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Johannes Reck

CEO and Co-Founder, GetYourGuide Deutschland GmbH

Search every verified Johannes Reck interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Johannes Reck, co-founder and CEO of GetYourGuide, discussed the company’s origins and his perspective on entrepreneurship in a June 2026 interview. He recalled that the company’s first website, a peer-to-peer network for local student tour guides, generated only five bookings after two years. Reck described the COVID-19 pandemic as "the ultimate test" for him as an entrepreneur, noting that revenue went from 100% growth to negative 100% growth in three weeks. Reck also commented on the advantages of starting a travel company in Europe, stating that the region has "60% of the world's inbound travel" and that investors look to European companies versus US peers to lead that market. When asked for advice for young graduates, he said that while academic rigor remains valuable, creativity and thinking outside the box are increasingly important because "generic tasks will be automated." He emphasized that the company’s early motto, "stay curious," applies to students graduating from university.

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Notable quotes

“co pandemic was definitely the ultimate test for me as an entrepreneur. You can't truly imagine a crisis that is much worse than that. So your revenue literally going from 100% growth to negative 100% growth in 3 weeks.”

“from 2010 to 2015 if you weren't a pocket internet company. It was basically impossible to raise a lot of capital. I mean, people actually looked at us and were like, you know, you're a first- time founder straight out of university. You don't have any clue about business. Like clearly, we're not going to give you cash.”

“I would say pump up venture capital funding to match US levels. We spend 50 billion a year in VC. In Europe, the US is north of 200 billion. Why do we have that gap? Doesn't make any sense. I mean, just to give you another number like Germany subsidizes its broken retirement system every year with 100 billion, right? But we don't. We have 7 billion invested in VC, 100 billion subsidies in retirement system. That does”

“I would have not raised as big of a series A. Looking back I think it was too much dilution. Ultimately it all worked out because you know if you're in the company for long enough you know there's also founder reups and all of that. So I would say personally it didn't matter but I do think you should actually manage dilution because otherwise you end up with problems with your employees, with the other investors and ”

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