Marvel Puri is an entrepreneur, advisor, innovator, CRO, and co-founder of Vervotech, an award-winning travel tech company. He is passionate about making travel businesses more efficient and stay sustainable in this competitive travel ecosystem. He helps travel brands enhance their customer experience with our products and how they can hold a strong foothold in their space.
Where did the idea for Vervotech come from?
Hotel content was already a challenge in the travel industry and no player could solve it completely and qualitatively. I along with my other co-founders, Sanjay Ghare and Dharmendra Ladi were already working in this industry for more than 15 years and we knew that we could build a product to solve this challenge. Also, in my previous stint, we built enterprise technologies for travel businesses, and helped them scale and be competitive in the ecosystem. Those technologies and platforms were expensive to build. And I wanted to offer a competitive solution to everyone in the travel business. With that thought, we went on to democratize this space.
What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?
I want to say that – not all days are productive. Some are very productive, and some are lull. The key is to enjoy each day. To make it productive – I try to spend time with the sales and product team. And I ensure I talk to at least one customer a day, there is always something new they teach you. And if you learn something new that is what I consider productive.
How do you bring ideas to life?
TEAM. You can have the best of ideas, but unless you have the best team the idea will never see the light of day. So, if you have an idea, run it with your team.
What’s one trend that excites you?
In travel, the consumer surprises you daily. The trend of how travelers are buying new products challenging the old school travel shopping methodologies excites me the most.
What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?
Collaboration – I am always keen to explore partnerships or complementary solutions that can bring more value to our customers. So as a habit I make it a point to reach out to innovative products and services to learn what they are doing.
What advice would you give your younger self?
I would give myself a long and tough lecture if I had a chance. Kid you not, I could have done so much more If I read more in my younger days.
Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.
I would have made a great anchor. I tell everyone that I should have been a TV show host or something like that. Nobody pays attention to that.\
As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?
Think crazy and enjoy.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?
Listen to your customers’ feedback, that is GOLD. We have always been very inclusive in how we engage our customers; we launched a product that was requested by just one customer. But we saw the value and now we have a team on that product, and it is profitable.
What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?
I don’t know if I have overcome the failure, but I surely have learnt from it. In the early days of business, you tend to negotiate a lot. And that can be considered as weakness.
What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?
Premium Travel Concierge Services – If you are good at serving customers. If you pay attention to detail. Go for it.
What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?
I took my family to aqua IMAGICA. It was surreal.
What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?
LinkedIn. It is the most important platform for a professional in business.
What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?
DRIVE – by Daniel Pink. It talks about motivating teams.
What is your favorite quote?
In a gentle way, you can shake the world. – MK GANDHI
Key Learnings:
- Listen to your customer’s feedback
- Collaboration is the key to innovative products
- Teamwork makes ideas work
- Go bold, think adventurously about your ideas, and enjoy the process of bringing those ideas to life
Mario Schulzke is the Founder of ideamensch, which he started a decade ago to learn from entrepreneurs and give them a platform for their ideas.