How Tessera is Disrupting Event Ticketing and Winning Over Organizers

Welcome to this week's newsletter. If you're an early-stage founder or GTM leader, you’re in for a deep dive into customer discovery, GTM strategy, and scaling trust in a traditional industry.

Today, we explore the journey of Nicolas Deppenweiler, founder of Tessera, a next-generation event ticketing platform. His team has rethought how ticketing should work, from instant payouts to seamless ticket sales without user accounts.

But what makes Tessera stand out isn’t just the product—it’s the way they built and sold it. Instead of jumping straight to development, Nicolas and his co-founder spent months validating the problem, refining their positioning, and converting organizers through strategic GTM motions.

Let’s break down his approach and what founders can learn from it.

The Problem: Why Event Ticketing is Broken

"The whole ticketing process felt to me like a nightmare to go through... I didn’t want to go through the hassle of selling on Facebook Marketplace or people asking me if my ticket was real.”

Most people have experienced ticketing frustrations—long checkout flows, scalpers, or last-minute resale confusion. But for event organizers, the challenges are even bigger:

• Delayed payouts – Traditional ticketing platforms hold payments until after the event, making it difficult for organizers to reinvest in marketing or cover venue costs.

• High friction for buyers – Many platforms require users to create an account, leading to high drop-off rates during checkout.

• No resale control – If a ticket is resold, organizers often lose revenue and visibility on who is attending their event.

• Limited customer data – When people buy tickets at the door, organizers miss out on capturing key customer information for future marketing.

This outdated system meant that event organizers were trapped using legacy platforms without viable alternatives. Nicolas saw an opportunity to change that.

How Nicolas Validated the Idea

"For us, we spent the whole of 2023 just talking to organizers because at the end of the day, who is paying? Usually, it’s the organizers. Even if we feel the frustration from an end customer, we wanted to make sure we were solving a problem worth paying for."

Many first-time founders rush to build a product before confirming market demand. Nicolas took a different approach, focusing on deep customer discovery before development.

Instead of assuming what event organizers needed, he and his co-founder:

• Conducted over 100 organizer interviews across sports, music, and B2B events, speaking with event hosts in Singapore, Europe, and Australia.

• Mapped out frustrations by category—whether organizers were hosting corporate events, concerts, or festivals, they all faced issues with payment delays, ticket fraud, and inefficient check-in processes.

• Tested messaging before building the product—Nicolas would reach out via LinkedIn and propose hypothetical solutions, gauging reactions before committing to a specific approach.

One key learning: Every organizer expressed frustration, but many were skeptical about switching platforms. The real challenge wasn’t just building a better tool, but winning trust and driving adoption.

GTM Strategy: How Tessera Wins Over Event Organizers

"Organizers believe that ticketing platforms bring them customers. I challenge this. We told them: List your event on both platforms. Market only ours. If the competitor truly brings you customers, you’ll see the difference. Across 12 events, the competitor brought only one organic sale. The belief that platforms drive sales is a myth."

1. Removing Adoption Friction

Instead of hard-selling, Nicolas designed Tessera’s onboarding experience to be effortless:

• Seamless checkout – Unlike competitors that require users to download an app or create an account, Tessera allows ticket purchases with just a single click.

• Faster conversion – The purchase flow is 12 times faster than existing platforms, reducing drop-offs and maximizing ticket sales.

• Instant payouts – Traditional platforms hold funds for weeks. Tessera transfers funds directly to organizers, allowing them to reinvest in marketing immediately.

This frictionless experience means that once an organizer tries Tessera, they rarely go back. Their renewal rate is 100% among organizers who list an event.

Example: One music event organizer in Hong Kong struggled with slow ticket processing at the door. With Tessera, they simply displayed a QR code at the entrance, allowing attendees to purchase in seconds. This increased check-in speed and provided full attendee data for future marketing.

2. Challenging the “Ticketing Platforms Bring Customers” Myth

Many event organizers believe that listing on big-ticketing platforms like Eventbrite or Ticketmaster brings organic attendees. Nicolas challenged this assumption.

To prove it, he:

• Encouraged organizers to list the same event on both Tessera and a major competitor.

• Advised them to market only the Tessera link, allowing them to see if the competitor delivered organic sales.

• Measured conversions—in 12 test cases, the competitor brought in only one organic sale across all events.

This reframed the conversation: Ticketing platforms don’t bring customers—marketing does. By focusing on minimizing drop-offs, Tessera helped organizers generate more revenue per marketing dollar.

3. Leveraging Referrals to Drive Growth

Event organizers tend to trust recommendations from peers more than cold outreach. Tessera’s GTM strategy capitalizes on this:

• Referral-based adoption – If an organizer refers to another, they receive discounted or free access to Tessera.

• Industry-specific targeting – Tessera focuses on influential event organizers who act as industry gatekeepers. If they switch, others follow.

• Building credibility through direct conversations – Nicolas personally engages with organizers, positioning himself as a trusted advisor rather than a salesperson.

Example: In Singapore’s event industry, five major organizers control much of the market. Tessera identified them as key adoption drivers—once they switched, smaller organizers followed.

The Big Vision for 2025

"Our goal is to build an event management ecosystem—not just a ticketing platform. In 2025, we are focused on launching a blockchain-powered secondary ticket market, where organizers set the resale rules and earn revenue from every ticket resold.

Tessera isn’t just fixing ticket sales—it’s rethinking the entire event experience.

• Building a blockchain-powered secondary ticket market – Unlike scalper-driven resale platforms, Tessera allows organizers to set resale rules, pricing, and capture revenue from ticket resales.

• Becoming a full event management platform – In the future, Tessera aims to expand beyond ticketing into marketing, CRM, and financing solutions for event organizers.

• Signing major organizers to cement industry presence – By the end of 2025, Tessera’s goal is to secure partnerships with leading event organizers, proving their secondary ticketing model at scale.

Takeaways for Founders

1. Validate before building – Nicolas didn’t rush into development. He spent months talking to customers and testing messaging before launching.

2. Differentiate through customer experience – Friction kills adoption. Tessera removed obstacles like logins and payment delays, making it easier to switch.

3. Challenge industry assumptions – Many organizers assumed ticketing platforms drive sales. Tessera proved that marketing—not platforms—brings attendees.

4. Leverage referrals for organic growth – Event organizers trust each other more than ads. A strong referral system fuels adoption faster than outbound sales.

Final Thoughts

Tessera’s approach is a masterclass in deep customer research, positioning, and strategic adoption tactics.

For founders, the key question is: Are you making it easy for your customers to switch?

Too many startups focus on selling features. The real unlock is making your product adoption feel effortless.

If this strategy resonates with you, follow Nicolas Deppenweiler on LinkedIn—he’s building something worth watching.

Stay tuned for more expert advice from APAC’s top go-to-market founders/ leaders in future editions of Maven Club!