SeatGeek is Doing the Math to Save Consumers Money on Event Tickets
Buying tickets on websites like StubHub or TicketNow can be an unnerving task for consumers. They’re often blindly engaging in transactions without an informed idea of what’s available, what should be considered a fare price, or when it’s the optimal time to buy. On top of this, large transactions fees frustrate the already uninformed consumer and build up anxiety and doubt in their choice to purchase tickets.
By giving consumers an all-encompassing view of the market and providing forecasting data that alerts ticket buyers to the optimal time to buy, travel websites like Farecast have been saving consumers real money for the past several years. But, where does one go to find the right time to purchase tickets to see the Mets (never, in their case) or to go see the LCD Soundsystem concert next month at Terminal 5? A new LaunchSquad client, SeatGeek, answers this question by using a sophisticated algorithm to alert consumers – via email or Facebook notifications – of the optimal time to purchase tickets to an event they’re interested in attending.
The forecast ‘formula’ is made up of several factors – winning streaks, weather, travel schedule and win percentages, for example – which all lead to an 85% success rate in the forecasting projection. At the top of every event page, SeatGeek suggests to consumers when they should purchase tickets. So, if SeatGeek predicts that ticket prices will increase in the coming weeks, they will tell consumers to ‘buy now;’ however, if prices are predicted to drop, SeatGeek will instruct consumers to ‘buy later.’ In addition, most event pages show an interactive seating chart – color coded by best value – giving the buyer a look at every available ticket on the resale market, and a real-time chart that shows the fluctuations in price for that given event.
SeatGeek goes beyond the ticket buying process with TicketPortfolio, a tool for season ticket holders that shows the real-time value of their seats (portfolio), advices them on what tickets to sell, and provides the touch point to actually sell tickets on other secondary market websites. The whole TicketPortfolio package is available to season ticket holders on a subscription basis.
In the end, it all comes down to saving money; SeatGeek helps ticket buyers and sellers with the decision making process – a very powerful tool that should show tremendous growth during the next several years.
Discover the Best of the Web with Springo
Our Web is cluttered with over 200 million websites, and it’s getting harder to navigate and uncover your favorites. A new company called Springo just launched a navigation and discovery solution that locates specialized websites and adds some really valuable tools to enhance your search experience.
Springo guides you to sites, organized by popularity and topic, that offer the best solutions and services for your needs. Navigating the Web with Springo is akin to having an expert point out popular websites and destinations just for you.
Also, Springo launched a super useful (and unobtrusive) browser add-on called Springo Express that enriches your traditional search experience. Imagine this: you’re feeling guilty about last night’s pizza binge and searching for diet tips on the Internet, but your results are crowded with Grapefruit Diet and Jenny Craig ads, not to mention gym websites and Food Network healthy recipe articles. Not exactly what you’re looking for! If you search Weight Watchers within a search engine, Springo Express automatically generates a list of similar diet websites in your browser toolbar to help broaden your investigation. Or if you had just searched “diet,” Springo Express would have popped-out to offer a visual display of the best health guides and dieting websites to explore. Additionally, Springo Express enables direct navigation by just typing a site’s name or even a topic into your browser address bar – no more memorizing tedious website addresses!
To keep tabs on Springo check out their blog and Twitter handle. You can also read Clint Boulton’s eWeek story announcing Springo’s launch last week.
SalesFail Contest: Earning Commission Off Your Worst Sales Story
With every new client comes a new area of innovation, and our long-standing clients are constantly transforming and delivering new breakthrough technologies, ideas and visions. However, industries don’t generally create and adopt innovative new solutions overnight.
To celebrate the pitfalls and deadends that people experience along the way to success, Sales Intelligence provider InsideView is sponsoring a contest with great comedic (and educational) potential – The SalesFail Contest.
The SalesFail contest is out to find the funniest, worst and most random sales stories. With an award of $2,500, sales professionals have the chance to cash in on their most epic failed sales experience. In other words, somebody will be earning commission from what would otherwise be a rather forgettable sales call.
If you happen to be in sales, or have ever (unsuccessfully) tried to sell anything, enter the contest SalesPop (or check them out on Twitter or Facebook).
Out With The Old, In With The New
A couple weeks ago, LaunchSquad’s San Francisco office departed 611 Mission Street after an almost five-year tenure. Our destination wasn’t very far away; we moved around the corner to The Rialto Building at 116 New Montgomery, an historic brick structure that was one of the few in the ‘hood left standing after the 1906 earthquake.
Transporting an office of 35 people is not an easy endeavor, and our two office and HR pros Meghan Cavanaugh and Michele Brusseau worked for weeks to get it done (we had to technically move twice as we squatted one floor down at 611 Mission for six weeks while we waited for our new space to be completed). Huge thanks to both of them for pulling it off.
Moving into 611 Mission is a vivid memory for many of us. At the time, we were a tight-knit, 8-person team, and a bit nervous about moving into a space three times larger, and one where we needed to partner (albeit briefly) with a small marketing consultancy to help pay the rent. When we arrived, huge parts of the space were like a ghost town. But we soon settled in and filled into things gradually and made it our home. Over time, we developed funny names for various areas such as Sorority Row, Podland, Midtown, Kleintown (after SVP Melissa Klein) and Wally (don’t ask). Our meeting rooms had a superhero theme thanks to a naming competition won by Michele.
Overall it was a very fulfilling five years. LaunchSquad went through a profound metamorphosis during the 611 years that continues to evolve and take shape. Now that we’re in our new digs, it’s a great opportunity to inject fresh energy and develop new names, new memories and new ideas. Let ‘er flow.