STARTUP IDOL ANYROAD IS BRINGING TOUR GUIDES INTO THE 21st CENTURY

摘要

When daniel and Jonathan Yaffe get worked up, they take turns speaking for each other. The effectisn't so much finishing each other's sentences as excitedly adding clause after clause. But the brothers' enthusiasm earned their startup, AnyRoad, the title of 2013 Brainstorm Tech Startup Idol. Launched earlier this year, San Francisco-based AnyRoad is a website for tour guides to list their services: a hike through Rio de Janeiro or a Tokyo sake tasting, for instance. The startup makes money by taking a small commission on tour fees. The Yaffes, SanDiego natives, figure they are tapping into a $16 billion global market; just 5% of profes-sional tour guides have websites.