Globetrooper is an Australia-based social trip planning service, which first featured on Tnooz in April 2010 [TLabs Showcase - Globetrooper].
So what happened in the intervening 12 months?
Are you making money yet?
Yes. Not how we originally planned, but the site has evolved.
What has been the biggest problem - building the product/service or marketing it to consumers/travel industry?
Neither. Rather achieving market fit. We started with a product based on a tested idea, but a few of our hypotheses failed. So the challenge has been to correct our course and achieve market fit.
Biggest assumption in the business plan that was wrong?
People want to travel with total strangers. Some certainly do, but the market now seems much smaller than anticipated.
Is your current customer base as predicted?
No. See above.
Did you achieve your 12 month goals? If not, why not?
Yes and no. We surpassed revenue targets, but fell well short of user/visitor targets.
Has the problem you were trying to solve changed?
No, it just didn't exist to the extent we believed. We did a lot of market testing and customer development beforehand, but some of it was misguided and we've learnt from that.
Which startup that has launched in the past 12 months did you think "Ah, wish we had done that!"?
Maybe Airbnb. We like marketplaces that help the average person make a few dollars.
If you could go back in time and tell yourself one thing, what would it be?
Don't try to change human behaviour, it's (mostly) futile.
NB: Tnooz launched TLab Showcase in March 2010, a dedicated channel to give startups in the travel, tourism and hospitality sector an opportunity to explain their vision, company background and strategy to a wider audience.
As well as publishing an elevator pitch-type questionnaire for each business, Tnooz committed to following up with each startup after 12 months or so to see how well (or not) each performed.
NB2: TLabs Showcase is part of the wider TLabs project from Tnooz.