TJ Chambers
In August 2025 Bending Spoons (https://bendingspoons.com/) a Milan-based technology company known for acquiring and operating a suite of digital products including AOL, Evernote, Meetup, Vimeo and WeTransfer announced that it had raised more than €500m in debt to continue expanding its business through software acquisitions (https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7361052063339847681/).
On the 2nd December 2025 Bending Spoons then announced its intention to acquire Eventbrite (https://investor.eventbrite.com/press-releases/press-releases-details/2025/Eventbrite-Enters-into-Definitive-Agreement-to-Be-Acquired-by-Bending-Spoons-for-Roughly-500-Million-to-Accelerate-Eventbrites-Next-Phase-of-Growth/), ‘to accelerate Eventbrite’s next phase of growth’.
The all-cash transaction valued Eventbrite at approximately $500 million, with the deal expected to close in the first half of 2026, pending regulatory approvals and shareholder consent.
The acquisition apparently aligns with Bending Spoons’ strategy of investing in and modernizing ‘stalled’, ‘venture zombie’ or underperforming digital platforms and stated that they aimed to enhance Eventbrite’s platform by introducing new features such as: AI tools for easier event creation; an improved search functionality; and a secondary ticketing solution.
Less positively Bending Spoons (founded 2013) has a history of downsizing its acquisitions, cutting costs, streamlining operations, and enforcing reductions in the workforce in the belief that this will improve financial performance and thus increase market competitiveness.
For example, post-acquisition Meetup, the social networking service, was subjected to restructuring efforts which led to a significant downsizing of its US-team (https://www.meetup.com/blog/recent-changes-and-a-look-toward-the-future/), Evernote, the note-taking app,shuttered its US and Chile operations and migrated its business operations to Europe (https://www.siliconrepublic.com/business/evernote-layoffs-job-cuts-us-chile-operations-europe-bending-spoons), and the Dutch file-sharing platform WeTransfer cut 75% of its staff following its acquisition (https://www.siliconrepublic.com/business/wetransfer-job-cuts-bending-spoons-acquisition).
And in January 2026 Vimeo, the video hosting platform, announced a second round of layoffs (https://www.businessinsider.com/vimeo-laying-off-staff-after-billion-sale-to-bending-spoons-2026-1).
Fingers crossed for any Eventbrite staff.
Not that the former darlings of Silicon Valley who once enjoyed a ‘unicorn valuation’ whilst never making a profit are entirely blameless or innocent. Eventbrite’s stock has declined significantly since its September 2018 IPO due to an inability to attract a sufficient volume of fee-paying clients (with the majority of the tickets processed on its platform being ‘free’ and thus typically attracting no processing fees), continued weak-to-no revenue growth, coupled with an arrogance that ‘ticketing’ could be positively disrupted solely by the utilisation of its technology, whilst seemingly never addressing the fundamental challenges of integrating its numerous acquisitions, especially Ticketfly.
And that’s not to mention the classic start-up offices in South of Market, San Francisco with breakfast cereals, kennels, hammocks, a ping pong table, photo booth, and glass walls and windows making the space so bright that some wore sunglasses at their desks (https://www.businessinsider.com/eventbrite-has-new-offices-in-san-francisco-2014-9).
(c) Eventbrite
(c) Eventbrite
(c) Eventbrite
Not that there is anything wrong with treating your staff well, but despite the veneer of being a disruptive technology company, Eventbrite had arguably grown and expanded its business largely through acquisitions.
Eventbrite: a business based on acquisitions
2013 – Eventioz (Argentina) + Lanyrd (UK): https://www.eventbrite.com/blog/ds00-eventbrite-acquires-eventioz-and-lanyrd/
2015 – Scintilla Technologies (Canada): https://www.eventbrite.com/blog/press/press-releases/eventbrite-extends-platform-with-rfid-technology-to-streamline-entry-management-and-cut-wait-times-at-large-events-and-festivals/
2016 – Queue (US): https://www.eventbrite.com/blog/press/media-coverage/eventbrite-acquires-queue-a-ticketing-platform-born-in-austin/
2016 – Nvite (US): https://www.eventbrite.com/blog/press/press-releases/eventbrite-acquires-nvite/)
2017 Ticketscript (Netherlands): https://www.eventbrite.com/blog/press/media-coverage/eventbrite-acquires-ticketscript-launches-new-platform-for-venues/
2018 – Picatic (US): https://www.eventbrite.com/blog/press/press-releases/eventbrite-acquires-picatic/)
2018 – Ticketea (Spain): https://www.eventbrite.com/blog/eventbrite-acquires-ticketea-ds00/
2018 – Ticketfly (US): https://www.eventbrite.com/blog/ticketfly-moving-eventbrite/
2020 ToneDen (US): https://www.eventbrite.com/blog/eventbrite-acquires-toneden/
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A key mist-step was the mishandling of the Ticketfly acquisition (for approx. $200 million), a ticketing and social marketing platform (founded 2008) that managed ticket retail and distribution for approx. 1,100 U.S. venues and promoters in 2015, before being initially acquired by Pandora music streaming platform, and then sold onto Eventbrite in 2017.
