New business aims to offer certainty for party planners

SuchCrowd chief financial officer Jacob Manning and chief executive officer Abbe Hyde discuss...
SuchCrowd chief financial officer Jacob Manning and chief executive officer Abbe Hyde discuss their business, which makes planning parties less stressful for organisers. Photo by Regina Speer.
A new company is returning to its Dunedin roots after launching in September in Christchurch.

SuchCrowd founders Abbe Hyde, Jacob Manning and Tin Htoo Aung all studied at the University of Otago before starting the business together.

SuchCrowd chief executive officer Abbe Hyde said the company was now planning to move to Dunedin at the end of the month.

The three co-founders met after participating in Startup Weekend Dunedin, which helped prospective entrepreneurs start businesses, Miss Hyde said.

''There are a lot of start-up opportunities for entrepreneurs in Dunedin.''

SuchCrowd provided a less stressful alternative for party planners and event organisers, she said.

''We really want to streamline the whole process of putting on an event.''

Normally, organisers planned the event and bought everything before they got around to selling the tickets, she said.

They had invested all their time and money and did not even know if their tickets would sell or if it was something people wanted to go to.

''So we wanted to turn the process upside down.

''Ask the crowd first if that's something they'd want to attend.''

Organisers could post an event on the site and set the minimum number of tickets to be sold. If the tickets did not sell, the money was refunded and nobody lost out, she said.

That way, the planner did not waste money on an unwanted event and attendees did not waste money on one that would be cancelled. The move came with some new ideas that would fit the scene in Dunedin, she said.

''You can actually do private events, as well.

''That's an element that is kind of specific to Otago University students.''

The business was looking at private corporate functions also, she said.

''There are some exciting things to come; [we're] looking forward to bigger customers.''

By James Hall. 

 

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