Entrepreneurship

I heard Howard Milstein speak recently at Cornell University’s Entrepreneurship@Cornell annual awards event.

Here are a few take-aways from his talk.

Economics:
In one example, Milstein realized that the main hotels in NYC were always full during the work week – there was a shortage of rooms for businesspeople. He then started to raise room prices from $36 at the top end (this was the late 1970s) until top room rates were $125 a night. This price jump occurred within one year. And the other major hotels in NYC increased their prices along with his. Result: hotel still full.

Timing:
In another example, Milstein was able to get commercial airtime for his Milford Plaza Hotel during the Super Bowl by both being well connected to the TV execs looking to sell 30-second advertising slots and able to make a spot decision on whether or not to buy the airtime when they called. Milstein held out for what turned out to be a 90% discount on airtime (he paid $33K for a standard priced $350K / 30 second slot).

DIY:
When Milstein wanted to install cable TV at the Milford Plaza, Time Warner quoted him a price of $10/day/room. Time Warner refused to negotiate and as a result, Milstein started Liberty Cable to provide service to his hotels and later sold service to other buildings in NYC.

Overall a great speech exhibiting the entrepreneurial mindset.