Moving from virtual job fairs to an all-in-one events suite by co-creating with customers
Muhammad Younas · vFairs
Published September 6, 2024Explore the lesson. Sign in to access the slide download.
Topics covered: Our next speaker I just want you guys imagine something imagine going from 1.; Went from boom to burst but we were able…; Customers who already were going to shift their virtual….
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“our next speaker I just want you guys imagine something imagine going from 1.9 million bucks of ARR to $ 17.9 million of AR in Under 12 months please help me welcome to the stage Mr Muhammad Eunice from V [Applause] Paris is is co baby the right word yeah kind of sort of it was born a lot more earlier than that but yeah it boomed that coach us up competitive space can't wait to learn”
“went from boom to burst but we were able to still sustain the revenue and again growing from there so we'll walk you through how we went from a point solution to an all-in-one event management solution where we now provide event tech for virtual events but also for even person events badge printing solution mobile app lead capture app abstract management and so forth so I'm just going to walk you through that but before I do that I just want you to know where we stand today Gartner for the first”
“customers who already were going to shift their virtual event contracts to inperson event contracts just because they want to go back uh to that space so we started with just virtual piece that first quadrant but over the last two years we buil the other three quadrants and all of them all of them were co-created with customers who already paid us for all of that upfront so just one of the things that I want you guys to know about is that if you are so we”
“once we did that we uh co-created a lot of u a lot of just social proof with those customers so one of our favorite customers is University of Maryland they were one of our initial customers and what we did was we worked with them to get a case study a video testimonial tons of social media post from them on LinkedIn of how much they like V fars and just by doing that and just by having them introduce us to a lot of”
“Repositioned product for new use cases.”
“Moved from point solution to suite.”
“Virtual to in-person mix went from 85-15 to 45-55”
“Case study helped us win Cornell, Columbia, UPenn”
Video
Scaling Smarter: Lessons Learned From Scaling to Over $30M & Pivoting At Different Growth Phases - Slide Deck
As the CEO and founder of vFairs, Muhammad Younas is on a mission to provide innovative and scalable solutions to businesses around the world and help vFairs become the world’s most loved technology to power events. With over 15 years of experience in the technology industry, he has a proven track record of building successful products and businesses that drive growth and innovation.
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SaaSOpen, September 2024 Scaling Smarter: Lessons Learned From Scaling to Over $30M & Pivoting At Different Growth Phases Muhammad Younas CEO & Founder, vFairs
The talk centers on expanding product value, entering new markets, and increasing each account's share of wallet. The agenda previews product expansion, new geographies and industries, and using referrals and initial deals to grow global accounts.
Over the next 20 minutes I’m going to show you EXPAND VALUE Repositioned product for new use cases. Moved from point solution to suite. EXPAND MARKETS INCREASE SHARE OF WALLET Penetrated new geos efficiently. Broke into a lookalike industry. Identified “wedge” accounts. Invoked account domino effect.
Revenue rose from $700,000 in 2018 to $31,577,209 in 2023, with the steepest increase between 2019 and 2021. The chart connects the company's expansion to a period of rapid growth followed by slower gains.
Our Revenue Growth
The first product phase focused on virtual job fairs, with revenue reaching $700,000 in 2018. The timeline frames this focused use case as the starting point for later expansion.
Our Revenue Growth Offered Virtual Job Fairs only
After establishing virtual job fairs, the company broadened its offer to conferences, trade shows, and other virtual events. The timeline presents this broader event mix as a next step in product expansion.
Our Revenue Growth All virtual events (conferences, trade shows, job fairs etc.)
The product evolved from virtual events into a suite spanning virtual, in-person, and hybrid formats. The timeline places this broader platform at the end of the company's product expansion.
Our Revenue Growth All-in-one suite(virtual, in-person, hybrid events)
The Gartner quadrant places vFairs in the Customers' Choice area, reflecting its position on the chart's customer experience and market average axes. The recognition is presented as external validation of the event platform.
Gartner Customer Choice Award 2023
The team celebrates four 2023 Event Tech Live awards across hybrid events, networking, virtual events, and sustainable technology. The photo of the winners with their awards reinforces the breadth of the recognition.
4 Event Tech Live Awards 2023 Best Hybrid Event Platform Best Event Networking Technology Best Virtual Event Platform Best Sustainable Tech Solution
The G2 Grid places vFairs among the leaders, toward the high-satisfaction and high-market-presence corner. The chart positions the platform alongside other event technology vendors.
Leader on G2 Grid
Customer collaboration helped turn new needs into use cases and move the product from a point solution toward a suite. The three cards summarize co-creation, use-case expansion, and broader product scope.
Co-created with customers Expanded to new use cases Moved from point solution to suite. Expand Value BULLET 1 BULLET 2 BULLET 3
Virtual job fairs gave the company an initial product focused on recruitment challenges. The event hall image illustrates the digital experience built around that first use case.
Started by Solving Recruitment Pain Points via Virtual Job Fairs
An exhibit hall and chatroom formed the core of a virtual job fair, while adding webinar and engagement tools enabled a conference format. The diagram shows how customer co-creation connected existing components to a new event type.
Unlock New Use Case via Co-Creation + = Job Fair Exhibit Hall Chatroom Webinar + engagement tools + = Conference Co-created piece
The beachhead strategy starts with virtual job fairs, expands to adjacent event types, then moves into other segments. The examples progress from conferences, trade shows, and internal events to event apps, badge printing, and check-in solutions.
