Today we’d like to introduce you to Roy Vann.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I started in the events and entertainment industry in 2009 promoting college nights for nightclubs like Kinki’s, Plush, and Zouk with Dallas Entourage and later through my own company Dallas Knight Life. This experience laid half of the foundation for Zenu App. I noticed a shift from downtown nightclub nights to consumers wanting more unique experiences like local music shows and other experiential entertainment options. At the same time, I was working on releasing some new music under the name Royal Calvin, so I decided to use my promotion experience to throw my Royal Calvin shows without having to rely on a local promoter, who would likely charge me or scam me. My first event was double booked by the venue whose venue owner kept their bookings on paper. This forced us to move our event to a new venue two weeks before our date, which as you can imagine caused a number of promotional problems. Luckily, my partners and I noticed a flyer advertising a different event on the same date at the same venue, or we may have shown up to our venue as another event was taking place. I simply couldn’t understand how this was able to happen in 2016 in a world of Outlook Calendars, Airbnb, and many other organizational technologies whose functionalities simply don’t allow the option to double book. After some brief research, I noticed there were not very many options out there to help creators and event planners quickly find and book event space; thus, ZenuApp was born.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Zenu App has been an extreme struggle to launch and grow, but I would not trade the experience for the world. From December 2016 through June 2017 I worked 6-8 hour nights communicating the app’s functionality and design elements to our development team in Mumbai, India. This is in addition to having a full-time career, as most millennial entrepreneurs do, and pulling a career switch from retail to advertising in the middle of this stretch didn’t make things easier. Zenu App remains a secondary focus for me as I do handle full-time duties at iHeartMEDIA as an Account Executive, but I’m proud to say we have grown to have nearly 50 venue partners in 6 different US states since our App Store launch in 2017.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Zenu App – what should we know?
Zenu App makes it easier for ANYONE to find, tour, and book an event space. We connect event producers and creatives of all types to venues who have the spaces they need and vice versa. We have been the most popular in the indie and underground music scene; however, we have venue partners that are wedding venues, art studios, and many other multi-use spaces. We even have a mini old western town venue located just south of Dallas. Another thing we are known for is our 3D/VR Virtual tours. Some venues subscribe to a plan that allows us to shoot a virtual tour for them that can be shared within their Zenu App profile as well as on their website. Our virtual tours canbe viewed in either a 3D walkthrough style or full-on virtual reality walk through. For event planners, this is great because they don’t have to drive across town to see the venues they are interested in booking.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Many people have played a huge role in helping ZenuApp see the light of day. First and foremost are my friends who took a chance on the idea and invested their hard earned cash into our development – Steven Pelitere, William Kile, and Dustin Wheeler. The Dallas Entrepreneur community – everyone at the DEC, who invited me out for 1 Million Cups, the Launch DFW team, including Jasmin Brand, David Ezell at Founders Live, Fran White, and Amber LaFrance – really just too many people to name who have championed us early on. Lastly, my sweet girlfriend Prescilla Elias who has always been supportive throughout the journey despite being a full-time SMU business law student. Congratulations on graduating!
Contact Info:
- Website: Zenuapp.com
- Email: info@zenuapp.com
- Instagram: zenuappllc
- Facebook: zenuappllc
- Twitter: zenuappllc
Image Credit:
Fela Raymond for the two pics in the pink jacket, Ayo Olajimi for the pic in the Nirvana shirt. Benjamin Charlton for the pic in the jean jacket.
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