They called him Gatsby
Jack Schwartz started throwing parties in Los Angeles at 14 — first in a rec room at his father's apartment complex, later at rented Hollywood spaces. He built the audience on Instagram and Snapchat before he built any software. A high school classmate who now runs MyPlots marketing told WIRED that everyone at Palisades Charter High School called him Gatsby.
The pre-app version ran on Venmo, Zelle, and cash at the door. Schwartz has said the mess of collecting payments across three rails, with no record of who paid, gave him the product idea. Fake RSVPs, lost guest lists, no-shows he couldn't track — the operational chaos of a teenager's party business was the market research.
This is the purest form of founder-market fit: Schwartz wasn't identifying a gap in the ticketing industry. He was drowning in a problem, and the software was the life raft he built for himself. By the time he thought about selling it to others, he'd already stress-tested every feature at his own events.
The early economics were already working. By 2023, the high schooler had earned enough in ticket commissions to buy himself a $50,000 BMW M340i before graduation. The business was real before the app existed.
The app that came from the door list
In January 2025, the team launched the MyPlots mobile app: electronic ticketing, QR code validation, a CRM system, and marketing analytics. The features read like a direct answer to every pain point of the Venmo-and-cash era — who's coming, who paid, who scanned in, and how to reach them next time.
The launch strategy was pure Schwartz. That May, he promoted an after-prom tour using popular high school seniors as brand ambassadors — the same influencer playbook he'd been running organically for years, now formalized. The marketing runs on FOMO: tease events on Instagram and Snapchat, package highlights into Reels and Stories, create a continuous loop of desire and exclusivity.
Schwartz himself is the distribution channel. He's cultivated around 1.6 million followers on TikTok from man-on-the-street videos, plus a monetization deal with Snap's Spotlight program. When your founder is a content creator with a seven-figure audience in your exact demographic, customer acquisition cost approaches zero.
By June 2026, Schwartz told press the company had passed $3 million in revenue, one million registered users, and 150,000 monthly actives. He framed the company as owning both sides: the events themselves at 2,500-capacity venues, and the platform earning processing fees at scale.
The 20% take rate that shouldn't work
Here's the number that makes industry people blink: MyPlots charges a 20% flat take rate. For context, Eventbrite charges US organizers 3.7% plus $1.79 per ticket, and Luma charges 5% on its free plan. A 20% fee looks, on paper, like commercial suicide.
It works because MyPlots isn't selling ticketing software — it's selling access to the party. The platform's events are the product: exclusive afterparties for artists like Playboi Carti, Don Toliver, Ken Carson, Destroy Lonely, and Gunna. At a Don Toliver afterparty in Manhattan, general admission sold for $100 while an exclusive VIP table went for $27,500 on the platform. When you're the only way into the room, the take rate is a cover charge, not a software fee.
This is the oldest playbook in nightlife applied to software: the promoter takes a cut because the promoter brings the crowd. MyPlots just productized the promoter. The app handles what used to require a team with clipboards — and the 20% that looks outrageous for SaaS is completely normal for events.
Competitors arrived on schedule. Partiful, founded in 2020 by two former Palantir employees and backed with $27 million including Andreessen Horowitz money, launched paid ticketing in June 2026 — its first monetization product in six years. MyPlots had been monetizing since the rec room.
Growing up with the audience
The smartest strategic move came in early 2026: Schwartz shifted MyPlots' focus to an 18-plus crowd and expanded beyond Los Angeles. The company hosted a Playboi Carti afterparty in New York City, followed by the Don Toliver Manhattan event. The audience that started as high schoolers was aging up, and the platform aged with them — bigger venues, bigger artists, bigger checks.
The expansion pattern is deliberate. Rather than spraying into dozens of cities, MyPlots runs event series in select markets and follows the artists. A New York lane opened with rap-star afterparties; the brand travels with the culture instead of trying to manufacture it locally.
Even on vacation, the hustle doesn't stop. During a European trip to Ibiza, Schwartz and his team organized an impromptu party at their villa that reportedly grossed $10,000. When your product is parties and your founder can't stop throwing them, the line between life and business disappears — and that's the point.
The playbook
- Suffer the problem before solving it — Seven years of manual party promotion (Venmo, Zelle, cash) meant every app feature was battle-tested. Build the software for your own pain first.
- Be the distribution channel — 1.6M TikTok followers in your exact demographic beats any paid acquisition strategy. The founder as creator is the ultimate unfair advantage.
- Price the access, not the software — A 20% take rate is insane for SaaS and normal for nightlife. MyPlots charges for entry to the room, and the app is how you get in.
- Age up with your audience — High school parties → 18+ events → rap-star afterparties. The customers grew up; the product grew with them instead of chasing a new demographic.
- Monetize from day one — While venture-backed competitors spent six years before their first paid product, MyPlots was profitable from the rec room. Revenue is the best fundraising.