We're taking on three dinner theatres for Fall 2026.
Here's what being a pilot looks like. Read it carefully. If it fits, the conversation is short. If it doesn't, we'd rather you know now.
-
White-glove onboarding
Six to eight weeks, with the founder in the room. We draw your seat map with you on a video call, import your show calendar, and sit with your box-office manager for hands-on training.
-
Founder access
A shared Slack channel and a direct cell number. You will not be triaged through a support tier. If something is on fire mid-show, the person who built the platform picks up.
-
Weekly check-ins
Thirty minutes, every Tuesday morning, for the first ninety days. After that, monthly until you tell us to stop.
-
Custom data import
We migrate your patron list, season-pass holders, account credits, gift cards, and the last three years of attendance history from whatever stack you are on today.
-
90-day feature priorities
The roadmap during your first 90 days is shaped by what you actually need. If a hole shows up that blocks your operation, it goes to the front of the queue.
-
Uptime, in writing
99.9% during showtime windows (one hour before curtain through curtain-down). Real numbers, not hand-waving. Credited automatically against your invoice.
-
Go on record
After 90 days of real use, we ask for a named case study: a quote with your name and venue, a screenshot or two, and your real numbers. You see and approve every word.
-
Real usage, not a sandbox
Sell tickets through Tip Top, not in parallel with your old system. The pilot is not real until your patrons are buying through us.
-
Honest feedback
Tell us where it hurts, in plain language. Pilots that protect our feelings produce a worse product for everyone who comes after.
-
A reference call or two
When future prospects ask "does this actually work for a house like mine?", we want to be able to introduce them to you. Two calls a quarter, max.
Pilot terms are part of the conversation.
Three pilot houses, three different shapes. We're not pretending one number fits all. On the call we'll talk through your volume, your current stack, and your appetite, and land on something fair on a single page, with a rate locked for three years.
From yes to first ticket sold, six to eight weeks.
- Wk 0
Yes
A signed one-page pilot agreement. We schedule weekly slots and stand up your shared Slack channel.
- Wk 1
Seat map, drawn live
A 90-minute video call. We draw your room together, table by table: booth, top, banquette, accessibility seats. We ship a working draft that day.
- Wk 2
Data migration
Patron records, season-pass holders, gift cards, account credits, and three years of attendance history pulled from your current stack.
- Wk 3
Show calendar + menus
Your next 90 days of programming, your prix-fixe options, your dietary tags. We import what we can, key in the rest with you.
- Wk 4-5
Box-office training
Two sessions with whoever sits at the phone. We shadow a real call, find the rough edges, fix them on the spot.
- Wk 6-7
Soft sell
A single show, sold through Tip Top to your existing patron list. We sit alongside you for every transaction. Anything that breaks, breaks here, not in front of patrons.
- Wk 8
First ticket sold publicly
You go live for general sale on a real show, with the founder on call for the curtain.
Read both columns. Be honest with yourself.
The right pilot is good for both sides. The wrong one wastes everyone's quarter. We tell you no on the call when no is the right answer.
- You run a 100 to 300 seat dinner theatre, jazz room, comedy club with a kitchen, or supper club with a stage.
- You sell season passes or subscriptions, and same-seat renewal matters to you.
- You are stitching together three or more tools today (a ticketing platform, a reservations system, a kitchen display, a CRM) and reconciliation is your problem at 1am.
- Your patrons skew older. Phone orders are still 30%+ of your sales, and your box-office manager has been there longer than you have.
- You can give us a real show, not a back-of-house experiment, within eight weeks of signing.
- You sell more than 50,000 tickets a year. We can't carry you yet, and you deserve a platform that can.
- Food and beverage is incidental. You have a small bar but no kitchen and no plated service. Generic ticketing already serves you.
- You need a procurement-grade RFP, an MSA negotiated through your legal team, and a six-month implementation. We respect that work; we are not built for it yet.
- You're evaluating five vendors in parallel. Pilot slots are not the right shape for a bake-off. Come back when you have a shortlist of one or two.
- You'd rather not be referenced. The case study is the trade.
Three slots open. Thirty minutes to find out if you're one of them.
A real conversation about your house, your stack, and the pilot terms. The founder runs the call. No deck, no BDR, no follow-up drip campaign.