Bizdom U 2009: Andrew Hwang

The ticket distribution business started back in 500 B.C. A few centuries later, Camelot Ventures bought a small company called Flash Seats from a Californian inventor and decided to implement the business to a previous investment–the Cleveland Cavaliers. The business model is simple: make a consumer’s venue outing as convenient and safe as possible by preventing scalping and fraud. Flash Seats also allows its users to easily transfer and sell their tickets on the company website.  The company’s long term vision is to capture a majority market share amongst the large competitors by entering new markets.

Sam Gerace, the CEO of Flash Seats, received a B.S. from Harvard University and has a lot of experience in launching startup. He is passionate about “growth businesses.” Rather than putting all the money in his own pockets, Gerace believes in putting the company’s profit back into the business in order for it to grow and sustain itself. He is a firm believer in finding the right people to manage and operate an organization. Gerace quoted Jim Colins’ book, “Good to Great,” by stating, “You need to put the right people on the bus.” Apparently, Flash Seats does not give their employees job titles; instead, each person is required to be flexible within their duties. The motto he lives by is this: “Identify today what you can do to make your company more successful in five years.”