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<ul><li><keyword id="305600" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Troy-Alstead">Troy Alstead</keyword>, former Starbucks chief operating officer, will be an independent member on <keyword id="2808667" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="OYO">OYO</keyword>’s board and will be a supervisor and guide to founder <keyword id="1670338" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ritesh-Agarwal">Ritesh Agarwal</keyword>. </li><li>On OYO’s board, Alstead joins Betsy Atkhins, CEO &amp; Founder of Baja Corporation and an early investor in Yahoo, Gerry Lopez, operating partner at SoftBank Vision Fund and others. </li><li>The appointment comes at a time when OYO’s business is severely hit because of the coronavirus pandemic.</li></ul>Indian hospitality unicorn OYO has another addition to its board of advisors – Troy Alstead, former Starbucks chief operating officer. Alstead, who will be an independent member on OYO’s board will be a supervisor and guide to the founder Ritesh Agarwal. “Troy brings tremendous operating and governance experience that will help us continue delivering on our mission to help millions of middle-income people around the world gain access to quality accommodations at different price points,” said Agarwal on the appointment. Alstead, who was second in command at Starbucks and was in charge of the day-to-day operations of the coffee giant. He worked at Starbucks for 24 years until he parted ways in 2015. He will now look at OYO’s sustainable growth, operational and service excellence. Currently, Alstead is also the founder, president, and CEO of Ocean5, a unique new place for playing, meeting, and dining, and Table 47, a farm-to-table, fresh from the scratch restaurant. He also sits on the board of the legendary motorcycle maker Harley Davidson. On OYO’s board, Alstead joins Betsy Atkhins, CEO and founder of Baja Corporation and an early investor in Yahoo; Gerry Lopez, operating partner at SoftBank Vision Fund; Bejul Somaia, of Lightspeed Venture Partners; and Mohit Bhatnagar of Sequoia Capital, among others. “OYO, with its unique asset-light business model and strong data capabilities, is creating something entirely new for more than 3 billion middle-income travellers and city dwellers who need accommodations that meet their standards and also their budgets,” said Alstead. The appointment comes at a time when OYO is severely hit because of the coronavirus pandemic. OYO, which after months of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/oyo-reportedly-invokes-act-of-god-clause-to-suspend-payments-to-hotel-owners-says-report/articleshow/74959653.cms">troubles</a>, had revised its focus on profitability, has another challenge awaiting this year. With the coronavirus lockdown across the world, the travel and tourism industry is one of the worst affected sectors. OYO, whose revenue is down by 50-60% because of the pandemic, had recently announced ‘<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/exclusive-oyo-sends-employees-in-india-on-leave-without-pay-for-4-months-and-announces-pay-cuts-for-all/articleshow/75287536.cms">voluntary leave with limited benefit</a>s’ for many of its employees along with a 25% pay cut for employees. Agarwal has forgone his salary for a year, while the top management too has voluntarily taken salary cuts. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/ritesh-agarwal-to-take-a-100-pay-cut-oyo-sets-up-a-welfare-fund-for-coronavirus-hit-hotel-partners/articleshow/74950054.cms">Ritesh Agarwal to take a 100% pay cut, OYO sets up a welfare fund for Corona-hit hotel partners</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/exclusive-oyo-sends-employees-in-india-on-leave-without-pay-for-4-months-and-announces-pay-cuts-for-all/articleshow/75287536.cms">EXCLUSIVE: OYO sends employees in India on leave without pay for 4 months and announces pay cuts for many</a>

EXCLUSIVE: OYO brings on board former Starbucks COO Troy Alstead

<ul><li><keyword id="2808667" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="OYO">OYO</keyword> has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Martin HP Söderström, the chairman of DIG Investments. </li><li>The Ritesh Agarwal-led OYO raised ₹54 crore or $7.4 million from Hindustan Media Ventures in a Series F round of funding. </li><li>With this investment, Söderström will also join the board of OYO Europe. </li></ul>Indian hospitality unicorn OYO has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Martin HP Söderström, the chairman of DIG Investments. Söderström’s wife Charlotte is also the heir of the fashion brand H&amp;M. Earlier this week, the Ritesh Agarwal-led OYO raised <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/oyo-bags-a-7-4-million-cheque-as-pandemic-forces-ritesh-agarwal-to-reimagine-the-business/articleshow/80170847.cms">₹54 crore or $7.4 million</a> from Hindustan Media Ventures in a Series F round of funding. OYO has been<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/advertising/brands/news/indians-are-travelling-again-oyo-saw-a-72-surge-in-bookings-for-destinations-like-jaipur-goa-and-kochi-during-the-long-weekend/articleshow/78494877.cms"> pinning