Latest news with #Reck
Hindustan Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Indian Netflix exec's 6-month struggle for German visa: ‘And this guy makes a lot of money'
The German CEO of GetYourGuide says that Germany does not have enough talent to staff his firm. During a recent podcast appearance, Johannes Reck revealed that 90% of his employees in Berlin are not German and have instead been hired from countries like India and the United States. Why an Indian executive struggled to get a Germany visa despite his workplace backing him (Representational image) Reck, the co-founder and CEO of GetYourGuide, said that his company goes the extra mile to make the process of relocation smoother for employees. He gave the example of GetYourGuide's Indian CTO, Gaurav Agarwal, who struggled for six months to get a German visa. Reck revealed that Agarwal was working for Netflix in the United States when he was hired as the CTO of GetYourGuide. The CEO had to personally work hard to remove the red tape so Agarwal could move to Berlin. 'We hired a CTO from Netflix, Gaurav Agarwal, last year,' he told podcast host Harry Stebbings. 'Amazing guy. He was the guy who led all of the growth at Netflix. Very successful - he was at Meta before. Tremendous resume. He's Indian.' Struggle for a Germany visa Despite his tremendous resume and stellar career, Agarwal struggled for six months to get a German visa. 'For him to get a visa to come to Germany after he had signed a job contract – this guy makes a lot of money – took him 6 months. Why? Because he had to go to the consulate in San Francisco and they only take appointments two times a week and they've been booked out for the next six months,' explained Reck. So how did the CEO of GetYourGuide make things happen? 'I literally had to call up the foreign office in Germany to get him an appointment in San Francisco so he could bring his paperwork, so that he could get the visa and migrate to Germany' Reck revealed. He blamed visa red tape in part for the lack of a tech ecosystem in Europe. 'If you make it that hard, it's no wonder we don't have a tech ecosystem in Europe,' said Reck. Before joining GetYourGuide, Agarwal was Director of Engineering at Netflix and led multiple growth engineering teams at Meta. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, and Economics from the University of California, Berkeley.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
A SoftBank-backed founder says startups and public companies need 'fundamentally different people'
Johannes Reck is the founder and CEO of GetYourGuide, a SoftBank-backed travel startup. Reck said startups and public companies need "fundamentally different people." He said people who are "incredible effective" at Meta or Google may not thrive in a startup. Johannes Reck, the founder and CEO of the SoftBank-backed travel startup GetYourGuide, says a different type of person will flourish in a startup versus a public company. "I think you need fundamentally different people for a Series A to Series C, D stage company than for a pre-IPO or public company with billions in revenue," Reck told the 20VC podcast host Harry Stebbings in an interview that aired Monday. "People who are incredibly effective at Netflix or Meta or Google or even GetYourGuide today are not the type of people who really thrive with a 30 or 50 people company, where you still need to continue to refine that core product market fit," Reck added. Reck founded GetYourGuide in 2009 while he was in college. Today, the company offers curated experiences for travelers in 12,000 cities. The company has raised over $1 billion from investors, including KKR and Softbank, according to Pitchbook. The company, which is headquartered in Berlin, employs more than 500 people, per LinkedIn. A representative for Reck did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. The type of work you'll encounter in startups is also different from the type of work at established companies, Reck said. "You need to ship stuff. You need to be really opinionated about what's going on," Reck said of running a startup in its early stages. In contrast, working at a mature company is about "managing multiple teams, managing organizations, doing roadmaps and creating more structure in the organization," Reck said. "Those are just fundamentally different skill sets and typically, also different types of people," he said. "You need to have these very entrepreneurial people in the early days, who often times by the way, don't work out in the late days," Reck added. Reck's take on the type of talent companies need to hire at various growth stages echoes a point Aravind Srinivas, the founder and CEO of Perplexity AI, previously told the Stanford Graduate School of Business. "You don't have to hire the former head of growth at Instagram to be the head of growth or head of product at Perplexity. That's a trap that a lot of people fall into," Srinivas said. Srinivas said he thinks this is because "it's very hard to be extremely motivated to do gruelling hours when you've already had big success in your life." Read the original article on Business Insider
Business Insider
4 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
A SoftBank-backed founder says startups and public companies need 'fundamentally different people'
Johannes Reck is the founder and CEO of GetYourGuide, a SoftBank-backed travel startup. Reck said startups and public companies need "fundamentally different people." He said people who are "incredible effective" at Meta or Google may not thrive in a startup. "I think you need fundamentally different people for a Series A to Series C, D stage company than for a pre-IPO or public company with billions in revenue," Reck told the 20VC podcast host Harry Stebbings in an interview that aired Monday. "People who are incredibly effective at Netflix or Meta or Google or even GetYourGuide today are not the type of people who really thrive with a 30 or 50 people company, where you still need to continue to refine that core product market fit," Reck added. Reck founded GetYourGuide in 2009 while he was in college. Today, the company offers curated experiences for travelers in 12,000 cities. The company has raised over $1 billion from investors, including KKR and Softbank, according to Pitchbook. The company, which is headquartered in Berlin, employs more than 500 people, per LinkedIn. A representative for Reck did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. The nature of the work is different The type of work you'll encounter in startups is also different from the type of work at established companies, Reck said. "You need to ship stuff. You need to be really opinionated about what's going on," Reck said of running a startup in its early stages. In contrast, working at a mature company is about "managing multiple teams, managing organizations, doing roadmaps and creating more structure in the organization," Reck said. "Those are just fundamentally different skill sets and typically, also different types of people," he said. "You need to have these very entrepreneurial people in the early days, who often times by the way, don't work out in the late days," Reck added. Reck's take on the type of talent companies need to hire at various growth stages echoes a point Aravind Srinivas, the founder and CEO of Perplexity AI, previously told the Stanford Graduate School of Business. "You don't have to hire the former head of growth at Instagram to be the head of growth or head of product at Perplexity. That's a trap that a lot of people fall into," Srinivas said.
