick up along the way. About how people define who is an a-hole - I've certainly been called one many times. And about how we label people so quickly without any real understanding of what causes their behavior. In the end, it is clear our responsibility to our teams is sometimes inverted by some.
130. "Pressure is a privilege." BJ King. Most of us didn't just walk into the boardroom or the big moment. We have to do a lot of work to get there.* When we started the company we did all the cold calling ourselves. 5:15am to 11pm five days per week all to line up 2 to 3 meetings per month. We quickly understood the privilege it was to be there. One of our early big breaks was when CNBC picked up on one of our stats - that 43% of company tickets go in the trash- and had us on, live, with sports business anchor Darren Rovell (who has become a friend since). I was terrified. It was one year into our business and this would be a terrific piece for us. I called one of my mentors who is in the press often. He laughed. "What should you do? Shave and put on some pants! You know this topic better than anyone. Just go be you and trust the work." The clip is on the front page of our website to this day.
131. NBA is looking to return in December with 20% fans the plan for many - but full suites soon. A lot of difficult conversations will be happening in the next 60 days as businesses not yet ready to return will be asked to do so- or to add onto their current deal. Everyone believes their position is "right" - that's why there are contracts and a judicial system. 2020 has been the lost year and everyone has done well to work together in live by pushing deals forward and extending contracts. That goodwill, however, only runs so far as teams and content providers have been devastated by layoffs and cost cutting while they scramble to find rapid testing solutions to try and entice fans back to the game. Unfortunately, it is the customers spending the most which teams need to come back - and they'll return last. Companies are not coming back anytime soon as we saw with this weeks announcement of a 20% capacity Super Bowl which was driven by major sponsors foregoing their on-side hospitality. Something is going to have to give and, at some point, the teams are going to need to draw a line in the sand- whether that’s in two months or two years.
132. Don't take bad feedback personally- especially true for those in the job market today. A friend of the family once set me up with an interview in college. I did not get the job. The reason: 'he isn't cut out for sales.' As many look for what's next, accept that many times it's a silly reason and you're better off with those who appreciate you and your talents - no matter how hard it is to wait. Good feedback on the other hand….More often than not, decisions are made on whims and poor personal bias. I really wish that wasn't the case and all will claim it isn't for them, but it is. The same goes with deals, sales and the like. Often, candidates and vendors fall victim to associations and biases which aren't in their control. As Admiral McCraven says in his famous speech "If you want to change the world start by making your bed" (I suggest the book- read it years ago and it's great) "sometimes you do everything right and still end up a sugar cookie. Get over being a sugar cookie and keep moving forward. Don’t let their mistakes lead you into the mistake of not pursuing what you are great at and don't over evaluate the circumstance. Understand what happened, avoid any conjecture, and onto the next. 
133. Selling vs networking. Connecting with someone where you're ultimate goal is to sell them or someone directly tied to them is not "networking." It is selling. And that's fine. Networking is getting to know those tangential to you and understanding their business so you can all form a community. Great salespeople are rare. Great networkers? Even more so. Put them together and sky is the limit. One thing most highly successful tech leaders and entrepreneurs I've met have in common is a terrific network of people in situations "like" theirs. They do it through curiosity. And in today's world of over cluttered social and digital outreach, cutting through the noise is already hard and is going to get harder everyday. A network, people who you know and care about who you aren't trying to sell to or partner with, will matter even more than it does today.
134. Bad blood is to be expected when competing as it is always easier to vilify and de-personalize competition. It helps justify actions. We just saw it on a national stage. Just know it's fairly likely you'll end up working with them in the end. Think Oracle/Sun Pride/UFC, Dow/DuPont, Exxon/Mobil, WCW/WWF, and on and on. Act accordingly. From national elections all the way down to youth sports, tribalism leads many to depersonalize and vilify the competition. Social media makes it worse. I can think of 50 people who will think this is about them based on just the past two weeks- it's not. Wrote this one when the primary season began a year ago and save for election week. A few weeks ago we relived our pitch meeting from hell at FedEx in 2011. I wasn't involved in the run up, which was incredibly stupid, but I joined for the big rfp pitch. We sat at a BWW in Memphis the night before for dinner where I was shown the agenda. Our lead was so underprepared we didn't even have materials to match their long and well thought out agenda- which was to take 8 hours and claimed "we'll be out of there in four." And this was going to be our top account at the time! We lost. It was the hindenberg in there. I did the same a year later at Dow in Michigan- where I personally cost one our sales leads a good account b/c I hadn't done enough homework pre-meeting. Thank goodness both those companies overlooked our mistakes and are great partners today.
