I wouldn't call a service that is only of use to people that regularly spend more than $1,000/month traveling between four California cities "disrupting the airline space."
Not every company with a slightly different business model is "disruptive."
Yeah, but if you're taking four regional flights a month, you are probably spending as much or more than this and you're paying to do it either in a cattle car or for a 300% first class markup. It does have a limited market now, but what happens when they get a little cash and start buying slightly larger planes? What about if this drops to $500 a month? How about $300? I'm guessing businesses would be all over it. Think about buying a plan for an entire business, not just a single traveler.
Not having to deal with TSA / crowded planes / screaming babies is definitely worth something, so their market is not limited to just people who spend more than $1,000 / month.
Paul, Always enjoy your comments and insights. Glad things are working out so well. If you are in Atlanta for the holidays i would love to grab drinks and catch up.
Thanks for the kind words Steven. Unfortunately I won't be back in Atlanta for the holidays, but there is a chance I might fly in for a few days around Startup Riot.. we'll see!
Hoping to make it to StartupRiot as well (assuming I am accepted to present). Andrew Warner and others (like me) are hoping to have an HN meetup of sorts.
I am not usually one to bitch about a lack of social media integration, but this definitely should be something integrating into my facebook/twitter streams.
You should pay them in the form of referrals and connections through your network. Also a small amount of options/warrants are always nice, but you need to make sure that they are adding value in exchange for them. As far as formal payment goes, I would run from any advisors that require it. Once the business is starting to gain some cash flows I would suggest holding a quarterly dinner at a decent restaurant with the entire board present. As busy as advisors are, placing them in a formal atmosphere with the rest of the board usually requires them to slow down for a second and actually focus on you and your business.
I bet they announce a deal with foursquare pretty soon too. Just goes to show you have to be in it to win it. I realize they are overpaying for these opportunities, but this trend of what I call, private IPO's, seems to be the new hot thing and DST is going to run the table while everyone else catches on. I personally think they will be successful so long as they diversify their risk enough.
