In the green room at Phocuswright Europe with... Bobby Healy

Bobby Healy, non-executive director, CarTrawler

Bobby Healy joined CarTrawler in 2005 and helped shape its technological vision as CTO; he is now a non-executive director at the company. He will serve as a Battleground Dragon at Phocuswright Europe 2019.

In a series of interviews with executives participating at the event in Amsterdam in May, PhocusWire finds out what makes them tick...

You're explaining the industry to a new employee - complete the sentence: "Beware of the ..."

... voices. People will tell you, "X company already does that," or, "Y company did that - too late to do that now.” Wrong. There is always a better way. That’s how disruption happens, and the travel industry is perfect for it.

Really, the only voice you should listen to is the one saying: “Your biggest threat is Google, so build something in a niche space that they won’t ultimately want to own themselves." If you ignore that, you’re not investable.

What element in the industry do you consider is still the most difficult to measure?

Cross-device, cross-channel attribution, and price-elasticity. Too much noise, imperfect science - it's hard to drive real-time decisions as a result.

Who has the most power in your business: customers or suppliers?

Customers (and distribution partners), 100%. We are a marketplace providing a comprehensive view of the market, therefore customers (consumers) have perfect choice and ability to compare.

We can fall out with our suppliers, but in the end we both rely on each other, so we are both always incentivized to make the relationship work - and we do.

Our consumers and customers (we call them partners) have more choice, and won’t hang around very long if we get things wrong.

Who is the person you most admire within the industry?

The person I most admire award goes to Margrethe Vestager. She has led the regulatory charge in calling out Google's monopolist practices, and matched her words with fines. She has openly discussed breaking up the company, and when you consider the number of lobbying dollars at work, it’s pretty impressive. I hope she gets the mandate for another term.

What question would you not want to be asked in an interview?

Either 1) What’s that awful smell?, or 2) Which of your competitors do you have the most respect for? Because both answers are rude.

Just joking, I think the Brexit question is the most annoying at the moment, so I’ll go with that.

How do you define success, and how do you measure up to your own definition?

Easy one: I’m successful if I’m happy in life. There's obviously a lot of personal satisfaction in customer wins, and in building shareholder value as the company grows, but I measure my true success by the sum of how I’m doing in my personal *and* professional lives.

I don’t consider financial results as a direct measure of success, although the two are often correlated. 

What's your morning routine?

In chronological order: WhatsApp, Twitter, calendar, porridge, then an hour of email in a local cafe ahead of a late arrival to the office.

Sometimes as a treat I get to bring one or both of my little boys to school. That’s great craic. Unfortunately, though, my crazy travel schedule kind of puts paid to any concept of daily routine for me.

What book do you recommend to others and why?

Shoe Dog, by Phil Knight. It’s a perfect painting of what it takes to be an entrepreneur, and a thrilling tale of Nike and its founder.

For non-business, I love a book [on 50 famous trees]. Simply - it’s a book about trees - open it at any page and enjoy.

What was your childhood aspiration?

To be a professional footballer like my dad - until I was 13 when I got my first computer. Thereafter, my goal was to build the best computer game the world has ever seen. Instead, I made the video game for the Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker movie. The actual worst game I’ve ever seen.

On a scale on one to 10, how lucky are you?

10/10. I’m Irish, did you not know? Lucky in life, lucky in family, lucky in health and lucky in business timing. I’m a very lucky boy [touches wood].