Chris Stanchak Interview, CEO of TicketLeap.com Talks Business!

By: Michael Dunlop     Topics: Blog,Entrepreneur Interviews

Hire Talent Over Experience

Hi Everyone

Here’s a nice little interview with Chris Stanchak, CEO of TicketLeap.com one of the fastest growing online ticketing companies. Chris founded TicketLeap.com in 2003 to bring professional-grade ticketing to events too small to get the attention of the big ticketing companies. Like many entrepreneurs before him, Chris spotted a gap in the market and an opportunity. In this case it was the OPPORTUNITY to put cutting-edge ticketing in the hands of every event organizer, whether they were selling 100 tickets or 100,000 tickets.

Chris has had a few challenges along the way, such as his first ticketing event (before Ticketleap) being canceled due to events on September 11, 2001. It is clear that Chris has great tenacity and does not give up easily. The Mark of a True Entrepreneur in my opinion!

I was in particular very impressed with the reply Chris gave to: What is the best advice you have ever been given?

Success of a company is all about the people involved. Hire talent over experience.

Spot on advice!

Chris is a honors graduate of The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, with dual concentrations in management and marketing. He lives in Center City Philadelphia — just two blocks from TicketLeap headquarters. Chris is an active member of the tech entrepreneurship community in Philadelphia.

Enjoy the interview – I look forward to your comments

best wishes

Michael

Chris Stanchak Interview

CEO of TicketLeap

Background Info on Chris:

“I’m 32 living in Philadelphia, PA. Being successful, winning and delivering an exceptional product that people find useful all motivate me.  My inspiration is seeing innovation being created in the world and knowing that anything is possible.”

1) You are CEO of TicketLeap.com – a company that has been named one of the fastest growing companies of the year in Philadelphia. How did you start TicketLeap?

I had a friend who was holding an event and trying to sell tickets, but Ticketmaster wouldn’t help them out so I set him up with a system to sell his tickets and TicketLeap.com took off from there.  Unfortunately, the event wasn’t even held due to the events of September 11^th.

2) TicketLeap.com helps sell and organize event tickets, so you seemingly have a lot accounts. What has allowed you to grow, while at the same time retaining an excellent reputation for service?

Historically, we did not start out with a lot of resources which meant we didn’t have the best of technology, but we compensated by going above and beyond with our customer service, a value that is now engrained in the life blood of the company, having one of the best products in the industry.

3) Can you share some of the biggest lessons you have learned personally and as a business as TicketLeap has grown? If you were to start again, what might you do differently?

Always ask for help when you need it, trust your instincts and know the difference between the two.

Were I to start again, I would have changed our initial strategy in raising money.  We started out trying to raise too much for the product we had at the time and struggled to anchor interest at the time.  Had we raised a smaller amount and focused back onto the product before pursuing more financial backing, our growth would have accelerated much faster.

4) What’s next for TicketLeap? Where do you see the business in say 5 years time?

Next we’ll be focusing on the social aspects of events.  In five years, TicketLeap.comwill be an essential part of how all people host their events.

5) Do you have any recommended strategies for getting customers who buy once to come back and use your service again – other than of course good service?

Always focus on customer service – if the customer is happy, regardless of what their agreement says, they’ll keep coming back to work with you.

6) Do you have any suggestions for coping with set-backs, negative experiences?

Try to recognize that it’s all temporary and always keep your eyes on the future.

7) How do you keep your business focus – Do you have any suggestions for entrepreneurs who are experiencing challenging times?

We maintain our focus by holding regular and frequent meetings on various levels of the company that act as a pulse for the progress and activities taking place.

8: Is there anyone that you look up to and model yourself on?

I take influence from many people and places – Steve Jobs, Guy Kawasaki, Richard Branson – but I always make sure to try to be myself.

9) What is the best advice you have ever been given?

Success of a company is all about the people involved.  Hire talent over experience.

10) As someone who has achieved success so young, what advice would you give to a Young Entrepreneur starting their first business today?

Don’t think or act like you know everything.  You don’t have to as most everything has already been done before.  With that in mind, choose your advisors carefully.

11) What do you like best about the Internet?

The immediacy of it.

12) What do you like least about the Internet?

Having to occupy my hands in order to type.

13) Have you any plans (personal or business) that you can share with us about your future plans / goals / lifetime goals?

A lifetime goal of mine is to have a business incubator somewhere in the tropics where young, smart people can create and innovate for the future.

The TicketLeap.com story:

Chris Stanchak founded TicketLeap.com in 2003 to bring professional-grade ticketing to events too small to get the attention of the big ticketing companies. He saw an opportunity to put cutting-edge ticketing in the hands of every event organizer, whether they were selling 100 tickets or 100,000 tickets.

No event would be too small for even our earliest TicketLeap team — from Halloween parties and student activities with a few dozen tickets to sporting events, music festivals, conferences, expos and everything in between.

In our first months, the voice on the other end of the phone was often Chris’s mother and first employee, Connie Stanchak. She defined our customer service philosophy, as we know it today, years later: Every client is our best client, and no event is too small for our help.