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Trainees are often deleted for being at the bottom At the totem pole, but in some companies this role has become part of the secret recipe for landing a concert at C-Suite. TRIVAGO is part of a list of companies, including Nike, HP and EY, which have promoted former coffee coffee makers to the top of the corporate ladder.
For one month during the pandemic prognosis for Trivago’s Trivago Trivago, $ 1 billion to almost zero fell.
It was a “experience near death”, which led to a “deep winter” for the company, according to CEO Johannes Thomas. The actual revenue sank from 70% to € 249 million in 2020 from 839 million euros in 2019, the latter being equivalent to about $ 940 million at the time.
But even when the restrictions were canceled and the trip rose back, Trivago had not yet recovered, and this was a time to shake in the C-Suite.
“Once you have experience in almost death and three years of depression, you have a team that no longer believes,” says Thomas, who is introduced as CEO to turn the company in 2023, says Thomas FortuneS
But for Thomas and other leaders, what is remarkable for their experience is not their most roles – this is how they started their careers.
Thomas joined TRIVAGO in 2011 as an online marketing trainee, and he quietly assembles other former trainees, including Chief Finance Officer Wolf Schmul and Chief Marketing Director Jasmine Ez. Thomas says that the presence of leaders who understand the business and its culture from the beginning are key to returning the company to its previous fame.
And while Trivago’s revenue for 2024 was still half of what it was five years ago in 2019, the first quarter of 2025 revenue increased by 22% to $ 124 million.
While pensioners are often known for traveling frequently, one of Trivago’s focus is on young people and makes sense given the Gen Z consumption habits. The generation was the only group that reported an increase in travel costs during the year between 2023 and 2024, according to Berkshire Hathaway Status of Travel Insurance Report. The average trip was over $ 11,000.
“(We) are trying to build an ecosystem – a culture and environment in which young people can grow and where people can thrive,” says Thomas.
This is another reason why Trivago’s C-Suite is not arranged with Xers gene, and instead millennia that understand how they think, spend and traveling. According to Thomas, TRIVAGO’s average client is 34 years old and 20% have families.
Focusing on young people, TRIVAGO is able to join not only in the customer market but also in the employee talents market.