Columbia Technology Entrepreneur Council - Web-based... -
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Published on: 8/26/2003
Last Visited: 8/19/2005
The State- By JOE GUY COLLIER Staff Writer- Five years ago, when Joe Spencer started E-TicketBoard, he said he thought he'd be sailing on his yacht by now, counting the money he'd made off his Internet company.Instead, Spencer, 41, is sitting in a small office in northwest Columbia hoping for a breakthrough year for E-TicketBoard, which provides a way for people to buy and sell tickets to sports and entertainment events."Even at this point, one could argue we've been a success," Spencer said."We're still here."
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Spencer started the company five years ago as a niche Web site that provided fans of the NFL's Carolina Panthers a way to buy and sell permanent seat licenses.These licenses give holders a right to buy season tickets for a particular seat.The Panthers board remains a big part of E-TicketBoard.It's helped sell more than $4 million Panther seat licenses and season tickets, Spencer said.The company, though, is focusing on college fans, he said.Other Web sites, including on-line auction giant eBay, let people buy and sell tickets.But Spencer said his company's relationships with collegiate partners set it apart.College fans are loyal, Spencer said.They buy tickets for their college's events and buy tickets to other professional sports and entertainment events, he said.To attract more of these fans, E-TicketBoard has changed the way it charges customers.The company had been charging $29.95 for a one-year membership fee to access its ticket exchanges.Beginning this football season, E-TicketBoard will charge the flat fee of $3.95 per transaction with no charge to access the exchange.The change should encourage more people to try the site, Spencer said."Buyers were reluctant to pay a fee for something that may or may not occur," Spencer said of the previous membership fee.HOPING FOR A PAYDAY Spencer wouldn't provide sales figures for E-TicketBoard, a privately owned firm, but he said company revenues are covering its expenses.E-TicketBoard has four full-time and six part-time employees.Spencer, president and chief executive officer, hasn't taken a paycheck since last fall.He and his family live off money made from about two-dozen residential properties he owns in the Columbia area, Spencer said.E-TicketBoard and its backers still expect the Internet firm to pay off, he said.The company has taken in between $1 million and $2 million from about 50 private investors, Spencer said.The expectations for the company, though, have changed in the past two years, he said.In the heyday of the dot-com market, Spencer talked of an initial public offering, selling shares of stock to the general public to raise money.A public offering would be difficult in today's skittish stock market, Spencer said.E-TicketBoard likely will look to merge or be bought by a larger firm that can use the sports ticket exchange as part of a larger portfolio of Internet services, he said.Before the company makes that move, though, it must sign up more partners by showing that the system works, Spencer said.The company has made presentations to more than 60 colleges, many of whom Spencer says are waiting to see how it's received by fans for other schools."We're going to prove our business model and then good things will happen," Spencer said.The path for E-TicketBoard so far has not been an easy one, he said.Along the way, Spencer said he's thought about moving on from the company several times.Since starting the company five years ago, Spencer and his wife have had two children.With the birth of each child, he said he considered pursuing a job that would deliver a more predictable paycheck.E-TicketBoard, though, remains a solid business, and he plans to see the company through to long-term stability, Spencer said.It might take longer than expected, but the company can be a success, he said."I didn't realize it was going to take five years, but that's no reason to walk away," Spencer said.
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