How GigSalad Became THE Marketplace for Performers and Entertainers (Mark Steiner)
Founder of GigSalad, Mark Steiner, shares how he went from being a talent agent to building one of the first online marketplaces for entertainers long before Uber and Airbnb existed. We also talk about being the top platform for mariachi bands and Santa Claus bookings as well as an honest chat about burnout, creativity, and what keeps him inspired.
Key Takeaways:
Start with what’s already happening, then build around it
Being the connector is more valuable than being the middleman
Diversification creates opportunity
Great businesses are built on relationships, not just ideas
Calm leadership and strong teams scale everything
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Transcript:
Michael: Hey Mark, how’s it going?
Mark Steiner: Going super. I’m glad to be here.
Michael: Good. I’m glad that you’re on the show too. I always appreciate when someone reaches out, and we actually have a mutual colleague, Dave Cool. Shout out to Dave. I’ve known Dave for a long time and he was the one who helped set this up.
I also want to say how much I appreciated the fact that we got to talk before this interview. It was really great connecting with you. I don’t always get that opportunity with guests, so I just wanted to say I really appreciated that initial conversation.
Mark Steiner: It could’ve kept going. I think one of us had somewhere to be, otherwise we might still be talking.
Michael: Yep, exactly. But now we’re going to be talking today about you.
It was funny because you were asking me all these questions about myself, and I said, let’s save the questions for you for the show itself.
So I want to start by asking you, what was the very first job that you ever had?
Mark Steiner: Short of shoveling sidewalks, raking leaves, and mowing lawns, which I was doing as young as I could hold a rake or push snow, the first real job I went out to do was as a busboy or a gas station attendant in New Jersey, where I’m from.
To this day, you can’t pump your own gas there. When you roll up, there’s an attendant who pumps it for you.
So I was pumping gas and bussing tables by the time I was 16. Maybe earlier. It could’ve been 14 or 15. Child labor laws be damned. I was working.
Those were the first two jobs. I always had something. I worked at a bowling alley, I was a waiter, I stocked shelves on third shift at a grocery store. But those were the first ones.
Michael: It sounds like you had a really strong work ethic at a very early age. Is that something that runs in your family?
Mark Steiner: Yeah. I got an allowance, but there were chores attached to it. It was very transactional. It wasn’t just, “Here’s money.” There was an expectation that certain things got done.
My parents were very much that way. My dad was from Pennsylvania, worked on a farm, and my mom was a first-generation Italian immigrant.
I learned to be a worker early on. Work hard, and you should be rewarded for it. And not just working hard, but working well.
Michael: I agree. I think that carries through your entire life and career. You try to do the best you can, you take pride in your work, and you hope that gets recognized.
One thing I found really interesting is that before GigSalad, you weren’t in tech. You actually got started in the film industry.
Mark Steiner: Yeah. Throughout my younger years, I dreamed of being a rock star or a movie star. I wanted to be on stage, performing. I wanted to be famous.
Those were the things that equated to fame and popularity to me. Being an artist.
So I played music, I studied film, I watched a lot of TV, but not just passively. I was really diving in. I was becoming part of the story. I was imagining myself in it. I was dreaming about doing that as a career.
By the time I got into high school, though, I lost my focus. I wasn’t very grounded. I was focused on being popular. I succeeded at that by becoming the party guy, but it took me off track.
I wasn’t a great student. I wasn’t paying attention. Later in life I got an ADHD diagnosis, which helped explain a lot.
So while my friends were talking about college, I thought, there’s no way I’m going. That would’ve been brutal.
My school offered vocational programs, and one of them was culinary arts. I always loved food, so I thought, okay, I’ll become a chef or own a restaurant.
I enrolled in a culinary program and was planning to go to Johnson & Wales, which at the time was one of the top culinary schools.
But then I did my senior musical, and everything came back into focus. My whole life kind of snapped back into place.
That experience didn’t just remind me of what I loved, it emboldened me. I was really well received, and it boosted my confidence.
