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Each episode of GAIN Momentum focuses on timeless lessons to help grow and scale a business in hospitality, travel, and technology. Whether you’re a veteran industry leader looking for some inspiration to guide the next phase of growth or an aspiring executive looking to fast-track the learning process, this podcast is here with key lessons centered around four questions we ask each guest.
GAIN Momentum episode #1 - | with David Millili
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Jason Emanis: Welcome to the Gain Momentum Podcast, focusing on timeless lessons from global industry leaders about how to grow and scale a business in the hospitality, travel, food, service, and technology. I'm Jason Emanis, and I'm here with my co-host Adam Mogelonsky. How are you, sir?
Adam Mogelonsky: Doing great.
Jason Emanis: Our guest today is David Millili, the co-founder of GAIN, Growth Advisors International Network, as well as the CEO of LodgIQ. Adam, what are we talking about today?
Adam Mogelonsky: Well, we have a condensed format that takes it down to four questions that have timeless. Lessons for pretty much anybody trying to gain scale on a business and it can be applied anywhere and we really want some good answers out of these. So we're going right into it with the first one. David, when it comes to scaling a business, what is the single piece of advice you would give
entrepreneurs from your perspective as
a professional in travel and hospitality?
David Millili: Yeah. Number one is hire people that are smarter than you. Surround yourself with people that are better than you, that will help you scale that business. A lot of people get nervous when they're not the smartest person in the room. And I happen to like that because the people that I surround myself with help elevate me.
And we can't all be subject matter experts on everything. So, getting those good people is really
key.
Adam Mogelonsky: How do you find those smart people?
David Millili: Well, you know, you gotta have a little bit of, you know, gut instinct, but you gotta look at, where they've worked, who they've worked with. their background. you know, it's always good, especially when you're interviewing people, if you already have a couple good close people to you, to open up that interview process.
So, and I've had companies, I've never been the only person who interviews somebody. Even if it was gonna be somebody who was running my sales team reporting directly to me, I would have others in the organization, maybe a VP of Technology, interview that person. Just say, what do you think? What do you feel?
Because. As you do that, you start to, you know, you build a community when you build a company, and as you do that, the people around you will start to know, you know, who's going to, you know, gel with them, who's gonna work with them? Well, and that's what I like to do. I mean, I really think that the more people that can interview somebody, and they don't have to be long, it can be, you know, 30 minute interviews.
Jason Emanis: Do you? Do you see like founders and leaders, actually, we've all heard
this for years. Hire people smarter than you. Do you actually see people not doing that refraining from that?
David Millili: A hundred percent ton of people, couple things
just cuz you're a founder doesn't make you a CEO or a leader. And a lot of times people forget that. They think just because it was their idea and it's their company and their business. I've seen many. CEOs, founders who, surround themselves sometimes with friends or they have, you know, they're somebody they know who do the books and then when they go to try to raise capital, the books are a mess.
Cuz they didn't do get the right finance person. One of the biggest mistakes hospitality tech companies make is they just go find a hotel salesperson and hire that person. Cause they think, know the industry. being a director of sales and selling a SAS-based, product is completely different.
so yeah, I've seen unfortunately many people who have, you know, really micromanaged and they really want the people that they feel like I'm the boss and, you know, and you've report to me. And that usually doesn't work.
Adam Mogelonsky: Well, actually that brings it right into our second question. What are some of the common pitfalls or failures you have witnessed that business owners should look to avoid when scaling a
business and. You already half answered that, but please let's drill into it.
David Millili: Yeah. So I mean, look, it's a combination of many
things, but,
you know, making sure that you're not going cheap on sales and marketing. making sure that on your tech side, you've, you've got a good blend of old and new. And by that I mean, sometimes it's really good to have a seasoned, CTO or somebody running your tech team.
But you also want that young group of people who are more immersed in that emerging technology to help you make sure you're positioned for growth. and then, you know, The big, one of the biggest mistakes I always see people that are successful is they, like I said earlier, they fail on that finance side.
