INTERVIEW
CW : It has been just over six months since Cvent became part of Blackstone . How ’ s that going ? RA : For anyone who doesn ’ t know , Blackstone took us private a few months ago after we ’ d been trading publicly on the Nasdaq Stock Market . It ’ s a great partnership and as the world ’ s largest alternative asset manager , 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 , along with other eventrelated companies . 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 . CW : At Cvent CONNECT in 2020 , you told a virtualonly 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 ? RA : 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
When Claudia met Reggie
At Cvent CONNECT Europe , BAFTA award-winning presenter and journalist , Claudia Winkleman sat down with Cvent CEO and founder , Reggie Aggarwal to discuss everything from Blackstone ’ s recent multi-billion dollar acquisition to mangos carved into the shape of swans
Claudia Winkleman gets Cvent ’ s CEO and founder Reggie Aggarwal to open up on stage at CONNECT Europe
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 . RA : The power and influence of events have grown as a result of this accelerated 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 . We ’ re now back to in-person events and virtual events have declined . But virtual will recover a bit too as digital elements evolve to become a key part of the event landscape . CW : How did Cvent start ? RA : I used to be a corporate lawyer . I graduated from law school , practised corporate law for a few years 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 . CW : Did it run smoothly at the beginning ? RA : 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
Winter — 21