How To Get Executive Approval For Gatsby

Getting a new technology approved isn’t about convincing—it’s about translating your vision into leadership’s language: ROI, alignment, and efficiency. Whether you're planning an AGM, offsite, Summit, or intimate dinner, Gatsby helps you move faster from pitch to “yes.” Here’s a step-by-step guide to navigating executive approval with clarity and confidence.

Step 1: Understand What Matters to Leadership

Identifying and aligning with the other person’s interests is a crucial part of negotiation. Start by identifying what’s top of mind for your exec team. Is it founder access? LP communications? Morale? Reputation?). Find the intersection between company goals and what your event will deliver. Don’t pitch an offsite—pitch a retention strategy. Don't suggest a dinner—position it as accelerating deals. Make sure that it’s clear how other teams, leaders, and the company as a whole will benefit from this investment

With Gatsby, you can use past event data, guest history, and Lists’ sub-list segmentation to align your proposal with measurable business outcomes. Whether it’s tying your target list’s attendance to pipeline progression, or keeping attendees’ personal information secure, Gatsby gives you the proof points leaders look for.

“Gatsby is able to sync everything up so we can see how successful an event has been in terms of deals, interactions, and networking.” -  Highland

“Gatsby is a hub for all of our events in one place that's really easy to see…it makes me sleep better at night knowing that there's one major hub for all of our events globally because other leaders at the firm can have insight into what's going on, who's doing what, and how do the calendars sort of look,” - General Catalyst

Step 2: Present Social Proof via Customer Testimonials

Leverage the efficacy of social proof and FOMO for driving home that the time is now to invest in a replicable long-term strategy. Make it clear that seamlessly running events are now a “need-to-have,” not a “nice-to-have” tool, and that Gatsby is the professional-grade software most trusted by market leaders.

You can ask for our Customer Testimony page to arm yourself with quotes from top firms like Foundation Capital, General Catalyst, Meritech, Lightspeed & more! If your manager is more of a visual learner or wants to see real world examples, you can also inquire about our AGM-specific 1-pager . 

“Honestly, having used a lot of event and community platforms, it's rare to find Gatsby’s level of customization and functionality in a package that is this simple to use.” - Foundation Capital

 “Gatsby lets us run the kind of events we want—quickly, at scale, and without sacrificing the experience. We’re finally running events at the quality we want, with the speed we need. And it feels like we’re building something that fits our firm—not the other way around.” - Lightspeed

Step 3: Loop In Your Chief of Staff or EA Early

Executive Assistants and Chiefs of Staff are gatekeepers—and strategic partners. They know how your execs prefer to see data, which metrics matter, and what style of communication gets a fast yes. Don’t wait—share your goals early and get their input before you pitch.

With Gatsby: EAs and Chiefs of Staff can access real-time guest lists, pull quick metrics, and preview event flows from one clean dashboard. Sharing live, view-only access avoids long email threads and ensures alignment before you go into the room.

“I would say [Gatsby has] probably conservatively doubled or tripled our speed to market from an event standpoint. So if an event used to take a week to stand up design-wise and template-wise, now it takes a day, so pretty material efficiencies. I think another major win is just alignment across the team in terms of people being able to have Gatsby seats and be collaborators or organizers.” - General Catalyst

Step 4: Build a Proposal Focused on Outcomes

Avoid logistical detail in early conversations. Execs care about impact, not itinerary. Use the “what, why, and how it moves the needle” model. Make your case with sharp points: What’s the opportunity? Why now? What business result does it drive?

Try to quantify business impact for them by offering compelling statistics, such as:

• 78% of professionals used event technology in their efforts in the past 12 months, and 88% have plans to invest in event technology in 2025 (Events Outlook 2025 Report)

• 89% of businesses using event technology stated that it saved around 200 hours per year of the organization (2025 Industry Marketing Report)

With Gatsby: Generate a professional, visual summary of your event plan with key metrics, expected outcomes, and historical context from past events. Gatsby helps you deliver executive-ready invites that reflect polish, strategy, and confidence. Lists allows you to understand and communicate with different sub-groups of your network, meaning you can ensure the right balance of attendee types and understand post-event pipeline progression.

