Terry Jones, Founder of travelocity.com, Founding Chairman of kayak.com and Chairman of wayBlazer.com, speaking to The Peninsula. Salim Matramkot © The Peninsula
DOHA: Lauding the role of Qatar Business Incubation Center (QBIC) in promotion of culture of entrepreneurship in the country, founder of Traveocity.com Terry Jones has said that small businesses are the engine of growth in today’s world.
“These small businesses hire more people than big businesses and are driving economies,” he said while talking to The Peninsula. He was visiting Qatar on US State Department's sponsored visit to deliver lectures on entrepreneurship and innovation at various fora including QBIC, QSTP, HBKU etc.
He said that he was very pleased to hear from Qatari authorities that they were moving towards diversification of economy. “They want to promote entrepreneurship,” he said.
Widely known in the world for founding Travelocity.com and serving as founding Chairman of Kayak.com, Terry Jones has become a powerful voice in the world of entrepreneurship through his numerous speaking engagements and the publication of his book, “ON Innovation”. Today he is the Chairman of Wayblazer and managing principal of "ON Inc", a consultancy he founded to help companies in their transition to the digital economy.
When asked what the government should do to promote entrepreneurship in Qatar, he said that it was doing a lot of things like establishing innovation centers but it was a difficult challenge. “Here unemployment does not exist therefore people see no reason in taking risk as an entrepreneur. The government will have to see how to incentify people to do new things. There is a need to change culture. People are very talented, can do amazing things but in the end opt for a regular job.”
He said that in the United States too young people were more interested in launching their own businesses. “Now people in the US do not want to work in General Motors rather they want to start their own businesses. Same is the case in many other countries like China etc.,” he said, adding that their heroes were now Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg.
Jones said that the US State Department had brought him to Qatar to promote understanding on entrepreneurship. “This is just a start. During my stay in Qatar we talked on building culture of entrepreneurship, building teams etc.,” he said.
Praising Qatar Business Incubation Center and Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP) where he delivered lectures and interacted with budding Qatari entrepreneurs, he said that QBIC was doing a good job. “The success rate of QBIC incubated startups is very good though generally 80% of startups in the world die. Currently there are around 50 startups in the incubator while around the same number has passed through the QBIC and they are still alive,” he noted.
He also lauded the Stars of Science initiative saying: “Each of them is very talented and all of their projects were about inventing things like medical equipment, robotics etc. It is a wonderful idea.”
He said that the United States could help Qatar by bringing more experts, venture capitalists looking for startups and investments to the country.
To a question about causes behind failed startups, he said that a large number of people just had a belief in their idea sans market-testing. “What market says is the question to be fully evaluated before executing any idea. If you are totally wrong in the market test, give up the plan and if you are partially wrong, make changes accordingly,” he suggested.
Citing an example of a budding entrepreneur he had met in Qatar, he said that he had developed software for corporate limousines but after doing comprehensive market survey and had also made contracts with two hotels. “Always make sure that market likes your idea,” he said.
Another important force behind every successful startup, Terry said, was the team. “Find right people who can compliment your skills.” He said that flexibility was another factor behind successful business ventures. “There is no straight road therefore keep flexibility in your approach and plan,” he noted.
Jones said that the fear of failure used to stop many people from taking risks. “Here comes the team leader who must help people feel safe. Then in a team subordinates must have the liberty to speak their mind and the boss-is-always-right culture should be discouraged."
Regarding copycat problem, he said that the answer was in running faster. “When we launched Travelocity.com, Microsoft copied us just after three months. They won the battle but we stood at number two. These competitions make us stronger and the race is won by the one who runs faster.”
