The Santa Cruz Software That Runs America’s Stadiums
Picture this…
You’re at a concert.
The lights are flashing. The bass is so loud you can feel it in your bones. The crowd is screaming like a pack of caffeinated hyenas. It feels effortless — like this entire spectacle just magically came together.
Here’s the secret: behind every giant event is a massive, chaotic monster. A monster made of:
4,000 staff members with 4,000 different excuses.
Union rules that read like ancient runes.
Credentialing spreadsheets from the ninth circle of Excel hell.
And a time clock system that would be jealous of a sundial.
For decades, people just duct-taped it together and hoped for the best.
David vs. Goliath
Enter David Schwartz — a chill Santa Cruz guy who looked at the beast and said: "Yeah, no. We’re gonna need a bigger slingshot."
In true David vs. Goliath fashion (except in this case, Goliath was an endless mountain of labor mismanagement and panic attacks), David and his team at ABI built ABI MasterMind® — a system designed not just to survive the monster, but to tame it, put a little bowtie on it, and have it politely clock in five minutes early.
Since 1999 ABI quietly became the workforce management platform for venues across North America. Today, over 900 stadiums, arenas, amphitheaters, convention centers, theaters, staffing services and the like rely on it to make sure the right people are in the right place, at the right time, following the right rules — without anyone spontaneously combusting from stress.
If you've enjoyed a Red Sox game at Fenway, rocked out at a Live Nation concert, or seen the Miami Dolphins fumble their playoff hopes yet again, you’ve been inside an ABI-run operation. (You're welcome. Or we’re sorry. Depending on your team.)
And while most tech founders would have sprinted toward Silicon Valley to grow their empire (and maybe raise $50 million to fund a custom coffee bar for their office cats), David stayed put in Santa Cruz. Surfboards, redwoods, bonfires, and good people — that’s where David continues to steer the ship.
Santa Cruz Works has been lucky to have ABI as a longtime partner and supporter, proving that world-class innovation doesn’t need glass skyscrapers or VC buzzwords. Sometimes, all it needs is a place that reminds you what matters — and a stubborn belief that "I can build something better."
David and the ABI Crew didn’t just sling a rock at Goliath. He built a whole precision-engineered workforce trebuchet, fired it, and then stayed in Santa Cruz to chill after.
The moral of the story?
You don’t have to leave town to build something massive.
You don’t have to scream the loudest to make the biggest difference.
And sometimes, the people changing the world are the ones who never stopped loving where they live.
Next time you're cheering in a stadium packed with tens of thousands of people — remember: the real show is happening backstage. And somewhere behind it all, there’s a guy in Santa Cruz who’s company makes it possible.