The Reality of Being a Visionary Part 2

(Continued from Part 1)

It was in 2000 that my team launched the First Free SMS service from a PC to a mobile phone for Lycos UK. Again, a first, but sadly the company never exploited it and chose to build upon its’ search engine which failed with competitors like Google entering the market. Today I felt that should have been the business that made Lycos a strong player in mobile consumer services and not short death after a failed IPO.

When I was finishing my EMBA at Kellogg – WHU, for my dissertation I created a business plan where classmates could keep in touch with each other by updating their profiles on a DVD service monthly. This was pre- Facebook. If I only had the technical side of how to scale, I would have ended up as a social medial platform for classmates.

Going to back to “shoppable” hotels. In 2010 it appeared the best way forward was to start off as an Ecommerce retailer online and sell designer furniture through content. Once this got traction, hotels would want to be featured and we could start to win contracts. It took three years to get 20 designer brands online, mostly Italian as I was based in Rome and that was the easiest play at the time for me locally. It then took several years to add to those brands but soon the trend caught on and more brands join. We started to trade as an Ecommerce dealer but soon competition came in and it was fierce. Made.com opened the market and the world was ready for furniture online mass market as well as luxury following.

A tough decision was made to scale or not to scale The Longest Stay. After reviewing margins and competition, and knowing the hotels were still not ready, we choose to stay lean and mean. Bootstrapped online retailer until hotels came on board. And funny enough the majority of those brands that looked to scale, if they didn’t pivot, had a poor exit.

Now I am so thrilled to say The Longest Stay is in the right place and time. We have earned the years of learning to retail furniture online, not burn through equity by taking too much cash at the wrong time or price and have signed up hotels. Consumers understand the technology of scanning a QR code when they enter a hotel room which allows them to buy what they see in the room, and hotels understand Ecommerce is a real thing and they can make money without the hassle of doing it themselves. Gone are the days for them selling WIFI and movies.

Now I can say “I am a visionary but in the right place and time.” YEAH!!!

P.S. The 2007 prediction was right, watch this space.