Gary Kohn is the co-founder of Luxury Travel Hackers, which aims to be the Shopify for travel by leveraging influencers and content to make vacations bookable via social media.
Gary Kohn started his professional career over 30 years ago in Hollywood as an actor where he appeared in over 30 films and TV shows before moving on to become a film and TV producer. Over the years he’s worked with some of the biggest names in the business. He’s consulted and worked for almost every major studio and network in show business, was head of development for various companies and served on the board of Verge Media, a technology company. This is where he became fascinated with how technology and content were beginning to intersect and born out of that was Luxury Travel Hackers. He spent a solid two years developing the idea and model before he decided to take a leave of absence from Hollywood to build LTH.
Shortly thereafter he met Katie Warner, a former Assistant Attorney General to the state of Texas who left law to become a travel photographer and agent. The two of them, with their love of photography and travel joined forces to start LTH.
Hello Gary. Tell us how you started your business? What sparked the idea?
For a good portion of my professional life in Hollywood and as Film and TV producer. A byproduct of that career was sometimes traveling 6 months out of the year for production gigs and even multiple months traveling to remote locations. In retrospect that travel kept me grounded, and I really enjoyed meeting new people in different industries and with different backgrounds not related to my industry. That said, traveling had the biggest impact on my life and I knew that I had to share that experience in a special way, and that is how Luxury Travel Hackers was born. Through collaborating with Katie Warner, my business partner and co-founder, we developed an idea that could share travel experiences through unique content and storytelling.
What was it like in the first week or two of starting?
It was a whirlwind of time and deadline management. Once you make the decision to move forward, that momentum has to be created and it can be a bit hectic. you figure out a process that works for everyone involved. From finances to graphic design and everything in between, it’s really about managing expectations and timelines while staying driven, sane and on target. It’s also a huge thrill to start your own business, venturing into the unknown is a buzz everyone needs now and then.
How did you fund your business in the initial stages and how has that changed as time went on?
We self funded our business in the various ways typical bootstrapped businesses may begin. I had one initial investor and then I put in a bunch of my own money. We got creative while staying lean to get the machine moving. As the months went on we attracted Thomas B. Mangas of Centerfire Capital LLC to help lead our VC efforts and helped bring in our first raise. We are currently working on new VC tiers to scale our company, offer more destinations and bring on more influencers to create exciting branded content for our customers. Right now, those who would like “a slice of the pie” can invest in Luxury Travel Hackers through StartEngine.
What's the most important thing you're working on right now, and how are you making it happen?
We are spending all our time right now perfecting the sales funnel, conversion and building out the technology. We have built out an incredible team who is doing everything across the board to build awareness, increase sales and of course create the best customer experience in travel. We scale by consistently creating travel content to promote the destinations we book and are working on social media targeted advertising to help people discover our platform.
Tell us about your support network?
Absolutely, especially with spreading the word about our company on social media you want to get everyone involved and excited about what you are doing. If they don’t know what you’re up to, how will they ever know what to support right? We of course do that and also get those who are in positions to invest aware of how they can get involved. This is especially important for our current StartEngine efforts.
What gets you out of bed in the morning?
I wake up pretty early with my internal clock, and of course a cup of green tea and the drive to get things done. I enjoy what I do, and this business is something I’m very passionate about so it adds an extra layer of motivation to those occasional mornings that maybe wouldn’t be as ideal for others.
Tell us how you got your first few clients?
Well, for Luxury Travel Hackers it was attracting and on-boarding travel influencers that would be the best fit for our business and ideas. We all put our heads together and went through the immediate network to find suggestions of influencers and individuals who we could strike up conversations with. This led to the small group of influencers and content we have currently, and is still the strategy we mainly use to build new relationships with influencers and other travel partners integral to our business. Networking is key, picking up the phone, shooting off texts and emailing those in your network asking for help. It’s easier than you think.
Can you give our readers some tips on how to make it past the 12 months mark?
Never give up…period. But beyond that make sure your employees and consultants are taken care of, and that they see your vision and passion for the business unwavering the whole time. Startups can rise and fall quicker than a blink of an eye, and avoiding burnout, biting off more than you can chew and staying focused will help most rising businesses. It’s important to figure out ahead of time how to not run out of money, sometimes when the going is getting good they check the bank account and realize they have no means to push forward through the next month. Sure, a startup can be treated like a creative project, but it’s still business and finances and planning are integral for making it through the ups and downs.
What is your commercial strategy and how do you plan to make even more money?
We have been scaling the content creation, influencer partnerships and creative marketing efforts internally month after month. A lot of that takes money ofcourse, but it’s also making smart moves and getting in front of ideal customers to convert them into repeat LTH fans. As time goes on, we are upping our PR efforts, SEO strategy, social media presence and select advertising initiatives that can be measured and adjusted as needed. As we pump more money into all this, we keep a close eye on results to make sure everything is heading in an upward direction.
But the true scale for us is in technology. Full automated planning and booking through content and social media.
Where do you see yourself and your business in 5 years time?
I see Luxury Travel Hackers in a position where we are not only covering every desired travel destination worldwide, but also being known as an online destination for travel content that inspires a whole new generation of wanderlust and interest in travel. I see it as not only changing the way people book travel, but also being a “Discovery Networks” in the palm of your hand via Instagram and whatever social media medium is popular then.
To find out more about Luxury Travel Hackers, visit the links below:
