Despite every startup claiming to be approaching a problem in a different way, you can actually divide them into four categories.
- Those with grand ideas and execution to match
- Those with the ideas but where execution is not quite there
- Those who you wonder what they were smoking when they thought that idea was going to work.
The fourth category is the one that goes unnoticed
- The humble new business selling just a little bit better than their nearest competitors, but not setting the world on fire.
I feel for those entrepreneurs chasing the big dream with the hope of being backed by venture capital money.
VCs tempt entrepreneurs into the ultimate land-grab based on a new idea. This is generally in the hope that a new area has value that can be realised at a later date, rather than backing new businesses in existing sectors where VC level returns are harder to achieve, but perfectly good job-creating businesses can be created.
The incumbents may have left a few angel funding-sized holes in the big cheese of the travel industry – but $100 million plus valuation holes -where VCs can play – no – those holes are rare (or quickly closed by incumbents once they hear about a new startup with a great idea in their area).
So when someone comes to Tnooz and says “we are going to do this and it is going to be game changing” what are we meant to do?
For example, look at TripFab, which uses “The travel industry is going to crap its pants” as its tag line.
Now are we meant to say “thank goodness, this is what we have been waiting for and therefore they should lead the Tnooz news with every single functionality tweak they make”, or are we meant to double check that our subscription to our laundry service is up to date.
Shooting for the moon doesn’t mean you will reach the stars. Using this approach as a startup in the travel industry may mean you never leave the launch pad.
Then you also hear about the airline KLM, which has announced its intention to launch a social seating service. Passengers will be able to link their social media profile to their check-in information, and subsequently choose a seating partner based on the social media profiles of other passengers.
Now there is an intention/aspiration. But why should this intention be given any more likelihood of reality than a startup’s publicly stated aspiration?
Of course, being an incumbent and large scale supplier makes their statement more interesting – but what if KLM is just moving to using the Ryanair school of PR and announcing all sorts or ideas or nonsense for publicity’s sake (such as paying to pee on a plane – did that ever happen?) [NB: Ed - No, it did not]
For those who dream of being the next big thing in travel, the vast majority will fail to do so. But without that mindset, the confidence and the determination to succeed, you will fail, for sure.
So perhaps making big, aspirational, future-looking statements is simply the key that gets you entry to the top club – but it doesn’t make them succeed in their own right.
Perhaps we should learn to accept and love these statements as an outward sign of the dedication required to deliver on the dream. Doesn’t mean we should cover them on Tnooz though.
Here is to 2012, where Tnooz becomes more widely read than The New York Times. It’s an aspiration, right?
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About Alex Bainbridge
What do you then think of the recent upstart call 3rdplanet.com
They certainly game changing to me.
Agreed, best of luck to Tripfab for their crap-inducing product. (It does actually look very well executed)
I imagine some of the bigger players will have time to put fresh nappies on before this happens though.
We, the jolly and crap-free fellows at Dohop.com are currently stocking up on adult diapers in anticipation. Let’s hope they gather more dust than crap.
@Johann – LOL
@George – Thank you buddy!
And, we are doing some really exciting things. Truth be told, idea’s don’t mean anything. It’s all about execution – that is all everything is about.
Our team has done this before – not in travel, but other sectors. We are going to kick ass. Startups are in our DNA.
And the real fact is, we are building TripFab for us; to solve our problems, our pains, and to build something that we want to use. And I think a lot of other people are like us.
So, best of luck to all – not sure what Alex is trying to infer in this article about us – but we are going to rock it.
Thanks everyone for supporting (or not supporting).
Love your gumption Michael!
It’s about time someone finally said it. So much garbage to wade through that its no wonder that the people will really innovative ideas don’t get noticed sometimes. I do commend Tnooz for finding some of those startups and highlighting them here. They help those companies much more than any mainstream media outlet ever would. Chances are good even if you don’t offer provide coverage you at least read the email.
It’s a shame I don’t run a true ‘tech’ travel startup, heck we aren’t even a startup really, we just produce videos. Makes me sad that I have no reason to spam Kevin or Alex about us. My day feels so empty now
It is possible to build a travel start-up into a successful business, and do it without any outside investment to boot. Granted, it’s not at all easy and takes an incredible amount of focus, drive, and a bit of luck as well, but it can be done.