135. It just takes one person off script to kill an entire deal. In Victory Machine, Steph Curry famously tells how his Nike pitch featured him being called the wrong name and a deck being reused with the wrong players name on it. Hard to believe but much of the competition is off script often. Use it. Get everyone on the same page no matter how long it takes. In hard times - whether it's looking to raise money, for a new a job, or for a sale to break a slump, it is tempting to lose what you're really about and seek the comfort of the crowd. There's a great video I share with my kids about fitting in by dr russ harris and how, and why, we're wired to do so: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kv6HkipQcfA&t=106s Take the time to find those who share your vision, your passion and your values. Trust me, it's worth it. Advice I need to remind myself of often.
136. Surround yourself with those who fill your cup. In 1991 I saved my allowance to buy the Air Mowabb. I loved them - until I went to school and my friends saw them. Crushed by their feedback, I begged my mom through tears to return them. "It sounds like you could use some new friends, not new shoes." Moms. The best. In hard times - whether it's looking to raise money, for a new a job, or for a sale to break a slump, it is tempting to lose what you're really about and seek the comfort of the crowd. There's a great video I share with my kids about fitting in by dr russ harris and how, and why, we're wired to do so. Take the time to find those who share your vision, your passion and your values. Trust me, it's worth it. Advice I need to remind myself of often.
137. Out of college I got my first job offer from ADP but on the way out I noticed the sales standings board in the office. It scared me. I called my dad, who had been in sales to explain I liked the job but I was afraid of the board. "When have you ever been at the bottom of anything you've committed to in your life? Why would this be any different?" Started in sales at Los Angeles Dodgers soon after. He was right.
138. #Sales silver bullets don't exist. If they do, there's a very short window before they're mass marketed quickly and lose potency. #Salespeople are always looking for the shortcut- to "work smarter not harder." Great salespeople work smart & hard. Sales tools aren't meant to make us work less - they're meant to make us more productive. At StubHub in 2004, our game changed when we created an algorithm in our market to sell to better leads. I got to do that for about two months and climbed to the top of the sales leaderboard - until I was told to share the algorightm- which I did- and moved on to the next idea. When you have the silver bullet, go All In on it. Sleep is for later.
139. "Real, sustainable economic growth does not stem from new resources but from rearranging the existing to make them more valuable." Deals closing over the next six months including FIFA World Cup 2026? - Canada, USA & Mexico , LA28, consolidators, agencies (Elevate Sports Ventures, Legends), ticketers, sports tech (Experience LLC Groupmatics Ticket Evolution) and SPACS are already 'remixing.' Those with contacts, rolodexes and money - think the major agencies, private equity, and up and comers, are making moves which are changing secondary ticketing and hospitality. Everyone wants to copy the OLE model of success. Musical chairs will assure we have a very different industry when we return to normal.
140. "Don't hire other company's bad habits." Erika Nardini of Barstool caused a stir when putting an SDR on blast for a poorly written solicitation email*. Where you learn your craft matters. It is not the SDR's fault her company is teaching crappy habits. But it is hurting her development and stalling her ability to grow her career. Worse, the experience SDRs gain is what they 'sell' to their next employer. Make it worthwhile What young SDRs learn is what they can offer to their next gig. If it's crap, and we know many of the companies training is, it creates a bad cycle as the SDR believes they have two years of experience which the market should value when many hiring firms see fixing two years of bad habits and false confidence as more of a hassle than a clean canvas. https://www.barstoolsports.com/podcast/3078743/dont-hate-the-player-hate-the-game
141. In 2001, I got my first job in July. 9/11 hit sixty days in. In 2004, My pay got cut 75% for ten months due to the hockey lockout. In 2008, we were only one year into our new co. when it all fell down and our investor jumped ship. We didn't make any money personally for 14 months. In 2020, well we all know that story. And our generation has had it easiest of all. Find the resilient - especially now. And surround yourself with them. Those who hung with us through 08 and 09 benefited tremendously.
142. "Hearts and minds. You can buy a person's hands. You can buy a person's back. But hearts and minds are only given voluntarily." With all the layoffs, furloughs and pay cuts, this saying has never been more important. The live events industry is gonna see who was buying culture awards and who was actually winning em when the lights come back on. We've all heard that everybody has a price, and that may be true, but that price doesn't apply to someone's best and in today's world, to be the best you need the best (woo). Inspired work comes from the inspired. A paycheck is transactional. Inspiration, community and hope, not so much.