its hopes</a> on the staycation and ‘drive-to’ destination trend to get back on track. In fact, OYO has been betting on its holiday homes vertical in Europe, and recently Agarwal had mentioned that having already pumped 350 to 400 million Euros in the area, they are looking <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/oyo-to-make-further-investments-in-europe-ritesh-agarwal-120121001113_1.html">to invest more</a>. OYO claims that with the recent conclusion of the acquisition of TUI Ferienhaus business from e-domizil GmbH, it is now the second-largest globally in the vacation homes space by the number of homes. With this investment, Söderström will also join the board of OYO Europe. OYO BOARD MEMBERS <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; width: 468pt; table-layout: fixed;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Troy Alstead </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Former COO, Starbucks </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Gerardo Issac (Gerry) Lopez </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Operating partner at SoftBank Vision Fund </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Betsy Atkins </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">CEO &amp; founder of Baja Corporation </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Munish Varma </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">SoftBank Investment Advisers </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Bejul Somaia </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Managing director, Lightspeed Venture Partners </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Mohit Bhatnagar </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Managing director, Sequoia Capital </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Aditya Ghosh </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;"> Former CEO - OYO India &amp; South Asia Former President Indigo Airlines </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Dr W. Steve Albrecht </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Former president of the American Accounting Association </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Martin Söderström </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Chairman of DIG Investment </td></tr></tbody></table> “Martin will work closely with the management team of OYO to drive continued and sustainable growth in the company. He will provide guidance on potential M&amp;A opportunities, and would also assist the organization in building deep strategic partnerships with other leading, EU-based companies and lay out its brand positioning strategy as a thought leader in the vacation rental space,” said the company in its statement. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/ecommerce/news/radhakishan-damani-dmart-ready-takes-cautious-steps-against-jiomart-and-amazon/articleshow/80209971.cms">Pitted against JioMart, Amazon and others, Radhakishan Damani’s DMart has opted for “controlled acceleration” in e-commerce</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/with-whatsapp-popularity-hit-zoho-plans-to-launch-arattai-messaging-app/articleshow/80206802.cms">Zoho plans to woo WhatsApp defectors with its own messaging app Arattai</a>

OYO cashes in another cheque from Swedish billionaire Martin HP Söderström for its vacation homes business in Europe

New Delhi, Jun 9 () Hospitality firm OYO on Tuesday said it has appointed W Steve Albrecht as non-executive director on the company's board of directors. As a non-executive director of the board, Albrecht will play a supervisory role and guide the founder and management on key business decisions, OYO Hotels &amp; Homes said in a statement. He is presently on the boards of SkyWest Airlines, Larry H Miller Group of Companies, and Deseret Mutual Benefit Association, it added. Albrecht is a former president of the American Accounting Association and Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. As a professor, he taught full-time at the University of Illinois, Stanford and Brigham Young University, the statement said. He is also a certified public accountant, internal auditor and fraud examiner. "Steve is an expert and a thought leader who will help us deliver on sustainable growth, operational and service excellence, and help us continue building a strong culture of corporate governance and accountability," OYO Hotels Founder and Group CEO Ritesh Agarwal said. As COVID-19 continues to impact the business, and forcing businesses to rethink its strategies, OYO's board has also come together and has been constantly guiding the group on business continuity and recovery measures, he added. Albrecht will join the board that has industry experts like Troy Alstead, Gerardo Issac (Gerry) Lopez, Betsy Atkins, Munish Varma, Bejul Somaia, Mohit Bhatnagar and Aditya Ghosh, OYO said. AKT BAL

OYO appoints Steve Albrecht as non-executive director

