Aaron Gowell, CEO and co-founder, SilverRail Technologies
Aaron Gowell is co-founder and chief conductor of SilverRail, which is building digital infrastructure for the global rail industry. He is a big believer in rail’s humanitarian benefits and wants more people to use trains. Before SilverRail, he built and sold National Leisure Group, worked at Bain and Company and was a founding member of venture capital firm General Catalyst Partners.
In a series of interviews with executives participating at the event in Amsterdam in May, Phocuswire finds out what makes them tick.
Why isn't the travel startup survival rate higher than it is?
The first reason is customer acquisition. It has become very expensive to acquire customers on Google search, so the best companies find novel ways to get customers and then deliver fantastic experiences to them so they stick around, thereby maximizing customer lifetime value.
Take Airbnb. They were one of the first companies to build an incredible, personalized refer-a-friend campaign, which generated huge trust in the service whilst building an army of early advocates.
The second reason is many startups do not focus on a niche, meaning they find it hard to get initial traction with a core customer base, which is vital to “cross the chasm.”
Hotel Tonight is a great example of a brand that focussed on one thing (last minute, spare inventory) and pioneered an incredible mobile-first experience. It’s no surprise that Airbnb recently bought them.
Company
SilverRail Technologies
Website
www.silverrailtech.com
What are the gaps in your experience and knowledge of the industry?
Since I'm the Rail Guy, I'll focus on rail. My personal blind spot is understanding rail suppliers/carriers better. I think most companies on the distribution side, regardless of vertical, are ignorant when it comes to really understanding suppliers.
For me, I need to up my game on the supplier side. We’re also making a load of organizational changes at SilverRail to improve our client empathy.
What assumption about travelers have you found not to be true?
That in real life, places look as beautiful as they do in air-brushed travel Instagram pictures…
Do you agree with the often‐used phrase, "travel planning is broken”?
I don’t believe travel planning is broken. At the click of a button, the internet now gives you answers to pretty much any travel request.
When you add in new technologies like voice, chat bots and machine learning, the future’s looking very bright.
You’ve also got the age-old option of chatting to friends and family who will always give you great ideas for your next trip based on their last adventure.
If you weren't in travel, what company would you like to be part of and why?
Tesla. Musk is going to destroy it. He's a mad genius, and his electric cars are forcing all car manufacturers to become fast followers.
In 20 years there won't be a single gas powered car being made (well, maybe Ferrari). Musk is a true general catalyst: all cars will be electric ‐ then all other forms of transit will go electric: long‐haul trucks, buses, taxis, lorries and then airplanes. As a result, Musk will have single‐handedly saved the planet. A true general catalyst.
But in order for Telsa to exist in two years (as an independent company), Musk has to go. He's lost all of his best players, the company needs a new leader and I would love to give my two-cents to their board.
How do you define success and how do you measure up to your own definition?
Effectiveness beyond baseline expectations. Culturally we're over‐focused on “rock star” leaders. I wish we focused more on “did he/she really move the needle? Did they really make things better?”
Take Satya Nadella at Microsoft who has seriously moved the needle. He has taken Microsoft to dizzying new heights (recently surpassing $1 trillion in valuation) through changing the corporate culture (he makes all his executive team read a psychology book called Nonviolent Communication) and pivoting their products to embrace the cloud and open source. Microsoft is now a cool company that engineers want to work at. Now that is some turnaround.
As for me, I’m performing at 50/50. I feel successful in that we're making genuine progress at tackling a really hard business and social problem. We've been effective at getting rail carriers to open up distribution to new channels, we're getting agencies to sell rail for the first time.
I feel successful and effective at pioneering this space. It feels important to me. But rail is a really hard space to be in, and I do not feel that I've been effective enough at getting rail adopted.
I haven't yet been able to convince a global OTA to really blow out rail, and that really makes me second‐guess myself. I have not been effective here yet. The only thing that matters to me is being effective by moving the needle.
What element in the industry do you consider is still the most difficult to measure?
Customer experience. Star ratings summarize the lowest common denominator of the travel experience: “I was there.”
The thing they all miss is “why.” Why am I going to this island? Because I want to sit on a beach and the one thing I really care about is that the bar has good rum.
Star ratings are also really easy to fake.
If you could teach everyone in you company one concept, what concept would have the biggest positive impact?
Having a growth mindset. Companies get into ruts, and a key to success in life and business is being able to grow, look for “possible,” and being willing to honestly evaluate and adapt.
So difficult for existing businesses to do.
When was the last time you spoke to one of your customers, and why?
Last week. An important new client had just launched our rail product (our API into the client’s new UI). But the new UI was missing some features long‐time users were used to. So, users thought our solution was a step backwards from what they had before.
Whose fault is that? Ours. Even though our API has the functionality, the client didn't include it in their UI, it still blows back on SilverRail. When you're in the B2B game, you need to take ownership over the end result. You can't say, “Hey, we did our bit, that's their problem.”
The lesson here is that we can't just be a great tech company, we need to be a great solutions company with massive client empathy. I'm still smarting from this one...
What do you consider to be the best important invention in the digital world in the last 20 years?
Podcasts, hands down the best invention. The fact that I can enter the minds of 100 interesting, brilliant people, and listen to their thoughts, perspectives and learn why they do the things they do, in a long‐form one- to two-hour format is amazing.
At no other time in history could we tap into others minds like this. Books are too infrequent, Twitter is vapidly short and TV interviews are lightweight and designed to flame controversy. Podcasts are the one place where you can marinate in Jack Dorsey's thinking, learn about how Barry Diller became a titan and what drove him.
I love listening to the same person interviewed by different podcasts, which helps you triangulate on “who they are.” It's amazing!
Top four podcast recommendations:
- Best interviewer: Rich Roll (ultra‐athlete, former lawyer).
- Most insightful and funniest on all things tech: Pivot (Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway).
- Best Guilty Pleasure for left‐leaning political junkies: Lovett or Leave it.
- So‐smart‐it‐makes‐me‐feel‐dumb: Making Sense with Sam Harris.
Executive Roundtable: At the Speed of Rail
SilverRail, Deutsche Bahn and OUI.sncf discuss rail distribution at Phocuswright Europe 2019.