How a DJ Built the Artist Booking Platform the Industry Was Missing
If you've ever managed bookings with spreadsheets and email chains, you already know why Mischa Sigtermans built Stagent. He was 18, DJing and running bookings in the Netherlands, and he could see the entire artist booking platform market was broken. It took him seven years of web development, a sold company, and a merger before he could make it happen.
DJ to Developer to Founder
Mischa had the idea at 18. No connections, no money, no development skills.
So he went sideways. Taught himself WordPress. Built websites for businesses. Ran a web hosting company called Pixel Start serving major Dutch brands. Five years of that gave him two things: capital from selling the company, and enough technical fluency to spec out exactly what he wanted to build.
Then he did something most music tech founders skip -- he started his own booking agency, True Identity, specifically to dogfood Stagent in real scenarios. Not theoretically. Actually managing 16 artists while building the software they needed. Features like the press kit tool came directly from problems he hit mid-workflow.
That combination of industry experience and technical understanding is what separates the platforms that stick from the ones that don't.
Why Nobody Switches (Even When They Should)
The hardest part of building Stagent wasn't the product. It was getting people to switch.
Mischa is blunt about this: most people hate change. His own company only tried Stagent because their previous subscription lapsed by accident.
This is the reality of B2B music tech. Your product can be clearly better, and agencies will still stick with what they know. Mischa's solution was patience and product quality. He called every competitor, studied their platforms, and focused on differentiating features that made the switch feel worth the disruption.
After over 100 investor pitches and periods where funding nearly dried up, a strategic merger with ArtWin -- a complementary platform with a 20-year track record -- gave Stagent the customer base it needed. Over 200 booking agencies now use the combined platform.
The Honest Answer About Focus
When asked about discipline, Mischa didn't give the polished answer. He admitted his focus is "bad" and described a pattern many founders will recognize: when one project stalls, he chases the spark in another. He even wrote a book about a "five project rule" he can't follow himself.
But he reframes this as fuel. True Identity wasn't a distraction from Stagent -- it became Stagent's testing ground. The merger with ArtWin happened because Mischa cold-called competitors out of curiosity. His restless energy is a liability and an asset at the same time.
His advice to other founders? One word: focus. "Most entrepreneurs are really bad at it. So try to get that on a good level." The self-awareness counts.
What To Do About It
Whether you're an artist managing your own bookings or a studio owner handling scheduling, the lessons from Stagent's journey are practical:
- Use your own tools before you recommend them. If a booking system doesn't fit how you actually work, it won't stick. Test it with real scenarios, not demo data.
- Accept that switching costs are real. If you're trying to get artists or studios onto a new platform, patience and clear value beat aggressive pitching. Show them what they'll gain, not just what your tool does.
- Build from experience, not assumptions. The best music tech comes from people who lived the problem. If you're a studio owner frustrated with your booking process, that frustration is valuable data.
- Don't wait for the perfect moment. Mischa pitched 100+ investors. The merger that saved Stagent came from a cold call. Momentum comes from action, not readiness.
Key Takeaways
- Dogfood your own product. Building from real workflows reveals what no user survey can.
- Switching costs are the biggest barrier in B2B music tech. Patience and clear differentiation beat aggressive sales.
- The best founders build what they needed themselves. From DJ booth to booking platform -- industry experience is the real competitive advantage.