Mark McLaughlin is the co-founder and CEO of Ireland-based Coras, a company that’s been revolutionizing the ticketing landscape with its powerful API solutions, boasting clients like Ryanair. But Mark’s journey doesn’t stop there—he’s now leading Coras into a new frontier with Fida, a cutting-edge loyalty platform merging the best of web2 and web3 worlds.
In this episode, we’ll explore Mark McLaughlin’s entrepreneurial journey from founding Ticket Text and Ticket ABC to building Coras, and now, innovating with Fida. We dive into the recent €1.3 million funding round led by Irish VC DataOp and the unique challenges of navigating the web2 and web3 investment landscape. Mark shares insights on balancing traditional and forward-thinking approaches for those straddling the web2 and web3 worlds, and what it means to get these businesses funded.
00:36 Meet Mark McLaughlin: Revolutionizing Ticketing
03:24 The Ticketmaster Saga
05:52 Building Ticketing Solutions: Challenges and Innovations
07:02 Navigating Financial Crises and Raising Funds
10:59 The Evolution of Coras and the Impact of COVID-19
15:50 Introducing Fida: The Future of Loyalty Programs
25:48 Tokenized Commerce and Loyalty Programs
27:12 Building a Universal Loyalty Program
28:05 Challenges in Raising Funds for Web3 Projects
29:54 Pitching to Investors: Lessons Learned
36:04 The Importance of Timing and Luck in Fundraising
38:20 Exploring New Applications for Blockchain
39:05 Advice for Founders in Web2 and Web3
43:02 Mark’s Journey from Music to Tech Entrepreneurship
46:05 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
LINKS:
Follow Mark McLaughlin on socials:
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markmclaughlin1/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/markwmcl
Learn more about Coras & Fida:
- Coras: https://www.coras.io/
- Fida: https://www.fidaapp.io/
- X-Twitter: @corasdotio | https://x.com/corasdotio
- X-Twitter: @fidaapp | https://x.com/fidaapp
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/coras-io/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fidaapp/
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