You have to build a compelling product that keeps people coming back again and again. You have to constantly work to get the word out. You have to generate as much interesting content as you can to drive SEO. And above all, you need to provide top notch service to your customers to differentiate yourself.
If you’re committed and can continually refine your model to meet the needs of your target audience, you’ve got a shot at it.
Interesting article indeed alex. The line between brave and pointless posturing can be a fine line to tread. We are discussing this issue a fair bit here at the moment as we work on getmegone.com and revamp Much Better Adventures. Starting any new business you naturally go into it convinced you have all the answers. If you didn’t, why are you bothering? If your concept really is the bees knees, you can be confident people will soon pick up on that too. All overzealous self promotion and hot air might achieve is to annoy a few people. It is unlikely to make anyone crap their pants. Concepts do that, not claims. Incidentally I think Tripfab might be fairly strong in both departments, so thats lucky!
What the hell is tripfab going to be? Is there even an idea behind it – because the site gives tries to appeal only to the computer addicted (like myself) who sign up for all sorts of beta testing just to see what’s out there and what’s coming.
As technology gets more accessible to those who use it and those who produce it, it’s tempting to try and get into the game too. Big industry with big problems. However, travel is tricky – to be good at travel tech you actually need to be good at travel, and deeply understand the problem. Many travel problems are closely entwined with what’s worthwhile about travel in the first place. The day you can go to a third world country and have everything sussed out (a friend a friend there to help you out socially, google goggles to translate all the signs, constant connectivity and location based recommendation services) you might as well stay home because there will be nothing exciting or transformative about the experience anymore..
Too many travel companies are all about the tech – fun, flashy, a bit exciting, but it doesn’t change the game because ultimately the experience that counts in the travel experience, not the booking/searching/itinerary building experience.
Examples?
Hipmunk is cute and cool, but ultimately I have to get transferred to same crappy airline website to buy my ticket. And my flight will also be provided by someone who is not cool, and not cute. Glad I can search by “agony” but it doesn’t really change the experience of the flight, does it?
Airbnb is very cool, but they can’t guarantee that where I’m staying will be as smooth of a process as the booking was.
I guess my point is that travel tech companies are rarely, if ever, the true providers of the experience itself. I doubt the travel industry will crap its pants because tripfab will probably be very reliant on the industry and not the other way around.
Hey Steve,
I found this the other day, it’s the tripfab product demo on Youtube. It reveals a great deal more than their splash page.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TWJoF4nPbU
Thanks George – I’ll have a look now.
You mean you did research to see if a product was viable or had any merit BEFORE slagging it off viciously? SURELY NOT!
I don’t like TripFab’s marketing. But their design is fantastic and the idea is a good one. The remaining question mark hangs over their execution which, from the demo video at least, looks pretty tidy so far.
John,
Thanks for commenting in our defense, and also really appreciate your post about us on your blog. Good research, and kudos for finding our videos. Haha.
- Mike
Cool design.
Don’t you guys love it every time you hear again “buy direct from the business, without middlemen”? The fact is that people compare prices – that’s what matters at the end.
I had a look at the demo video – good looking stuff. I hope no one was offended – I didn’t mean anything against tripfab – it was more that I had a look at the website’s landing page which told me nothing about it at all. It wasn’t intended to be too connected with the other comments. Sorry if it seemed harsh or critical – but I do find it frustrating to see many people out to change the world (which is enticing) only to find a sign up for our beta. I’ve been led down that path before and haven’t been too impressed afterward.
I’m on your team though – I’m a travel tech creator and user. I’d love to know how to list our company on tripfab when it comes to that.
Steve
Tripfab has a great interface. The hard part is getting some scale in terms of enough providers and users that it is rewarding for both to participate rather then just trying it out. Providers always want to market so its fairly easy to get them to sign up but getting them to update availability while you dont have orders is more challenging.
I didnt understand the pitch – “buy direct from the business, without middlemen.” If Tripfab is charging a commission (even just 5%) then how are they different then other businesses like expedia which connects you right to the hotel.