And where do things stand now?

Ivo: ‘We have a skilled team, we’ve built a number of apps and we’re actually solving the problem: No tickets are being resold, fans and artists are happy!’

Tom: ‘We found awesome team members that really want to make a difference in the (ticketing) world. The great thing about our tickets is that they are completely digital and intangible; this opens up a world of possibilities for our customers, which keeps on getting better. You can communicate with your fans, build your community and so much more. Our ambassadors have helped to make us known in the Netherlands and gave us the opportunity to build our product based on their wishes.’

Our very first tweet! How cute.

What are you most proud of so far?

Maarten: ‘Our tech and how motivated the team is.’

Frans: ‘Lots of little and big things, so it’s very hard to choose one factor. But, since you’re forcing me, I would definitely say our skilled and motivated team and how we manage to deliver quality by working together intensively. And our easter-eggs hidden in several places in our apps, of course. ;-)’

What has been the biggest fuck-up along the way?

Ivo: ‘Being overly optimistic about the amount of transactions Ethereum can handle. During a big sale this seriously slowed our system down. We’ve definitely learned from that.’

Maarten: ‘This is like asking what my favorite music is. There is a long list of fuck-ups, but I’m enormously proud of how fast we are learning and we’ve never fucked up the same thing twice.’

Highlight: Winning the Buma Music Meets Tech prize organized by Buma in 2017.

What has been the most surprising thing for you until now?

Tom: ‘The level of which the ticketing market is screwed up and non-transparent. Some parties are so power-hungry, that they actively try to block competition and innovation. Especially if you look at the US market; these parties buy venues, promotors, festivals, etcetera. They only do this so they can charge high ticket fees and sell tickets on the secondary market without being interrupted.’

Frans: ‘Basically what Tom already mentioned: The ticketing market is even more ‘corrupt’ than you already think, and the fans pay the price. Fans literally are paying the high price, which keeps this current corrupt market the status-quo. It’s definitely time for some honesty and fairness, but the battle is much harder than I originally thought it would be.’

Do you still believe in the power of blockchain?

Maarten: ‘Without a doubt. I’m also very happy with the ‘cryptowinter’. Time for everybody to get realistic about projects and I think this is settling in nicely. It will take another 20 years before actual blockchain use cases are fully adopted by the general public. This was the case with mobile phones, color TV and internet. Blockchain adoption won’t differ because people haven’t changed the last 100 years.’

Ivo: ‘Definitely. I still think that a purely digital product such as ticketing is an excellent use-case for blockchain technology. And as people and blockchain mature, we can hopefully hide less of the magic and provide more direct access to the underlying tech.’

Another cool moment: Winning the New Dutch Wave Startup competition at SXSW 2018.

Where are GUTS Tickets and GET Protocol going to be in another three years?

Tom: ‘GUTS will be selling tickets in different verticals: artists, festivals, events and venues in the Benelux. Besides making the ticketing market transparent, we also think our digital ticket is making the experience around events more fun, more interactive and safer. The protocol will be adopted in different countries by different ticketing companies in the rest of the world, following GUTS as a successful use case.’

Frans: ‘We won’t just be another ticketing-platform, but an international movement and brand that is fighting for an honest ticketing market using technology as its weapon. That weapon is of course GET Protocol and it can be implemented by everyone that wants to end the corruption. We are already doing it, but in 3 years others will use our tools to do it as well!’

Ivo: ‘Doing big international sales and shows and providing a smoother experience for fans and artists than legacy ticketing systems offer.’

Maarten: ‘We are aiming to become the standard blockchain protocol in Ticketing. We need to cover a lot of ground until this becomes reality. I would say we’re well on our way within 3 years.’