Awful Events Drove This Entrepreneur to Create His Own B2B Media Company

Key Takeaways

• Nexus Labs grew a 9,000‑subscriber newsletter into a 600‑person conference
• Exhibitor booths cost $10,000; ticket revenue splits 60/40 profitably
• Pro membership converts ~10% of readers, generating 12% of revenue
• Marketplace database holds 800+ vendors, aiming to power future AI tools
• Dice seeks growth capital to scale NexusCon as the go‑to smart‑building event

Pulse Analysis

The smart‑building sector has long suffered from a dearth of independent, technically rigorous media. Most content comes from vendors, leaving engineers and facility managers with glossy marketing rather than actionable insights. James Dice identified this void while searching for practical guidance, prompting him to launch a newsletter and podcast in 2019 that directly recorded conversations with building owners and operators. This buyer‑centric approach quickly resonated, amassing roughly 9,000 subscribers who value grounded, real‑world perspectives over buzzword‑laden press releases.

Leveraging the newsletter’s audience, Dice and COO Rosy Khalife launched NexusCon in 2023, a conference that now draws 600 attendees and features a curated expo floor of about 16 vendors. Exhibitor booths are priced at $10,000, while tickets cost $800 for buyers and $1,600 for suppliers, creating a revenue split of roughly 60/40 that keeps the event profitable without a pay‑to‑play main stage. Complementing the live event, the company’s Pro membership—priced at $350 per individual or $70 per user for large teams—offers a proprietary marketplace of over 800 vetted vendors, deep‑dive webinars, and complimentary conference tickets, contributing about 12% of total revenue.

Looking ahead, Nexus Labs is courting growth capital to replicate its niche‑event model across the fragmented smart‑building landscape. The firm envisions its marketplace data evolving into a training set for AI tools like Claude or ChatGPT, addressing the current lack of accurate, industry‑specific intelligence. By consolidating buyer demand and vendor supply in a trusted, content‑first environment, Nexus Labs aims to become the definitive hub for smart‑building professionals, reshaping how information and deals are exchanged in this rapidly expanding market.