In the matter of a month during the pandemic, hotel search platform Trivago’s revenue forecast plummeted from $1 billion to virtually zero.
It was a “near-death experience” that resulted in a “deep winter” for the company, according to CEO Johannes Thomas. Actual revenue sank 70% to 249 million euros in 2020 from 839 million euros in 2019, the latter equivalent to about $940 million at the time.
But even as restrictions were lifted and travel surged back, Trivago still had not recovered—and thus it was time for a shake-up in the C-suite.
“After you have a near-death experience and three years of depression, you have a team that doesn’t believe anymore,” Thomas, who was brought in as CEO to turn the company around in 2023, tells Fortune.
But for Thomas and other executives, what’s notable about their experiences is not their most recent roles—it’s how they started their careers.
