That investment gives JetSmarter a valuation of less than $250 million, a plummet of more than 80% from the earlier more than one-billion dollar valuation. Your education and upbringing? Also, the mass affluent are looking for experiences tailored to the lifestyle they want to live. The company has also been known to sue journalists for writing articles critical of the company if they do not take down the article. Petrossov has not responded to my request for an interview. Also, today, in the tech age, luxury is transcending past brand to experience. He came up with the idea in 2008, when he graduated from the University of Florida. Some flights have security dogs inspecting bags, but many have no security checks at all. In 2009 when I began flying private, I quickly came to realize that the private jet industry was very archaic; its brick-and-mortar process of picking up the phone, waiting hours and speaking to numerous different people in order to charter a jet was outdated and inconvenient. Does that sound familiar? I went to the University of Florida and studied finance. There was no digital form in accessing it. Members are able to book private jets in a matter of minutes, right from the palm of their hand. When he was a student at the University of Florida, he got exposed to computer science and joined a startup for live chatting. At the time, mobile marketplaces were becoming popular, and he saw a chance to apply that idea . Sergey and Lolita lived in a $2 million house in a gated community in tony Boca Raton, Florida. Founder and CEO, JetSmarter Boca Raton, Florida About Sergey Petrossov Sergey wants to change the aviation business by making private flights accessible to the masses. He graduated in 2009. There is no such thing as a typical day for Petrossov. Get an inside vue on the latest in luxury. Get the latest sergey petrossov news, articles, videos and photos on the New York Post. When JetSmarter debuted, it was touted as a disruptor in the aviation industry. It supported chat for audio and video for website customer service. The catch-22 was that the more members the company signed up, the faster they burned through their investment money. var _Hasync=_Hasync||[];_Hasync.push(['Histats.start','1,4553220,4,511,95,18,00000000']);_Hasync.push(['Histats.fasi','1']);_Hasync.push(['Histats.track_hits','']);(function(){var hs=document.createElement('script');hs.type='text/javascript';hs.async=true;hs.src=('//s10.histats.com/js15_as.js');(document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0]||document.getElementsByTagName('body')[0]).appendChild(hs);})(); Sergey Petrossov has become the most popular person by his significant works. If you enjoy our content, support us by becoming a paid subscriber. Its about personalization and what I call predictive hospitality. It turned out that flight wasn't free as promised. In 2009 when I began flying private, I quickly came to realize that the private jet industry was very archaic; its brick-and-mortar process of picking up the phone, waiting hours and speaking to numerous different people in order to charter a jet was outdated and inconvenient. With investors that include the Saudi royal family and Jay-Z , JetSmarter is valued at $1.5 billion. When I was 18, I wasnt really into college that much I was more interested in getting out of college and I got involved with my first startup. JetSmarter is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and maintains offices in Zurich, Moscow, London, Riyadh, and Dubai. During his research, he also discovered that about 70 percent of all private jets were empty and the majority of their flight hours were spent traveling to pick up the next passenger, not flying the passenger themselves. ", "JetSmarter faces lawsuits, losses and security questions", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=JetSmarter&oldid=1149578250, Companies based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Ridesharing companies of the United States, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Sergey Petrossov (CEO), Gennady Barsky (President). The company had booths and VIP lounges at yacht shows, art fairs, and other places wealthy people gathered en masse. JetSmarter went on to raise more than a million dollars in funding, grew to a company with 260 employees and reportedly hit a unicorn valuation of $1.6 billion about two years ago, with backers like rapper Jay-Z and the Saudi royals. Before launching JetSmarter, Petrossov, who was named as one of Forbes 30-under-30 and one of South Floridas Top Working Professionals, co-founded two IT projects: an online chat system for website customer service and a distance-learning platform for Russian-speaking educational institutions. We offer travel experience packages, ranging from experiences with luxury brands like Dom Prignon, to exclusive access to VIP events. Petrossov was motivated to create companies in his teens Thats a shift. Jul 10, . Sergey is most known for founding JetSmarter. We have also announced our series C funding raise of $105 million, at a $1.5 billion pre-money valuation, from existing and new strategic investors. JetSmarters starting point is $17,500, so theyve essentially lowered the entry point for private aviation, allowing many people with a lower net worth to fly privately when they never could before. Much of that experience comes from team members time with NASA, Nokia, Microsoft, Mercedes Benz, BMW, and Uber. Most of my career has been spent with the Miami Herald in business news, and my expertise is writing about tech and entrepreneurs. The startup Sergey wants to change the aviation business by making private flights accessible to the masses. [27] In January 2016, Chicago Tribune reported that JetSmarter had launched app-based private charter service in Chicago, using Midway International Airport as its access point. He realized that if he were to take the industry digital, not only could he revitalize it and make the process easier for everyone involved, but he could significantly cut the cost of private air travel. More importantly, without trial and error, there is no innovation and, ultimately, no advancement or progress. If it is found