Ready to launch your own podcast? Book a strategy call.
Frontlines.io | Where B2B Founders Talk GTM.
Strategic Communications Advisory For Visionary Founders
Conversation
Highlights
From COVID Crisis to Category Creation: How Vendelux is Reinventing Event Marketing
The story of Vendelux began with what could have been a catastrophic timing mistake. “We had ten unaffiliated customers, February of 2020, all set to go full time. And then the pandemic hit,” shares Alex Reynolds in a recent episode of Category Visionaries. “That was probably one of the lowest moments in my life.”
While virtual event platforms like Hopin soared to multi-billion dollar valuations during the pandemic, Alex and his co-founder made a contrarian bet: in-person events would return stronger than ever. They remained skeptical of the digital event revolution, believing that “the magic around events is getting people together in person.”
That conviction has since been validated. “In 2024, events are now bigger, on average, than they’ve ve ever been before,” Alex notes. But more interesting than this vindication is how Vendelux is transforming the traditionally tactical role of event marketing into a strategic function.
The Hidden Problem in B2B Events
Before Vendelux, Alex and his co-founder Stefan built a business unit at Shutterstock from zero to $30 million in ARR, with growth primarily driven by events. This experience revealed a critical gap in the market: “When it worked well, it was the best thing that we could do. When it didn’t work well, it was a huge waste of time and money.”
The problem wasn’t just their own. Through conversations with hundreds of event marketers, they discovered this challenge was universal. Companies were spending between 24% to 40% of their B2B marketing budgets on events, yet the process of selecting and maximizing event ROI remained startlingly manual.
“We’ve talked to marketers that say ‘oh, I spend 30 hours every two weeks, we’re just googling to figure out what events I should be at,'” Alex reveals. “Which sounds crazy but it’s such a manual, time intensive process and there’s no tooling for this entire job bug.”
Building a New Category
Rather than positioning Vendelux as another event tech platform, Alex is taking a page from Gainsight’s playbook. Just as Gainsight transformed account management into the strategic function of customer success, Vendelux aims to elevate event marketing from a cost center into a strategic driver of business growth.
The challenge is that event participation is fragmented across organizations. “Sales will go to events on their own, SDRs will go, customer success will go, even like recruiting or legal and finance will go to seminars for learning and development,” Alex explains. This fragmentation creates an opportunity for a new type of marketer – one who can quarterback all in-person touchpoints across the organization.
The Go-to-Market Innovation
Vendelux’s go-to-market strategy is built on meeting customers at their moment of maximum pain. They’ve positioned SDRs in major trade show hubs like Vegas and London, where they can engage event marketers right when they’re feeling most overwhelmed.
“They just spent the last two, three months preparing for the event and oftentimes they don’t feel as prepared as they want to,” Alex shares. “They don’t have enough pre-booked meetings. And so we come along and say hey, there’s a better way.”
Rather than demanding new budget allocations, they’ve found creative ways to work within existing constraints. Event marketers might “instead of doing the platinum sponsorship, they’ll do the gold sponsorship” to free up budget for Vendelux. This pragmatic approach allows them to prove value before asking for expanded investment.
Beyond Events
While events are Vendelux’s starting point, Alex’s vision extends further: “Our vision is to empower humanity to build meaningful professional relationships.” He sees events as just one channel where like-minded professionals come together, with opportunities to expand into facilitating valuable connections across various contexts.
The transformation of event marketing from a tactical function into a strategic driver of business relationships mirrors larger shifts in B2B go-to-market strategy. As companies seek more efficient ways to build meaningful connections in an increasingly digital world, Vendelux’s approach to event intelligence could become a blueprint for the future of B2B relationship building.
Actionable
Takeaways
Integrate Multiple Data Sources for Enhanced Event Intelligence:
To make informed decisions about which events to attend or sponsor, companies should utilize a variety of data sources, including direct partnerships with event organizers and public information. This comprehensive approach enables a deeper understanding of event dynamics and attendee profiles.
Maintain Flexibility in Business Operations:
The pandemic's impact on Vendelux highlights the importance of maintaining operational flexibility to swiftly adapt to unexpected industry changes. Companies should prepare contingency plans and be ready to pivot strategies in response to market shifts.
Evaluate the Irreplaceable Value of In-Person Interactions:
Despite the convenience of virtual events, the unique benefits of face-to-face interactions should not be underestimated. Businesses need to assess the long-term benefits of in-person engagement when planning their event strategies.
