Interview
When Claudia met Reggie
AT CVENT CONNECT EUROPE RECENTLY , BAFTA AWARD- WINNING PRESENTER , CLAUDIA WINKLEMAN SAT DOWN WITH CVENT CEO AND FOUNDER , REGGIE AGGARWAL TO DISCUSS EVERYTHING FROM BLACKSTONE ’ S RECENT MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR ACQUISITION TO USE OF GENERATIVE AI
CW : It has been just over six months since Cvent became part of Blackstone . How ’ s that going ? RA : Blackstone took us private a few months ago after we ’ d been trading publicly on the Nasdaq Stock Market . It ’ s fantastic to be a part of an organisation with such deep pockets . Blackstone understands our space having owned the Hilton hotel chain for several years . I also like the fact that Blackstone invests in innovation and the long-term growth of ‘ durable ’ companies so it encourages our 1,400 Cvent engineers to continue focusing on R & D and maintain our innovative culture .
At Cvent CONNECT in 2020 , you told a virtual-only audience that we were entering the ‘ Golden Age of Events ’. It was the start of the pandemic , everyone was in lockdown . Didn ’ t everyone think you ’ d gone crazy ? Even I thought I ’ d gone a little crazy ! But it was a time that required boldness . In times of crisis , people need bold and forward-thinking leadership . I knew that , despite the growing crisis the events industry was facing , technology was booming and tech stocks were going through the roof . A study from McKinsey said that 10 years of technology evolution occurred in just 12 months during this period . We were seeing the rapid acceleration of other sectors becoming digitalised and we knew the same thing would happen to our industry once recovery took hold .
The power and influence of events have grown as a result of this accelerated
Below : Reggie on stage digitalisation . We now have more channels , more ways to engage and more opportunities to reach all types of people . It ’ s only going to get better .
How did Cvent start ? I used to be a corporate lawyer and launched a non-profit in 1996 . I found myself organising 25-30 events a year and the tools I used were Excel , Outlook and yellow sticky notes . It was a painful experience so I took that painpoint and created the aspirin . The aspirin was Cvent .
Did it run smoothly at the beginning ? Whenever you start a company , there are always low points . People don ’ t tend to hear about all the companies that fail or the struggles that entrepreneurs face until they become successful . For us , it was the year 2000 and the Dotcom boom was in full swing . We were one of around 500 other event registration companies based along the West Coast of America , reliant on over $ 1bn of venture capital . To compete we needed to grow fast so we raised $ 17m from a bunch of investors and scaled from six people to 125 staff in a single year . When the perfect storm of 09 / 11 and the dotcom meltdown hit , so too did reality . We blew through $ 16.6m of that $ 17m to keep a company afloat that was doing $ 1.5m in revenues . We were on the point of bankruptcy and had to cut 80 % of our staff . It was a major low point in my life . You start questioning yourself , you question the business model . Then your investors start trying to micro-manage a business they don ’ t necessarily understand so the situation gets worse .
I didn ’ t take a salary for three years . For almost a year , it was hard for me to get out of bed . My mum who forced me to go into the office every day and kept me moving forward .
You learn more on the way down than you do on the way up . And the things you learn will always help you in the next
18 / CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD / ISSUE 128