Who this is
Florian Holm was born and raised in Germany, started at BCG in Switzerland after university and then moved to Southeast Asia with Lazada, the e-commerce company backed by Rocket Internet: first Thailand, then the Philippines, then Indonesia. After Lazada was sold to Alibaba he stayed in the region, moved from Jakarta to Bali during Covid and founded Stilt Studios there, a modular prefab company with its own factory. He built the first treehouse prototypes in his own front garden and rented them out. That became Grün Resorts: boutique resorts made of treehouses with three locations in Bali and the flagship Grün Uluwatu. Today he employs more than 400 people, has built more than 100 houses and is a father of two.
Episodes
Numbers from the episode
FAQ
What is Grün Resorts?
Grün Resorts is a hospitality brand in Bali that builds and operates boutique resorts made of modular treehouses. The brand stands for nature, wellness and architecture: the houses are built around the existing trees. There are three locations; the flagship Grün Uluwatu sits on more than 5 hectares and has 70 units from this summer. Grün Resorts grew out of Stilt Studios, Florian Holm's modular prefab company with its own factory. To the episode →
Who is Florian Holm?
Florian Holm started at BCG after university and then moved to Southeast Asia with Lazada, Rocket Internet's e-commerce company. After the exit to Alibaba he stayed, moved to Bali during Covid and founded Stilt Studios and later Grün Resorts there. Today he has more than 400 employees and more than 100 houses built. To the episode →
How does Grün Resorts use WhatsApp?
More than 50 percent of bookings come in direct, two thirds of those via WhatsApp, well over a million in revenue in total. There are no phones in the hotel: pre-check-in, room service and buggies run through chat. The team reads guest sentiment and preferences from the messages and is building its own AI-supported operating system on top of that. To the episode →
How is Grün Resorts financed?
Not with venture capital. Florian Holm turned down early VC offers because in hardware a first-generation design flaw gets multiplied by 100. His partner is the single family office of Chris Hümer, who comes from a family with hospitality experience and has launched his own fund, Rhyme Capital. The business is cash-flow positive. To the episode →
What is Florian Holm's mental model for product quality?
12 out of 10 on the core product, 80/20 everywhere else. He stopped the fully planned and permitted spa because it wasn't good enough and accepted a three-month delay instead. For the tax return or the back office, good enough is fine with him. To the episode →
Quotes
„Ich sage immer zu meinem Team, ich muss das Ressort vom Mond aus steuern können.““I always tell my team: I need to be able to run the resort from the moon.”
„Aber das System, wie gesagt, das macht halt einfach diesen Junior-Front-Office-Mitarbeiter zum Superman.““But the system, as I said, simply turns that junior front-office employee into Superman.”
„Das Core-Produkt ist die größte Customer Experience.““The core product is the biggest customer experience.”
„… wenn ich da den Balkon falsch konzipiert habe, dann habe ich halt 100 falsche Balkone.““If I've designed the balcony wrong, then I've simply got 100 wrong balconies.”
„Also Kinder first, dann Business und dann meine eigene Zeit.““So kids first, then business, and then my own time.”