By Nathaniel Luce
Trisha Fridrich, an MBA student at Vanderbilt University, has been awarded a $25,000 Sohr Grant to support her start-up, VRION Ticketing, a cloud-based ticketing technology designed for tour companies.
VRION Ticketing will allow tour companies and similar businesses to sell activities and merchandise to their customers on the Internet, a mobile device, over the phone or from a box office. The start-up differs from other ticketing companies because of its specific focus on tour operators with more than $1 million in annual revenue in the United States. These businesses have unique ticketing needs that are currently underserved, Fridrich said, so she designed VRION Ticketing to have the flexibility, data and mobility options that are specific to the needs of a tour operator.
“With the right technology, tour operators can greatly increase efficiency and lower overhead costs,” Fridrich said. “Tours and activities are the third largest segment of the travel industry and 90 percent of operators in this $18 billion industry are unhappy with their technology solutions. VRION Ticketing’s goal is to change that.”
Each year, up to five Vanderbilt MBA students are awarded Sohr Grants to explore their ideas and start a business. Jim Sohr (BE’86, MBA’90) and his wife, Leah, began awarding the grants to student entrepreneurs at the Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management in 2012. Students compete each year for Sohr Grants by pitching their business idea to a group of successful entrepreneurs who help judge the competition. At least one award is made annually. In addition to the award money, the Sohr Grant allows students to gain invaluable perspectives from a seasoned entrepreneur network.
Fridrich is a second-year MBA student at the Owen Graduate School of Management. Before arriving at Vanderbilt, she spent 10 years helping grow a tour company from 20 to more than 120 employees. There, she developed an intimate knowledge of tour operators and their ticketing needs.
The Owen School community has been instrumental in developing her start-up idea, Fridrich said. She originally presented the idea during the MBA program’s core communications class. After hearing Fridrich’s idea, Professor Germain Boer encouraged her to present at FireStarter, where she won $300.
“As a student at Owen, Trisha has exhibited the traits that will make her a great entrepreneur,” Boer said. “She is persistent, focused on getting results, great at executing and she understands the importance of knowing your customer.”
Last spring, Fridrich and a team of business and law school students, who are no longer involved, created a business plan in Professor Michael Burcham’s course, called Launching the Venture. Now, with the Sohr Grant, Fridrich will be better able to take her business from a concept to the technology development stage, which is expensive. Over the next three months, Fridrich will use the grant to build VRION Ticketing’s initial platform so that their beta customers can provide feedback for the technology “to ensure that what we build is a great fit in our target market,” she said.
“When I arrived at Owen, I had no idea that I would be an entrepreneur,” Fridrich said. “I have been fortunate to be mentored by Professor Boer and Mario Avila [MBA’12 and director of the Turner Family Center for Social Ventures] and over the last few months, Owen’s strong alumni network has helped me to shape my next steps. I am thrilled for the opportunity to work on VRION Ticketing as I finish my MBA with the support of the school, my classmates and my professors.”
A hallmark of the Owen School is that, because of its small size, students have more access to entrepreneurship faculty than at peer schools. Boer and Avila will work closely with Fridrich during her final year at the Owen School.
“Trisha’s deep sector experience helped her to identify technological limitations in how the travel industry does business,” Avila said. “Her plan is well thought out and at a stage where the Sohr Grant will accelerate her success.”
Avila is a former Sohr Grant recipient. In 2012, he was awarded the grant to support his company, Contigo Financial, in developing a microfinance model to provide responsible alternatives to payday loans to the 60 million consumers in the United States who don’t have access to traditional bank loans or credit card products.
“The Sohr Grant was instrumental in helping me turn my business plan into a actual business that has had a positive impact on people’s lives,” Avila said. “The Sohr Grant is a tremendous asset to the Vanderbilt entrepreneurship community.”
Past Sohr Grant winners:
2015: Trisha Fridrich, Chris Gerding, Leiya Hasan
2014: Kramer Schmidt 2013: Baxter Webb, Enoch Sizto
2012: Mario Avila, Megan Allen and Ian McCollum
Contact Person: Brett Israel Director, Business News & Communications Vanderbilt University Owen Graduate School of Management
Contact Phone: (615) 322-NEWS
Contact Email: brett.israel@owen.vanderbilt.edu