I advised a company, in an m and a, they were getting acquired by a larger company and was told, oh yeah you know, I'm, I'll make up the name. Bob was doing our books. It's, they're great. And I said, now let me get my person to come in and take a look. And she's like, Nope, you'll never pass due diligence.
This is a mess. It's a disaster. I need, you know, 30 days. I'll clean it up. And and she did, and we got the deal done. But, the CEO was kind of oblivious to the fact that his books were a total mess. Another founder, I brought in the same person to do kind of a forensic, and she found about $10,000 worth of, that weren't being billed on a monthly basis.
Jason Emanis: well,
Adam Mogelonsky: You mentioned earlier about underspending on sales and
marketing. How does a company know that they're underspending?
David Millili: the market will tell you what a good salesperson should be making. So that's kind of, that's the easy one. The marketing one's more difficult, and usually the marketing one is where they don't spend, You need to spend the money or focus on it. So if you've got somebody internally, especially now with LinkedIn who can really work LinkedIn and help you, you've got a good writer on staff, there's ways you can figure out the marketing on a low budget as a startup. but a lot of these companies, they just focus on the sales and they don't really position.
Their company in a manner where hotels understand what the product is, what it does, and understands what it means to them, the value. and hoteliers don't like to buy from companies. They don't know. So you have to have some sort of marketing message out there in the
marketplace.
Jason Emanis: You had mentioned, well, you didn't mention product development, and in my experience, product development of product management is really becomes an issue. You can only hold on for so long. And then you've gotta bring somebody in that's got some real
world most likely big company or bigger company experience, or you really run into problems.
David Millili: Yeah, I agree. I mean, so I'm thinking more as I look at startups, it's always really difficult to justify a dedicated product person early on, but I definitely agree with you. As you scale and grow, you definitely have to. To put that effort into the mar the product and get somebody who understands that.
one of the most important things too is to make sure that product person isn't siloed and isn't on their own, trying and assuming what the customer wants, that collaboration between sales and product. it's not tight, you're in big trouble because, again, I won't mention a company, but I had a company I was working with and.
I had a head engineer show me systems that he had built, and when I said, well, who did you build them for? He says, well, we built 'em for a certain type of hotel. And I said, well, are we selling to those hotels? No, not yet, but we thought it would be good. And I said, is anybody using it? No. And I said, but your core product has got gaps, but you've built a whole nother system just in case a two-star hotel wants to use something.
so yeah, product I agree with you. Product is definitely, but it's a, it's kind of a. It's a little bit more of an evolution than the early days when the sales and marketing are really the drivers to get you to where you can afford that product. Person.
Adam Mogelonsky: Well, going right into it, you talk about product evolution and the key two words I picked up there were not yet. That's a huge thing. So our third question on that, totally segueing right in, is what do you see as the key opportunities and challenges
for travel and hospitality companies,
in 2023 and beyond?
David Millili: so a couple things. One, the industry right now, and on the sales side and marketing is a little bit spoiled because of LinkedIn. You know, I was joking around with someone, you know, we used to have to call hotels and ask, you know, what's a GM's name?
They didn't have email addresses. We have the mail brochures. So all that information's right there. What's what I think has to happen is that a lot of the next generation salespeople have to realize that email cadences aren't really a very effective tool when it comes to hospitality and people that are working in these hotels.
Somebody getting four or five emails over a six day period is not the way to get to them. Hoteliers are much more about personalization, understanding who they are, and right now, our job on the other side of the hotel is educating them and showing them the value of utilizing these new technologies that are out there.
I mean, you think about it, how many hotels are using mobile key? How many hotels are using text messaging? How many hotels are using e tipping or cashless tipping? It's mind blowing that we're, you know, we're starting to approach the midway point high techs around the corner. And you still have the vast majority of hotels who aren't adopting technologies that not only improve the efficiency of their staff, but actually improves the guest experience.
