Nikonomics - The Economics of Small Business

108 - Sky Lanterns and Music Festivals: Building a $10M Empire, with Spencer Humiston

Jan 15, 2025

Spencer Humiston is a lawyer turned entrepreneur and founder of Night Lights, which organizes sky lantern festivals and other events. He shares his fascinating transition from law to experiential business, revealing the legal and logistical challenges he faced. Spencer discusses the evolution of his offerings, including country music festivals and a marketing company, and dives into the financial intricacies of running large events. He offers insights into the future of experience-based businesses and valuable advice for aspiring entrepreneurs.

43:05

Episode guests

Spencer Humiston

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Spencer Humiston highlights the financial risks of managing large-scale events, where unforeseen cancellations can lead to significant losses despite anticipated revenue.

He emphasizes the importance of innovative marketing and sustainability practices in the event industry, particularly through his companies Nightlights and Great Crowd.

Deep dives

Event Management Challenges

Managing large-scale events poses significant challenges, particularly regarding financial risks. For instance, if an event generates substantial revenue but faces cancellation or unforeseen obstacles, the organizer is left liable for refunds despite not having received the actual revenue yet. This situation creates stress as costs already incurred could leave the organizers in the red, revealing the high stakes involved in event planning. The speaker emphasizes that there is a constant pressure associated with ensuring each event runs smoothly to avoid major financial losses.

Intro

2min

Navigating Event Economics

6min

From Law to Lanterns: The Entrepreneurial Journey of Overcoming Challenges

3min

Navigating the Sky Lantern Business

19min

Evolving Festivals: Embracing Family Fun

5min

Reimagining Networking: The Anti-Conference Concept

2min

Navigating Entrepreneurial Challenges

7min

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Join me, Nik (https://x.com/CoFoundersNik), as I speak with Spencer Humiston (https://x.com/BowTiedLimeBoss), a lawyer turned entrepreneur who is the founder of Night Lights (https://nightlightsevent.com), a company that organizes sky lantern festivals across the United States. Spencer shares his journey of creating an experiential business, the legal hurdles he overcame, and the surprising pivots he made along the way. We talk about how he expanded his business from sky lantern festivals to a country music festival and a marketing and ticketing company. Spencer also provides insights into the financial aspects of his businesses and the difficulties he has encountered while scaling them.

Questions this Episode Answers:

How did Spencer transition from a law career to an experiential business?
What are the key legal and logistical challenges of running sky lantern festivals?
What are the different businesses Spencer has created, and how do they relate to each other?
How does Spencer approach marketing, ticketing and pricing for his events?
What are some of the challenges and rewards of running experiential businesses?
What does Spencer think about the future of the experience-based business space?
What advice does Spencer have for aspiring entrepreneurs?

Enjoy the conversation!
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This week we covered:

00:00 Highlights & Introduction
01:12 Founding Nightlights
01:32 Challenges and Misunderstandings
02:07 Expanding Ventures
02:39 Event Logistics and Revenue
03:46 Country Music Festival Collaboration
06:38 Launching Great Crowd
09:39 Sky Lanterns in America
12:04 Logistics and Legalities
15:09 Parking and Venue Challenges
22:04 The Lantern Crew: Who They Are and What They Do
22:57 Ticket Pricing and Sales Strategy
23:37 The Backend Team and Operations
25:10 Marketing and Revenue Challenges
26:04 Event Logistics and Risks
30:53 Music Festivals and New Ventures
34:05 The Anti-Conference Concept
38:25 Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

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