tfconnect MD Miranda Martin asks: where are the entrepreneurs hiding?
This year, 2025, is about reinvention – and that means businesses need more than operators. They need builders. At tfconnect, we specialise in placing senior talent across the exhibitions ecosystem – from organisers to venues and suppliers – and one thing is crystal clear: our clients are looking for entrepreneurs.
Almost without exception, businesses are demanding founder-style profiles. People with the energy, creativity, and commercial instincts to not just manage a portfolio, but to envision and build something new. These are high-trust, high-impact roles: the kind that call for self-belief, resilience, and the grit to roll up your sleeves and deliver under pressure.
Equity-based shift
In North America especially, we’re seeing a shift toward equity-based roles – real skin-in-the-game partnerships where individuals are brought in to co-create, launch, and scale ambitious new products. It’s not for the faint-hearted. These are three-year grinds that promise high returns for those who can bring an idea to life and build a team around it.
There’s uncertainty in the US market; president Trump’s politics are driving fluctuating business confidence, and as a result, we’re likely to see longer timelines for PE-backed exits. But, even amid this, investment hasn’t slowed. Organisers are focused on delivering measurable ROI, standout attendee experiences, and creative formats that demand real product leadership. One-to-one meetings and experiential elements are now central to show strategy, not optional add-ons.
Europe tells a similar story. We’re seeing organiser businesses rethinking legacy portfolios, driven by shifting audience behaviours, sustainability pressures, and the push for year-round engagement. And that means looking beyond traditional event profiles. Leaders with experience in digital, media, publishing, or content strategy are suddenly in demand – particularly if they bring an entrepreneurial spark and a track record of innovation.
In Germany, a mature and stable market, even the large venue-led organiser models are evolving. Clients are looking for people who can deliver transformation, who can question old ways of working and create fresh propositions that serve communities in more meaningful and monetisable ways.
We’re fortunate to be working on some incredibly exciting roles right now. In the UK, we’re building the executive committee for a PE-backed organiser – having just placed the CCO, we’re now searching for a CMO and a Chief Product Strategy Officer (CPSO). In the States we’re seeking a founder-type profile to scale a world-class tech event. In addition, we’re partnering with a revolutionary media business to grow their global events leadership team across the US, UK and Middle East. These are career-defining opportunities for the right people, all with real growth potential.
So, where are the entrepreneurs hiding? Some are in adjacent sectors, waiting for the right challenge. Others are already within events, eager for more autonomy and the chance to build something of their own. Our role is to find them, recognise them – even when they don’t fit the mould – and match them with businesses bold enough to back their vision.
The post The shift towards skin-in-the-game partnerships appeared first on Exhibition News | The trade for shows..