While NYC winters can be long and dreary, it’s important to remember those summer nights discovering free concerts and catching the late baseball games when you are having winter doldrums. With so much to do in this city, you need a place to book tickets for affordable and fair prices. TickPick, the only secondary ticket marketplace where there is no buyers fee, is one stop resource that you have a good personal summer concert series. Featured by the Wall Street Journal, CNN and Forbes, TickPick is looking to change how you get your tickets.
AlleyWatch spoke with CEO and cofounder Brett Goldberg about Tickpick and the hottest events in NYC this summer.
Tell us about the product or service.
TickPick is a secondary ticket marketplace transforming the industry with our no fee approach. We provide a platform for consumers to buy and sell tickets to the hottest sporting and entertainment events in the country. We feature cheaper tickets than other secondary marketplaces and provide customers with an amazing buying experience. Through our platform you can buy and sell tickets to events and performances ranging from the Super Bowl to Hamilton to Coachella to Ariana Grande.
How is it different?
TickPick is the industry’s only secondary ticket marketplace without buyer’s fees. There are no hidden fees or commissions, only a 10% flat fee for sellers, which compares favorably to the upwards of 25% of total fees charged by competitors. We also leverage our unique algorithm to look at the price/value ratio for tickets, and then offer value grading for buyers so they can get the optimal experience for their money.
What market are you attacking and how big is it?
We’re taking on the online event ticketing industry – sports, music, theatre, festivals and so forth. It’s an $8 billion industry and growing.
What is the business model?
Our model is simple. We charge a 10% flat fee for ticket sellers.
The secondary ticket marketplace gets a bad rap, and much of the criticism is justified. I saw an opportunity to do things differently and create a two-sided, transparent marketplace that addresses some of the major complaints of the industry. So I started TickPick.
According to your data, what are the hottest events for the summer for New Yorkers?
It’s a terrific summer of events for New Yorkers – there’s something for everyone. Right now, we’re seeing the greatest demand for U2’s shows at MetLife Stadium (June 28-29), Lady Gaga’s Citi Field performances (Aug. 28-29), and Ed Sheeran’s concerts at Barclays Center (Sept. 29-Oct. 1). Classic East (Citi Field; July 29-30) featuring Fleetwood Mac, Journey, The Eagles, Earth Wind & Fire, The Doobie Brothers, and Steely Dan, is another hot ticket. On the theatre front, show than Hello Dolley is the prized show of the summer. For sports fans, the event of the summer is by far and away Derek Jeter’s jersey retirement ceremony (Yankee Stadium, May 14th).
What are the milestones that you plan to achieve within six months?
We’re really proud of the upgraded TickPick mobile app that went live earlier this year and look forward to seeing where that takes us. We’ve been getting tremendous feedback on the app and users are engaging and taking photos and videos while at live events more and more on it. Over the next six months we will continue to build it out and further establish the app as a destination for event goers to connect before, during and after live events. We also just moved into our brand new office across the street from Madison Square Garden and are thrilled to make it our new home. We’ve recently expanded our team and our new space will allow us to continue to grow. This is the best start to a year we’ve ever had and we expect big things over the next six months and beyond!
What is the one piece of startup advice that you never got?
I was told it’s helpful having a partner when going into business, but nobody ever told me just how critical it is. TickPick has been so successful because of the partnership I have with Chris O’Brien, who cofounded the company with me. I cannot understate the importance enough of starting a business with a partner you can trust and count on.
If you could be put in touch with anyone in the New York community who would it be and why?
It would be Brett Yormark, CEO of Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment, which runs the Nets, Islanders, Barclays Center and Nassau Coliseum. I admire what Mr. Yormark has done over these past several years in putting together an incredible executive team around him and also what he’s done from a marketing standpoint. He’s taken the Nets from just being a basketball team and turned them into an entire brand.
Why did you launch in New York?
I grew up in New York and live here now so it was an easy decision. NYC has all the resources you could possibly need, and we have access to fantastic talent. Also, for a company who’s business is providing consumers with a way to purchase tickets to events, no city in the world offers the quantity and quality of events as NYC between all the local sports teams and Broadway.
Where is your favorite fall destination in the city?
Greenacre Park. It has an incredible waterfall. It never gets old.