myguideTravel Blog

A new chapter in my career with myguideTravel

February 26th, 2008

Having founded and worked on myguideTravel for almost 10 years, I recently found myself wistfully looking at new opportunities. By my very nature I am entrepreneurial. It all began when I started selling vegetables to my mother while I was still in primary school in Castletownshend. All the lessons of entrepreneurship were to be found working on my vegetable patch.

• Seed capital was just that, my mother used to give my brother and I a loan for seeds at the start of every season.
• Some products worked great (cabbage) whereas others flopped every season (Ireland is a tough place to grow tomatoes without the capital for a greenhouse).
• I learned about value propositions - selling vegetables at just below market prices that were fresher than those bought at a local supermarket.
• I learned about supply and demand as my siblings groaned “not beans again today”
• There was the joy of profit as I would present my mother with her bill at the end of each week

I was involved in a technology start-up a few years ago that builds VOIP phone systems but I found it difficult to bring the energy needed for a start-up on a part-time basis. I do believe that I added value but I missed the hands on nature of involved with a new venture full time. I am still involved with the team at Slacht and they are a great bunch of guys.

Over the last few weeks I started a coversation with my co-founder and old friend Cormac O’Neill about a transition. At first he was hesitant but after much discussion he agreed to take over as CEO of myguideTravel. I first met Cormac about 15 years ago when he was a fellow student at St Josephs University in Philadelphia studying for his MBA. I will have to be honest and say that I would not have identified him as the CEO of a multinational travel company the first night I met him

However, my friendship with Cormac has deepened every day since then. He has also grown as a businessman and leader. When I got the idea to start an online travel company a decade ago, he was the first person I called. He has worked on it with me, every day since then. I believe that Cormac will lead myguideTravel to even greater heights over the coming years.

Yesterday I started a new chapter in my own life when I agreed to lead an exciting new start-up. The company is going to remain in stealth mode for the next few months. I cannot tell you much about it except that it is involved in renewable energy.

I will continue to remain actively involved in myguideTravel as a non-executive director. I will also continue to post my thoughts on the travel industry and great destinations in this blog.

Entry Filed under: Travel