<ul><li>OYO has brought on board Dr W. Steve Albrecht, an industry veteran for audit and corporate governance. </li><li>The appointments to OYO’s board are another indicator of a possible IPO soon for the hotel chain.</li><li>Albrecht also sits on the board of the US-based SkyWest Airlines, Larry H. Miller Group of Companies, and Deseret Mutual Benefit Association.</li></ul>Indian hospitality unicorn OYO has announced the 8th addition to its board of directors. The company has brought on board Dr W. Steve Albrecht, an industry veteran for audit and corporate governance. Albrecht is the former president of the American Accounting Association. Albrecht, also sits on the board of the US-based SkyWest Airlines, Larry H. Miller Group of Companies, and Deseret Mutual Benefit Association and was previously also on the board of the now IBM acquired Red Hat. The industry veteran has also consulted and audited major financial institutions including the United Nations, FBI. “Steve is an expert and a thought leader who will help us deliver on sustainable growth, operational and service excellence, and help us continue building a strong culture of corporate governance and accountability. As COVID-19 continues to impact the business and forces businesses to rethink its strategies, our board has also come together and has been constantly guiding us on business continuity and recovery measures,” said OYO founder <keyword id="1670338" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ritesh-Agarwal">Ritesh Agarwal</keyword> on the appointment. <keyword id="8358615" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Oyo-Board">OYO BOARD</keyword> MEMBERS <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; width: 468pt; table-layout: fixed;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Troy Alstead </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Former COO, Starbucks </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Gerardo Issac (Gerry) Lopez </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Operating partner at SoftBank Vision Fund </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Betsy Atkins </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">CEO &amp; founder of Baja Corporation </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Munish Varma </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">SoftBank Investment Advisers </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Bejul Somaia </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Managing director, Lightspeed Venture Partners </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Mohit Bhatnagar </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Managing director, Sequoia Capital </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Aditya Ghosh </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;"> Former CEO - OYO India &amp; South Asia Former President Indigo Airlines </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Dr W. Steve Albrecht </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Former president of the American Accounting Association </td></tr></tbody></table> The appointments to OYO’s board and its renewed focus on profitability and corporate governance are another indicator of a possible IPO soon for the hotel chain. However, OYO has immediate important business matters at hand. The hotel chain which was growing at a breakneck speed until December 2019, has hit the brakes with a series of consumer and hotelier complaints followed by a layoff of thousands of employees across the globe in January 2020. It then was impacted by the coronavirus pandemic and saw a sharp drop in fortunes after the COVID-19 outbreak. While OYO’s China and Japan divisions have seen growth in the past few weeks, its India business has just reopened on June 8. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/owner-of-oberoi-and-trident-defers-results-triggering-a-sell-off-in-indian-hotel-stocks/articleshow/76281330.cms">The owner of Oberoi and Trident defers results triggering a sell-off in India's hotel stocks</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/parle-g-clocked-record-sales-in-may-it-may-be-because-broke-and-starving-migrant-labourers-could-barely-afford-anything-else/articleshow/76280162.cms">Parle G clocked record sales in May⁠— it may be because broke and starving migrant labourers could barely afford anything else</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/anand-mahindras-sanjivani-solution-for-cos-think-like-a-startup-and-do-a-marie-kondo-style-clean-up-of-portfolio/articleshow/76275190.cms">Anand Mahindra’s Sanjivani solution for cos – think like a startup and do a Marie Kondo style clean up of portfolio</a>

OYO is beefing up its board of directors – the second board appointment this year is a former FBI consultant

