The best ideas are usually obvious, but only after someone finally takes action. This question focuses on small shifts that quietly reset expectations, asymmetric bets and subtle reconstructions. I hope you like it.
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The most clicked link in the last issue is Technical Window to Map Travel Technology
Inspired by James Currier’s B2B framework, here’s my opinion on how timing patterns are applied in travel technology.
I’ve been reading Very well written Written by William Zinsser, this newsletter. This is a book about clarity, simplicity and respect for readers’ time. Here are some of the principles I try to keep my head in mind. None of this is groundbreaking, but it helps me tighten my mind and make writing more useful. Maybe it will do the same for you.
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Keep it simple. Don’t dress up. Just say.
✘ “This is my intention…” →✔ “I want to…” -
clear. If it’s hard to read, it can be difficult to understand.
✘ “A destructive end-to-end travel optimization platform…” →✔ “A tool to help people plan better travel.” -
Chopped mess. Most sentences may lose 30%.
✘ “At this particular point in time, we are experiencing precipitation.” →✔ “It’s raining.” -
Use active verbs.
✘“Revenues increased…” →✔ “We increased our income.” -
Write letters using humans. Communicate with real people like a real person, rather than hiding behind institutional language and jargon.
✘ “Notice: Payment processing has failed. Resolution is pending.” ✔ “We cannot process your payment. I’ll investigate for you now.” -
enjoy it. If it feels like a trivia, it will be like one. Passion is contagious.
✘ “This newsletter is my duty every two weeks.” → “I love writing this post. It helps me think more clearly.”
Greg Isenberg shares a powerful reminder: When AI can generate a “balanced” product immediately, your edges don’t check every box; this makes an important thing stark and looks unreasonable. When its competitors set up sales teams, Hubspot wrote 750 educational content blog posts before hiring the first sales staff. Costco sells 1/20 of Walmart stock. Five guys manually slow your burger in the category obsessed with speed. Everyone sacrificed the “wise” path to focus on the reasons why the needle was actually moved.
The same problem applies when traveling. What if you set up a flight search that doesn’t show the cheapest fares, that’s the least likely to ruin your day’s fare? What if your entire value prop is: “We’ll handle interrupts”?
Greg provides the founders with a solid framework to find their strengths: questioning the “must-haves”, turning what everyone optimizes, and turning constraints into strengths.
AI can do a good job. The founder wins by deflection. Read +
(Thanks to Mario Gavira for marking this and pointing to kiwi.com’s Destruction protection Strategy as a role model on the spot, stay away from the focus of the lowest price)
Written from Andrew Chen of A16Z, Greg Isenberg’s view is a comprehensive, unreasonable bet, and he writes why this thinking is now applicable to marketing. In his latest works Every marketing channel is terrible nowhe explains why every traditional growth channel is now sucked: SEO is slow and risky, impactful traffic doesn’t convert, spam emails, and it’s nearly impossible to get a virus factor > 1.
His biggest idea is that the usual “balanced” marketing mix is no longer working. These channels are mature, crowded and expensive, and AI only widens the gap between general execution and outstanding ideas. His gain is that the issuance itself must be asymmetric. You need to find weird, low-priced or emotional ways to resonate with people. There is no extension but something hit. Niche audience. There is no wedge that others are thinking about.
Here’s where my shameless plugs come in: If you’re a founder trying to reach out to smart people built on your trip and around this newsletter yes One of these asymmetric bets. you can Sponsor Travel Technological Essenceists And/or we can In-depth research. If you want to chat, please help.
Since the peak in 2022, software development job releases in the United States have dropped sharply. But this may not only reflect a slowdown; how and Where The company is recruiting. AI is accelerating, so the team doesn’t need to be that big. More and more companies are using contractors to recruit globally, or relying on smaller remote teams. The shape and distribution of demand may be shifting. Just a possible explanation, but it is consistent with the way AI and leaner approaches reshape early teams.
Roman Townsend tag Smart move from EasyJet: The airline now reserves overhead bin space for front passengers who pay high prices. No longer walk halfway up the cabin, find space for your schoolbag, and wait in the aisle as everyone lands. It feels like something happened a long time ago. Another reminder that not all travel innovations require technology.
Rory Sutherland shares the moments of flying from EasyJet to Gatwick. Passengers were told they needed to take the bus because the gates were blocked… usually an annoying update. But the pilot framed it as: “The good news is that the bus puts you next to your passport control, so you don’t have to take your schoolbag to go very far.“Same situation, different views. No fancy technology, no expensive fixes, just a proper line that makes it almost helpful for people with poor experience. Another example of a small-scale, thoughtful communication can change the customer experience.
(Yes, this is the second easyjet appearance in this issue!😮)
How much travel basis is the most recent. It was not until the late 1990s that smoking on planes was legal. Online check-in took off only in the 2000s. By the 1980s, boarding passes were still carbon paper.
The obvious things are usually not obvious until someone finally fixes them. What are the signs for today’s version of suitcase wheels or smoke-free…what would we look back and wonder what they took so long? Can I start drinking next?
Getyourguide’s new report Analyzing 3.1 million verified reviews suggests that in travel, comments are more than just social proofs; Some highlights:
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Reviews have exploded since 2019, with experience growing by 420% (155% in the industry)
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Only 3 comments can 3x your conversion rate. With 5 reviews, customers are almost 4 times more likely to book. After 1930s, the impact began to escalate.
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The most important thing for the traveler is that the second is reviews, recent, specific ratings and real photos.
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Travelers trust strangers with comments almost as much as friends suggest. 91% of young people aged 18-34 say so.
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Only 15 reviews instead of 0 reviews can improve your product to 4x the search rankings and 4.5x the bookings per view.
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Increase your average rating from 3.2 to 4.2, improving conversion rate by 39%.
Some of these things stand out from the top 30 travel sites with monthly network traffic (using SamellyWeb and Statista):
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Booking.com accessed 517 million, more than 4x TripAdvisor (130m) and 5x Airbnb (1.05m) ahead.
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Booking Holdings owns 4 of the top 30, while TripAdvisor owns 3. Mergers can still be reached.
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The airline sites are causing serious traffic, with several beating large OTAs, which illustrates direct booking behavior.
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The United States has 21 of the top 30 websites
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There are almost no appearances in Europe. Only Ryanair and Omio were laying off employees.
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Local players are important. India, Japan and China all emerged with strong domestic platforms.
Back in January, I Written about Turkey Has become global hair transplant capital, capturing a growing 1.9b $1.9b medical tourism market. In Q3 alone, in Q3 2024 alone, 1.1 million medical visitors were visited, many of whom were bundled with packages tied to hotel accommodation and concierge service-level care.
This is an interesting (and completely constituted) ad by Professor AD of Turkish Airlines, which plays the trend. 😂
Last week’s poll asked: You will get the perfect thing in your hotel stay. What is your non-negotiable?
Here’s how you vote:
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Bed – 39%
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Room Temperature – 28%
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Total silence – 20%
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Pillow – 9%
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Total Darkness – 4%
It’s obvious that comfort is still winning, and the room climate is more important than you think. Thank you for your vote!
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And, as always, thank you for trusting my inbox.
Mauricio Prieto
