Why Graduation Is Higher Ed’s Most Overlooked Growth Lever with Chase Rigby of Tassel

Apr 13, 2026

Chase Rigby, CEO of Tassel and former Google PM, brings product and edtech chops to modernize graduation. He discusses graduation as a major growth and marketing moment. He explains unifying logistics like registration, tickets, and stage flow. He covers monetized digital announcements, AI photo and admin savings, and disrupting legacy cap-and-gown models.

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INSIGHT

Graduation As A Strategic Marketing Moment

Commencement is a high-leverage marketing and recruiting moment for institutions.
Tassel treats graduation as a public moment with family attendance often exceeding sports, turning a ceremony into alumni acquisition and brand exposure.

ADVICE

Unify Registration And Stage Flow

Centralize registration data and tie it to stage flow to remove friction for students.
Hook into the SIS/CRM, collect honors, phonetics, and tickets, then deliver QR codes to drive accurate Jumbotron announcements and faster stage crossings.

ANECDOTE

Graduate Earned $3,500 From Digital Announcements

Tassel rewired the business model so students can earn money from digital graduation announcements.
One graduate raised $3,500 via announcements, and Tassel plans AI-matched free photos to replace $50–$75 paywalled images.

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Chase Rigby is the CEO of Tassel, a platform modernizing graduation experiences for universities worldwide. A former Google PM and Chief Product Officer at Canopy, his career sits at the intersection of education, technology, and product innovation.

💡 5 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode:

Why graduation is a key (and overlooked) growth moment
How Tassel simplifies complex commencement logistics
Where AI improves the student and admin experience
How graduation drives alumni engagement and giving
Why Tassel helps students earn money at graduation

✨ Episode Highlights:
[00:02:57] Graduation as a growth and marketing moment
[00:05:22] Unifying registration, tickets, and stage flow
[00:09:17] A student earns $3,500 via digital announcements
[00:11:53] Saving thousands of admin hours with AI
[00:14:18] The “cap-and-gown cartel” and outdated business models
[00:16:56] Better graduation to stronger alumni ties
[00:19:29] Disrupting the cap-and-gown model

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