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Movie theaters are not making money on movies, they are making money on food.On Tuesday, <a href="http://investor.amctheatres.com/file.aspx?IID=4171292&amp;FID=27733504">AMC Entertainment reported</a> fourth quarter adjusted earnings and revenue that beat Wall Street estimates. But admissions revenue, or money paid for movie tickets, actually declined 4.5% over the prior year as both ticket prices and attendance fell. And in a statement, AMC CEO Gerry Lopez admitted that the movies released during the quarter weren't all that great, calling it a "lackluster film slate."So where did the company make money? Food. During the fourth quarter, AMC reported concessions revenue rose 8.8% over the prior year to $215.3 million as average spending per customer rose 13.5% to $4.46.In a note to clients following the report, analysts at Stifel put the strength in concessions into context like this:Concessions were very strong: Even excluding the impact of a $5mn tax refund (aiding sales which are inclusive of tax), concessions were +10.9% with no margin erosion. The increase per patron (+$0.40/excluding tax) came from both new initiatives (+$0.25), ranging from the dine-in-theaters to bars to self-serve options while (+$0.16) came from a move to price excluding tax, similar to standard retail, allowing for price increases. For some sense of magnitude, the addition of a bar increases concession/patron at a venue by $0.35 alone. The result is that we anticipate a $0.40/patron concession increase for the first three quarters of 2015 based on these trends. With no increase to attendance estimates, this concession increase adds $50mn in EBITDA to our estimates.Now, the question is whether this increased spending is being aided - getting what economists call a "tailwind" - from the decline in gas prices, as spending at movie heathers is right in the wheelhouse of the kinds of discretionary consumer spending economists expect to increase when the price of gas tumbles like it has over the last several months. On AMC's conference call, Citi analyst Jason Bazinet asked if the company has seen increased spending due to the decline in gas prices, and AMC CEO Gerry Lopez responded saying, "I have honestly not thought about it in the context of what's been happening at the gas pump."In talking about the strength of the current quarter, Lopez said that right now, it's about the big movies that are currently in theaters: American Sniper, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, and of course, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/fifty-shades-of-grey">Fifty Shades of Grey</a>. Lopez also noted that the strength of these movies helps the theaters because there is limited overlap in the target audiences. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/guide-to-fifty-shades-of-grey-regular-guy-2015-2">Learn what all the fuss is about - here's the regular guy's guide to 'Fifty Shades of Grey'</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="t5OWhiczoKqI4IkXOxWvQT-GeZCvTMwF" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

If it feels like you wasted more cash on snacks at 'Fifty Shades of Grey' - you did

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">GettyStacy Spikes.</div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>In his first major interview since being fired by the company in 2018, MoviePass cofounder Stacy Spikes opened up to Business Insider about creating the startup and what led to his exit.</li><li>Spikes talked about the game-changing innovations that made MoviePass possible, including creating a geolocation mapping system from scratch in 90 days with a team of five.</li><li>He spoke about the heartbreak after AMC Theatres walked away from making MoviePass a partner after a successful trial run.</li><li>Spikes also explained his latest venture, <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/454129649/preshow-attend-first-run-movies-in-theaters-free" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PreShow</a>, which has you watch branded content in order to go see movies for free.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit BusinessInsider.com for more stories.</a></li></ul> Though movie-ticket subscriptions have been popular in Europe for some time, the godfather of the model in the US is MoviePass cofounder Stacy Spikes.Before MoviePass took its place in pop culture in the summer of 2017, when it dropped its monthly price to $10 a month and amassed millions of subscribers, Spikes was the trailblazer who got the scrappy startup from idea to reality.MoviePass has sparked the creation of many movie subscription services since, but has struggled financially. It burned hundreds of millions of dollars as the stock of its parent company fell over 99.99%. It was kicked off the Nasdaq in February and is trading at less than half a cent per share. And Spikes has had to watch the fall as an outsider after being ousted from the company in January 2018.Today, Spikes is at an office in a WeWork in Manhattan - with the first ever MoviePass card framed by his desk - and has taken the decade of experience making MoviePass and launched a new venture, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/4-best-tech-innovations-for-movie-theaters-analysis-2019-4">PreShow</a>.Business Insider sat down with Spikes to conduct his first major interview since being let go by MoviePass.He talked about the challenging path taken to get MoviePass off the ground, which included building a mapping system for the app from scratch in 90 days with a staff of five; the disappointing rejection by AMC Theatres following a successful