The live entertainment industry is not for the timid people. CFOs of these businesses face the need to develop whimsical consumer preferences, intrinsic operational risks, and innovative supplemental revenue streams
To learn how the sector's finance chiefs manage unpredictability, we interviewed Aleksandra Szuszkiewicz, the funding manager for Salt Lake City-based Live Nite Events, an entertainment company that produces medium to large concerts and music festivals.
Helped by her private equity background, Szuszkiewicz frames a sophisticated financial framework for high-risk, capital-intensive entertainment ventures with complex cash flow dynamics. She spoke to Kuener Hebert about fundraising structure, risk management frameworks and value creation beyond core products.
Your job involves implementing facility-grade financial frameworks in the entertainment sector. Have you developed specific capital structure innovations that could benefit the CFO's managing business with similar cash flow volatility and seasonal challenges?
In the entertainment sector, especially festivals, capital needs are periodic and unpredictable. To manage this, we have developed a hybrid capital deployment model, a two-fund framework that separates operational liquidity from strategic growth capital. This approach directly addresses the key issues faced by many CFOs in seasonal business. It is the temptation to divert the Strategic Growth Fund to cover operational gaps.
The model consists of two different structures. Management Fund [uses] A conservative, low-cost debt certificate that supports short-term working capital needs such as vendor payments, artist deposits, and marketing campaigns. The Growth Fund is capitalized primarily through equity and pursues strategic expansion, brand partnerships and innovation initiatives.
This approach is effective because it imposes governance discipline. By establishing individual decision-making protocols and performance metrics for each fund, we created a financial guardrail that prevents short-term pressure from undermining long-term value creation.
CFOs in industries such as hospitality, retail, agriculture, and seasonal manufacturing can adapt this model to ensure that core operations are properly funded throughout the business cycle. At the same time, organizations maintain economic flexibility to exploit strategic opportunities.
I write about negative side protection mechanisms that go beyond traditional insurance models. How do you approach quantifying and mitigating existential and operational risks? Also, what methods will be converted to other industries?
The festival industry has developed a two-tier risk framework that distinguishes operational and existential threats. This is a distinction that appears to be valuable to CFOs across the sector. I build on top of this framework by approaching each type of risk with a clear mitigation strategy.
Operational risks such as production delays and weather-related disruptions can be quantified and can often be managed by predicting models, contract flexibility, and emergency forecasts. For example, we have redesigned some artist contracts with performance-related tiers and exit clauses to minimize exposure in the event of cancellations.
In contrast, existential risks require a more strategic and long-term response. In the live entertainment sector, these risks often arise from reputational damage or changes in regulatory requirements. Mitigating them requires scenario planning, brand resilience strategies, and aggressive positioning.
One of the least used tools is diversifying brand equity. Does community engagement or IP monetization rely on even if the core offering fails? Industry that is rapidly disruptive, such as fintech and travel, could benefit from this layered approach. This quantifies direct risk while modeling intangible risk through stakeholder mapping and resilience scoring.
This layered approach provides a comprehensive framework for risk management. The goal is not only to protect current assets, but also to ensure organizational adaptability in the face of unprecedented challenges.
'I don't look at the assistance [revenue] Streams as supplements for the core business, I rate them as clear value centres with their own growth trajectories and strategic importance.
How will your background in private equity inform you of your approach to revenue diversification and supporting monetization strategies? What metrics do you employ to assess potential secondary revenue streams?
My background in private equity taught me to think from a value creation perspective that goes beyond core products. Rather than looking at supplemental streams as core business supplements, we evaluate them as clear value centres with unique growth trajectories and strategic importance.
The festival industry has developed revenue channels lined with scalable brands, beyond traditional reliance on ticket sales, which is essentially seasonal and margin-restricted. Includes media licensing, product partnerships and experience programming. These are not retrofits. They are the heart of our financial architecture. When assessing these opportunities, I apply metrics such as customer and acquisition cost to lifetime value ratios, repeatable revenue potential, and brand equity multiplier.
For example, they launched a co-branded travel package that bundles flights, hotels and VIP access. The margins are higher than the ticket itself, reducing closures for the loyalty program. The key is to create monetization channels that not only increase margins but also deepen brand engagement.
From sports to content streaming, CFOs across the sector need to prioritize monetization models that transform users into ecosystem participants. PE lenses help you stress test these ideas before you run. If an idea cannot expand or promote long-term value, it is not a revenue stream. It's a distraction.
Many industries, including the live entertainment sector, have experienced an increase in consolidation. How should CFOs structure their financial operations and reporting to maximize multiples of valuations and appeal to strategic acquirers?
The live entertainment space saw a dramatic change in what acquirers are worth. Beyond EBITDA, strategic buyers are currently prioritizing audience engagement metrics that show operational scalability, data visibility, and growth potential.
To optimize this environment, we restructured our financial operations in three key ways: First, we strengthened our report to include segment-level margin analysis, cohort-based audience metrics, and detailed visibility into the contract pipeline.
Second, we moved from the Legacy P&L Report to a dynamic dashboard with positive KPIs, including sponsor renewal probability, customer lifetime value forecasts, and yield per attendee. Third, we have implemented what is called “acquisition-enabled infrastructure.” It is a clean data architecture and technology system designed for standardized processes, seamless integration.
A deliberate approach to operational design significantly reduces the integration risk of potential acquirers and often translates into premium ratings. To enable your business to connect to a larger ecosystem, you can double your valuation, both operationally and financially, even with modest topline growth.
