In one respect, ToursByLocals is a classic startup story.It was the brainchild of CEO Paul Melhus and chief technology officer Dave Vincent, with them having observed how the tour guide scene was handled during a trip to China in the mid-2000s.They launched the business - a platform to find and reserve tour guides in numerous countries around the world - in 2008.But there the typical linear nature of a startup tale ends.ToursByLocals, based in Vancouver, Canada, expanded quickly for the next ten years but never took a dollar in funding.This period of bootstrapping ended in January 2020, when it signed a Series A investment deal for $33 million.Melhus joins us at the latest guest on How I Got Here.HIGH is a weekly show produced by PhocusWire and Mozio, aimed at getting the inside stories behind startups and innovation in travel and transportation.It's hosted by PhocusWire's editor in chief, Kevin May, and Mozio co-founder and CEO David Litwak.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As digitalization of the airline sector has increased exponentially over the last decade, a number of new business have emerged to compete alongside the existing giants.One such brand is Flyr, based in the U.S. and founded by Alex Mans.The company is focused on revenue management, distribution and e-commerce for carriers and partners, allowing them to do a better job of selling seats and ancillary products with real-time dynamic pricing.Mans started our as chief technology officer of the business in 2013, before switching to the CEO role in 2020.He joins us at the latest guest on How I Got Here.HIGH is a weekly show produced by PhocusWire and Mozio, aimed at getting the inside stories behind startups and innovation in travel and transportation.It's hosted by PhocusWire's editor in chief, Kevin May, and Mozio co-founder and CEO David Litwak.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The modern story of HRS (Hotel Reservation Service) is one of geographic growth, expansion into new business areas and a handing over of the baton from father to son.But the company has its roots going back to 1972, when it was created in Cologne, Germany, as a travel agency that concentrated on booking accommodation for exhibitions.Robert Ragge ran the business until 2008, when his son Tobias (already an employee) took over the reins.The transfer of power, after the retirement of a brand's founder, is always going to throw up some complexity and issues but on this occasion, there was the family angle to contend with as well.Since then, HRS has developed into an international business with offices in 16 countries around the world.Ragge joins us at the latest guest on How I Got Here.HIGH is a weekly show produced by PhocusWire and Mozio, aimed at getting the inside stories behind startups and innovation in travel and transportation.It's hosted by PhocusWire's editor in chief, Kevin May, and Mozio co-founder and CEO David Litwak.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It takes a lot to change a mindset that has prevailed for decades. Bikes (and scooters) are, for many people, mostly a thing of enjoyment.But Lime had other ideas, driven by a desire to rethink the bike as something that can be used for both leisure and commuting, at the same time as doing something positive for urban environments.The company was in development for a few years before it launched but it seems extraordinary that it has now only really been in existence for nearly four years, such is the strength of the brand and the speed in which it has expanded around the world.There have been many ups and downs along the way, but co-founders Toby Sun and Brad Bao have stuck to their principles as best as they can.  Bao joins us at the latest guest on How I Got Here.HIGH is a weekly show produced by PhocusWire and Mozio, aimed at getting the inside stories behind startups and innovation in travel and transportation.It's hosted by PhocusWire's editor in chief, Kevin May, and Mozio co-founder and CEO David Litwak.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lastminute.com Group's name didn't start out that way.BravoFly Rumbo switched its corporate identity after an acquisition of the former European darling of the online travel world in 2015.Spearheading the business since 2004 is Fabio Cannavale, a former founder at Spanish online travel agency eDreams, who pushed BravoFly through a string of acquisitions and growth programs in the intervening 11 years.The company now sits in the mid-tier of European OTAs, headquartered in Switzerland, with websites operating in 40 countries and 17 languages.Cannavale joins us at the latest guest on How I Got Here.HIGH is a weekly show produced by PhocusWire and Mozio, aimed at getting the inside stories behind startups and innovation in travel and transportation.It's hosted by PhocusWire's editor in chief, Kevin May, and Mozio co-founder and CEO David Litwak.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