Align with Investors Who Share Your Vision:
Finding investors who understand and support your business's unique value proposition is crucial, especially during uncertain times. This alignment can provide essential support and resources needed for growth and adaptation.
Empower Niche Markets with Specialized Solutions:
Vendelux's focus on event and field marketers—an often underserved group—illustrates the potential of targeting niche professional communities. Companies should explore opportunities to provide specialized solutions that address specific needs, thereby demonstrating clear ROI and enhancing overall business effectiveness.
Recommended Founder
Interviews
Robert Thelen
CEO & Founder of Rownd
Robert Thelen, CEO & Founder of Rownd: $3.3 Million Raised to Build the Future of App Onboarding
Cory Schmidt
Head of Marketing of Heyflow
Mastering Organic Growth: Insights from Heyflow’s Head of Marketing
Patrick Woods
CEO and Co-Founder of Orbit
Patrick Woods, CEO and Co-Founder of Orbit: Over $22 Million Raised to Power the Future of Communities
Rajat Mishra
Founder & CEO of Prezent
Rajat Mishra, Founder & CEO at Prezent: Over $24 Million Raised to Build the Presentation Productivity Platform Category
Jared Siegal
CEO and Founder of Aditude
Jared Siegal, CEO and Founder of Aditude: $15 Million Raised to Build the Future of Publisher Monetization
Thomas Millay
CEO of DemandJump
Thomas Millay, CEO at DemandJump: Over $25 Million Raised to Power the Future of Content Strategy
Dan Malgran
VP of Marketing of Steno
Dan Malgran, VP of Marketing at Steno: Elevating Legal Tech with Revenue-Driven Marketing Strategies
Creating the Go to Market Category with ZoomInfo’s Bryan Law
CMO of ZoomInfo
Creating the Go to Market Category with ZoomInfo’s Bryan Law
Zack Rosenberg
CEO and Founder of Qortex
Zack Rosenberg, CEO & Founder of Qortex: $11 Million Raised to Build the Future of Video Analytics
Parry Bedi
Co-Founder and CEO of Tingono
Parry Bedi, CEO of Tingono: $7 Million Raised to Help Companies Boost Net Revenue Retention
Taylor Lint
CEO and Founder of Swantide
Taylor Lint, CEO and Founder of Swantide: $7 Million Raised to Revolutionize How Companies Design and Build Their GTM Infrastructure
John Jahnke
CEO and Co-Founder of Tackle.io
John Jahnke, CEO and Co-Founder of Tackle.io: $148 Million Raised to Build the Future of Cloud Go-to-Market
Dan Rua
CEO of Admiral
Dan Rua, CEO of Admiral: $28 Million Raised to Build the Future of Visitor Relationship Management
Sam Mallikarjunan
Co-Founder & CEO of OneScreen
Sam Mallikarjunan, Co-Founder & CEO of OneScreen: $10 Million Raised to Power the Future of Offline Advertising
Tom Lee
Co-Founder of LOVO AI
Tom Lee, Co-Founder of LOVO AI: $7 Million Raised to Build the Future of AI Voiceovers
Stephen Karaolis
Marketing Director of Cleary
Stephen Karaolis, Marketing Director at Cleary: Mastering Speed to Market – The Key to Dynamic Content Strategy
Andrew Forman
Founder of Givz
Andrew Forman, CEO of Givz: $3 Million Raised to Make Donating, Not Discounts, eCommerce Brands Ultimate Growth Lever
Marc Bernstein
CEO and Founder of Balto
Marc Bernstein, CEO and Founder of Balto: $52 Million Raised to Power the Future of Contact Centers
Tyler Strand
Co-Founder and CTO of Air
Tyler Strand, Co-Founder and CTO at Air: $38 Million raised to Build the Creative Operations Category
Creating the Marketing Automation Category with Mark Organ
CEO of Eloqua
Creating the Marketing Automation Category with Mark Organ
Adrien Menard
CEO and Co-Founder of Botify
Adrien Menard, CEO and Co-Founder of Botify: $82 Million Raised to Build the Future of SEO
Sangram Vajre
Co Founder and CEO of GTM Partners
Behind the Category: Creating the Account-Based Marketing (ABM) Category with Sangram Vajre
Omed Habib
VP of Sapient AI
Omed Habib, VP of Marketing at Sapient AI: A Technical Founder’s Guide to B2B SaaS Marketing
Andy Mowat
CEO and Co-Founder of Gated
Andy Mowat, CEO and Co-Founder of Gated: Over $3 Million Raised to Build Noise Cancelling Headphones for Email
Spencer Dusebout
CEO & Founder of Aidium
Spencer Dusebout, CEO & Founder of Aidium: $19 Million Raised to Build the Future of Mortgage CRM
Luke Hansen
CEO and Founder of CompanyCam
Luke Hansen, CEO and Founder of CompanyCam: $38 Million Raised to Build the Future of Visual Communication for Contractors
Ori Entis
CEO and Co-Founder of Staircase AI
Ori Entis, CEO and Co-Founder of Staircase AI: $5 Million Raised to Power the Future of Customer Revenue Growth
Ashish Nagar
Founder & CEO of Level AI
Ashish Nagar, CEO of Level AI: $35 Million Raised to Power Contact Centers of the Future
Daniel Erickson
Founder and CEO of Viable
Daniel Erickson, CEO of Viable: $9 Million Raised to Build the Future of Customer Feedback Analysis
Pulkit Agrawal
CEO & Co-Founder of Chameleon
Pulkit Agrawal, CEO & Co-Founder of Chameleon: $15 Million Raised to Build the Product Adoption Category
Hikari Senju
CEO and Founder of Omneky
Hikari Senju, CEO and Founder of Omneky: $10 Million Raised to Empower Brands With AI-Powered Ads To Maximize Performance
Chris Strahl
CEO of Knapsack
Chris Strahl, CEO of Knapsack: $7 Million Raised to Build the Future of Design Systems
Jonathan Legge
Co-Founder and CEO of &Open
Jonathan Legge, Co-Founder and CEO at &Open: Over $35 Million Raised to Create the Future of Corporate Gifting
Lars Grønnegaard Hansen
CEO and Co-Founder of Dreamdata
Lars Grønnegaard Hansen, CEO & Co-Founder of Dreamdata: $12 Million Raised to Build the Future of B2B Revenue Attribution
Ishveen Jolly
CEO and Co-Founder of OpenSponsorship
Ishveen Jolly, CEO and Co-Founder of OpenSponsorship: Over $5 Million Raised to Build the Future of Sports Influencer Marketing
Rob Sadow
CEO & Co-Founder of Scoop
Rob Sadow, CEO & Co-Founder of Scoop: $8 Million Raised to Build the Future of Hybrid Team Coordination
Ariana Faustini
Head of Golioth
Ariana Faustini, Head of Global Marketing at Golioth: Embracing Authenticity in Developer Marketing
Chris Golec
CEO and Co-Founder of Channel99
Chris Golec, CEO and Co-Founder of Channel99: $5 Million Raised to Power the Future of B2B Marketing
CEO and Co-Founder of Sendoso
Creating the Sending Management Category with Sendoso’s Kris Rudeegraap
Jonas Rinde
CEO of Nomono
Jonas Rinde, CEO of Nomono: $15 million Raised to Power the Future of Podcasting
Pierce Ujjainwalla
CEO of Knak
Pierce Ujjainwalla, CEO of Knak: $25 Million Raised to Empower Enterprise Marketers with Codeless Email and Landing Page Creation
Sam Fonoimoana
Founder & CEO of Datajoin
Sam Fonoimoana, Founder & CEO of Datajoin: $3.5 Million Raised to Help Brands Leverage Customer Behavioral Insights
Leena Joshi
CEO of CloseFactor
Leena Joshi, CEO of CloseFactor: $15+ Million Raised to Automate Repetitive Sales Processes
Katy Carrigan
CEO of Goody
Katy Carrigan, CEO of Goody: $32 Million Raised to Build the Future of Corporate Gifting
Vinay Jain
Founder of MadMen AI
Vinay Jain, Founder of MadMen AI: $4.5 Million Raised to Build the Future of AI-Powered Marketing Platforms
Tine Karlsen
Co-Founder & CEO of Vev
Tine Karlsen, CEO and Co-Founder of Vev: $7 Million Raised to Power the Future of No-Code Visual Design
Michael Bamberger
CEO and Founder of Tetra Insights
Michael Bamberger, CEO and Founder of Tetra Insights: $7 Million Raised to Power the Future of Qualitative Research