Team

Ainsley O'Connell Emmanuel A. Simon

Hemanth Setty Wyeth Mendoza

Robert Deng 

A freemium travel concierge service that provides real-time recommendations and advice for travelers during the trip.

Original Pitch

Hypothesis 1

•  Travelers would use a service that provides real-time advice from local experts over apps, random locals, etc.

•  Greater comfort speaking to a human being than using an app or tool when looking for advice

Assumption to test

Experiment

• Saturday morning

• Distribute flyers to tourists downtown

• Provide recommendations to tourists who convert

Results and Lessons Learned

• One customer used the service for lunch in Soho

• Others (17) confirmed human preference hypothesis in interviews

• Customers weren’t sure what to ask—“plans for tonight” too broad, ambiguous

• To simplify customer education, focus on restaurants and nightlife

Pivot: Hypothesis 2, Part 1

•  Travelers would text/ tweet restaurant and nightlife requests to an expert advisor able to respond in 5 min or less with recommendations on how to eat and drink like a local

•  Travelers needed help finding restaurants and nightlife on the fly

•  Matching competitors in terms of time will enable switching

Assumptions

Experiment

• Saturday afternoon

• Different message, different locations, same tactic

Results and Lessons Learned

•  Of ~100 flyers distributed, 25 travelers said they would be interested in the service, with particular interest expressed by international travelers

•  In interviews, travelers said word of mouth marketing would be crucial to winning their trust

•  Focus marketing efforts on word of mouth, targeting international travelers

•  Rely on SMS to ensure compatibility with intern’l traveler needs

Hypothesis 2, Part 2

•  Travelers would text restaurant and nightlife requests to an expert advisor able to respond in 5 min or less with recommendations on how to eat and drink like a local

•  Travelers don’t plan where they’ll eat and drink in advance

•  Travelers look for local expertise when it comes to restaurants and nightlife

Assumptions to test

Experiment

• Online survey of traveler behavior sent to team’s social networks

Results and Lessons Learned

•  Only 21% of respondents plan restaurant destinations in detail in advance of their trip; 0% plan nightlife destinations in detail in advance

•  68% research restaurants & nightlife during their trip by talking with local professionals (concierges, etc.) and 53% talk with locals they encounter on the street

Assumptions confirmed

Hypothesis 2, Part 3

•  Travelers would text restaurant and nightlife requests to an expert advisor able to respond in 5 min or less with recommendations on how to eat and drink like a local

•  Tripo! local experts can offer higher quality recommendations than competitors such as Yelp, random local experts, etc., in a competitive time frame

Assumptions to test

Experiment

romantic italian restaurant in brooklyn my wife's a vegetarian �

Which part of Brooklyn? River Deli on Joralemon in Bklyn Heights has great homemade pasta. Or Locanda Vini e Olii in Clinton Hill is also great.

bensonhurst �

Tommaso Restaurant at 1464 86th St (old school) or Villabate-Alba (less expensive) at 7001 Eighteenth Ave, both have veg options

10:36 PM

10:37 PM 10:41 PM

Thanks �

10:42 PM

10:42 PM

Experiment

“Best Burger place near Grand Central”

Burger King (69 sec)

Black Shack Burger (115 sec)

Patroon Burger Heaven (110 sec for 2)

Experiment

OMG! My favorite place! 10:00 PM

Im at 84th and Amsterdam. Im looking for a Italian restaurant that isnt too expensive for a romantic date.

10:02 PM You'd love Celeste on Amsterdam near 84th -- pizza in a wood-fired oven. Or a few blocks away - Salumeria Rosi Parmacotto, 73rd and Amsterdam

Results and Lessons Learned

•  In shootouts, Tripo! matched competitors’ time and exceeded competitors’ quality

•  Assumption confirmed

Hypothesis 3

•  Travelers would pay for an app that provides them with access (via SMS) to a local expert advisor able to respond to restaurant and nightlife requests in less than 5 min

•  Travelers would pay $1.99 for a weekend of unlimited access to Tripo! or $4.99 for a month of access

•  A free weekend would entice travelers to try the service

Assumptions to test

Experiment

Results and Lessons Learned

•  Conversion rate of 11% (5 sign-ups out of 44 visitors, ran test for 2 hours)

•  One customer interview yielded price point of $10/ question for high-quality service

•  Travelers are willing to pay for expert, real-time advice

•  Need to further explore price points, business models

Learning Summary

Interested in real-time advice from a local expert

Value proposition better understood when limited to restaurants and nightlife

Travelers do not plan for restaurant and nightlife

Real-time advice from experts provide better quality results

Travelers are willing to pay for service

Customer validation = scalable business model

Looking ahead

Customer validation = customer acquisition

Customer validation = product-market fit