TLabs Showcase on travel startups featuring US-based travel consumer assistance widget FlyMuch.
Who and what are you (including personnel and backgrounds)?
- Jim Kamnikar, CEO/co-founder - president, Worthpoint Corp. (2008-2009), president and CEO of GoAntiques.com (2003-2008).
- Brian Zuercher, CMO/co-founder - president ABM Performance Solutions, founder at Clearwish, Inc.
What financial support did you have to launch the business?None thus far – we have bootstrapped. We are, however, in the process of completing our Series A round of funding.
What problem are you trying to solve?
According to Google, travellers visit shop for 29 days over 22 sites over 12 sessions. We wanted to make the process easier.
Describe the business, core products and services?
FlyMuch is a free application that provides consumers with intelligence while they shop online for travel.
When you enter your destination and dates into a search on a travel site, we grab that information and deliver price deals, reward promotions, ratings and customized content that is geo-targeted and personalized, right in an onscreen overlay.
Who are your key customers and users at launch?
We continue to do customer discovery and validation, but have found a core audience in young business travellers.
Did you have customers validate your idea before investors?
Yes. We have and will continue to work with customers, gain their insights and integrate ideas.
What is the business AND revenue model, strategy for profitability?
We operate on an affiliate revenue model.
SWOT analysis – strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats?
Strengths:
- Deep internet, UI and consumer behaviour experience; strong leadership experience.
Weaknesses:
- Our core team does not have experience in online travel (we have built a board of directors/advisors to compensate).
Opportunities:
- Evolution of mobile has created a new frontier.
- Consumer publications, providers and other content partners will greatly benefit from this new method of distribution.
Threats:
- Companies who are better funded.
Who advised you your idea isn't going to be successful and why didn't you listen to them?We have warned about being under capitalized and needing traction before certain groups will invest, etc. We have bootstrapped and have kept our focus. We haven’t been deterred, as it is usually followed with “But let me know when it is ready, because I would definitely use it”.
What is your success metric 12 months from now?
We aim to have three key distribution partners and to be fully deployed on multiple technology platforms (web, mobile, iPad).
NB: Here is a clip of how it works...
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FY1KR_VRLk
NB: TLabs Showcase is part of the wider TLabs project from Tnooz.