Lastminute.com co-founder Brent Hoberman sent a message out to the major players in the travel industry to take risks, focus less on ROI and avoid consensus management.
The gregarious internet entrepreneur, who has just founded www.mydeco.com despite “knowing nothing about interior designâ€, told delegates at the Travolution Summit in London yesterday that his business flourished because he had so little experience in the travel industry.
He explained: “Big companies have a counter risk culture that encourages consensus management. When someone comes to them with an idea, management says: ‘Oh, we’ve tried something like that before’ and they stick with what they know. With start-ups, there is less to lose. Basically, ROI is the enemy of innovation.â€
He added: “Enable yourself to make lots of mistakes. Playing it safe is not an option in this web world because no-one is smart enough to know where customers will flock to next.â€
Hoberman, who is a non-executive chairman of the social networking website WAYN.com, also told delegates that he believed peer reviews needed to be much more personalised in social networking arenas in future.
He explained: “I go to the Maldives every year and stay somewhere pretty nice. I thought I’d try and find a cheaper hotel this year in the Maldives and chose somewhere based on nine great reviews.
“One day into the holiday we realised we were spoilt brats and had to check out. It was then I thought about the fact that I need reviews by people looking for the same holiday experience as I am.”
*See Linked Travolution Summit report and more news on TravelMole’s e-Wire
by: Dinah Hatch