143. Optimists. Cycles happen and that's when the tough get going. It's also when the paralyzed, the pessimists and the naysayers get loud. I'm thankful for those who don't accept what's "supposed to be." I worked for two @stubhub and they lift everything about your career. There aren't many of them as it's always easier to be a pessimist. To throw in the towel. To always point out the negative and call oneself a "realist." we see it everyday during Covid-19. Pessimism isn't fun, even when you win.
144. The fighters. We work in live events. And here we are, still standing on Thanksgiving. I'm thankful for our team and investors. When we did our hiring and capital raise processes, we had mentors who demanded discipline which seemed overdone. They even moved us away from some flashy VCs and hires which would have aligned with the narrative of what everyone was doing at the time. Character matters and is too often overlooked when money is involved.
145. Patience. Cycles, in the moment, feel like forever. In the grand scheme of things, they're not. Ten months without pay in 2004 felt like a lifetime. Fourteen months without pay in 2008/09 broke me. I shouldn't have let it. Rookie mistake. Covid-19 is a long cycle. But in the course of a 45 year career, it's a blip. I learned to play the long game years ago. I hope you do too, as Jon eloquently shares here: https://twitter.com/jonsakoda/status/1332347235506352128. Ignore all those out there looking for a quick buck. Play the long game.
146. In spring 2004 it was clear an NHL wasn't going to play in 2004/05. Our team of 20+ salespeople sold full-time through the summer then hoped for a season. As games were cancelled, we "lost" the commission. Finally, the season cancelled and a meeting called early the next morning. The room was set up with six managers in the front, the rest in a U around and plates of cinnamon rolls in the middle. Management spent half an hour announcing promotions for one another after informing us there would be no commission paid. They were taken care of. We were not. The meeting concluded with a smiling management team encouraging us to "enjoy the cinnamon rolls" We still talk about, and laugh about, this meeting often when we get together 15 years later. Three Things I learned from a career shaping event:
147. Never announce your own good fortune to a team getting no benefit. This goes for self-aggrandizing press as well. These sins are way too common in tech and sports. Most promotions/increases are zero sum gains. And let people sleep in before you kick them in the teeth.
148. If you get a Cinnamon Roll, it's time to leave. Covid has exposed many caught "swimming without shorts on" when the tide went out. If you got a cinnamon roll, find somewhere that appreciates you. And you can't trade cinnamon rolls for promotions....trust me, we tried.
149. Always be learning. Even in the bad times. I walked out of that room knowing I couldn't let anyone I serve feel like that. Matthew McCounaghey says is well: "Sometimes to find who you are, start by identifying who you are not." We're not that. On the bright side - many of us left and have done very well. As is often the case, "sometimes blessings come through raindrops and healing comes through tears." And an inside joke was born that still makes me laugh today...."Promotion, promotion, promotion...cinnamon roll"
150. Three Things Special Edition: Should I take a Ticket Sales? Should I take an SDR job in tech? A common piece of advice when starting your career is to find what you love and get your foot in the door. There are a lot of examples - Jack Welch at GE, Erik Spoelstra of the HEAT, Bill Belichick of the Patriots, Barry Diller etc. Businesses and teams use these inspirational anomalies to recruit large swaths of impressionable kids and underpay them. Is it the path for you? I started in a Ticket Sales job and I've managed SDR's for 15 years. Three things I learned about taking a ticket sales/tech SDR job
151. If you don't want to sell for your career - not *in* your career- *for* your career, do not take an SDR job. The most common mistake made is a sure fire way to fail. It's okay to not love sales and there are a lot more ways in than sales. Don't believe the pitch. If you look at the leadership teams of most teams and businesses in sports and tech, you find the vast majority did not start as SDRs or in ticket sales, but started in strategic roles - oftentimes from outside of sports or outside of the business
152. Stay away from the Hunger Games. A common, and lazy, approach to sales is to hire a large class of usually terribly underpaid kids and promise the top one or two will get promoted - oftentimes using those inspirational stories we've already mentioned. Even if a fair shot was assured, this would be a bad proposition. Add in the fact these call centers are filled with gossip, favoritism and nonsense, and it makes them death traps for careers. Inbound leads drive the majority of sales, especially in a ticket sales office, and those in charge will find ways, sometimes without hiding it, to get the people they're pulling for to the top of the board. I've seen hundreds of these situations. As we've stated in a past three things, fare is what you pay to ride the bus. If you get in a situation with limited upside and it's not fair, you could get in a terrible spot.
