March 10, 2020

Meet Roderick Burke

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Roderick Burke.

Roderick, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Hello, thank you again for hearing my story! Well, the story of Evntures was born out of the frustration from traveling around the world. Everywhere I traveled, I had to deal with the tourist attractions, the safe space events, gimmicky and superficial attractions. The culture of the community was missing, the spice of what makes that place special was lost to capitalism. So while traveling through Thailand in a cramped cab, my fellow Co-Founder Roberto Jolliffe and I came up with the concept of Evntures. We wanted to know what the alternative events in each city were. We wanted the experience to be organic and free for everyone to experience. I have seen how much traveling and attending social gatherings can change people’s rigid stereotypes of each other. Being a Recruiter and a Police Officer, I have seen first hand the effects of people feeling abandoned, mistreated, and economically abandoned. I wanted this experience to be a free form listing of everything that goes on around them. Give everyone the ability to attend, explore, and interact with all walks of life. I want everyone to experience the ultimate human experience of gathering and interacting with one another. The process for creating the App was an adventure, to say the least. Fellow Co-Founder Marshall Felder, our CTO, really helped with designing the code and the functionality of the App. Roberto Jolliffe, our CEO experience with USAA in quality control and app development, brought the project together. My Business and Marketing background as CMO allowed us to grow the project to what it is now.

We had plenty of bumps along the way, from unforeseen expenses, no one knew to build an app would cost us over 40k in cash. Shady attorneys attempting to charge us thousands of dollars to form our business and later finding the actual cost was way cheaper. Through the journey, we found that education was the key to saving money, so it drove us to learn everything about business and technology. We also went through the young and black phase, which affected people taking us seriously. Those people being friends and family also. I fight with myself at times, trying not to become frustrated with other’s preconceived perceptions of my team and me. You can feel and hear the negative perceptions when after we pitch or Company, and you hear “Your very articulate” or wow “You did this.” That was expected, but getting that from friends and family was the most deflating experience. We all have to deal with negativity; how we handle, it builds our character. We have also had amazing support throughout the experience, from other business owners reaching out to us, such as Rackspace. Who gave us feedback and allowed us to use there facility. In all, this journey has been amazing. I feel so accomplished and equipped with the tools to help anyone succeed in the business world.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We also went through the young and black phase, which affected people taking us seriously. Those people being friends and family also. I fight with myself at times, trying not to become frustrated with other’s preconceived perceptions of my team and I. You can feel and hear the negative perceptions when after we pitch or Company and you hear “Your very articulate” or wow “You did this.” That was expected, but getting that from friends and family was the most deflating experience. We all have to deal with negativity, how we handle it builds our character.

Please tell us about Evntures Inc.
Well, at Evntures we specialize in Event integration. We are a free listing app of everything that is going on in Texas and the World. We want to connect everyone with the experience of attending any event around the world with one click. No longer will you have to click through multiple sites to find something to do. We also want to connect communities, allow them to show there real culture to new comers and tourists. I’m most proud of the fact we are a free service for everyone to experience. We were able to bootstrap the entire project. What sets us apart is our dedication. A lot of people have great ideas, but the execution lacks.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
What a question! I would have to say expressing my love to a girl in middle school and it being reciprocated. As an adult, it is hard to get those feelings back. Emotions become dull when you start to understand the full complexity of life. I would also say athletics. Track and Football played a big part in my life, growing up in El Paso.

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