So at that point, I said, I’m going to New York. I’m going to try to get a break in the movie business.
Mark Steiner: I auditioned for a national touring children’s theater troupe and got in. I did my run with them, and when it was over, I said, okay, I’m moving to New York.
As my life has often gone, I got a lucky break. I met someone who gave me a job in the moving business, and from there I never really looked back.
I spent over 10 years working in movies. I did production, I worked in various roles, and eventually I started running a craft services company, which ties back to my culinary background. Craft services is the team that feeds the cast and crew on set.
So I was able to use that skill I had learned, and then I eventually got a small acting role, which got me my SAG card. From there, I bounced between small acting parts, extra work, and running my craft services business.
I sort of stumbled my way through it. But we were talking earlier, and that’s kind of how my life has gone. I would start walking toward something I wanted, and doors would open. I’d go through them.
Michael: That’s incredible. And it sounds like you really found your place there.
You were getting acting opportunities, but you were also doing a lot behind the scenes. And as we know, that’s often how you build a career in that industry, by learning how everything works and building relationships.
So you did that for about 10 years. It sounds like you found what you were looking for.
Mark Steiner: It goes back to that work ethic.
My first job in film, I was an office PA, just a runner for the production office. Then I moved into a production assistant role in construction, helping build sets. Then I became an on-set PA.
After that, I got into the locations department. I was working on the movie When Harry Met Sally, and the locations department oversees craft services.
They weren’t happy with the craft services person at the time, and I raised my hand and said, I can do that. I know food.
That was the beginning of what became a long and really fulfilling career for me.
This was around 1984 when I moved to New York. I was bouncing around doing different jobs on films and TV shows, working hard, networking, meeting people.
Once you meet people and they like working with you, they bring you onto the next project. That’s how the industry works.
Eventually, I found my place. I found where I could really shine, and that was in craft services.
Even though I always said I wanted to be an actor, I wasn’t really putting in the work to make that happen. I wasn’t going to acting classes or auditioning consistently.
I think I was a little naive. I thought someone would just walk up to me and say, “Hey kid, I’ve got the perfect role for you.”
That’s not really how it works.
But I did get a small moment like that. On a film directed by Susan Seidelman, she knew I wanted to act. I had done a great job with craft services, and she rewarded me by giving me a line in the film.
That got me my SAG card.
From there, I continued doing small roles, extra work, and running my business until I moved out of New York in 1994 to Connecticut. At that point, I said, this commute is too much on top of these long days. I’m done.
Michael: What did you do after that? You moved to Connecticut and stepped away from the film industry, so what was next?
Mark Steiner: I was married by that point. We got married in 1991, and in 1994 we moved to Connecticut.
We had met in church, and we moved there to help plant a church near Yale in New Haven. There was a group of students there, and we were part of building that community.
My wife is a concert violinist, and she got a job teaching Suzuki violin just outside of New Haven. That gave us some stability since at least one of us had income.
At the same time, I had created this plush teddy bear. It was a colorful, rainbow-type bear.
For me, it represented a message of loving all people. It was meant to be a statement against racism.
There was also a pen pal component to it. Kids would fill out a profile card, and we would match them with other children who were as different from them as possible. The idea was to help them connect and learn from each other.
I had a small run with it. We sold some bears, I won a few awards, but I did all of it on credit. Eventually, the credit card bills started piling up, and I needed to get a real job.
So I became a booking agent.
A friend of mine worked at a boutique agency in New York called Phoenix Talent Agency. They booked big bands, including the Glen Miller Orchestra.
I started working with them, booking shows for big bands and eventually branching out into jazz artists, oldies acts, and anything I could book.
I did that for about seven years.
Mark Steiner: I was working as a booking agent for about seven years, working for someone else. Over time, I started to feel burned out, not just from the business, but in general.
I got an opportunity to go work for a friend of mine who is a very well-known architect in New York City, Rick Cook of CookFox Architects. I worked for him for about three months doing office management.
