Episode #495 - The Startup That Refused to Follow the Rules by an Accountant Reinventing Event Finances One Festival at a Time - with Chris Carter
Release Date: 07/07/2025
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info_outlineHi, I’m Granger Forson – you can find me at www.bizsmart-gloucestershire.co.uk or on LinkedIn. In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, I’m joined by Chris Carter, founder of EventWise and long-time accountant behind In The Loop.
Chris shares an incredible five-year journey of building a startup in one of the most volatile industries – live events – all while raising a young family, getting married, and self-funding the entire venture. His software, EventWise, was born out of necessity during the Covid-19 pandemic, but it's proving even more vital today. EventWise helps event organisers replace clunky, outdated spreadsheets with live financial data and smart scenario planning.
What stands out is Chris’s resilience and honest reflection. He didn’t follow conventional startup wisdom—he built out all five core functionalities before launch, learned the hard way about marketing, and now has over 800 events using the platform, including major names like Broadwick. EventWise isn’t just software; it’s a tool built by someone who’s lived the pain points of event planning.
Chris also opens up about managing burnout, the importance of team culture, and his transition from accountant to tech startup founder. His clarity of vision, perseverance, and deep love for the events industry shine through in every story he tells.
If you’ve ever doubted whether perseverance pays off, this is the episode for you. Whether you're scaling your business or just starting out, Chris’s story will leave you inspired and equipped with new ideas to try out in your own journey.
To ensure you don’t miss any inspirational future episodes do subscribe to ScaleUp Radio wherever you like to listen to your podcasts.
So, let’s now dive into the inspiring journey of bootstrapping resilience, financial innovation and industry transformation with Chris Carter.
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Kevin's Latest Book Is Available!
Drawing on BizSmart’s own research and experiences of working with hundreds of owner-managers, Kevin Brent explores the key reasons why most organisations do not scale and how the challenges change as they reach different milestones on the ScaleUp Journey. He then details a practical step by step guide to successfully navigate between the milestones in the form of ESUS - a proven system for entrepreneurs to scale up.
More on the Book HERE - https://www.esusgroup.co.uk/
Chris can be found here:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-carter-6a9b24189/
Resources:
The Lean Startup by Eric Ries - https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-lean-startup-how-constant-innovation-creates-radically-successful-businesses-eric-ries/1171537?ean=9780670921607
AI & I podcast - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuMcoKK9mKgHtW_o9h5sGO2vXrffKHwJL
Motion AI - https://www.usemotion.com/
ClickUp - https://clickup.com/