Marriott's Strategic Evolution and Financial Challenges

Marriott has hotels in 139 places including the Faroe Islands, Rwanda, Greenland, and Kathmandu. They employ over 148 thousand people. That’s more than twice as many people as Facebook! And they have a $73B market cap.

But what got us curious about Marriott is not the fancy hotels, although we love those too, it’s that Marriott didn’t fundamentally invent any new technologies or new products. How did it become so big and ubiquitous? As ladies who built out careers in Silicon Valley, where tech and product is king, we were curious–what does the hospitality industry have to teach us? 

Listen to hear the story of the small root beer stand that transformed into the world’s biggest hotel company.

(1:30) Marriott today

(4:09) Try every business until one sticks–from rootbeer to hotels

(14:24) Building hotel foundations

(28:44) The spirit to serve–Marriott culture at work

(45:42) (Asset) Light is right!

(1:00:30) Acquisitions & Rewards

(1:25:00) Operator Playbook: what tactics will we borrow from Marriott?

(1:26:07) The future of Marriott?