trial run at the chain; and what led to his dismissal from MoviePass.This interview has been edited for length and clarity.Jason Guerrasio: How did the idea of movie-ticket subscription even come up in your mind?Stacy Spikes: It goes back to Urbanworld Film Festival. I had been running the film festival for 8 to 10 years and in 2005, we were looking for a model to expand it to something year round.I had a conversation with Travis Reid, who was then the CEO at Loews Cineplex, and he thought subscription for seeing movies was a great idea, but it should be done for the entire industry not just Urbanworld. And on the horizon you could see Netflix, Spotify, Pandora, Hulu, this whole subscription wave is coming. So Travis let me build the first prototype with Loews.Guerrasio: You build out an SMS protocol. It works great. Why didn't Loews just buy it right there?Spikes: Travis thought it was great but then Loews and AMC merged. This is 2006 and I went to AMC, Regal, Cinemark, National Amusements, and they all had a different version of either IMAX or large format or 3D. They felt that's the future. "What you're talking about is not," they said. "Why would anybody do that." Five years I get "no's."I then have a conversation with Guy Primus, who at the time was at Will Smith's company. And he said, "Do you know Hamet Watt?" I knew his name, we had been in the same circles, but we had never met. So Hamet and I got on a call and we were finishing each other's sentences. And then he said, "I can help raise capital." So we cofounded MoviePass. I focused on getting the product built and he focused on the funding. We raised $1 million: $500,000 from AOL and $500,000 from True Ventures.Guerrasio: Then the summer of 2011 is when you have your launch in San Francisco, and it doesn't work out too well.Spikes: 4th of July 2011 we do the San Francisco launch. We announce the company, it's on the front page of Variety. 19,000 people tried to sign up on the first day. It was $50 a month to go to all the movies you wanted. And the servers crashed that day. We had built it into MovieTickets.com. We used their infrastructure. We gave them funds up front and we built it directly into their API. And we said, "Do we need to present this to your exhibitor partners?" They said, "No, that's why you have us. We have all the rights and approval."Then we get a call ... it's AMC saying: "Who gave you approval to launch this?" We told them it was through MovieTickets.com and they said they never gave them approval. We brush it off. The next morning we are all excited by the sign-ups, Hamet and I are on the cover of the San Francisco Chronicle business section. I'm flying back home and I'm floating above the clouds.I land and my phone is full of voice messages. The first is, "Hey, we would love to interview you," then it changes to "Hey, what is your response to the statement that AMC released saying they are shutting you down?"MovieTickets.com shrugged and said they didn't know what happened but AMC is one of their shareholders so they can't go forward. So we're dead.From there, we pivot to doing this thing using Hollywood Movie Money where you go online, log into an account, print a single use voucher, and you would come up to the ticket counter at the theaters with the voucher. From August through October, we're crawling.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Business Insider</div></div></div>Guerrasio: But then the game-changer move happens. You line up with a credit card.Spikes: Yeah, and the next thing that happened is MoviePass as we know it. We needed every single person to be able to do their credit card transaction dynamically in real time. It seems simple now, but back then it didn't exist. We had to build real-time loading with geolocation capability. So we had to geolocate every theater in North America.Guerrasio: How did you do it?Spikes: We had a list of all the theaters in America and our team put in a zip code and address, the pin would show up, and they would have drag the pin to the front of the theater and take that longitude and latitude coordinate and plug them into our system. We built our own mapping system that provided the new coordinates for every theater. Guerrasio: How long did that take?Spikes: Everything I'm describing to you from new technology to mapping of the whole country to the credit card loading, we did it all in 90 days.Guerrasio: How big was the team?Spikes: Five. [Laughs.] We weren't sleeping.Guerrasio: How did you find more money?Spikes: We were down to nothing when we had this built. I got on the plane to meet with Jon Callaghan from True Ventures. I met him in the rain at his office and I held up the first card. The first MoviePass card. I walked him through the technology and I checked into a theater down the street from his office. I said, "Jon, we're going to have a patent for our technology, no one can stop us, the theaters can't stop us, we'll have access to all theaters and all movies." If John said "no" [to another funding round], we were done. He said he loved the pivot and couldn't believe we pulled it off in 90 days. Guerrasio: And at what price point are you at?Spikes: We were