Beachhead Segment Strategy Virtual Job Fairs Virtual Conference, Trade Shows, Internal events Event Apps Badge Printing Check-in solutions
A virtual venue is the starting point for a wider suite of event products. The surrounding examples add webinars, event apps, badge scanning, in-person events, virtual events, and hybrid experiences.
Journey from Point Solution to Suite
The product wheel shows how winning in virtual events can lead to a fuller event technology suite. Adjacent capabilities span registration, ticketing, analytics, mobile apps, accessibility, support, in-person events, and hybrid experiences.
Journey from Point Solution to Suite Won virtual slice first…. Then, completed the wheelhouse
The paired website screenshots show a shift from a virtual-event offer to a broader event management platform for in-person and virtual formats. The change in positioning makes the move from point solution to suite visible.
Journey from Point Solution to Suite
The share of leads from in-person events rose as the product mix diversified: the virtual-to-in-person split shifted from 85-15 to 45-55. By 2024, the chart shows leads spread across all-in-one, virtual, in-person, mobile, badge, and registration products.
Leads by product 2022-2024 Virtual to in-person mix went from 85-15 to 45-55 Established better product diversity balance Virtual event heavy mix
This section covers entering new geographies and lookalike industries while adapting to local nuances. The three-part roadmap links market expansion to understanding regional differences and finding adjacent customer groups.
Understood regional nuances. Penetrated new geographies. Captured lookalike industries. Expand Markets I’m going to show you NUANCE NEW GEO LOOKALIKES
The 2024 country breakdown shows bookings beyond the United States, with the United Kingdom and Canada each contributing 7%. The accompanying steps describe testing paid media in new countries, localizing pages, and earning regional G2 badges.
Expanded Geography Tested paid media in new countries Launched localized pages Won regional G2 badges
A French-language website adapts the event platform's messaging and navigation for another market. Its localized copy and translated calls to action illustrate how the company supported international expansion.
Localized Pages
Conferences account for 60% of 2024 bookings, ahead of job fairs at 12% and trade shows at 10%. The slide connects this wider event mix to testing new markets and expanding use cases through referrals from existing customers.
Expanded Event Types Tested paid media in new countries Expanded use cases with existing customers through internal referrals
Higher education leads the 2024 industry breakdown at 8% of bookings, with nonprofit organizations at 7%. The proposed playbook is to build an initial higher-education case study, use it to win more universities, and repeat the approach with foodservice groups.
Expanded Industries Create case study with 1 higher ed example Leveraged it to win 30 top universities Repeated the same with foodservice groups
A Top 100 university served as social proof that helped the company close 30 more higher-education customers. The customer list illustrates how one recognizable institution could support broader adoption across universities.
Capturing Higher Education Market Social proof of one Top 100 university… …helped close 30 more
The University of Maryland Global Campus case study is presented as proof that helped vFairs win Cornell, Columbia, and UPenn. The example shows how a published customer story can support expansion into similar institutions.
Expanded Industries Case study helped us win Cornell, Columbia, UPenn
A virtual trade show case study for Harbor Wholesale is linked to winning a $500K deal. The example ties proof from an event in a target industry to a larger customer opportunity.
Expanded Industries Case study helped us win $500K deal
This section focuses on maturing customer success, generating internal referrals, and turning initial wedge deals into global accounts. The three steps frame account growth as a progression from service to wider adoption.
Matured customer success function. Domino: Won over internal departments via referrals. Converted wedge deals into global accounts. Increase Share of Wallet I’m going to show you CUSTOMER SUCCESS REFERRALS WEDGE DEALS
Customer reviews praise vFairs' problem solving, communication, and support. The examples position consistent product and service delivery as a foundation for customer satisfaction.
Perfected Delivery of Product and Service
The account path starts with job fairs, then extends to new geographies and onboarding fairs before growing through referrals. Logos of large multinational companies illustrate the kinds of global accounts the strategy targets.
Moving into Adjacencies Rolling out the Job Fair to other geographies Moving into Onboarding Fairs Actively seeking out referrals to eventual own the global account
One FMCG account grew from $25,000 in 2018 to over $500k in 2023. The company started with a virtual career fair, then expanded into recruitment and onboarding across a global account.
Account Domino: Leading FMCG Company $25,000 in 2018 to over $500k in 2023 Won global account. Recruitment + Onboarding. Started with Virtual Career Fair
The global healthcare account started with a virtual career fair and expanded into recruitment and conferences across 10+ geographies. A revenue chart shows steep account growth from 2018 to 2023.
Account Domino: Global Healthcare Leader $6,000 in 2018 to $234,000+ in 2023 Started with Virtual Career Fair Won 10+ geographies for recruitment & conferences
The recap returns to expanding product value, entering new markets, and increasing share of wallet. It ties new use cases and a broader suite to geographic and industry expansion, then to referrals and larger accounts.
Over the last 20 minutes, I showed you: EXPAND VALUE Repositioned product for new use cases. Moved from point solution to suite. EXPAND MARKETS INCREASE SHARE OF WALLET Penetrated new geos efficiently. Broke into a lookalike industry. Identified “wedge” accounts. Invoked account domino effect.
The speaker closes by thanking the audience and inviting them to get in touch. The final card repeats his name, role, and company alongside his portrait.
SaaSOpen, September 2024 Thank you! [redacted email] Muhammad Younas CEO & Founder, vFairs