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Are You Ready To Party? Meet FestivalPass (I Can't Think of a More Perfect 2021 Startup)

Plus, my guy and Bit Capital founder Jimmy Odom on the pod.

May 20, 2021

Heyyyo,

Honestly, I am not sure where to start here — is it Bitcoin bottoming out (hit $30k) or the complete joke that is media/crypto pump n dumps?? From Elon Musk and #DDTG Dave Portnoy to Pomp’s pizza (sorry, I can’t. Guy’s making millions slinging epic trash).

First, let us not forget prior to exploitation there was a legit there there. Crypto is a real future thing — Bitcoin and Ether have very real-world use cases. But, good lord, people need to go back to work… this is getting ridiculous. Second, know what you’re doing and if you want to take a swing at some shitcoins, God speed my friends!

Third, and lastly, I’m going to leave this here for you and do with it what you will.

For my noobs; every week I breakdown a startup pitch with the added hook that you don’t have to be a rich guy to invest (if you don't know what that means, click here).

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On The Pod: Prior to Bitcoin falling off a cliff, Jimmy Odom and I spent a solid hour talking about its viability and why early investors were so afraid of it. And, what began as a light (by Jimmy standards) convo around crypto turned into an all-out house cleaning… there’s just so much in this podcast — all I can say is — listen to it; if you still don’t understand why founders are in favor of equity crowdfunding and tokenization, then I got nothing!

Here’s my podcast with Bit Capital founder Jimmy Odom 👉 https://spoti.fi/33WM9lF

Follow me on Twitter @kitun.

Scott

#pitchreview time!

Company Bio

FestivalPass is a subscription for attending music, film, theater events and more.

Compare it to ClassPass, MoviePass… WhateverPass! It’s that but for events. For example, Lalapalooza is back and you can go (much cheaper and without the need to commit to the whole week). Each of the previous “X-Pass” companies had a fatal flaw whether it was film distribution costs or occupancy — festivals and events are much different! For the most part, they’re going to happen whether tickets sell or not and the earlier the tickets are purchased the cheaper they are. With FestivalPass, that is no longer a problem. Subscribe, pay and attend with no strings attached. This product actually might help event throwers more than attendees, which unlike previous iterations, makes the model sticky.

Meet the Founder

Watch my full interview with FestivalPass’s Founder Ed Vincent, here.

Ed’s an entrepreneur with over 25 years experience including 6 years spent in banking and business evaluation. He’s a repeat founder who sold his first e-commerce business within 2 years in 2001.

Ed is very impressive. Aside from working for the financial overlords for 6 years, he’s spent the majority of his adult life building digital/event companies and it’s really obvious (coming from a guy who reluctantly ran his own event company). He understands the math, demand and opportunity like few in the space. He’s very well connected and is not shy about talking about the opportunity — which is a must!

Traction

  • 40,000 member accounts – 1,500 new accounts weekly

  • $500K+ of media credit available to be spent in acquiring members

  • Thousands of events committed to the platform

  • Partnerships with Townsquare Media, National Independent Venue Association, Multiple ticketing aggregators & brokers, Discounted hotel feed for 60,000 hotels

Traction here is difficult to judge. I didn’t even list most of the specs here because how the fuck do you project post-pandemic event life??? Assuming we don’t see a massive spike, despite global vaccine rollouts, it’s fair to envision a HUGE surge in events. We’ve just spent 14 months in quarantine and anyone with a Twitter feed should see what’s coming — the roaring 20’s 2.0.

People are going to go bananas! Travel, concerts, festivals, conferences, anything with a lanyard really… So, while my least favorite word might be “projected”. I’ll listen to any pitch in the event space!

Terms & Takeaway

Invest in FestivalPass here 👉 https://invest.festivalpass.com

Security Type: Equity
Valuation Cap: $20,000,000
Raised (as of publishing): $54,405
Minimum Investment: $216

Here's what I like: The next two years are going to be Gatsby-like. I think Ed and his team of investors and advisors are as connected as any in the space. There is nothing not to like. If I were placing a bet on FestivalPass adoption and retention over the next 24 months, I’d give it a -200! As for the venues, promoters and event companies… its a massive win — they can pre-sell and raise prices against demand sooner. as for attendees, the value prop is even better!

Here's what I don't love: ZERO clue what happens once people tucker out. I also have no clue what the institutional pushback from Class/MoviePass will be and while I think this model is better, it still has kinks to work out — to say nothing of the $20m value cap and entirely “projection” based traction. I’d like this better at $14m or at least with an early-investor discount.

Who should invest and why: If you plan to go on tour the next year or two, in-particular with travel, this is worth investing in for the perks alone. For me, this is one of those “shorts”. I think the longterm play is viable and potentially very lucrative, but I’m more interested to see if FestivalPass can gain massive adoption and sell to a LiveNation type.

As always, startup investing is super high-risk, anything can happen. So, don't invest money that you’ll need for drink tickets 🥳 💸

Invest in FestivalPAss here 👉 https://invest.festivalpass.com

Questions? DM me on Twitter @kitun

Disclaimer: It goes without saying, but this information should not be constituted as financial advice, my investing opinions are my own and all diligence is the responsibility of each individual investor.