As much as I love architecture, I realized pretty quickly that I loved music more. So I left and started my own agency, Steiner Talent.
From there, things started to build. Shortly after launching Steiner Talent, the idea for GigSalad started to take shape.
This was around 2003, and I had this idea of creating a marketplace, something different from a traditional agency.
Michael: That’s really important context because back then, this kind of idea wasn’t common. It’s not like today where there’s a marketplace for everything.
This was before Uber, before Airbnb, before even Facebook.
Mark Steiner: Exactly. The idea of being the connector between two parties through a platform wasn’t really established yet.
What happened was, I launched my Steiner Talent website, and I started getting two types of inquiries.
On one side, I had entertainers and performers reaching out, looking for representation. They wanted to be on my roster.
On the other side, I had event planners reaching out, looking for talent.
People were finding me through search. This was when businesses were starting to transition from the Yellow Pages to the internet.
It was kind of right place, right time.
There actually was another company doing something similar since around 1997, so I didn’t invent the idea. But when I came across it, I thought, okay, this is interesting.
So I looked at what they were doing, what worked, what didn’t, and started thinking about how to build something better.
My co-founder was a designer. He went to FIT in New York City and had started designing websites around 2001. He had already built my Steiner Talent website.
So when I started talking about this GigSalad idea, we just started building.
Michael: That’s incredible. And I can personally relate to how challenging that must have been, especially back then.
There was no Squarespace, no WordPress like today. You had to build everything from scratch.
And on top of that, you had to figure out how to get people to actually use it.
With a talent agency, you have a set roster and you’re building relationships directly. But with a platform, you need scale.
You need enough entertainers on one side and enough event planners on the other. Otherwise, it doesn’t work.
So how did you start getting traction?
Mark Steiner: It was almost entirely through search and word of mouth.
And when I say word of mouth, there wasn’t that much of it in the beginning. I wasn’t some massive brand yet.
As a booking agent, I was known within my niche. I worked with performing arts centers, colleges, fairs, and festivals. I attended conferences like APAP.
But I wasn’t working with local talent. I was working with national touring acts.
So when I launched GigSalad, the idea was simple.
I thought, okay, I’ll create a directory. Entertainers can sign up, create a basic profile, and event planners can find them.
Then those two sides can connect directly, and I can go back to running Steiner Talent.
But that’s not what happened.
GigSalad started to take on a life of its own.
We officially launched in 2007, but before that, we had a beta version running as early as 2004.
For about three years, we kept iterating. We worked with different developers, including hiring people through platforms like RentACoder.
Eventually, we hired our first full-time developer out of college from UNC Wilmington.
We couldn’t pay him much, so we gave him a little equity. That developer is now my partner. We bought out my original co-founder in 2022.
From 2007 to 2011, everything we made went back into the business. We didn’t take any real income during that time.
We were just building. Hiring people, improving the platform, even buying a building.
Steiner Talent was still paying me, and my co-founder had his design business supporting him.
But GigSalad was bootstrapped. We put in a few thousand dollars total early on, and just kept reinvesting.
Michael: That’s incredible. And I think it’s important for people to understand that timeline.
You had about four years in beta before officially launching, and then years of reinvesting before really seeing the results.
And now, fast forward to today, you’re seeing massive growth.
Mark Steiner: Yeah, we’ve had some incredible growth recently.
And I’ll say this, I’m really proud of it.
I’m finally giving myself permission to feel proud. For a long time, I was very self-effacing.
But I’m proud of the idea, the company, the culture we’ve built, and especially the team.
Because the success we’ve had is entirely because of them.
Michael: Speaking of your team, I want to point something out.
Right before we started this call, we found out that your site was down. And I know that’s something founders deal with, but what stood out to me was how calm you were.
You said, “It’s out of my hands. I trust my team.”
A lot of founders would be panicking, hovering over everyone, trying to fix it themselves. But you had complete confidence that your team would handle it.
