PRESS RELEASE: “ETIX FOUNDER JANOVICH NAMES KUSTELSKI NEW CEO: Company Expands Management Team to Facilitate Growth; Janovich Becomes Chairman of Board”
MORRISVILLE, N.C. — Etix founder Travis Janovich announced today that he has selected industry veteran Joe Kustelski to succeed him as the company’s CEO. Janovich, who will retain an active leadership role within the company as Chairman of the Board, said Kustelski’s experience and vision in the areas of product development, marketing and technology will be a tremendous asset to Etix, which is already the largest privately held ticketing company in North America.
Kustelski becomes Etix CEO after serving as co-founder and head of product and technology at Rockhouse Partners, a digitally focused entertainment agency based in Nashville, Tenn., which was acquired by Etix in January 2011. Kustelski’s Rockhouse co-founder, Tawn Albright, will also assume an expanded role, becoming Executive Vice President for Etix in addition to continuing to manage and grow Rockhouse’s operations.
“I founded Etix back in 2000 with the idea that we could fundamentally disrupt and improve the ticketing industry, and the team here at Etix has done exactly that. I could not be happier to elevate Joe Kustelski to the position of CEO to continue the great work that our team has done,” said Janovich. “As we look at where the ticketing industry is headed, companies that are focused on technology, marketing and customer service are the ones that will be best positioned for growth, and those are precisely the areas where Joe and Tawn will add the most value to the current Etix team.”
Kustelski, who had served as Etix’s Chief Product Officer since the company acquired Rockhouse Partners, brings more than 10 years of experience in leading teams that live at the intersection of entertainment, entrepreneurship and technology. In addition to leading product, marketing and technology efforts for Rockhouse, he has held leadership positions at Ticketmaster, idealab, MediaNews Group and Echo (Ticketmaster’s digital marketing agency). He was also the product manager for the 2010 launch of the Nashville Entrepreneur Center.
“Etix has built a model that always puts the client — and their data — first. As a profitable, stable and independent company, we’ve got a terrific foundation to expand on,” said Kustelski. “I’m excited to build on our past successes by working closely with Travis, Tawn and the entire Etix team. We are fiercely committed to delivering even more value to our customers.”
Albright, who will remain in Nashville, also brings deep industry experience to his role, having previously served as CEO of Echo and vice president and head of corporate development for Ticketmaster.
Since the company’s founding, Janovich and the Etix team have grown the company into the continent’s largest privately held ticketing company and fourth-largest overall. The company has posted 27 consecutive quarters of profitability and serves more than 4,000 clients.
About Etix
Founded in 2000, Etix is an international, Web-based ticketing service provider for the entertainment, travel and sports industries, processing over 50 million tickets per year in 40 countries. As the largest independent ticketing company in North America, Etix provides flexible and secure online and box office ticketing solutions, integrated digital marketing services and robust e-commerce fulfillment to over 4,100 venues, theaters, arenas, festivals, fairs, performing arts centers and multi-use facilities. Headquartered in Morrisville, N.C., Etix has offices in Austria, China, Germany, Holland and Japan, as well as Nashville, Tenn. For more information, visit Etix’s website.
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