From Kitchen Table to Half a Billion – Lessons from Hotel Data
In a recent conversation with Jan Freitag, a leader in hospitality data analytics, we explored the evolution of STR (Smith Travel Research) into a $450 million success story under CoStar Group. From the outset, STR’s model demonstrated the power of simplicity, innovation, and audience focus—principles that media publishers can adapt to thrive in a competitive landscape.
Building Blocks of a Data Empire
Jan recounted how STR began at founder Randy Smith’s kitchen table, leveraging just three data points: supply, demand, and revenue. These were synthesized into actionable insights like occupancy rates and RevPAR (Revenue per Available Room). The genius lay in simplicity—focusing on well-defined, universally understood metrics—and in adopting the “give-to-get” model.
“Randy let participants share their data in exchange for market benchmarks,” Jan explained. “If they wanted deeper, actionable insights, we charged for that. When they made money, we made money.”
The Journey to Media
What began as a data business organically expanded into media. STR’s monthly columns in industry publications were so valuable that an editor encouraged the creation of Hotel News Now, a newsletter powered by STR data. This daily publication, combined with the annual Hotel Data Conference, built STR’s audience and credibility, further entrenching its data products in the hotel industry.
“Interesting data builds audience,” Jan said. “But actionable data—that’s what people pay for.” This tiered approach helped them monetize and scale.”
Gold Nugget
This is the gold nugget of this interview. Interesting is free, actionable costs money.
Find your interesting.
Find your actionable.
The “interesting” is how you build your audience.
The “actionable” is how you monetize.
This is how companies monetize data; and media companies have the exact same opportunity, if they can find it:
They find pockets of high value, actionable information — information that’s hard for the layman to get.
They deliver this information to those who can monetize (actionable).
They charge. You can charge for data that others can use to make money or create opportunity. But you will only make sustainable revenue if you can give your client real results with the data you provide.
Lessons for Media Publishers
Jan emphasized four key takeaways for media publishers:
Differentiate Free from Paid Content: Offer “interesting” content for free to hook audiences and build trust. Reserve “actionable” content—insights that help clients make decisions or money—for paid tiers.
Understand Customer Needs: Spend time in your customer’s shoes to design solutions that address their pain points.
Leverage Existing Audience Trust: Build on your brand’s equity to collect data or launch new initiatives, as trust is essential for proprietary data collection.
Explore Industry-Specific Benchmarking: Uniform metrics, as seen in STR’s success, are vital for actionable comparisons.
As Jan summarized, “What hooks people is interesting; what keeps them is actionable.”
Final Thought
This conversation is a reminder that simplicity and customer focus can transform industries. For media publishers, combining data-driven insights with audience engagement offers a clear path to sustainable growth.