Tuned In: Uncover the Extraordinary Opportunities That Lead to Business Breakthroughs

CHAPTER 6

Step 3: Quantify the Impact

How do we know if we have a potential winner?

 

 

 

 

 

For probably as long as there have been tickets for sporting, concert, theater, and other live events, people have found themselves with extras they cannot use. And there have been countless other people prepared to pay for good seats when those are no longer available or even when the event is completely sold out. Until recently, the only option for buyers and sellers was to venture into the dark and murky world of ticket scalpers, who show up at popular events to hawk tickets. Seats for premier concerts like The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, and Hannah Montana, as well as National Football League and Major League Baseball games and international sporting events like the Olympic Games or World Cup soccer matches, often sell out quickly, leaving fans who wait until the last minute with nowhere else to turn. At the same time, those with extra tickets know that they have something of value but don’t often have a convenient outlet for connecting with buyers.

StubHub identified this market problem in 2000 and quickly created the largest ticket marketplace (by sales) in the world. StubHub offers fans an online marketplace to buy and sell tickets at fair market value. The problem of having or needing extra tickets is one that many fans have experienced, and it’s quantifiable because the face ...