testing: $19.99 was the lowest and we did up to $49.99. We tested regional pricing. Markets are very different. There's an $8 market in Waco, Texas, and $17 market in Manhattan. And subscriptions are climbing. The plane worked, the engines are strong, now we have to climb up to 30,000 feet. It was 5,000 subscribers, 7,000, 10,000.Guerrasio: But the credit card you were using at the time was Discover, and that came with challenges at the movie theater, right?Spikes: The theaters thought this was a retail card, even though the Discover logo was in the back of the MoviePass card. But we were getting a lot of traction, so MasterCard came to us and liked what we were doing and they wanted to partner with us. We put the MasterCard logo on the front of the card and now everyone could recognize that this was a debit card. <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Hollis Johnson/Business Insider</div></div></div>Guerrasio: Then in January 2015 you do a trial program with AMC.Spikes: Yeah, I start stalking AMC CEO Gerry Lopez. Gerry would see me at a conference from across the room and he'd have this look like, "Oh, no, here he comes." Guerrasio: But at this point you are doing all of this without the help of theater owners. Why suddenly are you chasing one of the biggest chains in the world?Spikes: My mindset is the data shows we create 100% lift every month per person. IMAX never did that, 3D never did that, I've never seen anything in my 20-something years in the industry that ever did this.So I went to Gerry with the proposal: "Gerry, if I can prove I can create 100% lift in a double-blind study, would you partner with me?" He said, "If you can create 100% lift month over month, sure." And we shook on it. So AMC loaded in their loyalty data, Stubs. We loaded in our MoviePass data and a study was done with neither of us able to see for the whole year what the numbers were. In Denver and Boston we did the trial. At the end of the year, data came back exactly as we said: 100% lift. With that report, we started to talk to some big investment players in the VC space. Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/moviepass-and-amc-worked-together-once-a-look-inside-the-epic-collapse-2018-8">Bitter enemies MoviePass and AMC once worked together - here's a look inside the relationship's epic collapse</a>Guerrasio: But AMC backed out, why?Spikes: Gerry agreed to greenlight MoviePass on AMC across all markets, then he called me a week later and said, "I'm leaving." So Gerry tells me they are putting the program on hold and then Adam Aron comes in as CEO. I reach out to Adam, he says, "I love subscription, I come from the sporting world and subscribers are your core base, but I think I might want to build it myself." He saw the data and basically said, "I don't know why I need you." That really slowed the engines down for us.Guerrasio: So it's 2016, how is the company doing financially?Spikes: We have 15,000 to 20,000 subscribers. Our average life was two years. We had a 3% churn. Utilization was around 1.5 to 2. And the math was figuring we'll get profitable a few months down the line because people would calm down in their behavior.Guerrasio: But a major change happens at MoviePass.Spikes: Me and the board decided we'd get one person to focus on getting capital, and since I built the product, [I'd] focus on operations. So Mitch Lowe came in, we put him as CEO, I was COO. We look and see that three theaters take up 50% of the business and the rest takes up the other 50%. Since AMC said "no," Regal and Cinemark aren't going to say "yes," we decide to go from the bottom up.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for MoviePassMoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe.</div></div></div>While Mitch was out chasing capital, I spent the time setting up all these smaller theaters. Studio Movie Grill, signed on, they also invested. We also talked to Alamo Drafthouse, B&amp;B, Landmark, Marcus. The conversations were going good, but it's not a quick process. Guerrasio: Then in the summer of 2017, Helios and Matheson Analytics comes in the picture. When's the first time you heard of them?Spikes: We went and had a couple of meetings in New York and we were introduced to them. Ultimately the proposal came in as $25 million for 51% of the company. And in the proposal it said they wanted us to temporarily drop the subscription price to $10 to help climb up to 100,000 subscriptions. Then eventually the company would go public. None of that was too painful. The $10 was thought of as a promotional thing, in a way celebrating HMNY buying us. But we hit 100,000 in 48 hours. [Laughs.] So I'm like, "Okay, turn it off. We reached our goal."Where things started to divide is myself and a handful of others were methodical about testing price points. The lowest we ever got down to was $12.99 and as high as $75 where we added IMAX and 3D. We knew what was sustainable. But the overriding voice was, "No, this is awesome, look how fast we're growing." And it was this moment of, "But $10." It doesn't fly. Now the plane is falling. It's now December and we were growing at a quarter of a million subscriptions a month and I definitely was not a happy camper and was making that known. Guerrasio: In that month, the photo of Mitch and Helios and Matheson CEO Ted Farnsworth in front of the AMC in Times Square is released to celebrate the company hitting 1 million subscribers. What did you think of that?Spikes: It's more, what was the industry's reaction? I think the industry's reaction was a sense of disappointment. It's a small neighborhood, exhibition. These are handshake deals, some families have owned these companies for generations. That photo changed the relationship in the marketplace. The tone turned it more adversarial. Up to that point, MoviePass had been the underdog champion for going to the movies.