I just want to say how much I admire that. That level of trust and calmness.
Mark Steiner: I love that. And I love that word, tranquility.
I’ve worked really hard to have that in my life. A calm, collected mindset where everything is okay.
Because everything really is okay.
It’s easy to look around and choose to stress. You can let anxiety take over, whether it’s about the world, your business, or your personal life.
But I’ve realized that most of the things we worry about never actually happen.
So now I try to approach things differently. If something happens, I ask, what can I do about it?
If there’s something I can do, I’ll do it. If there’s nothing I can do, then there’s no point worrying about it.
In this case, there wasn’t much I could do. The smartest people are already working on it.
And I do have an incredible team. That makes a huge difference.
I think it also comes with time. You look back at all the things you worried about and realize how many of them never materialized.
So why keep doing that?
My goal now is to stay level, keep things in perspective, and live with that sense of calm.
Michael: I want to shift to the other side of the platform.
We’ve talked a lot about building GigSalad, but let’s talk about the performers and service providers using it.
One thing I found really interesting is what’s most in demand on the platform.
From what I understand, it’s mariachi bands and Santa Clauses.
Mark Steiner: Yeah. The number one searched category on GigSalad is mariachi bands.
And not just around Cinco de Mayo. That’s all year.
We have around 500 categories on the platform. About half are music-related, and the rest are other types of entertainers and service providers.
But mariachi is number one.
Then, during the holiday season, which really starts right after Labor Day, people start searching for Santa Clauses.
And we’re actually the number one Santa Claus booking platform in the world.
Michael: That’s incredible.
Mark Steiner: Yeah. You can never have enough Santa Clauses, but I think the ones on our platform get plenty of work.
And honestly, if you and I started a mariachi band right now, we’d be incredibly busy.
I’m not even kidding. There’s such high demand.
If you’re a musician out there, learn mariachi, get the right look, get on GigSalad, and you’ll work. A lot.
Michael: That’s wild. And it makes sense when you think about it.
You think of weddings, but it’s also corporate events, birthdays, and so many other types of events.
It covers a huge range.
Mark Steiner: Exactly. And our culture is evolving.
We’re becoming more multicultural, and that’s a beautiful thing.
Mariachi music is energetic, engaging, and it brings people together.
Whenever we’re involved in events or sponsorships and we have a say in the entertainment, we often choose mariachi because it guarantees a reaction.
People stop, they listen, they move. It’s just fun.
Michael: Besides those categories, what else have you seen performers do that helps them stay consistently booked?
Mark Steiner: What’s popular tends to get booked.
So cover bands, tribute acts, themed performances, those do really well.
If someone is planning an event, they often want something familiar. Something people already know.
But there’s also demand for more subtle experiences.
Maybe it’s a jazz trio playing in the background. Maybe it’s a string quartet creating ambiance.
It really depends on the type of event.
My advice to performers is to be adaptable.
I understand the desire to focus purely on original work. I respect that.
But if you want more opportunities, being flexible helps.
You can play covers and still include your own material. Most people won’t mind.
At the same time, if you’re hired to play background music, you can still express yourself within that.
Music is music.
The more versatile you are, the more options you create for yourself.
And that applies beyond music too.
If you master one skill, try learning another.
Once you’re great at one thing, expanding your skill set can open new doors.
Michael: I’ve seen it go both ways.
Some artists build successful careers doing cover gigs while developing original projects on the side.
Others go all-in on original work, but they still diversify their skill set.
They learn production, songwriting, business, or intern in different areas.
The ones who succeed tend to understand the full picture.
Mark Steiner: That’s a great point.
Understanding the business side is huge.
Knowing how to manage finances, understand bookings, budgeting, all of that matters.
Even if you’re primarily a creative, learning the business side gives you an advantage.
These days, it’s easier than ever to learn those things.
There’s no reason not to at least understand the basics.
Michael: You never know what you’re going to feel passionate about.
