I was in my mid-twenties when I moved to Denmark, and life was quite comfortable–aside from the bad winter weather. So why would I leave the perks of corporate life to go into the wild and unpredictable world of startups?
This was a question we had to answer as a founding team when I, along with five other engineering students, started Tryp.com. As an online travel agency, we aim to provide our users with a personalized booking experience.
Against common startup wisdom, we aren't trying to solve a specific problem.
In my view, success is all about strategy and timing. You have to launch a product or service at the right moment when a new trend or market shift is emerging in a specific industry–also known as a vertical. Essentially, success comes from aligning your innovation with market timing, riding the wave of a growing trend before it becomes mainstream.
Back when we started Tryp.com in 2019 we bet on an upcoming trend: Consumers are moving from an era of search to an era of automated, personalized recommendations. In a world where travel is already nearly fully digitalized, the winner(s) in the travel industry will be the ones who have lots of data, the technology to give personalized offers to users from that data, and a strong team who can build a complex product that satisfies growing consumer standards for digital products.
As of today, Tryp.com has more than 2.4 million unique users. We’ve received more than $1 million in funding, we’ve got a seven-digit ARR (annual recurring revenue) and it continues to grow. All of this from a group of first-time Gen Z entrepreneurs.
One of the values that drives our growth and our company is our commitment to full transparency, whether it’s about pricing for our customers or sharing data within the team. So in that spirit, I’m going to share our secret recipe with you.
Even though we’re a tech company aiming to scale, the lessons we’ve learned around investing in technology, building a strong team, and fostering transparency in our work culture apply to any entrepreneur—whether you’re looking to disrupt a global market or build a sustainable business on a smaller scale. It’s about finding the right approach to growth that fits your values, your team, and your customers.
Invest in your tech (and get others to invest in you)
It would have been easy to hop on the AI bandwagon and use a Large Language Model (LLM) on the backend. But if we had gone this route, we wouldn’t have had access to live data around pricing. We wanted to serve the majority of users who care about getting a good deal. Another important reason we avoided an LLM is that it would have been easy for competitors to duplicate our model.
To deliver the personalized booking experience we envisioned, we chose to invest heavily in our technology.
To deliver the personalized booking experience we envisioned, we invested heavily in our technology.
This gets a bit technical, but it might interest entrepreneurs building tech products:
- Data Processing: We built a backend capable of handling massive amounts of fare data, updating 70 million routes multiple times a day, covering over 7,000 locations worldwide.
- AI Engine: Our system creates dynamic routes with multiple cities and transportation modes in seconds, using advanced models to tailor offerings to consumers.
- Integrations: We developed numerous integrations to ensure seamless booking for each trip, supporting over 2.4 million users with a scalable infrastructure.
So what does this mean for the non-tech entrepreneur?
Building strong, scalable tech from the start helps ensure your business can handle growth and deliver a seamless experience for customers.
It can be challenging to innovate outside the most accessible tools available, but deciding when and how to use them is what can really differentiate you from competitors. Even if you’re not aiming to build something cutting edge, be discerning about what apps and software you decide to build your business around.
For us, in order to introduce a new trend and maintain a competitive edge, we needed strong technology.
Our approach was definitely not the easy path and we couldn't have achieved this without the support of investors. As of this publication, we've raised over 1 million US dollars in venture capital, angel funding, and grants. To get there, we had to communicate to investors why they should put their hard-earned money into Tryp.com.
But even though our tech sets us apart, we didn't emphasize it in our pitches. Instead, we focused on the trend we saw: consumers moving away from traditional search methods. This was the key differentiator between typical travel companies like Skyscanner or Expedia and Tryp.com.
But even if you’re not building a tech-heavy product or chasing venture capital, it’s critical that you can communicate what sets you apart from the competition–whether it's a trend, customer experience or a distinct approach.
Invest in your team
Building a solid team means finding people with the right skills. For us, the key areas were data, AI, infrastructure, and frontend development. These became the core strengths of our founding team—and our competitive advantage.
I worked with around 15 different people, from students at a small university in China to people I met during the summer holidays. A core group kept making adjustments until we found the (almost) perfect founding team: A collective with a common understanding that we’re all aiming for the stars. This process took time, and we even secured a grant to rent a house, enabling us to live and work together for nearly a year.
Even if you’re not at a stage where you can build a team, it’s important to surround yourself with people who are committed to your mission. These can be a small network of fellow entrepreneurs, mentors and even early customers who want to support your vision.
Invest in your work culture
As my co-founders and I formalized our partnership, we also had to answer two crucial questions:
First, how are we going to reward our founders?
Everyone had to be on the same page. We were not choosing the easy path. We were looking for long-term returns, and recognized there would be hardships along the way with moments of, "What the heck am I doing here?"
Committing to long-term returns also meant protecting the company at all costs. There wouldn't be a company if a founder left with 20% ownership. We made a strong agreement for the founders. If a founder leaves, they would either lose everything or get paid a certain amount if the company succeeded.
Second, we had to define our work culture.
We prioritize trust over policing. When everyone has a stake in the game, it fosters a sense of ownership and accountability.
It might seem a bit intense, but we move fast when it comes to hiring and firing. While we don't expect miracles, the first week often reveals a great deal about an employee's potential and fit within the team.
It doesn't matter if you are an old team member, or new; transparency is paramount. We have an open data policy regarding sales and marketing performance, ensuring that all team members are informed and engaged.
Our team meetings are designed to be efficient; we try to keep each department update under 10 minutes. This gives everyone a chance to understand what's happening across the company while still respecting everyone’s time.
Last, although we are primarily remote, we do come together for special events like Web Summit. We use these key events to bring the team together and work collaboratively on our common mission. During these events, we encourage junior team members to interact with investors, the public and journalists. If everyone is well-versed in the company's data and capable of articulating our mission and achievements, team members will feel trusted and included.
Whether you have a small team or are working solo, building a strong foundation in your work culture starts with being clear about your mission and creating an environment that supports long-term growth.
For teams, maintaining clear communication and ensuring everyone feels valued will help you navigate challenges and stay resilient. If you’re a solo entrepreneur, prioritizing transparency with customers and partners will help you build trust and foster relationships that support your long-term growth. In both cases, the key is to stay aligned with your goals and focused on your mission, rather than immediate gains.
Stay stubborn and trust your vision
Making it as a startup is tough and sometimes it feels like every barrier is insurmountable. I recognize that Tryp.com is a bit of an outlier. After more than five years of work, our dream is very much alive and growing.
When you identify a trend and believe it's only a matter of time before it impacts a certain vertical, you may face many people who will be skeptical and will tell you your idea isn't going to work.
Traditional startup wisdom advises you to talk with your users. But Henry Ford once said, "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses." This still rings true. It's up to you, the entrepreneur, to recognize the trend and It's up to you, the entrepreneur, to recognize the trend and act upon it before others see its potential. Trust your vision and find the courage to pursue it.
So if I had to identify one key trait that has gotten me through all the doubt and cut through the challenges and critics, I’d say, stay stubborn.