FlixBus is a travel startup that was created not specifically out of personal experiences of its founders but from gutsy opportunism.Daniel Krauss, Jochen Engert and André Schwämmlein realized that the deregulation of the German bus market would open up the market to competition, both at the operator and booking platform level.It combined the two elements with a smart leasing system that aggregated and branded smaller operators across Germany, connecting dozens of cities.The business has since expanded into numerous countries around Europe and, more recently, in the U.S.It has also taken on the domestic rail sector, going up against a giant in the shape of Deutsche Bahn.Engert joins us at the latest guest on How I Got Here.HIGH is a weekly show produced by PhocusWire and Mozio, aimed at getting the inside stories behind startups and innovation in travel and transportation.It's hosted by PhocusWire's editor in chief, Kevin May, and Mozio co-founder and CEO David Litwak.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Volantio launched into the aviation market in 2014, bidding to capitalize on a burgeoning need by airlines to embrace the digital world behind the scenes.The U.S.-based company, co-founded by Azim Barodawala and Fenn Baily, helps carriers automate their marketing, improve the passenger experience and, generally, bring their systems up to the level of other digital businesses.It has captured the attention of JetBlue Technology Ventures, Amadeus Ventures, Qantas and IAG.Customers include some of the most high-profile airlines on the planet, including Emirates, Iberia, Jetstar and Volaris.Baradowala joins us at the latest guest on How I Got Here.HIGH is a weekly show produced by PhocusWire and Mozio, aimed at getting the inside stories behind startups and innovation in travel and transportation.It's hosted by PhocusWire's editor in chief, Kevin May, and Mozio co-founder and CEO David Litwak.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Varun Khona's story about the creation of Headout is a classic startup tale.His first startup, Trippy, lasted a mere three years before he found himself with a big idea in 2014 to get in on what was then a burgeoning tours and activities sector.Hunkering down in New York City with a nascent business had a variety of challenges (he lived with a family relative for some time) but it was the relocation to India that allowed the company to focus and grow.Throw in an appearance on TV reality show The Pitch and it has the makings of a story to dine out on for decades to come.Khona joins us at the latest guest on How I Got Here.HIGH is a weekly show produced by PhocusWire and Mozio, aimed at getting the inside stories behind startups and innovation in travel and transportation.It's hosted by PhocusWire's editor in chief, Kevin May, and Mozio co-founder and CEO David Litwak.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How do you launch and grow a business that is attempting to overhaul one of the aviation sector's most complicated processes?The airline part supply chain is complex, has hundreds of customers and suppliers, and has to operate efficiently and without delays.Ben Frank, an ex-MIT graduate in aerospace engineering, created a startup to revolutionize that process with a platform that connects suppliers of parts to airline customers.The result is Rotabull, a New York, U.S.-based company that wants to build the next generation of software that underpins the aviation sector.Frank joins us as the latest guest on How I Got Here.HIGH is a weekly show produced by PhocusWire and Mozio, aimed at getting the inside stories behind startups and innovation in travel and transportation.It's hosted by PhocusWire's editor in chief, Kevin May, and Mozio co-founder and CEO David Litwak.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

BlaBlaCar is a lot more than a carpooling platform with a quirky name.Since its creators - Frédéric Mazzella, Francis Nappez and Nicolas Brusson - thrust the brand onto the scene in the late-2000s, many companies have sought to mimic the idea but have failed to unseat the clear market leader.Regulatory issues, launches in new markets around the world, modest levels of funding (compared to, say, Uber) and expansive of the brand into new product lines, such as bus and coach transport, are all part of the France-based BlaBlaCar story (including where the name comes from).Brusson, who became CEO in 2016 after initially taking the chief operating officer role in 2007, is the latest guest on How I Got Here.HIGH is a weekly show produced by PhocusWire and Mozio, aimed at getting the inside stories behind startups and innovation in travel and transportation.It's hosted by PhocusWire's editor in chief, Kevin May, and Mozio co-founder and CEO David Litwak.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.