Joshua W. Desha

Risk Strategies Company

I've been in the Employee Benefits world since 2007 and I'm excited to now partner with Risk Strategies as Vice President of Business Development.  My years in this industry have taught me a lot, and the most important lesson I've learned is this:  More than anything else, employees, employers, C-level executives, owners, and HR leaders deserve a partner who...

💪 Understands the Benefits world and keeps up with innovation.
💪 Takes the time to really get to know (and WANTS to know) their company/industry/business.
💪 Willingly walks their clients through a REAL and INNOVATIVE long-term strategic benefits system based upon the needs of their employees, and the company financially.

The sad fact is that the vast majority in this industry never take the time to do these things for and with their clients. It's one of the reasons benefit rates are consistently increasing, employee satisfaction is at an all time low, and brokers are forced to move from carrier to carrier begging for a better deal. 

If you are a company and you are looking for a partner, a real partner, that will walk with you through this minefield of Employee Benefits, then let's talk.

Vice President of Business Development

The Leadership Lighthouse

The Leadership Lighthouse aims to be a beacon of hope, visibility, and leadership within each and every community. We help leaders lead.

Head of Operations

🔥 Helping Employees reduce their healthcare costs (Access to Doctors, Therapists, and 425+ generic drugs at NO COST) 🎯 Allowing Employers the chance to lower overall Health Insurance Spend 🙌🏼 🙏🏼 Benefits Nerd 🤓

𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗮𝗺 𝗜❓𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗸 “𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲” 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁❗



I am one of the leading employee benefit experts on Linkedin. As an accomplished professional, I've worked with individuals and corporations alike.  
 
I believe to be genuinely GREAT you MUST stand out and be different!

Leaders in our industry should...
 
👊🏼 Stop being boring and ordinary!
👊🏼 Learn what matters to others FIRST.
👊🏼 Know your customer's story and needs better than they do.
👊🏼 Figure out how to put it all together for a long term/sustainable business strategy.
 
► 𝗔 𝗳𝗲𝘄 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀:
 
🔥Worked with hundreds of different businesses on strategic benefits planning.
🔥Led a team of 21 offices to business growth of 218% within 12 months.
🔥12-time Presidents Club winner in 2 different industries.
🔥I've started 2 companies from the ground up.
🔥11 Industry Elite Award trips.
🔥Took a team of young salespeople and turned them into the highest producing team in the company's history.

► 𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒆:

💰  I'm somewhat of an Employee Benefits sharp-shooter.  Being in the business since 2007, I've seen it all.  
💰  I can speak in movie quotes and still get my point across.

💰  I'm an all-around good guy.  :)  And hey, that seems to be missing in today's world, right?
 
► 𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒆:

☎️   512-876-4677
📩   jdesha@risk-strategies.com
💬   DM me here on Linkedin
🐤   Carrier Pidgeon (just tell it to go to "THAT DUDE" and it will get to me)

Director of Sales

Revive Health is Virtual Healthcare 2.0.  Stop spending so much money on healthcare and health insurance. We facilitate rapid and easy access to affordable, quality care and prescription medications. Our membership plans start at less than $1/day.

I’m the Co-Founder and CEO of Xtag, where we make events run smoother with badge printing, lead retrieval, and session check-in. We’re platform agnostic, integrate with all the major event management platforms, and own both the software and hardware, which means clients get a simple, reliable solution without third parties in the middle.

I’ve grown Xtag into a global partner for leading brands, universities, and event organizers, and I also host the All In Person podcast, where I talk with event leaders about what really works in this industry.

Elad Rosanski

UNPOPULAR OPINION:
Cvent is not going “all in” on virtual events with the ON24 deal.
It is doing a very smart money and data play.

During Covid, ON24 was on fire.

2020 revenue: $157M
2021 revenue: $204M

They went public.
For a short period, the market valued ON24 at over $3.4B.

Fast forward to today.

2023 revenue: $164M
2024 revenue: $148M
Last twelve months: around $141M

So the top line is down by roughly 30% from the peak.

But they fixed the business model.

Gross margins are in the mid-70s.
Multiple quarters of positive operating cash flow and free cash flow.
And as of Q3 2025 they have about $175M in cash and marketable securities on the balance sheet.

Now look at the real price tag.

$400M (Purchase Price)
minus $175M (Cash on hand)
= ~$225M (Enterprise Value)

So Cvent is buying roughly $141M of revenue for about 1.5x - 1.6x revenue.

During the Covid hype, this same company was valued at more than $3B.
Today Cvent is picking it up at around 1.5x.

To me, that does not look like a crazy “let us bet everything on video” move.
It looks like buying a good SaaS asset at a post Covid discount.

And there is a very important strategic layer.

Cvent is very strong with the event teams.
Logistics, venues, registration, onsite.

ON24 usually sits with marketing and demand gen.
Webinars, digital events, pipeline.

So with this deal Cvent is not only buying revenue. They are:

✅ Buying a different buyer inside the same accounts
✅ Capturing more engagement data from webinars and digital events
✅ Keeping that data inside the Cvent universe

If Cvent did not buy ON24, someone else could.
For example, a HubSpot or a Salesforce.
Then Cvent might still run the event, but another platform would own the digital journey around it.

So my view is simple.

Yes, Cvent is investing in video and webinars.
But they are not “betting the company” on it.

They are:

✅ Buying sticky enterprise revenue at around 1.5x
✅ Taking over $175M in cash on day one
✅ Adding a marketing focused product and buyer to their stack
✅ Protecting their position by owning more of the event and engagement data

Three years after the Covid hype, there are still very good event tech assets on the market, now at very different prices.

Cvent is the one quietly collecting them.

#eventprofs #eventtech #webinars #on24 #cvent

Co-Founder & CEO at Xtag (Badge Printing | Lead Retrieval | Sessions Check-In) | Podcast Host

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