Ask the CEO (6) - Malte Siewert, Trivago

Today 'Ask the CEO' features Malte Siewert from Trivago located in Dusseldorf, Germany.

1. What problem (s) your company is trying to solve?

Hopefully we do not only try. We comprehensively compare room rates for hotels worldwide and aggregate UGC  (User Generated Content) from hotel review sites. The first part ensures that visitors to trivago book at the lowest rate available. The second makes sure that they enjoy the stay.

The way we compare rates differs from other search engines like Kayak or Travelsupermarket. Most important, we don’t have a partner bidding model. That means that users will find prices on trivago independently from what we get paid from the partner. What matters is hotel room price only. At trivago for example we like niche players that are particular competitive in a certain region or hotel category and that offer great prices within that niche. Further we will show all the inventory a certain partner has on its own website. We don’t allow partners to only advertise a portion of their hotel inventory neither do we restrict inventory at our end. The traveler sees everything that is available at all rates when he or she uses trivago.

2. How did you finance your venture?

Trivago closed two rounds. The European Founders Fund, Stellant Ventures and HOWZAT media have invested.

3. In a difficult climate of uncertainty, how do you attract talents to join your adventure?

We feel that is easier for us to attract people nowadays than it was before the crisis. As such we benefit from the current climate and we have found a number of enthusiastic and skilled new members to the team recently.

4. Could you explain your revenue model

We have CPC contracts with our partners; e.g. we get paid for the lead volume we drive to booking engines.

5. Who gives you inspiration when you feel down whilst leading your company?

I go fly fishing, watch the river flow and with that inspiration sometimes comes.

 

and 5 trivial questions...

a/ Fave hotel experience

As a child I made friend with the kitchen stuff of the hotel my family and I stayed in. The kitchen was my favorite hangout during that holiday with unlimited supply of toys and ice cream.

b/ Mac or PC?

PC

c/ Explorer or Firefox?

Whatever is installed.

d/ MP3 or CD?

CD

e/ Twitter or Facebook?

I have a Facebook account but am hardly using it.

Comments

[BedOfRoses]

Well said