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">MoviePass/ReutersMoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe and Helios and Matheson Chief Executive Ted Farnsworth</div></div></div> I wasn't part of that decision. Then on January 9, I get an email that said, "Thank you, but your services are no longer needed." And my feeling is we just disagreed on the approach. After that, I've never spoken to Mitch or Ted. And I've been watching it all unfold like everyone else. Guerrasio: What is it like being on the outside now and seeing what has unfolded?Spikes: People were becoming upset with the company, and we had built brand loyalty for years. The fact that was evaporating so quickly was concerning. The good side was cinema had not been taken seriously since Netflix really got its footing. So what I liked about that was this had risen to the zeitgeist of conversation. 75% of our members were under the age of 26. Cinema was an event people cared about again. So while there is a sadness around the brand I was happy to see that this is front and center. Look, the back of the envelope idea was this: For the cost of one major motion picture, you could set up a subscription that could create a 10% lift for the whole industry. Well, at the 2018 box office it got to half that. The price point was set too low, but the output was close. It was a 6% lift and I think 5% of that was MoviePass. If you doubled that for the next year, you would have gotten a 10% lift. The other thing that our data showed back then was 50% of that lift was Monday through Thursday. We have learned to live without that money as an industry and now people are going mid-week.Guerrasio: But this was your baby, people laughed in your face when you presented the idea of MoviePass in board rooms, you weren't hurt personally by some of the stuff you read about the company you founded after you left?Spikes: Listen, you go through a whole string of emotions like any kind of breakup - "Great, I'm glad to be out of there" to "I wish I was still there to help from the inside" - but there's a saying investors always like to ask entrepreneurs, "Would you rather be rich or would you rather be the king?" What they are trying to get out is are you more important or is the mission more important? My mission in my heart and soul is I love moviegoing. From working in a video store in high school all the way through my career I've had one job: help people see movies.Guerrasio: That brings us to your latest innovation, PreShow. Explain how you got this idea.Spikes: What we are saying with PreShow is that money the brand is spending stays within the movie. If Audi has a product placement deal with the new "Avengers" movie, Audi wants YouTube to run its ad whenever the "Avengers" trailer is played. We are saying the same thing but the payout is in the form of a free ticket to the movie. So the product placement and the movie is kept in the ecosystem. That's the premise. We guarantee that you saw the ad. The phone creates a cone that is simply motion detection. It doesn't record you, it just knows that you're watching the screen and if you look away it pauses the ad. It lets a brand know the person is really watching.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">PreShow/KickstarterPreShow.</div></div></div>Guerrasio: You hit your Kickstarter goal very quickly, what do theater owners think of this idea?Spikes: I've sent emails to all the exhibitors and I sent emails to all the studios telling them what we're doing. I want to keep them in the loop. I want to reduce the friction of being able to go to the movies. Guerrasio: Looking back, did MoviePass have to basically go to an insane price point and have this crazy roller coaster ride for the last few years to prove that movie-ticket subscription can work in this country?Spikes: This is going to sound weird: I trust the universe. There's no such thing as a mistake. There's just learning what to do and what not to do. They both make you better. I remember at MoviePass packing up my box and getting home and I took about a week off, then I got an office and was like, "If I could redo MoviePass today, what would I do?" <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-sound-designers-create-dragon-sound-effects-game-of-thrones-drogon-2018-8">How dragon sound effects for 'Game of Thrones' are made</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

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