Founder in Focus: Asher Weiss of Tixologi
Whether it’s music, sports, or almost any kind of ticketed event, we can all agree the process is often a mess. And Tixologi founder Asher Weiss is doing something about it.
I had an opportunity to catch up with Asher and learn more. Founder stories are always fascinating. The grit, the drive, the determination; often against all odds, are inspiring.
Let’s dive in.
Before founding Tixologi, Asher spent four years in the NBA working for the Golden State Warriors and the Orlando Magic. Ticketing was a never ending challenge and a pain point for both the fans and the teams. The lack of data on ticket holders, fraudulent tickets, increased retail pricing — all contributed to a broken ticketing system. Tixologi was born of that frustration. Asher set out to put event planners, teams, and venues in control of their ticketing.
The genesis of the idea for Tixologi came from feedback from a fan who missed the collectible aspects of tickets — which seemed to be disappearing with a shift to digital. Asher, a keen student of NFT’s and blockchain technology, connected the dots and Tixologi was born.
The biggest evolution was early in the business when Tixologi pivoted from just building collectible add-ons, to building a fully-fledged blockchain-based ticketing software.
This move really set Tixologi out from the crowd, because they figured out how to help event planners, teams, and venues overcome many of the pain points of modern ticketing systems by using blockchain technology. The beauty is, customers and attendees don’t need any preexisting blockchain knowledge to take advantage of Tixologi’s tech. No crypto wallets or payments, no technical lingo to learn. Nada. Just easy ticket verification using the blockchain with no worries about fakes or duplicates, along with effortless ticket tracking.
Yet when it came to launching, Asher’s biggest challenge was juggling his time with a full-time job. He decided to take a giant leap and leave his job without any safety net. Fortunately, he was able to raise money a couple of months after leaving the Warriors. Tixologi became reality.
Asher was introduced to Social Leverage by an angel investor. Social Leverage founder and General Partner Howard Lindzon happened to be in Toronto while Asher was living there. The two met for breakfast. Social Leverage invested (Fund IV), and that breakfast was enough for the beginning of a great partnership.
After the initial investment, Asher says he had no idea how well-regarded and respected a firm Social Leverage was. He felt lucky to become part of such a great group of founders and investors. Most helpful were the annual Social Leverage Paloozas, where Asher got to interact and network with other founders and investors.
I asked Asher where he got his entrepreneurial spirit from, and he said it started at a young age. When he was eight he started his first business. He was never really into the traditional summer job scene, and spent his summers coming up with business ideas to work on. He loves the challenge of starting from nothing and being his own boss. Of course, each of those businesses had their own challenges and rewards, but Asher always kept coming back for more. It so happens both of his parents are entrepreneurs as well. His mom started a marketing company in Toronto 30 years ago that his dad helped grow. The business is still running today, and his dad has gone on to start another business; a consulting firm focused on the ‘active agers’ market.
With the genesis of Tixolgi covered, we moved on to a series of questions about Asher the entrepreneur. Wherever your startup path takes you, you’ll find a lot of wisdom in his answers.
What was your key driving force to become an entrepreneur? It’s hard to pinpoint, but I believe it was the constant desire to make a bigger impact than I ever could as a contributor at another organization. I want to be constantly challenged and constantly growing and learning, which I feel can be limited when working for someone else. When running your own business, there is no limit.
How do you generate new ideas as an entrepreneur? The biggest things that help me are getting out into the world, whether that be going to a conference and meeting people, exploring a new place or trying a new activity. These can all be great tools for getting yourself out of a rut or just helping you see the world differently. I also read a lot, so books help me think of things or challenges in different ways.
On that note, what book has inspired you the most? Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. I’ve always been a big fan of Malcolm’s work and this book, focused on highly successful individuals, is my favorite of them all.
Do you believe there is a winning formula for becoming a successful entrepreneur? What is yours? I personally think networking is the single most important skill to succeeding as an entrepreneur. Whether that’s meeting investors, hiring new employees, finding new customers or landing strategic partnerships, your network is the easiest and best way to make these essential activities happen. I’m fortunate that networking and connecting with people is one of my greatest strengths and I use it every day to grow my business.
What sacrifices have you had to make to be a successful entrepreneur? As an entrepreneur, you can’t do it all. You are often asked to do it all at work and you find a way to make it happen. But in the rest of your life, something has to give. For me, I currently choose to focus all of my energy on my wife and my business. These are the two most important things to me right now, but that unfortunately means that friends, hobbies and travel have to take a bit of a backseat for now.
What advice would you give to people who want to go into business? The biggest piece of advice I can give is to make sure you choose your business idea wisely. It is often said that in any business you decide to start, you should be prepared to spend at least 10 years working on it. No business is built overnight and there are many ups and downs, so be sure it is something you are extremely passionate about and can be excited about doing for years and years, day in and day out.
I followed up by asking Asher what was the best advice he’d ever received as a founder? He told me there’s much to choose from, but he’d go with ‘fire fast, hire slow’. He notes finding good people is the hardest part of running a business. Founders should take their time to find the right fit. And when it’s not working out, act quickly and decisively. The longer you wait, the worse it usually is for the business.
