How A $50K Loss Led Eric Jones To Build Memberly And Rethink The Future Of Live Events In An AI-Driven Industry – AfroTech

Eric Jones just absorbed a $50,000 loss, forcing him to question not only his next business move but also his future as an entrepreneur.

But resilience had long defined his journey. Born and raised in Arkansas, Jones experienced immense loss at a young age, losing his grandmother, father, and mother before graduating from college. The grief reshaped his perspective and later fueled his desire to create spaces where people could build meaningful connections.

In 2019, he moved to Los Angeles, where he noticed a gap in the market for elevated, community-driven events. Having lost much of his own support system, he became passionate about creating experiences that fostered genuine connection. That mission eventually led him into the tech world, where he acquired the event discovery platform ETA.

“Once I got into the space, I [started to] feel like we need more industry experts and subject matter experts in this space versus more technical people,” Jones shared in an interview with AFROTECH™. “And my advisor in Silicon Valley was like, ‘You need to start something from scratch to be an example.’ And so that’s where you insert Memberly.”

Behind Memberly

Memberly is a B2B2C membership platform that allows event organizers to generate recurring revenue while giving attendees access to multiple events and exclusive perks through a single monthly subscription. As an event operator, Jones realized the industry’s reliance on one-off, inconsistent ticket sales created an unsustainable cycle. After every event, organizers had to start over — marketing a new experience, chasing ticket sales and hoping for another successful turnout.

Around the same time, Jones noticed subscription and membership models gaining traction across other industries. Coming out of the pandemic, he also saw growing demand for authentic community and connection amid what many described as a loneliness epidemic. He believed the traditional transactional model no longer met those needs.

“The events industry has been the same thing for two decades. It’s been tickets, and that’s it. There hasn’t been any innovation. And so that loss of $50,000 ended up pushing me to realize [that] this industry that I’ve been in, it’s too volatile,” Jones shared. “And so, seeing that, that was just my realization of, okay, someone needs to build something different. And I was like, ‘Why not me?’”

Drawing on his firsthand experience as an event operator, Jones set out to build a platform he believes can help creators and venues shift from unpredictable, transactional revenue to a more sustainable, community-driven business model.

While entrepreneurship and building a startup have always been Jones’ passion, he said the journey is far from glamorous. Despite the perception often associated with startup founders, he believes success requires a genuine passion for the work and a commitment to solving a meaningful problem.

“People glamorize entrepreneurship, and they make it seem fast and quick and overnight,” Jones said. “But I always say people need to share the story more than the glory.”

‘Build In Public’

Jones encourages aspiring entrepreneurs looking to build community-focused businesses to focus on what he calls the “Six P’s:” passion, purpose, product, package, present, and promote. He believes entrepreneurs should build businesses around problems they genuinely care about solving rather than chasing trends or titles.

Jones also stressed the importance of developing a personal brand alongside a business — sharing the entrepreneurial journey publicly, telling authentic stories, and creating opportunities for in-person connection can help founders build trust with their audience long before asking customers or investors for support.

“Don’t build in stealth mode, build in public, because building in stealth mode is like calling somebody and asking them for a favor once you need something versus building that relationship over time,” Jones said.

Ahead of its public rollout, Jones said Memberly is finalizing two UI redesigns while actively conducting demos for early users, including event producers, promoters, community builders and nightlife venues, which can be booked directly through the company’s website.

Jones said openly sharing the process — from the initial idea to launching a product — helps build credibility and stronger relationships with customers, investors, and supporters over time.

The Long-Term Vision

Looking ahead, Jones believes AI will help event producers build more sustainable businesses rather than replace them.

He said AI-powered automation and workflow tools can reduce administrative work, allowing event organizers to operate more efficiently and scale without immediately expanding their teams. Instead of viewing AI as a threat, Jones sees it as an opportunity for creators to focus more on building community and growing their businesses.

As for Memberly, Jones said his long-term vision is to scale his first tech company with the goal of being acquired one day. Beyond that milestone, he hopes his entrepreneurial journey inspires and helps “many different people” — particularly aspiring founders who don’t come from traditional tech backgrounds — to pursue their own ideas.

Above all, Jones encourages entrepreneurs to embrace setbacks as part of the process. “Fail fast, fail happy, and take the loss, but don’t lose a lesson in that,” he said.