Episode 19: Tom Melcher, Founder of Show-Score | The rating service for live theater

Tom Melcher, Founder of Show-Score, steps on to the New York Launch Pod to discuss his rating service for live theater. Like Rotten Tomatoes for movies, TripAdvisor for travel or Goodreads for Books, Show-Score empowers theater fans to rate and review shows and organizes the reviews in a crisp and straightforward manner including a score from 1-100.  Tom, an avid theater enthusiast, first conceived the idea when he moved to New York.  After seeing more than 5 shows a week (and more than 250 in a year) Tom thought there had to be a better way to discover great shows since there was no centralized site. So Tom, an entrepreneur who is now on his 10th start-up, decided to build the platform himself and it is a ‘runaway hit’.  In the first 6 months, Show-Score has over 75,000 reviews from over 50,000 users which is more than 6x the number of reviews for shows on Facebook, TripAdvisor and Twitter, combined. The reviews themselves also have an innovative design where a user answers three quick questions and gives a rating from 1-100.  The reviews, which includes reviews from professional critics, are aggregated based on an algorithm that takes into account the user’s following on the site. The success of the platform has enabled Show-Score to allow users to discover new shows and allow smaller theater companies to list their shows and quickly find an audience.  With over 150 shows on a daily basis New York truly is the theater capital and Show-Score enables users to see shows they are bound to like and discover affordable shows on Broadway and ‘Beyond Broadway’. Listen to the podcast to delve into the world of the performing arts and hear how Show-Score came about, its innovative model to grow, and the user friendly features in the platform.  At the end, Tom even provides some hints about getting tickets to the hottest shows in New York. (Hamilton) Transcript of the episode available here: http://nylaun.ch/show-scoreTr More on Show-Score: http://www.show-score.com/