You mentioned earlier that you wanted to be famous as an actor or performer, and while you did get some opportunities there, you found your passion in other areas like production, craft services, and eventually building businesses.
You were able to adapt and find fulfillment in places you didn’t expect.
Sometimes where you land isn’t where you thought you were going, but it ends up being exactly where you’re supposed to be.
Mark Steiner: That’s another great word you used earlier, meander.
There’s a wandering that happens when you stay curious and open to trying things.
It’s just as important to learn what you don’t like or aren’t good at as it is to learn what you do like.
That’s how we built GigSalad.
I surrounded myself with people who were strong in areas where I wasn’t.
There were a lot of things I wasn’t good at, and I found people who could fill those gaps.
I also found people who discovered their place within the company.
Sometimes they didn’t start in the role they ended up in. They might come in through customer support and learn the business from the ground up.
Over time, they’d find something they were passionate about, or even create a role for themselves.
That’s when they really started to shine.
And that’s how we’ve continued to grow, by finding the right people and putting them in the right roles.
Michael: I want to start wrapping things up here.
What’s next for you? I know you’ve been working on some things outside of GigSalad.
Mark Steiner: Yeah, I’m really excited about this.
Since around 2020, I’ve been an empty nester. My youngest went off to college, and I spent a couple of years traveling, going to music festivals, just enjoying life.
But eventually, I realized I wasn’t being creative, and I needed that.
So I started working on a few new projects.
I have a couple of startups in progress, including a social gaming app and another project I’m trying to build entirely with AI, which is centered around tattoos.
But one thing I did launch recently is my personal website, thinkupon.com.
It’s a place where I’m blogging, sharing podcasts, and putting out content.
There’s also a podcast I’ve been doing called “Big…” where a few of us just talk about life and different topics.
So if people want to find everything I’m working on, that’s the place to go.
Michael: That’s awesome. We’ll definitely make sure that’s in the show notes.
Alright, I’ve got a couple of fun questions for you.
You mentioned your love for film. What was the last movie you saw in theaters?
Mark Steiner: I go as often as I want. I have a subscription to the Alamo theaters.
My wife and I went and saw Nobody with Bob Odenkirk.
Michael: Oh yeah, I’ve heard of that. It looked pretty intense.
Mark Steiner: Yeah, it’s pretty intense. Very over-the-top violence, not usually my go-to, but it’s entertaining.
There’s something about that everyman character, someone who seems ordinary but is dealing with something bigger and ends up being exceptional in a simple way.
It’s a fun, escapist kind of film.
Michael: Have you ever booked someone through your own platform for personal use?
Mark Steiner: Oh yeah, all the time.
We use GigSalad for our own events, parties, and even company functions.
Whenever we can, we hire through the platform.
We’ve used it for film festivals, conferences, trade shows, holiday parties. We’ve booked magicians, musicians, palm readers, all kinds of performers.
We always try to support the platform that way.
Michael: That’s awesome.
Alright, last question. If you could give one piece of advice, what would it be?
Mark Steiner: It might sound cliché, but it’s about kindness and love.
More than kindness, really, it’s love.
Love people. Love your fellow human beings.
That’s what matters most.
If you don’t have that, nothing else really matters.
When I started focusing on that in my life, everything changed.
That’s where the tranquility comes from.
For me, it’s peace, love, and gigs.
That’s actually our slogan at GigSalad. It’s been that way for about 20 years.
Peace in your life, love for yourself and others, and then the gig.
That one thing you’re meant to do.
I believe everyone has at least one thing they were put here to do.
And whatever that is, give it everything you’ve got.
Even if it’s something simple, like being a gas station attendant, be the best at it.
That’s where fulfillment comes from.
Michael: I love that.
Mark, thank you so much for being on the show. I really appreciate it. This was an absolute pleasure.
Mark Steiner: Thank you. You’re a great host. I’ve done a lot of podcasts, and you’re really good at what you do.
Michael: Thank you, I really appreciate that.