PHILIP WOLF: A PHENOMENON

I have had the good fortunes of being mentored by Philip. We used to fondly call him Guru and he used to take great pleasure in it. Every time I use the past tense, it breaks my heart. But I know he will not have it in any other way but for captivating storytelling.

Everyone knows Philip, the business leader, the man who coined the term “Online Travel Agency”, the founder at Phocuswright. But he was so much and more. I think Philip was always a storyteller first, a raconteur who had the magical ability to weave what is and what is yet to be and then use his speaking prowess to flip it into tenets and industry shaping themes. Here are some memories where I got to know Philip up close and personal, his characteristic traits, some of which formulated into some of the most profound life lessons for me.

My Stay at Connecticut:

My maiden trip to US was in 2010, when I stayed with Philip at his then house in Connecticut. Philip was ecstatic to have me stay with him. I arrived at around 3Pm, to be led straight into a beautiful evening dinner. He cooked the Pasta himself, and the signature barbeque. He loved to don the Chef’s hat.

The evenings would begin at around 5Pm, the birds chirping, a certain melody in the air relished over a single malt and pistachios. A setting that would be the feeding ground for his ideas and epiphanies. I could almost picture that setting right now. It was at this stay, I first noticed foolscap size notes that after dozens of cuts would eventually formulate his famed “monologue” at the conference.

Rituals:

Over time, we developed what we call as annual rituals. Things that we would necessarily do when we meet, and these are things that have now become part of who we are, our very defining characteristics.

Single Malt: We would necessarily have a special edition Glen, over our first dinner together at any trip. This dinner would be long and carefree, a roadmap and a celebration. We owe our love for Single Malt to the Guru. Learnt this from him and could never unlearn since.

Family time is important: We would all have some downtime, in some part of the world, every year without fail. To Philip family always comes first, and I think his family was bigger than most Asian families, that involved his colleagues, protegees, ex-friends, vendors, and partners, besides his immediate family.

Something’s not coming together, Marriott Dubai:

We were brainstorming the launch of a new idea and working on the About Us deck. We flew to Dubai for a day, to run through him the deck. The idea is to meet the man and do some work while at it. Morning gave way to afternoon and afternoon gave way to evening. Return flight is in few hours. Philip had one issue; something was not coming together for him. We kept going through the same slides over and over again. His words, “I know I am missing something, but I can’t put my finger on it”. While in the taxi on the way to the airport, he texted that the imagery in one of the slides was inconsistent and that could be distracting to our audience. Something that made for a good laugh and was almost insignificant, when you look back you realize is the only significant, the attention to detail. Rest everything is noise. 

More Indian than Us:

Someone among us would often banter, Philip, you are much more an Indian than we are. And he would take pride, and so would we, because that is the truth of it. As an outsider looking inside, he cherished foreign cultures and its people, better than denizens. He was absolutely fond of India and of Deep and others at the MakeMyTrip management, Amit at RedDoorz, and all of us, his Phocuswright team in the far East.

Philip’s been to India more than two dozen times and have covered the entire stretch of this country, up-close and personal. His was a complete cultural immersion, which came from his consistent pursuit for deep and profound experiences.

The back seat of the car:

This is a famous tale that any one new to the crew would have it from him firsthand. There was this one time, he needs to leave for the airport. Everyone is in the car, including the chauffeur, engine is On, but the car won’t move. On enquiry someone said, Deepak is still outside. Deepak's objection was that Philip, being the founder, should not be sitting at the back of the car. And here comes Philip’s memorable reposte. “Now that we are working together, learn to make peace with it.” He would often drive and pick us up from the airport in US, and none of us bothered with who is sitting in which seat ever again.

Products Names:

When you live with someone like Philip, you learn to ideate and execute fast. Ideas would come from all walks of life and you got to document them before they become part of the chatter and not something that would come to define your professional identity. Here are some of the internal names of WIP projects that came to be, from that moment in time with him:

Project Umbrella:

We were discussing the need for a travel technology backend and a vendor marketplace. Mumbai is known for its six months of monsoon and it was one of those days, more so with us, without an Umbrella. Thus was borne Project Umbrella.

Project Britannia:

The famed Britannia restaurant in South Bombay. We were having our biryani here which is how the embedded learning platform initiative got its name.

Project Anita:

There was a wedding to attend, and we were shopping for ethnic wear for Philip and Carol at designer Anita Dogre’s store in Gurgaon. At the lunch afterwards, over edamame in the starters, we took the steps towards a major consulting initiative, kept calling it Project Anita for months afterwards.

Project Saffron Stays:

We were all staying together and figured how dated most company CRM databases are. Most significant sales item and generally terribly outdated. Figured a major industry void and named it Project “Saffron Stays”, a staycation few hours from Mumbai.

The PhoCusWright Conference:

Showmanship, the Backstage Tour:

Philip had an innate knack for showmanship. So Yes, he raised the bar of what a travel conference should look like in The Phocuswright Conference. The production value, the needle moving sessions, the no holds barred nature of interviews, the emphasis on an overarching theme, the works! But what he loved even more was to play the role of an emcee and give the backstage to a select group of audience a day prior to the opening of the annual conference. If you are in this lucky group, you would know how he feels about this conference, the way a mother cares about her grown-up child. The glimmer in the eyes when asked a question, the spring in his feet’s when walking from the exhibition area to where the ball room would be. That was my first introduction to The Phocuswright Conference, what I would see the next day for the very first time in 2010.

Pivot:

Philip had a zest for all things in life. And no one knew better than him that the trick to grow and to forever remain hungry and young, is to consistently learn and unlearn. His fixation was with two terms, Pivot and Test. As much as the word Pivot is jaded today, he truly used it at the right time and in the right context, a decade ago in travel.

Strategically correct, not politically correct:

I think this maxim was closest to Philip’s heart, a defining one. And he lived by it. He was known for asking tough questions, that he would pose to industry leaders that he is friends with, and that sometimes would also make for his biggest clients. During one of our Guru-protégée moments, he had said, “Viren, if there are ten people in the room, it’s easier to sing along the tune of the other nine. Most would do just that. The pathbreakers are the ones who hold their own and do what is the right thing to do.”

Gumption:

If you are to think of it, Phocuswright was really small considering the brand and the weight it carried in the global travel industry. Philip would often quip with pride, “to be the smallest guy with the biggest swagger in the room, that takes a lot of “gumption”.”

Philip would almost don an Opera conductor and would end his monologues with the saying, “The Buzz is Palpable, let the Show Begin”. That was Philip. If he is around, his presence is palpable.

His demise has been way too sudden for many of us. We were speaking couple of weeks back discussing the travel recovery and the hues and the colors of the New Dawn in Travel. As they say, the end when it comes is always too soon. I write this article numb and stunned.

My heart goes out for Carol, Clayelle, Graham and for the Wolf family. May they find it in them to bear this irreparable loss. With a very heavy heart, my final tribute to you Guru. May you rest in peace!