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Cvent of McLean, Virginia USA recently won a Stevie Award for Management Team of the Year in The 2010 American Business Awards. Here we look at how the company’s management has turned the experience of tough times in the '90s into an opportunity during current times.
 2009 was a milestone year for online event-registration company Cvent. Despite the worst economy in 80 years and a paralyzed meetings industry, Cvent experienced its most profitable year, celebrated its 10th anniversary, added staff, and increased sales revenue by 33% over 2008 (the previous best year on record).
Cvent has been no stranger to tough times. In 1999, when the company was founded, Cvent raised $17m in venture capital and rapidly expanded from 8 to 125 employees. The media buzzed with over 100 articles about the company in national publications like Forbes magazine and USA Today. It seemed as if nothing could stop the company’s momentum … except the dot-com meltdown.
Within months, Cvent had dwindled to just 27 employees, and its funds were dissipated. But Reggie Aggarwal, Cvent’s CEO and Founder, together with the Cvent management team, buckled down and fought hard for the company’s survival.
It appears they achieved this, because the company successfully emerged from the downturn and has been watching its competition in the rearview mirror for the past nine years. Cvent has been profitable for thirty consecutive quarters, continuously surpassing its own goals, and growing the company 30-50% each year. Today, Cvent boasts a global workforce of 650 employees, five product lines, and more than 80,000 users of its software products in 34 countries.
A Cohesive Management Team
One of the most important factors behind this success has been that eleven of the twelve senior managers at Cvent have been with the company since its inception—quite a feat when less than 2% of Internet companies from the 1999 vintage retained their original management team. In spite of the challenges of the company’s early years, the Cvent management team has maintained a strong belief in their company and shares the same dream: to become the market leader in online event management and meeting site selection.
The cohesion of this group is evidenced by the synergies across departments and a collective commitment to customer service. For example, Co-Founder and EVP of Sales and Marketing, Chuck Ghoorah, and SVP of Client Services, Manjula Aggarwal, coordinate their teams so that for each new client the sales team signs, there is a dedicated relationship manager to ensure the client’s smooth adoption of Cvent’s software. The Client Service team in turn coordinates with Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer, David Quattrone, to ensure that client recommendations for technology enhancements are incorporated into the product. This 360-degree feedback loop and its effective implementation have been integral to Cvent’s success.
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