What value does ViewStub bring its customers?  

We help organizers make more profit and find new audiences. We also give them an easy-to-use platform to manage all their attendees or as a venue, manage all of their individual events. The biggest value proposition is to capture more people online than those who can physically fit in the building. With ViewStub, you extend your product lifecycle as well, because an event that happens today doesn’t have to be over yet when you take it to the virtual space. You can have that product live on forever. We help our clients increase their sponsorship revenues with unique branding tools also and use data to increase their average customer lifetime value. ViewStub acts as a customer relationship management tool with insights on who customers are and how to satisfy them more. 

How do you differentiate yourself from competitors?

The biggest difference is that we have a white label platform, meaning that everything can be branded for our customers. We also have an agency solution that provides the ability for organizers to manage multiple brands, all from one dashboard. With that comes roles and permissions-based accounts, so that different vendors can have different levels of access. We were also built a hybrid before it was cool. We’ve had a platform for events to be both in-person and online prior to the pandemic. We were built in a pandemic, so we understand the organizer’s challenges better than anybody. We’ve been there to help people through the tough times.

What other challenges have you faced while growing your business?

Transitioning to remote work was tough, but it was also a good thing. It helped us to look outside of just hiring in Florida, and we’ve been able to hire really great talent across the country.

When we were starting to scale internationally, during the pandemic, there were certain countries that had more restrictions than others. That was a challenge as well.  Also because of the pandemic, we didn’t have a good foundation of events because the industry was cut in half in terms of lost revenue. We were trying to build the software at the same time and were a smaller team, but we were inundated with demand. We weren’t a huge company yet that was ready for that type of traffic. It was a lot. We were able to build the brand, fundraise, and now are at the stage where we can lead the industry.

As a remote employer, how do you keep your team engaged?

It’s very difficult to keep everybody on the same page in a remote environment because it’s a lot harder to have those happenstance or random meetings. Because of that, you have to be purposeful about communication. Each week, we have a team meeting on Monday morning. This meeting is crucial for us to get everyone on the same page for the week. You have very clear alignment, and that’s difficult. Posting something in a Slack channel is not the same thing as having an in-person meeting where everyone can communicate quickly. Even Zoom reduces engagement because people will turn off their cameras and their mics while working on other things. Some of that social element is gone, so we try to do quarterly events together and make them fun, so people can build relationships. For instance one of the events was a series of Minute to Win It games with the team. We have virtual hangouts, too where it is forbidden to talk about work. It’s important for us to create these opportunities for people to get to know each other outside of the office as we believe it increases their overall happiness and effectiveness.

What are some of the goals you have for your company?

We focus on providing the best customer experience. We have built so many features based on customer feedback and now we want to turn around and make sure that everything is seamless, clean, and very simple. Right now, we’re spending a lot of effort on the UX of the actual software. We’re coming out with version 3, which ties everything together and makes the customer journey more of a cohesive experience across the different products.

In the background, we’re also developing new features and have some cool stuff coming out with NFTs. We’ve shifted our focus towards customers who have recurring events and experiences that we can support. We’re building stronger relationships with them so we can be their preferred vendor for multiple years. There are certain things you need to build to accommodate those kinds of partnerships and we’re taking the necessary steps in that direction. Things like seat mapping, QR code scanning technology, a white label event app – innovative tools that are going to make their lives easier by saving time speeding up check-in lines for example.

Do you have a proudest moment so far?

Seeing the growth of the team. I am so proud of the commitment and loyalty that they have for the brand. The same thing goes for the customers, I’m proud to help them be successful in providing experiences to attendees. Every time we get a positive review, it’s about people being happy about an event they got to attend, or they were able to see their favorite artist and connect with others that are passionate about the same. That’s what it’s all about. It’s about that shared experience. Another cool moment for me was when we were the corner cushion sponsor at a recent boxing match. Anytime that we’re featured as a sponsor of any event, it’s always fun to see our brand highlighted.

What does it mean to be selected as a GrowFL Florida Companies to Watch Honoree?

It’s very humbling. We don’t really think about accolades too much. We have our heads down working to help our customers every day. For us, it’s a great deal of validation for all the hard work that we’re putting into it. It gives us the motivation to keep going in the right direction.

Anyone you’d like to thank?

We’re really thankful for Starter Studio, UCF I-Corps, and the UCF incubator program. Of course, all of the different investors that we have include Seed funders, Beresford Ventures, and Cofounders Capital. We’re thankful for all of the really great mentors we’ve had along the way and of course our customers and those who support us. We started in Florida and plan to continue to grow here. We’re grateful for all the opportunities that we’ve been provided in the Central Florida region.