CrowdUltra has been named winner of Eventplanner.net’s 2021 Excellence Award for the Best Event App of the Year. They were chosen ahead of Aventri, Bizzabo, Cvent, HopIn, and others for thinking outside of the box and providing a creative solution unlike any other event app.
I reached out to CrowdUltra founder and CEO Riley Moore to learn more about this startup. Following is our conversation.
What does your startup do?
CrowdUltra is a social platform for community, engagement, and enhancing any occasion. We are part social platform, part all-in-one event and audience interaction app, and part ticketing/VIP membership platform.
Why did you start this company? How did the idea for your startup come about?
There are a multitude of reasons for starting CrowdUltra. First off, our passion for events of all kinds and podcasts/other independent content that has led us to being part of these communities.
I’ve got a borderline obsession with podcasting that’s come since discovering Joe Rogan’s podcast in 2015 and I’m fascinated by the art form. I find attending live events whether they be concerts, festivals, stand-up comedy shows, conferences, or sporting events to be my favorite thing to do. My parents and brother, who are also behind CrowdUltra, are passionate event attendees who have attended various conventions and concerts surrounding their interests for decades as well.
Having this passion and being a part of these communities, I’ve been quite observant of those I appreciate in the space. I noticed many who host or are hired as talent at events also host podcasts or something similar like a vlog, and vice-versa. Aside from that, I detected a real need for those hosting any occasion as well.
I observed the difficulty for those hosting occasions like podcasts and live events to effectively engage and connect with their communities they’ve built. At this point social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook only show a post to 1-10% of the person’s followers making these platforms ineffective for connecting and spreading awareness. They are more focused on creating a pay to play situation where users are forced to pay for advertising to truly reach those interested in mass numbers. This is unethical in my opinion. I also noticed the ways those hosting events and podcasts facilitated engagement like Q&A was done through outlets not tailored to do so, bringing on levels of ineffectiveness also getting in the way. Being a part of these crowds, I understood how many people are dying to engage as well.
I also noticed how essential event apps are to the experience, but every event app I came across lacked beneficial functionality. As I researched further, I learned how inaccessible a great event app is to the average event due to cost. Also as an avid event attendee who has spent years attending various occasions, I was aware of the community of passionate attendees who regularly attend and have interest in various events. This network of attendees like myself did not have a social environment because if an event app was to be used at all, it was only utilized for that individual event or event organizer. I then saw how beneficial it would be for those hosting and attending any occasion to have a social platform surrounding enhancing the occasions and better connecting all involved.
I then tied the essential nature of event apps back to those hosting virtual content-based occasions like podcasts. As I said, those hosting these occasions are also often hosting events or are hired for events. Along with that, there are clear similarities between the crowds and the dynamics of effectively connecting with them. The needs are shared, and so are the people hosting and attending these occasions. This created the motivation to create a social platform that enhanced any occasion, increased engagement and awareness, as well as better connected crowds to bring everyone closer together.
Tell us about the problem/challenge that you’re solving. Who is your customer and what challenge or pain point of theirs are you solving?
Our customer is anyone hosting or a part of any in-person, virtual, or hybrid occasion whether it be a festival, conference, or podcast. Our entire user base includes these hosts along with their crowds. We offer the only social event platform and free all-in-one event app. We’re designed to enhance any occasion and bring everyone closer together regardless of the budget or type of occasion.
Connecting with the crowd is essential for anyone hosting an occasion with a following. Connection involves spreading awareness, informing and sharing, as well as engaging and communicating.
This Requires Being Able To:
- Showcase who you are
- Share all that you’re up to
- Provide robust information
- Establish organized social hubs to increase effectiveness of engagement
- Reach your whole crowd
If This Is Done Right Then Those With A Crowd Can:
- Create engaging experiences surrounding connection
- Augment any occasion for all involved
- Sell merchandise or tickets
- Gain opportunities that boost revenue
- Increase downloads and views
How did you validate that your solution was viable?
The first form of validation came from experience and passion. We’ve been event attendees who have been to all types of occasions and podcast fans from their pioneering days. With this passion and experience, came years of observing what’s needed and would provide benefit along with a deep understanding of how everything works.
From there, you obviously must build the product and get it out to the world. We began with small local events and event organizations I was personally involved with utilizing the platform. I also connected with the legendary former Sacramento Kings announcer Grant Napear early on, and he has been using CrowdUltra for his podcast since launching it over a year ago. This along with organic marketing efforts led to further growth validating CrowdUltra. We’ve also been validated based on the media recognition we have received from the event and podcasting industry. In the past six months we’ve also won the best event app award from Eventplanner.net.
What are some of the biggest accomplishments, milestones, or wins you’ve had so far?
The Eventplanner.net Best Event App Award
Having Grant Napear who I’ve regularly listened to since the second grade, using CrowdUltra to better connect with his crowd of fans like me.
What were some key entrepreneurship lessons-learned you’ve learned so far?
Don’t believe everything you read about business and entrepreneurship online. This includes social media, podcasts, and media outlets like Business Insider or Forbes. As an entrepreneur looking to learn and grow, you will likely come across various concepts and things entrepreneurs do or claim as effective. They may even appear to have value but don’t and can waste your time.
You also must focus on specifically what matters to finding entrepreneurial success while ensuring you do not get distracted by anything not moving your pursuits forward. Human egos can make people think an opportunity has value when in reality it’s a waste of time. This could be your own ego and also come from those around you as well.