Jason Emanis: What do you think,
that is? We hear that All
the time.
David Millili: I think right now versus say when I got into technology around 2000, And the internet was just taking off. There's so much noise right now. There's so many. I mean, cloud PMs, crs, channel managers, digital marketing, all the things that I listed, and then you've got the layers, you know, so you've got, I always tell my teams that you're not just selling against whatever our competitors, you're selling against everybody else who's selling in that same person.
hotels are tough because a lot of times you've got ownership groups, management companies. And, you know, you've gotta get budget, A lot of times the owners don't really know what the property's going through, so they don't see value in adding, why am I gonna spend for mobile key? Regular key works fine.
It's in the hotel, just use it. Why do we need text messaging? Guests can pick up the phone and call, why do I need cashless tipping? They can go to an atm, get some money, get change at the front desk. So a lot of times they just they talk themselves into why, you know, they shouldn't be spending money on these technologies.
But yet you have the. You have the extremes where you have some hotels that are just all in and spending the money and doing it the right way. And, I won't name the brand, but you know, I had a long flight from Phoenix to to London and it was a kiosk check in. It was seamless. I credit card, ID got my key, got in my room in about three minutes and got right to the bar.
And that's exactly what I wanted because I just had a long flight. I wanted to sit down. I want to talk to the bartender. Great conversation. It was fantastic. I didn't need to talk to somebody at the front desk. I didn't need the, you know, the typical, are you checking in? Can I have your credit card?
Can I have your id? It's, you know, I know the drills. So I think hotels, you know, they're just inundated right now with a lot of different choices. And again, the companies that will succeed. We'll be the ones who can kind of cut through that noise and really show the value of their solution.
Adam Mogelonsky: Speaking of being inundated. How would you advise hotels to cut through the noise and really evaluate and find the
best fit solutions for their individual properties or their brand?
David Millili: Well, I mean, look, if you're a good general manager,
I. Good front office manager, good head of housekeeping. You know what the problems are. So so think about it. When you want something and you think, oh, I need this or that, you go to Amazon, boom, you find it. I mean, how many times have you gone to Amazon and not found what you were looking for?
So all the stuff's out there that can solve these challenges and these problems for all those departments I mentioned. And they need to identify the problem and then go look for the solution. Or when that inbound, you know, solicitation comes in, you know, they need to at least do some due diligence on that.
but again, you know, hotels are a different beast. When a hotel opens, they throw away the key and you know, it's open 24 7, 365. So identifying the problem is the big key for the hotels.
Adam Mogelonsky: And how does, how would a hotel step outside of their own box
to find that problem so they know what they really need to focus on?
David Millili: Well, again, I go down to it's really it's leadership. I mean, a hotel is a business. At the end of the day, the leaders in that hotel, just like any business, need to identify where the issues are and solve them because. You know, couple things. I mean, we already have a labor shortage, so if we're not doing things to improve work conditions or efficiencies, you're gonna have problems.
You're gonna be a hotel that suffers. And then if you're a hotel that's not adopting, you know, technologies that guests want, you're gonna lose a competitive advantage in ho. Guests are gonna more and more start looking for, you know, hotels that provide them with the technology they want. They're gonna want.
they were gonna want the ability to do a kiosk. They're gonna want text messaging. I mean, I was pitching a couple years ago to a brand, and the guy said, yeah, he said, it was so funny. We went on vacation and my seven-year-old daughter walked into the hotel room and said, Alexa, turn on the lights.
And she, and he was like, no, honey. There's no, that's not in the room. But the generation, you look at the kids now, they don't want to talk to anyone. They want to text now. They don't even want text. They wanna do a voice recording. So the leadership really has to step up in that area.
Adam Mogelonsky: Wow. You know, this is all it's all great and it's tough to really decide for technology and. To bring it back to the timeless nature of this podcast is our fourth question. What are the key things innovative leaders and entrepreneurs should prioritize and focus on to gain
traction for their business?