In May 2018 Ticketfly confirmed that its services were the subject of a major security breach, with ‘IsHaKdZ’ claiming responsibility for the hack, which included 26 million users including their names, addresses, and phone numbers. In November that year Eventbrite shut down the platform announcing its intention to merge the music-oriented features to its core solution.
Industry commentators have noted that many Ticketfly clients didn’t agree to the enforced migration and so found other ticketing partnerships, and then in April 2020, Eventbrite laid off 45% of its staff and moved out of its headquarters as the coronavirus pandemic decimated live events (https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/Eventbrite-tech-sheds-most-SF-office-space-layoffs-16443394.php).
These challenges ultimately led to the company re-evaluating its core business strategy which then focussed its technologies on attempting to monetise the long-tail of smaller-scale experiential meetings, conferences, and community fayres, festivals and other events, vacating the hyper-competitive and commoditised live music industry and it has never ventured into the more technically demanding performing arts sector.
Best of luck Eventbrite.
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Not evil, but certainly ‘calculated and unethical’
Also at the end of last year Bob Lefsetz (‘First in Music Analysis’) posted ‘It’s A Google Problem’ (https://lefsetz.com/wordpress/2025/12/12/its-a-google-problem/) which suggested that their business model was in part answering consumer search enquiries – for example, ‘Where can I get tickets for Lily Allen / Metallica / BTS’ – with competing or alternate offers to the original query, typically posted by ‘hucksters’ i.e. those willing to pay more to Google as advertisers of inventory whether official or unofficial outlets, whilst offering actual or speculatively-listed tickets, or simply intent from the get-go on defrauding potential ticket-buyers.
In response to the post the renowned promoter Harvey Goldsmith offered the following:
From: Harvey Goldsmith
Subject: RE: It’s A Google Problem
Date: December 14, 2025 at 9:56:42?AM MST
Dear Bob,
Google has always been the problem.
For years I have been saying this.
Google are paid by every crook in the world as they unscrupulously take money for the placement of ads.
It does not matter whether you are buying a ticket to a concert, a flight or a hotel it is always the crooks ads that are at the top.
Pension scams and general financial scams, even a scam for renewing a passport are easily advertised on Google.
Yet no authority can see it.
Viagogo, Seat Wave and all the ticket scammers would not exist without Google.
Time for Governments to reign Google in.
Harvey Goldsmith
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Everyone knows Google dropped their ‘Don’t be evil’ 2004 IPO commitment a long time ago, but perhaps it’s worth revisiting the language.
‘Don’t be evil. We believe strongly that in the long term, we will be better served-as shareholders and in all other ways-by a company that does good things for the world even if we forgo some short term gains. This is an important aspect of our culture and is broadly shared within the company.’
The statement continued to stress the importance (to borrow a phrase) of being legal, decent, honest, and truthful:
‘Google users trust our systems to help them with important decisions: medical, financial and many others. Our search results are the best we know how to produce. They are unbiased and objective, and we do not accept payment for them or for inclusion or more frequent updating.’
But then added the (more commercially self-interested) caveat:
‘We also display advertising, which we work hard to make relevant, and we label it clearly. This is similar to a well-run newspaper, where the advertisements are clear and the articles are not influenced by the advertisers’ payments. We believe it is important for everyone to have access to the best information, and not only to the information pay for you to see.’
So, it’s always been there in plain sight. Ethics until a point, and then commerce.
I guess we therefore shouldn’t be surprised that Google, alongside other ‘big tech’ Meta / Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and others have all pledged to provide funds towards the new Trump-inspired $300M White House ballroom.
In 2025 Google agreed to pay $24.5M to settle a dispute with Trump over his YouTube ban following the Jan. 6 Capitol riots. Alphabet (the parent company) pledged $22M (YouTube’s settlement with Trump is helping pay for the White House demolition and ballroom, Katherine Li, 22.10.25 – https://www.businessinsider.com/youtube-settlement-is-helping-fund-trumps-white-house-demolition-ballroom-2025-10) of this settlement money would go toward the ballroom construction.
Lastly, the online ticket marketplace Seatwave, ceased operations 27th November 2018, and formally dissolved with effect 7th January 2020. So perhaps a reference to them is not strictly relevant to the current debate about the role of Google and secondary ticket listings.
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Until the next time
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TJ_Chambers 