153. Nothing matters more than reputation - both the company's reputation with other firms and the SDRs reputation internally. At many firms, SDRs are viewed as second rate citizens. Sales monkeys from some movie be it "Boiler Room" "Wolf of Wall Street" or "Wall Street." At my two ticket sales stops I had terrific bosses who looked out for us. But we were still second class. Ignored on the social calendar and overlooked time and again for other positions in the company. We were grovelers. Coin operated phone jockeys, not strategic thinkers. Teams, and companies, have reputations. It's tempting to take whatever gig you can - especially if it is local - to break in. Do not. If you ask veterans, they can give you advice as to which teams are well thought of in the industry. It is the same in tech. Brand matters. People want to hire others from successful organizations. Take your time and work for the Apple, Google, Amazons. It is possible, and common, to find places where revenue drivers are treated like royalty. StubHub changed my career and there are many tech orgs where salespeople pull in seven figures and have seats at the table.
154. How Did You Know To Start Your Own Business & How Did You Survive? The driving force was fear of regret. We talked about it often. We were more afraid of ending our careers working for somebody else and wondering 'what if.' It trumped all else, good and bad. If we ended up there after failing on our won, at least we tried. I watched my hard working and brilliant parents do everything right...graduate as valedictorians of their high schools, suma cum laude from prestigious institutions, get grants and jobs at the best companies of their time at Bell labs, Hewlett Packard, Apple and Xerox, and work their butts off only to get laid off 7 times during my formative years. my senior year, just in time for me to be considering a career, watching Lester Burnham hate his sales job in American beauty rocked me. That's the kind of regret I didn't think I could live with. There are a lot of positives we wanted...to make our mark. To create and build something. To love our jobs. Those were all part of a very non-binary decision. But that fear....man that's regret I'm not sure I could shake. I couldn't bury my talents in the ground. I had to try.
155. It can't be a side hustle. We did a few of those and there are some success stories but we would have failed. Put aside six months of untouchable cash in case you fail (we didn't- rookie mistake) and then remove the safety net. Your will to survive will surprise you. We worked TicketManager as a side hustle for about six months but we knew it was both feet. It was a lot. It felt dishonest so I made certain I remained the #1 rep, which led to very long days with no weekends. And the day I left, I was the #1 rep and had a record month. having that day to aim for and knowing we wouldn't push it gave us the motivation needed for long legal calls on a Saturday or late nights at the courtyard Marriott in San Francisco. At a startup, you're doing three jobs at once. You're doing the selling all day, the marketing in evening and the books and administration on the weekends. More importantly, as mark Cuban points out, someone else is likely working full time trying to beat you. Side hustles are just that.
156. The most common question asked is "how did you do this." Truth is, I don't know. The answer I keep coming back to: we were willing to make a lot of mistakes and, once we jumped, the economy collapsed and we didn't have any choice but to continue. That willingness has helped us learn and, from a 3 things from last year, we gained good judgement which came from experience which comes from bad judgement. We meet with so many friends of friends looking for advice to launch their idea or their own business yet less than 1% actually do. That fear of failure is just too powerful and the safety net too comfortable for many.
157. If you want to make GOD laugh, make plans. When the world fell apart, we did what we always do - plan for everything. We laid out eight models, all with configurable inputs. Then we got to work. Nine months later? None of those scenarios were close to what happened. That preparation helped a lot. But being flexible was much more useful. We started this business thinking it'd be small. Work for ourselves and make a few bucks. We never thought it would get to this size. When we had our first child, we planned for it to take well over a year just to get pregnant. We had twins 10 months later. When the mrs called me with the news I was in Branson Missouri trying to sell O'Reilly auto. We didn't. I ran 8 miles on the treadmill that night - I couldn't sleep. Anyone who's been around the block will tell you making plans is terrific advice, and it is as it helps understand your tools for the decisions to come. But, more often than not, HE's just gonna laugh at em.
158. "Life will decide for you." Great advice for nearly every situation. When leading a company, there are never ending decisions - and none of them are easy (as covered earlier-https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/anthonyknopp_three-random-things-i-learnedheard-this-activity-6618944043286167553-Ai-d). It is always a good idea to buy time and, often, life will show a clear path. Some decisions aren't easy. When I picked a school, it was basically a coin flip for a life's decision. But often, life makes decisions clear and easy - like StubHub selling to ebay and our bosses leaving, moving us to start TicketManager. Or the downturn keeping us in the entrepreneur game.
159. Make time to set down your cross. In March, our world was falling apart. Every night was sleepless. Loved ones dying and companies disappearing. Having been through 2008, I put a calendar invite to "have a drink and thank the LORD." for December 21st. We made it. Many didn't. Smile. Take a drink, or a smoke, or a deep breath, or whatever it is you do. Then…onward knowing we'll never be tested with what we can't handle (1 Cor 10:13). Funny thing: I used to wear that verse on my baseball caps in college. Still not there in taking it to heart. But hey, that's why it's the three things I learned this week….