It’s safe to say that entrepreneur Derek Ball is enjoying his front row seat running atVenu Inc., the live concert e-commerce company he co-founded in 2012.
Today he is CEO of the firm, which he calls “a live-event merchandising tech company” that partners with the world’s largest entertainment firms, venues and musicians to handle e-commerce at live events. The company, based in California and Calgary, covers merchandise, food and retail sales but not tickets.
In October, atVenu received a boost and a vote of confidence from the San Francisco-based equity financing firm Sixth Street Growth, one of the largest private capital investment platforms in the world. Its $130 million investment will help atVenu expand faster and make a bigger impact on the industry, Ball says.
“Sixth Street Growth is an $80 billion fund. This is a pretty big validation of everything we have built,” he added.
Running a company that serves the concert business can come with a price, however: At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, revenue fell 98 per cent before surging back to record highs a year and a half later.
Ball, who was born in Toronto but grew up mostly in Western Canada, was an entrepreneur at a young age. He once brought all his old toys out onto the front lawn and sold them so he could buy new ones. He also caught garter snakes near his home and sold them at school.
His love of concerts began when he was 14 years old and a friend persuaded him to see Platinum Blonde. He was hooked.
What were you interested in as a kid?
I was always intrigued with different ways to make money. As a child, our house backed onto an apple orchard with very tall grass that was home to many garter snakes. I would catch the snakes, take them to school, and put them up for sale for $1 a snake at recess. Things were going well until one day the lid came off the bucket of snakes in my locker and they slithered all over the place. This promptly shut my business down.
What sparked your interest in music and concerts?
I will always remember the first concert I ever went to: Platinum Blonde, and the ticket cost $10. I had so much fun that from that moment on I was hooked on concerts. If I had to pick my favorite event ever it would be the Edmonton Folk Festival that I went to over 20 years ago. I really enjoyed the lineup, the crowd, the energy, the weather—there was an incredible feeling of positivity in the air.
Describe your path toward entrepreneurship.
My first job after graduation was working for a Swiss bank overseas. But every time I had a ‘real’ job working for someone else, I was unhappy. I wanted to build my own thing.
For me, being an entrepreneur has never been about just trying to get rich, it has been more about wanting to make an impact. I am interested in finding something that somebody else would value, that maybe I could procure or create.
How did atVenu get started?
The original idea came to be in 2012: I had sold another company that I had created and was looking for a project in the music industry. Along the way I got introduced to Ben Brannen (who would become one of atVenu’s co-founders). He had a lifetime of music industry and tour experience, and he shared his own idea with me—he had identified a major pain point in the industry and he wanted to create a merchandising management platform. I told him I liked his idea much better than mine!
atVenu has come a long way since those early beginnings (the third co-founder is CTO James Seigel). We now host north of 125,000 events per year, we work with 15,000 artists, and we get involved with the largest festivals in the world such as Coachella, South By Southwest (SXSW) and the Governors Ball. We are a trusted partner with all three major record labels.
In addition, we’ve pulled into some adjacent market opportunities such as the New York Auto Show, the Tribeca Film Festival, the Vegas Golden Knights NHL team and the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon.
We’ve also been expanding internationally. Two years ago, we started operating in Canada and the UK, this year we opened in Spain and Germany, and we are planning for Australia next year.
What was the most challenging time for your business?
By far the most challenging time ever was COVID. As entrepreneurs and business owners, we had to make a guess at the duration of the downturn. Our assumption was six to nine months, so we believed we wouldn’t need to pivot; we would just wait it out. In fact, our business went to zero. It was surreal. There was nothing flawed in our business model; in fact, we were on track to have our best year ever.
We came surging out of the abyss when live entertainment returned in July of 2021. There was a ton of pent-up demand—people were ready to go out! We made more money in the last six months of 2021 than we did in any year since the pandemic. In 2022 we tripled our revenue due to demand and cashless payments. Now we’ve settled into a more normal path growing at 30 to 35 per cent per year.
You are originally from Canada. What was behind your decision to move to the U.S.?
atVenu has one foot in Canada and one foot in the United States. My past two companies were Canadian and privately controlled. Both were eventually acquired by a U.S.-based company. These types of transactions are tricky and require both Canadian and U.S. legal counsel. No one made more money than the lawyers! To avoid this scenario, atVenu was structured as a Delaware corporation from the outset.
Do you still feel Canadian?
Oh yes, very much so. We regularly visit Canada and still own a property in the mountains. atVenu also has a team of about 50 people in Canada, most located in Calgary.
We live in San Francisco now, but being Canadian is something that never goes away no matter where you are in the world.
Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Barbara Stewart is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 33 years of investment industry experience; five years as a foreign currency trader, more than two decades as a portfolio manager for high net worth entrepreneurs, and for the past eight years doing interview-driven research for multiple global financial institutions. She is a keynote speaker for CFA Societies, banks, stock exchanges and industry conferences globally, and she is a columnist for CFA Institute, Canadian Family Offices and Canadian Money Saver magazine. She is on the Advisory Board of Kensington Capital Partners and also is the Ambassador for the Kensington Women’s Forum.
Fifteen years ago Barbara saw a need to challenge outdated financial industry stereotypes and share positive messages about women and money. Today, Barbara is recognized worldwide as one of the leading researchers in women and finance. Her Rich Thinking® global research papers quote smart women and men of all ages, professions and countries and are released annually on International Women’s Day, March 8. To find out more about Barbara’s research, visit www.barbarastewart.ca.
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