in violation, JetSmarter could be levied with large fines or possibly even shutdown. With JetSmarter, he focuses on how to make air travel more convenient and accessible, but also on how to improve the lifestyles of his members the biggest draw of JetSmarter for a lot of its members is being able to fly privately with other like-minded individuals who place a lot of importance on style and luxury. Copyright 2023 New Statesman Media Group Ltd. Latest in Luxury - Sign up to our newsletter. He is always looking for ways to streamline processes and use technology to make something better and easier, which he has succeeded at doing with JetSmarter. The cost was high., Private jets often sit around empty, further driving up prices. JetSmarter, founded by CEO Sergey Petrossov, has reached a $1.5 billion valuation following that opposite path. When the company started to come under fire, it used legal threats and lawsuits to silence its customers and the media. Just go do it, he says. Our average user visits JetSmarter 12 times daily. After innovation, finding the best way to connect with the audience or the market is the surest way to success. Yep, JetSmarter had changed its terms and conditions again. Awarded Forbes' 30 Under 30 in Consumer Technology, Petrossov is an entrepreneur by trade and has taken JetSmarter to heights no one would have imagined no one but himself, of course. The Russian-born Florida resident aims to change the landscape of private aviation by making it more attainable and efficient than ever before. The charges were related to a former business, not JetSmarter. JetSmarter was basically throwing cash on the fire and watching it burn. A few friends had introduced him to private jets, and he started asking questions, as he puts it, about how the heck this industry was run. His big idea was to apply the Uber model to private jets, which spent too much time grounded or flying empty. In 10 years, I think theres a big opportunity as you move into shorter-distance flights where we can actually deliver a much broader, mass-market solution, where you can actually serve customers at $500 a seat, he says. He plays as a right-back for FC Krasnodar. Having visited more than 30 countries, Petrossov named New York City as his favorite travel destination and Hong Kong as the next stop on his list. JetSmarters goal is not only to make it easier for people to fly in luxury. Consumers are turned off by processes that make it difficult for them to accomplish their goals. It was a challenging way to get here. I moved to South Florida when I was 11 or 12. The company was offering him its "sophisticated membership," which included unlimited, free private jet flights with a companion pass. His ultimate goal is to create a lifestyle brand where members can book all types of travel through JetSmarter and gain access to special experiences that the company can curate. We just launched within the app an events and experiences section that allows members to book curated point-to-point experiences that cant be found elsewhere. After the Paola flight, the federal agency is looking into whether the startup is following rules governing commercial versus private aviation flights. Select Accept to consent or Reject to decline non-essential cookies for this use. And down the road, we want to own premium business travel in the United States, he says. Learn more about how we make money. I wasnt the founder but since I got involved early they called me a co-founder. 15 local leaders selected as GET Cities Champions for gender equity in tech. Our average user visits JetSmarter 12 times daily. Similar to advertising, if a company or executive are shown in a negative light, the product they are selling will likely suffer. Back in the early days, a JetSmarter membership also included free helicopter service to its airports and catering on the flights. When CNBC contacted former and current employees for their investigation, they received a cease and desist from JetSmarter. Serge y Petrossov is the founder and CEO of JetSmarter Sergey and Lolita lived in a $2 million house in a gated community in tony Boca Raton, Florida. Petrossov says about 1,000 of its members representing the top 10% of its customers spend an average of $140,000 per year. In reality, the company was losing millions of dollars a month and not delivering on promises to customers and investors. VUE caught up with Petrossov to learn more about his journey, the future of the industry and perhaps a tip or two on how to turn a simple vision into a billion-dollar reality. JetSmarter flight services included a mix of shared and private flights: JetSmarter claimed to offer 3,000 private jets and 2,000 free empty legs per month. The membership agreements customers signed barred them from making any negative comments about the company or its executives in any way something that is very unusual in the aviation industry. Its no longer about the brand, marketing and brand association. [39] The partners that we have cover a large number of international destinations, to enable our customers to be able to fly worldwide within as little as six hours from booking their flight. Jay-Z's Private Jet Startup "JetSmarter" Just Raised $105 Million In Series C Funding, Jay-Z And Saudi Royalty Invest In 'Uber For Private Jets' App. We have raised funding from private sources including the royal family in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, A-league executives, music moguls, and more. Even if that cost is divided by eight to 10 passengers, JetSmarter was losing money. JetSmarter has reinvented private air travel by making it affordable and straightforward, doing away with what is considered an antiquated booking system in favor of a streamlined, technological alternative. The hardest thing for a disruptive company is getting people to try it out. Refresh Miami is a 501c3 non-profit with a mission to educate, inspire, connect and grow South Floridas tech and startup ecosystem. He is a Forbes-ranked billionaire, with an estimated net worth of $2.3 billion. His goal has always been to have in own company and while still in college, he .
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