Understand large scale organic reach and awareness on social media is essentially impossible without paying to play. On average, no more than one to ten percent of someone’s total following receives a post on their Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or Twitter feed. The only exceptions to this are those with a stature of Joe Rogan, Gary Vaynerchuk, or Kim Kardashian. Other outlets such as outbound social media DMs or email marketing is without doubt more effective at this point.
What stage are you at and what’s next?
CrowdUltra is growing at this point. What’s next is to increase awareness and our user-base to be able to offer value on a larger mainstream scale. We want to be used to the extent of social platforms like Facebook and ticketing platforms like Eventbrite, while in turn improving what we passionately enjoy entertainment-wise and stifling the unethical monopolistic nature surrounding most of the companies in these industries.
What has been the biggest challenge you’ve had to overcome as a startup founder?
When it comes to being a startup founder, the biggest challenge I had to work to conquer was having a balanced life and not allowing my obsessive passion surrounding my work to entirely consume my life. I had to learn through some hard lessons alongside self educating myself on personal development and further leaning into my faith.
How has Covid-19 affected your startup and what have you done to adjust?
Covid-19 had an interesting effect on CrowdUltra. There were pluses and minuses so to speak. Obviously the in-person event industry is still facing struggles depending on where they are in the world. Since we are an in-person event app provider, we lose the opportunity to serve these events. With the closure of certain entertainment avenues, it increased interest in virtual events as well as hosting more podcasts. This has been a huge benefit for us. We adjusted our marketing pursuits less on in-person events and more on virtual occasions to make the most of everything. We cannot wait until the event industry is back to normal and are confident we will see exponential growth that correlates with the freedom to put on these events.
What needs do you have to grow and take it to the next level?
CrowdUltra must continue to increase awareness of our platform and its value to serve a larger community. We’ve got innovative industry-leading functionality and are unlike any other social platform or event app. We’re proven and just need to continue to put in the work to get more notice.
We are a bootstrapped startup not interested in taking on funding to appease shareholders and focus on profit maximization instead of whats right or makes the most sense. The route we are taking is no doubt the longer route, making organic awareness and outbound efforts even more vital. We must foster a brand and reputation that is as undeniable as our platform.
What’s your take on the startup scene here in your area? What has been helpful?
Sacramento is not the only startup scene I have been apart of. I have also engaged in the startup scene in the Silicon Valley, LA, Ventura, and Santa Barbara areas. When comparing Sacramento to the other communities I have been involved with, I’ve found Sacramento to be the best community in my eyes. The people of the Sacramento scene are in general much more genuine and are happy to help one another. There is less ego and more focus on mutually beneficial success that assists in growing the community as a whole.
What do you think as an entrepreneur would be more helpful to have here in the region?
There is one thing I regularly discuss with friends, family, and colleagues that would improve the startup world in the Sacramento region. There are problems with how the local media embraces local startups. What I said about the community does not apply to our media outlets and those working for them. StartupSac and Sacramento Business Journals are great. But outside of them, every other outlet lacks true interest in sharing and spreading awareness of the local startup world with their readers, listeners, or viewers. This is based on many attempts of outreach to them surrounding our startups over the years. We’re a local family-owned family-run startup that has won prominent awards and has reputable customers, yet have never gained a response from the mainstream media outlets in the greater Sacramento area.
This is quite detrimental to the local startup community along with clearly being upsetting to local entrepreneurs. Mainstream awareness from outlets including TechCrunch, Forbes, and Entrepreneur initially derive from local media’s articles. This is how startup hubs like the Bay Area, Austin, and Seattle thrive, grow, and are regularly seen in these mainstream outlets.
Do you have any words of advice, inspiration, or encouragement for aspiring entrepreneurs?
Regardless of your entrepreneurial aspirations, you will almost always have someone close to you that does not think your pursuit is possible and someone who will deny you. These are things that can easily bring on discouragement and must be ignored.
The most important focus you can have as an entrepreneur is to seek balance in life and have your priorities such as loved ones in order. If you don’t, you’ll likely face problems in the future that may not necessarily seem like they will harm your entrepreneurial pursuits but absolutely will.
While you may initially be motivated by money and what can be gained from money, you must seek out a life of purpose and significance. If not, the ego can get in the way of prosperity. At the end of the day nothing you purchase can come along with you when you die. What you do and how you make people feel is all that lasts.
Keep going, things take time. Whether you’re seeking to be a successful entrepreneur, comedian, or politician, the journey is a long process often taking years. If you truly want to accomplish great things, you must be willing to stay dedicated to your pursuit knowing great things take time.
Focus on a frugal mentality and finding ways to do things effectively, efficiently, and affordably. Prioritizing frugality along with effectiveness and efficiency will be extremely beneficial to any pursuit.
Understand you should be focused on the long game and not the short game. Do what’s right and necessary for long term success, not short term success. This includes aspects of business such as prioritizing organic growth over paid growth since paid growth is almost always not sustainable.
Dedicate time to reading things that will make you a better person and have a better understanding of your pursuits. Books such as Be Here Now and Built To Last.
How can people find out more about you and your startup?
To learn more about what we are doing visit:
CrowdUltra – https://www.CrowdUltra.com
DirectSuggest – https://www.DirectSuggest.com
RM4Tech – https://www.RM4Tech.com
Follow Me On LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/rileyrm4tech/
