It's a tough world out there for travel startups - with failure rates far higher than the number of success stories.
New businesses entering the sector look at the likes of Airbnb, Lyft, Uber and, going a little further back, Skyscanner and Trivago, with wide-eyed enthusiasm.
But it's hard - really hard - to make it work.
During the launch of PhocusWire at the Phocuswright Conference 2017, we spoke with Norm Rose (one of the architects of the event's pitching competition) and Ian McHenry of Beyond Pricing (a previous winner) about the current climate for startups, investment and making a difference when presenting in front of your peers.