Business Insider
4 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
A SoftBank-backed founder says startups and public companies need 'fundamentally different people'
Johannes Reck, the founder and CEO of the SoftBank -backed travel startup GetYourGuide, says a different type of person will flourish in a startup versus a public company. "I think you need fundamentally different people for a Series A to Series C, D stage company than for a pre-IPO or public company with billions in revenue," Reck told the 20VC podcast host Harry Stebbings in an interview that aired Monday. "People who are incredibly effective at Netflix or Meta or Google or even GetYourGuide today are not the type of people who really thrive with a 30 or 50 people company, where you still need to continue to refine that core product market fit," Reck added. Reck founded GetYourGuide in 2009 while he was in college. Today, the company offers curated experiences for travelers in 12,000 cities. The company has raised over $1 billion from investors, including KKR and Softbank, according to Pitchbook. The company, which is headquartered in Berlin, employs more than 500 people, per LinkedIn. A representative for Reck did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. The nature of the work is different The type of work you'll encounter in startups is also different from the type of work at established companies, Reck said. "You need to ship stuff. You need to be really opinionated about what's going on," Reck said of running a startup in its early stages. In contrast, working at a mature company is about "managing multiple teams, managing organizations, doing roadmaps and creating more structure in the organization," Reck said. "Those are just fundamentally different skill sets and typically, also different types of people," he said. "You need to have these very entrepreneurial people in the early days, who often times by the way, don't work out in the late days," Reck added. Reck's take on the type of talent companies need to hire at various growth stages echoes a point Aravind Srinivas, the founder and CEO of Perplexity AI, previously told the Stanford Graduate School of Business. "You don't have to hire the former head of growth at Instagram to be the head of growth or head of product at Perplexity. That's a trap that a lot of people fall into," Srinivas said. Srinivas said he thinks this is because "it's very hard to be extremely motivated to do gruelling hours when you've already had big success in your life."
Skift
14-05-2025
- Business
- Skift
Airbnb Experiences Relaunch a 'Great Validation,' Says GetYourGuide CEO
More competition is always a risk, but GetYourGuide's CEO is hoping Airbnb's entrance lifts the whole experiences category. GetYourGuide and other leading platforms for travel experiences are facing fresh dose of competition now that Airbnb has relaunched its effort in the space. But GetYourGuide is positioning it as good news: It is a 'great validation for the experiences industry,' Johannes Reck, CEO of GetYourGuide, told Skift Wednesday. 'I'm delighted to see Airbnb's announcement and them doubling down on the space.' Airbnb's updated experiences offering is relaunching in 650 cities. Examples include a tour of the newly reopened Notre-Dame with the architect from the restoration team, and a Ramen cooking class in Japan with a Michelin-recognized chef. It is also launching services that travelers – and locals – can order. Think catering, photography, spa treatments, and personal training. 'This is great and super enriching for the market,' Reck said. For now, there's plenty of growth to go around, with Earnest Analytics estimating that since 2019, spending on travel experiences - booked online or offline - has risen by a third. Other competitors include Viator, Tiqets, and Klook. GetYourGuide has been seeking cost-effective marketing strategies to associate its brand with people who like live entertainment, sports, and activities. It's ramping up marketing in the U.S., where Tripadvisor's Viator leads in sales, and Airbnb and Expedia have established name recognition. 'The experiences industry is very different to others. We're building our capabilities,' Reck said, referring to providing experiences at both major tourist spots 'as well as hidden gems.' 'Consumers ultimately want both. They want to travel to New York City to see Broadway and The Edge and the Statue of Liberty, but they might also want to have a bagel club in Brooklyn that is super authentic and more niche,' he said. Having the capability of serving both marketplaces was 'what's key for experiences, and what's really special about this industry'. Airbnb's recent move was a 'great push' to make travel agents in the experiences industry more visible to consumers, who might otherwise find their experiences via search platforms like Google, Reck said. 'I think this will only be positive for an industry where online travel agents are still a minority of the overall spend.'
