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How Bardar Pivoted: Dexter Todd’s Festival Data Playbook
Episode Summary
Imagine navigating a festival with ease, knowing exactly where to go, how busy each venue is, and what’s happening around you. That’s the vision behind Bardar, an app revolutionising the festival experience.
In this episode of Pick My Brain, Dexter Todd shares how Bardar pivoted from a nightlife discovery app into a data-driven platform that helps festival organisers improve attendee experiences and prove their economic impact. Alan Jones dives into the importance of positioning Bardar as an enterprise SaaS product rather than a one-off event app, and how this strategy can unlock longer-term revenue and growth.
They also discuss Dexter’s cold outreach success with South by Southwest Sydney, landing a $25K contract, and the power of leveraging real-time foot traffic data to build value for festival clients.
Time Stamps00:00 – Dexter on festival frustrations and app clunkiness
02:01 – From ANU student startup to Bardar’s growth
03:37 – How Bardar pivoted to focus on festivals
08:23 – Landing a contract with South by Southwest via cold email
11:55 – Using foot traffic APIs to track venue capacity
14:24 – Post-event reports and insights for festivals
15:09 – Fundraising journey: $225K pre-seed and $200K extension
16:36 – Alan’s advice: converting seasonal deals into SaaS contracts
17:27 – Positioning Bardar as a data-driven SaaS enterprise
21:38 – The importance of annual contracts to build a sustainable business
Resources Mentioned🙋🏻♂️ Dexter Todd’s LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dexter-todd-77a600242/
📍 Bardar - https://www.bardar.app/
The Day One NetworkPick My Brain is part of Day One, the podcast network dedicated to founders, operators & investors.To learn more, join our newsletter to be notified of new and upcoming shows. The only content we create is content that will help Australian founders.
Sponsors:Pick My Brain is supported by our wonderful sponsors:Galah Cyber offers the Foundations of Application Security course: a practical, hands-on AppSec course built for engineers who actually ship code. Two days of real-world lessons you can apply immediately. Learn more at galahcyber.com.au/learn.
Mentioned in this episode:
Vanta PMB May 2025_01
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By Day OneEpisode Summary
Imagine navigating a festival with ease, knowing exactly where to go, how busy each venue is, and what’s happening around you. That’s the vision behind Bardar, an app revolutionising the festival experience.
In this episode of Pick My Brain, Dexter Todd shares how Bardar pivoted from a nightlife discovery app into a data-driven platform that helps festival organisers improve attendee experiences and prove their economic impact. Alan Jones dives into the importance of positioning Bardar as an enterprise SaaS product rather than a one-off event app, and how this strategy can unlock longer-term revenue and growth.
They also discuss Dexter’s cold outreach success with South by Southwest Sydney, landing a $25K contract, and the power of leveraging real-time foot traffic data to build value for festival clients.
Time Stamps00:00 – Dexter on festival frustrations and app clunkiness
02:01 – From ANU student startup to Bardar’s growth
03:37 – How Bardar pivoted to focus on festivals
08:23 – Landing a contract with South by Southwest via cold email
11:55 – Using foot traffic APIs to track venue capacity
14:24 – Post-event reports and insights for festivals
15:09 – Fundraising journey: $225K pre-seed and $200K extension
16:36 – Alan’s advice: converting seasonal deals into SaaS contracts
17:27 – Positioning Bardar as a data-driven SaaS enterprise
21:38 – The importance of annual contracts to build a sustainable business
Resources Mentioned🙋🏻♂️ Dexter Todd’s LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dexter-todd-77a600242/
📍 Bardar - https://www.bardar.app/
The Day One NetworkPick My Brain is part of Day One, the podcast network dedicated to founders, operators & investors.To learn more, join our newsletter to be notified of new and upcoming shows. The only content we create is content that will help Australian founders.
Sponsors:Pick My Brain is supported by our wonderful sponsors:Galah Cyber offers the Foundations of Application Security course: a practical, hands-on AppSec course built for engineers who actually ship code. Two days of real-world lessons you can apply immediately. Learn more at galahcyber.com.au/learn.
Mentioned in this episode:
Vanta PMB May 2025_01