From DJ to AV production company: lessons in scaling and reinvention

Executive overview

Running a live events business means no second takes — every show must deliver. Rennie Colelli built two AV/event production companies over 40+ years, learning that scaling requires selling, staffing, and equipment to align simultaneously.

Selling the first business at 39 freed him to reinvent with 25 years of experience. Starting over isn't starting from zero — it's applying everything you know to a better-designed business.

Early career: DJing and building systems

• Started DJing at 14, driven by building custom speakers and light rigs
• Took any gig available — house parties, school dances, weddings — to fund more equipment
• Weddings became the niche: reliable pay, strong referral culture
• Learned sales and negotiation by closing contracts at clients' homes with no office
• Systematized operations to run 5 simultaneous events from home by his early 20s
• Scaled to 30–40 staff and 1,200 events per year, with 20–25 events on a single night

Selling the first business and starting over

• Sold the DJ/mobile entertainment company on March 17, 2008, at age 39
• First company was ~85–90% social events; corporate was an untapped opportunity
• Selling freed him from legacy obligations and let him reinvent cleanly
• Launched BB Blanc three months later — name means "bigger and better, fresh start (blanc = white)"
• Set a deliberate 10-year target: flip from 90% social to 80–90% corporate
• Joined peer groups (EO Toronto) early; mentors helped navigate the scale-up

The pharma agency wake-up call

• Secured a meeting with a large pharma events agency — the "trophy" client type
• Agency confirmed the equipment wasn't the issue; the question was: who is on your team?
• Left with a bruised ego but a clear diagnosis: credibility requires battle-tested people
• Long-term client relationships in corporate events are built on trust through hard experience, not just price
• Business growth requires three things to move in parallel: the right sales, the right people, the right equipment — and they never align neatly

Scaling through the valley of death

• Referenced Vern Harnish's "Valley of Death" — the hardest stretch is zero to $10M
• Growth, plateau, and contraction are all stressful in different ways; the stress never goes away
• The message: it never gets easier, and fewer people make it to each higher level
• The response: choose your problems, embrace the challenges, stop complaining — they are the opportunity

Building the corporate client base

• By 2013, grew corporate revenue from near-zero to ~20% of the mix
• Competing against established billion-dollar companies with deep client relationships
• Breaking in required extraordinary value, not just competitive pricing
• Landed a Fortune 500 automaker's annual holiday party; grew attendance from 1,400 to 4,500+ over a few years
• Integrated cutting-edge technology, creative staging, live entertainment, and storytelling
• Full client trust and ample lead time are what allow great events to be designed — not just delivered

The state of live events today

• Post-pandemic, in-person is back strongly — virtual was never the long-term replacement
• Companies now treat events as strategic investments, not cost centers
• A single event can reach thousands beyond the room via social media and content capture
• Technical innovation (LED walls, immersive staging, studio-quality virtual production) has raised the bar
• BB Blanc built a broadcast studio during the pandemic, which became a major differentiator
• The studio enabled high-production virtual events when Zoom wasn't sufficient for corporate clients