Founder of the month: RoomPriceGenie
Where and how did you get the bright idea for the foundation?
Ari discovered the problem with his parents, who own a small B&B on the Isle of Wight in the south of England. Sales had been declining for years, even though demand in the region was consistent. Ari was quickly able to pinpoint the larger hotels and their dynamic prices as the cause. For example, they raise prices in advance for days or times of high demand, which means that small hotels with consistent prices are quickly booked out – at bargain prices. In times of low demand, the big hotels offer big discounts on the booking platforms, which makes their offer comparatively more attractive. After much research, Ari was unable to find a suitable existing solution, so he decided to develop his own.
How did the founding team come together?
We got to know each other through cooperations and joint projects of our universities (KIT, St. Gallen, ETH Zurich).
What do you see as the advantages of being your own boss?
Setting up one’s first company, especially faast directly after graduation, was and is a great challenge for us. But at the same time, it’s also an opportunity to learn an extremely large amount, e.g. how to deal with risk and strategic decisions, and having to take things into your own hands. Of course, there is also a different motivation and responsibility behind it all, which spurs us all on to do our best every day. We can also arrange our working environment and hours in a way that makes us feel comfortable. So far – at least we think – this has had a very good effect on our productivity and creativity.
What quality should you bring with you as a founder?
The curiosity to quickly acquire an extremely large amount of new knowledge – in development, product management, sales and marketing, as well as generally dealing with customers (support, customer success), financing, partnerships, strategy, management, personnel – something new is added almost every day. But communication skills are also extremely important, e.g. within the team (with a lot of freedom comes a lot of disagreements), with a wide variety of customers, employees, sales partners, investors, consultants and, and, and. Also essential: There is rarely a lack of tasks and ideas, so founders should be able to prioritize very well. For us, the motivation to stay on the ball comes primarily from happy customers.
Where do you see the hurdles on the way to a successful company? Where did you get support?
The founding team should be clear about who has what strengths and where external knowledge is needed. Basically, it is always worthwhile to do your own research and familiarize yourself with new topics. It was and is always very helpful to exchange ideas with other founders and experienced entrepreneurs. We have received a lot of support from our universities, but also from the hotel industry in general.
How did you deal with the increased workload during the start-up phase?
The workload is still very high, but we are very good friends, we put a lot of emphasis on our company culture, and often it is hard to distinguish work from an intense hobby. What we consider very, very important: Scheduling enough breaks and time for recreation and private things to keep refueling the energy store. Only if you regularly reflect and question your own path can you continue to develop. It’s more about doing the right things than doing any things, relevant or not, right.
Do you have any tips for other young startups?
Test early with customers! There is a lot to keep in mind though, such as spending a lot of time with your customers’ problems before even thinking of a solution. Ideas from customers are also often tempting, but you should always have understood the underlying problem. The book “The Mom Test” (Rob Fitzpatrick) is highly recommended!
Info:
Company: RoomPriceGenie
Founders: Jörg Siegel, Marvin Speh, Ari Andricopoulos
Foundation: 2019
Email: joerg@roompricegenie.com
Homepage: https://roompricegenie.com/
Industry: Leisure, Tourism
Image rights: RoomPriceGenie
