{"id":12314,"date":"2026-08-01T19:10:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T19:10:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nicheblog.top\/tech\/why-seatgeek-walked-away-from-going-public-with-jack-groetzinger\/"},"modified":"2026-08-01T19:10:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T19:10:14","slug":"why-seatgeek-walked-away-from-going-public-with-jack-groetzinger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nicheblog.top\/tech\/why-seatgeek-walked-away-from-going-public-with-jack-groetzinger\/","title":{"rendered":"Why SeatGeek walked away from going public with Jack Groetzinger"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>SeatGeek didn&#8217;t become one of the biggest names in ticketing by following the playbook. It started as a simple ticket <!--more--> search engine on the TechCrunch 50 stage (<a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/video\/seatgeek-ticket-price-forecaster-pitch-at-tc50\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/video\/seatgeek-ticket-price-forecaster-pitch-at-tc50\/<\/a>)  (now known as TechCrunch Battlefield) and took on the industry\u2019s massive incumbents by expanding its vision, surviving industry-defining challenges, and convincing investors that even a monopoly could be disrupted.<\/p>\n<p>In this episode of Build Mode (<a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/podcasts\/build-mode\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/podcasts\/build-mode\/<\/a>) , host and Startup Battlefield lead Isabelle Johannesen sits down with Jack Groetzinger, co-founder and CEO of SeatGeek, to unpack the company&#8217;s 17-year journey from startup to industry leader. Jack shares how SeatGeek raised nearly $400 million in venture capital, why he believes founders should think about expanding rather than pivoting, what it was like fundraising during the COVID-19 shutdown of live events, and why the company ultimately walked away from its planned SPAC. (<a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2022\/08\/31\/seatgeek-raises-238-million-privately-after-ditching-going-public-via-spac\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2022\/08\/31\/seatgeek-raises-238-million-privately-after-ditching-going-public-via-spac\/<\/a>)  He also explains how founders can convince investors to back them against an entrenched incumbent, why your first hires define your company&#8217;s future, and how AI is reshaping the future of live entertainment and ticketing.<\/p>\n<p>They get into:<\/p>\n<p>  \u2022  <\/p>\n<p>     Why SeatGeek chose to compete with Ticketmaster and how investors evaluated that opportunity<\/p>\n<p>  \u2022  <\/p>\n<p>     How SeatGeek survived COVID and closed its hardest fundraising round during the pandemic<\/p>\n<p>  \u2022  <\/p>\n<p>     Why passionate customers can become your best fundraising asset<\/p>\n<p>  \u2022  <\/p>\n<p>     The hiring mistakes Jack wishes he could undo and why your first employees shape company culture<\/p>\n<p>  \u2022  <\/p>\n<p>     How AI is transforming ticketing, live entertainment, and the fan experience<\/p>\n<p>  \u2022  <\/p>\n<p>     Jack Groetzinger&#8217;s advice for founders building companies that challenge established incumbents<\/p>\n<p>Subscribe to Build Mode on\u2060 (<a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/gb\/podcast\/build-mode\/id1561051074\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/gb\/podcast\/build-mode\/id1561051074<\/a>)  Apple Podcasts\u2060 (<a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/gb\/podcast\/build-mode\/id1561051074\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/gb\/podcast\/build-mode\/id1561051074<\/a>) , \u2060Spotify\u2060 (<a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0Dqmcq2aDrZkS9v1fITOKV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0Dqmcq2aDrZkS9v1fITOKV<\/a>) , or\u2060 (<a href=\"https:\/\/pod.link\/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vWUZMNjEyNzkzNjQ5NA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/pod.link\/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vWUZMNjEyNzkzNjQ5NA<\/a>)  wherever you like to listen\u2060 (<a href=\"https:\/\/pod.link\/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vWUZMNjEyNzkzNjQ5NA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/pod.link\/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vWUZMNjEyNzkzNjQ5NA<\/a>) . And watch the full videos on\u2060 (<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/1jCGsEOizz8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/youtu.be\/1jCGsEOizz8<\/a>)  YouTube\u2060 (<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/F0DKg84QPwM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/youtu.be\/F0DKg84QPwM<\/a>) . New episodes of \u2060Build Mode\u2060 (<a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/podcasts\/build-mode\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/podcasts\/build-mode\/<\/a>)  drop every Thursday.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Chapters:<\/p>\n<p>  \u2022  <\/p>\n<p>     00:00 \u2013 Intro: How SeatGeek Took on Ticketmaster<\/p>\n<p>  \u2022  <\/p>\n<p>     01:09 \u2013 From Startup Battlefield to Building SeatGeek<\/p>\n<p>  \u2022  <\/p>\n<p>     04:03 \u2013 Finding Product-Market Fit in a Broken Ticketing Industry<\/p>\n<p>  \u2022  <\/p>\n<p>     05:54 \u2013 Why SeatGeek Expanded Instead of Pivoting<\/p>\n<p>  \u2022  <\/p>\n<p>     07:14 \u2013 Raising Nearly $400M and Surviving the Hardest Fundraise During COVID<\/p>\n<p>  \u2022  <\/p>\n<p>     10:46 \u2013 Why SeatGeek Walked Away from Its SPAC IPO<\/p>\n<p>  \u2022  <\/p>\n<p>     13:57 \u2013 How to Raise Money Against a Monopoly Like Ticketmaster<\/p>\n<p>  \u2022  <\/p>\n<p>     17:02 \u2013 The Hiring Mistakes That Nearly Hurt SeatGeek&#8217;s Culture<\/p>\n<p>  \u2022  <\/p>\n<p>     19:08 \u2013 How AI Will Transform Live Entertainment and Ticketing<\/p>\n<p>  \u2022  <\/p>\n<p>     22:19 \u2013 Regulation, Competition, and Jack Groetzinger&#8217;s Advice for Founders<\/p>\n<p>Hosted by Isabelle Johannessen. Produced and edited by Maggie Nye. Audience development led by Morgan Little. Special thanks to the Foundry and Cheddar video teams.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SeatGeek didn&#8217;t become one of the biggest names in ticketing by following the playbook. It started as a simple ticket<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12318,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nicheblog.top\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nicheblog.top\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nicheblog.top\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nicheblog.top\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nicheblog.top\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nicheblog.top\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12314\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nicheblog.top\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nicheblog.top\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nicheblog.top\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nicheblog.top\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}