Speakers Drive Ticket Sales
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A successful event business model that leverages speakers to drive ticket sales while maximizing profitability through corporate sponsorships.
Core Business Model
- Tickets cover event costs
- Profit comes primarily from corporate sponsors
- Minimal overhead and production costs
- Events run from 7pm-10pm format
- Ticket prices around $20-30 per person
Event Structure
- 15 speakers per event
- Each speaker gets 10 minutes
- Each speaker expected to bring ~25 attendees
- Basic venue setup with minimal amenities
- Used simple ticketing platform (Splash/Eventbrite)
Revenue Streams
- Primary revenue: Corporate sponsorships
- Especially valuable for underserved communities
- B2B focus increases sponsor willingness to pay
- Secondary revenue: Ticket sales
- Covers basic event costs
- Venue rental (~$3,000)
- Minimal additional expenses
Scaling Strategy
- Events could be run almost weekly
- Expandable to multiple cities
- One employee could manage with contractors
- Leverage existing readership in each city
- Use speakers' networks for marketing
Key Success Factors
- Low complexity execution
- Minimal upfront investment
- Repeatable format
- Built-in audience through speakers
- Strong sponsor appeal
- Focus on underserved communities (e.g., women in tech)
- B2B component increases value proposition
The model proved to be "far easier than people thought" and could reliably generate income with minimal infrastructure or complexity.
Sam Parr
Host of MFM and fitness influencer
Sam Parr is a serial entrepreneur and business media pioneer.
In 2016, he founded The Hustle, a business news media company that started in his kitchen with just $12 and grew to eight figures in revenue.
Sam led the charge in making newsletters popular when few believed in their potential.
After four successful years, he sold The Hustle to HubSpot, a publicly traded company. Now operating as HubSpot Media, The Hustle reaches 3 million readers daily, employs a team of nearly 100, and has been the launchpad for dozens of its staff to found their own media companies and newsletters.
Sam remains the host of the popular business podcast, My First Million, and continues to start and sell companies. He also co-founded Hampton, a highly vetted community for entrepreneurs, founders, and CEOs, and teaches people to write better through his platform, Copy That.