David Millili: That's a great question. I mean, Look, you have to understand the market you're selling into. You have to understand, you have to be willing to learn. so one of the great things about gain is that we're there to assist, technology companies in some cases, in other cases, you know, private equity or venture capital in helping those hotels learn how to do things and not make the same mistakes that some of us older folks have made in our careers.
So I think. the key there is really just making sure that you're in tune. You take a step back. You look at your business, you look at your financials, you look at your numbers, communicate with your team. you know, like I tell people on my team, the worst thing. That can happen is not me saying no.
If you want something, the worst thing that can happen is you not asking for something and me having would've said yes, because a lot of times people need stuff in their jobs or their positions and they just don't ask for it cause they're afraid to get shot down. And as leaders and as you know, whatever position you're in, you should be asking for those tools that will help you succeed.
Adam Mogelonsky: That's interesting. How can you, as a leader, cultivate. An organization
where people feel empowered to ask those questions.
David Millili: Well, it's, you gotta let 'em know it's okay. I mean, you gotta tell them, Hey, if you need something, let me know. Hey, if you're struggling, let me know. And then sometimes you just have to know the people and you have to. ask those questions. It's just like in any relationship, I mean, your employees, your coworkers, it's a relationship.
It's just like family. You know, you notice somebody, you know, all of a sudden you're like, Hey, you know, I don't see emails from this person, or this person's not on Slack. You know, you gotta say, Hey, everything. Okay? And then you might find out, oh, something happened in the family, or this or that. so for me, everyone's got different leadership styles and my style is much more of a.
Collaborative, roll your sleeves up, get alongside, my team members and work with them, but make sure that they know that, you know, hey, if you gotta talk about something, you're struggling or you know, you've, you're not gonna hit your numbers this month. You're a salesperson. Don't like, you know, avoid me.
Let me know. Tell me what you did. Tell me the effort. Let's talk about how we change. Sometimes it's just collaboration. I'll stick on the sales front, but sometimes it's just getting the sales people altogether and just saying, okay. Hey, what's working for you? Oh, great. Are you doing that? No. Okay.
What's not work? What's working for you in sharing those ideas? But I think as leaders, as advisors, as you know, husbands or as brothers or parents, you know, that is what you really need to do to talk to people and let them know, Hey, let's have a conversation. Let's, let me help you figure out how we make this
better.
Jason Emanis: A lot of founders aren't salespeople, and I've seen 'em struggle
to have that relationship. don't know. I mean, you see that. Have you seen that?
David Millili: Yeah. I've seen all flavors when it comes to founders. I mean, I've been one myself. I've had co-founders who were partners with me. But yeah, I mean, but again, that goes back to earlier on. I mean, you need to know who you are and then surround yourself with people. That are good at what you're not good at.
So I can read any financial model, I can tell you where there's a mistake, something doesn't look right. You're spending too much money here, not spending much money there. But if you say, Hey, David, go build me an elaborate, you know, financial model. I, it's not, I could do it. I'm gonna struggle. It's gonna take me five times as long as somebody who does that.
So I think again, we kind of touched on it earlier on, but that's one of the issues with founders. I mean, they. You know, they don't wanna know their baby's ugly, you know, their product's the best and, but they don't understand why people aren't buying it. And then they get pissed off at the salespeople cuz they're hitting their numbers.
But a lot of that goes back to when you think about it's that founder not listening to the team or to the marketplace or to what's really going on.
Adam Mogelonsky: Listening.
Well, David.
It's been short but sweet and I loved every single word. These are really important lessons for anyone they should really pay attention to it, and we could have gone on for a full hour drilling down to examples, but it's been fantastic. I can't thank you enough for coming on board.
David Millili: you guys. Appreciate what you do. Thank you.
Jason Emanis: Thank you. Well, thanks everyone for listening to the Gain Momentum podcast. To stay up to date. Make sure to follow or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. For more information about GAIN advisors, head to gain advisors.com.