E-Biz Pro Drives Startup - 2001-01-15
<B>E-Biz Pro Drives Startup</B>
Moving from behind the scenes of the travel industry to the forefront of a start-up company bent on becoming the "Electric Company" of the limo industry--the provider of its e-business infrastructure--Nicholas Athanasiou last month became CEO of InterRide in Piscataway, N.J. He assumed the duties of Himanshu Shukla, who will remain chairman.
Most recently a vice president of Cambridge, Mass.-based Arthur D. Little and co-practice leader of its worldwide travel and transportation practice, Athanasiou has consulted on an extensive list of projects with travel companies in nearly every sector.
In his 17-year tenure at ADL, Athanasiou's tasks included the design of e-business strategies for a global distribution system company and a leading airline, analysis of the competitive marketplace for a mega travel agency in advance of an acquisition and studies that resulted in the redesign of two credit card companies' growth strategies and product portfolios.
Experienced in e-business consulting since before the invention of the browser, Athanasiou passed on a number of offers to manage start-up firms, because "their models were flawed." Nonetheless, Athanasiou agreed to serve on the board of directors for four start-up companies beginning early last year, including InterRide.
"I joined for the opportunity to radically reshape an industry that today is very much reliant on paper and people," said Athanasiou. "One thing InterRide did very smartly was, rather than spend money on hype and marketing, they spent their first year quietly developing the product, which launched in August. It was important that it would not be vaporware."
InterRide provides corporations with an online, real-time reservation and confirmation system for car and limousine services (BTN, Nov. 13, 2000). But InterRide isn't relying solely on booking fees, he said. Estimating that the fragmented North American limo industry generates $5.5 billion in revenues, he said, "We provide the infrastructure that enables communication, sharing of information, customer management and all the functions of a business-to-business solution for a limo company."
Athanasiou's near-term goals include expanding the list of participating ground transportation providers beyond the current 62; completing the final modules of InterRide's back-office solution; forging strategic partnerships with players looking for content links to livery companies, such as the GDSs, business travel portals and travel agencies; bringing in sales, marketing and product talent; and securing additional funding.
InterRide plans to expand into Europe by year-end. It does not sell directly to the corporate market, but works in tandem with participating service providers. It also has a strategic relationship with GetThere Inc.