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Betting on a one-way ticket to the top

Viterbi student Tyler Kurlas starts an online ticket vendor for Los Angeles entertainment.

Venus Lee

Issue date: 2/22/07 Section: News
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On top | The employees of TicketClub, an online ticket-seller started by USC student Tyler Kurlas, socialize on top of a helicopter pad downtown. The company, founded last December, sells about 100 tickets a week to students and tourists.
Media Credit: Ed Ou | Daily Trojan
On top | The employees of TicketClub, an online ticket-seller started by USC student Tyler Kurlas, socialize on top of a helicopter pad downtown. The company, founded last December, sells about 100 tickets a week to students and tourists.
Tyler Kurlas said he has always had a knack for pioneering.

In December 2006, the junior majoring in industrial engineering teamed up with his brother, Nick, to launch TicketClub, which sells last-minute discount tickets to some of the hottest attractions in town.

To help launch the company, Kurlas garnered about $50,000 from local investors as well as family and friends.

"I wanted to provide high-flying entertainment for people short on cash," said Kurlas, the 21-year-old CEO. "It's perfect for people who like to save money, yet experience everything L.A. has to offer."

Dino Perales, a senior majoring in business administration, said he started using the service a couple of weeks ago and has since attended three NBA games for a fraction of the retail price.

"I love it," said Perales, who is also in Alpha Tau Omega fraternity with Kurlas. "It's affordable, convenient and tailored to my interests."

The company is modeled similarly to Las Vegas' popular ticket venue Tix 4 Tonight, which buys extra tickets for events on consignment and passes along the savings to the consumer.

TicketClub also integrates technology to personalize the service by basing its e-mail or text-message notifications upon customer preferences (date, type of venue or event) specified in an online questionnaire.

The company's local competitor is GoldStar Events, run by a UCLA alumnus. Kurlas said GoldStar is geared toward selling tickets to obscure events rather than mainstream popular concerts and sporting events.

Kurlas, who became a part-time student this semester to invest more time in TicketClub, said he spends about 50 to 60 hours per week creating marketing materials, securing direct sales, collecting feedback and garnering new contacts.

"It's a lot of work, but it's also a lot of fun," Kurlas said.

Kurlas said he drew heavily upon the USC community to get TicketClub off the ground.

Several film school students created a one-minute promotional commercial for the company featuring other USC students, including Song Girl Allison Mattox.

The commercial is posted on TicketClub's website which is run by Viterbi School of Engineering students.

Justin Verduyn, an information technology lecturer at Viterbi, assists the company in coordinating the mobile technology with the preferences indicated by users on the website.

"I really wanted to help them because I saw an industry that wasn't using technology," Verduyn said. "Yet it seemed like something I would use."

Kurlas, the former co-president and director of public affairs for USC's Entrepreneur Club, said he owes much of his success to the Trojan Family.

"USC is an amazing place to start a company," Kurlas said. "You can find so many people in and around campus willing to help out that you can do just about anything."

As the club's senior vice president this year, Kurlas met Spencer Nikosey, a third-year design student at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena who recently became involved with the club and Kurlas' business.

"(Tyler's) success is based on the fact that he truly believes and is in love with the concept," said Nikosey, who is in charge of the company's brand development.

The company sells about 100 tickets per week, depending on the number of events occurring.

Its clientele includes students, tourists and other community members who "enjoy affordable entertainment," said Kurlas, who hopes to sell the business concept at two Las Vegas conferences in July.

Because of the company's low overhead costs, Kurlas said he expects TicketClub to pay back its investors by then as well.

Kurlas attended the conference last year as an expert speaker on the new, up-and-coming mobile technology.

Kurlas is also the vice president of sales for TicketBean, a company born out of a business plan competition three years ago in Boston that has partnered with TicketClub.

In 2003, Kurlas helped start the USC Squash Club, which placed second and third at national club team competitions.

After Kurlas competes in the Los Angeles Marathon in March, he will travel to India during spring break to recruit more squash players.

Kurlas enjoys traveling around the world and plans to use the profits from his business ventures to fund his next trip and startup company.

"I've had some real lousy jobs in the past, so I know the only way to have the hours and lifestyle I want is to run my own business," he said.
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