Step 5: Deliver with Confidence, Clarity, and Brevity

You don’t have long to convince them. Lead with your headline: the value of the event. Avoid fluff and stick to 3–5 key points. Be prepared to adapt on the fly based on their reactions. Bonus: bring printed or digital versions of your proposal they can review later. 

With Gatsby, pre-built templates and summaries make your proposal feel custom, even when you’re moving fast. Include RSVP projections, guest targeting strategy, and branded landing page previews so you show, not just tell. Utilize our positive customer testimony sheet (downloadable here) to mitigate risk in their mind

“When people ask me about event tech, I always recommend Gatsby for what I'm using. Having seen so many systems, this really does do all the things that I needed to do and that I think an event platform needed to do.” - DFJ

Step 6: Anticipate Questions and Preempt Objections

Come ready to answer: “How does this help us hit our goals?” “What’s the ROI?” “What’s the cost if we don’t do this?” Having these answers—and delivering them clearly—is what separates approval from delay.

With Gatsby: Use your analytics dashboard to present attendance trends, previous engagement rates, or survey feedback. Show decision-makers that your team has a system, not just a plan. Gatsby provides the numbers, visuals, and context—instantly.

“If I have my information in a really consolidated way in Gatsby, it can get into Affinity and Salesforce super quickly, where investors can take action on it, that's better for them. The faster that we are, the faster that we're compiling these things, sharing it out to the rest of the org, the better for everybody.” - Lightspeed

Step 7: Make It Easy to Say Yes

Don’t end your pitch with “What do you think?” End it with a confident ask. Present a clear path forward: timeline, budget range, key stakeholders. Show that you’ve done the work, that execution is low-friction, and approval is the only step left.

With Gatsby: Everything you need—emails, guest list tools, RSVP flows, check-in, badges, and feedback—is already in place. You’re not proposing a big lift; you’re just asking for the green light. That clarity removes friction from the decision.  

“Gatsby is able to sync everything up so we can see how successful an event has been in terms of deals, interactions, and networking.”  - Highland

Step 8: Plan the Debrief Before the Event

Get ahead by scheduling a follow-up with your manager to debrief about how you’ll report on outcomes—and then actually do it. Use that moment to build trust and momentum for future events.

With Gatsby: Post-event surveys, check-in reports, and engagement metrics are all tracked automatically. You walk into the debrief with stats, insights, and a few standout moments. It’s not a recap—it’s a case for your next event.

“I think Gatsby definitely raises our profile —the execution looks really professional. Now that we’ve been using Gatsby for about three years, we’re able to track trends, see how many people attended last year, and identify who tends to be a no-show. That’s helped us adjust our outreach strategy and be more strategic about who we invite. Honestly, because of this efficiency, we’re able to do more events, since I don’t have to spend as much time managing registrations, I can focus on everything else—venues, catering, etc. It takes a weight off my shoulders and increases our event capacity.” - Highland

Cost

Gatsby is critical for centralizing and coordinating the other event aspects you’ve invested in (venue, activities, catering, etc.), making it important for maximizing ROI on those investments. Small details like our face list make it much easier for executives to quickly refresh on attendees’ names before an event, and knowing the likelihood of each guest attending helps you ensure a balanced, high-quality audience. Gatsby subscriptions usually end up being a very small fraction of your events budget, and our prices are highly competitive for the industry. 

“Honestly, because of the increased efficiency from using Gatsby, we’re able to do more events. Since I don’t have to spend as much time managing registrations, I can focus on everything else—venues, catering, etc. It takes a weight off my shoulders and increases our event-hosting capacity.” - Highland

The Bottom Line

Executive approval isn’t just about budget—it’s about trust. When you show up prepared, strategic, and aligned with what matters most, the answer is easy. Gatsby gives you the system, tools, and polish to make that happen—without spinning up six other platforms to get there.