Today we’d like to introduce you to Raj Singh.
Raj, please share your story with us.
I grew up traveling all over India with my entrepreneurial family. Some of my favorite memories involve waking up early morning, going to the stables to feed my horse and go for a ride by the river amongst the snow-capped Himalayas. Our family’s business operations eventually expanded internationally, which landed me in LA at age 12.
Moving to LA from India as an adolescent was a pure shock, followed by intense curiosity. My mind during the transition was like an unsuspecting golf ball being whacked by a titanium driver in extreme slow motion: zero to 100 in an instant. In high school, I was asked more than a handful of times if my Dad rode an elephant to work back in India! I learned to have fun with absurdity. Everything I had thought to be a static part of life was now dynamic. Work ethic, culture and society itself were open to interpretation. This made it easy to constantly question the status quo in technology.
At 14, I noticed my high school teachers complaining about getting attention from their IT department. This seemed to be a need that needed filling and over the following years, I built, fixed and networked hundreds of computers at school. Being effective earned me referral clients outside of school, which was my first venture.
Through high school, I fell in love with web design, animation and UX. I taught myself and experimented like crazy. At 17, I was discovered by the team building Sheryl Crow’s website and invited to build out the interactive and motion design components. The client loved my work! Shortly after, I set up a boutique consultancy, developing hundreds of projects for major brands like Sony, HEB Grocery and Virgin.
Meanwhile, my family entered the hotel industry, and it quickly became all-consuming. My family bought a hotel as a hands-off investment opportunity, having no expectation of running them in a hands-on manner, but as that single hotel grew to be a handful of hotels, we became gradually more involved in operations.
This involvement in the hospitality industry gave me much insight into how challenging it is to provide a consistent, quality service experience. I’ve always been a fan of high-quality service (it’s what earned me my first clients!) and in my family business, I helped guests make their stays memorable every chance I got. Through the 2008 economic downturn, I noticed how dramatically hotels downsized their labor costs. This left remaining staff overworked and guests under-served.
My consulting projects had garnered over 1 billion page views, but I wondered what the impact was of what I’d created. Was it positive? Did it make someone smile? Did my work make someone’s day? I wanted data to confirm that my design objectives (to help people) were accomplished!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Two of my personal challenges have been around:
– Finding exceptional people. Years of experience in this regard have completely changed the way I assess new people in my life, whether they are potential friends, team members, clients, mentors or even investors.
– Keeping an even stride over a ridiculously uneven path. Building a company is never easy, with higher highs and lower lows than expected. It’s vital to keep your head down when things are going well and your chin up when they aren’t!
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Go Moment – what should we know?
Go Moment was founded to create a billion positive experiences for real people using technology. Given my product design and hotel background, we found a natural fit in hospitality. We knew that hotels’ communication with guests needed to improve dramatically while controlling labor cost in a tough economic environment.
That’s why Ivy was born: to meet rising guest expectations using a seamless blend of Artificial Intelligence and the hotel staff’s expertise. We studied the guest experience deeply and concluded three years ago that nobody needed more apps. Partnering with IBM Watson helped us bring cutting-edge technology to the value-minded hotel market.
Ivy welcomes hotel guests on arrival via a simple text message. Guests can reply to that simple message to get service, often instantly. If a guest asks what the wifi password is, they’ll have an answer in two seconds. Guests can even order drinks by the poolside without having to flag anyone down and Ivy routes the request directly to the poolside bar! Ivy also occasionally checks in on guests to ensure they’re enjoying their stay. If a guest is unhappy, Ivy ensures they get prompt attention from the front desk, and auto-escalates to management if necessary!
This year, Ivy will be available to over 10 million hotel guests and leads the industry in automation. The feedback is unanimous: the customer experience and online reputation at Ivy hotels rises organically while freeing up hotel staff to focus on more productive tasks.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
I’m blessed to have a large tribe of incredible people that make everything possible with their great energy.
My family has supported me every step of the way, exceeding every notion I had of what people can and will do for each other.
Our incredible team, mentors and investors are almost entirely responsible for the company’s growth. We would not be at this juncture without all of them!
My friends in the industry have also provided incredible support and guidance.
Contact Info:
- Address: 929 Colorado Ave.
Santa Monica, CA 90401 - Website: gomoment.com
- Phone: 800-701-0414
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/gomoment
- Facebook: http://facebook.com/YourGoMoment
- Twitter: http://twitter.com/gomoment
- Other: http://j.mp/IvyonTV
Image Credit:
Headshot was taken Oceana Beach Club Santa Monica
IBM.com
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