WAYN (Where Are You Now?) was founded by three young entrepreneurs with a simple concept: create a platform for travelers to connect when on the road.

The U.K.-based brand was a pioneering travel social network that captured a huge amount of attention in the mid-2000s for its rapid growth, bold ideas and ability to attract investment from some of the biggest names in the online travel industry at the time.

Millions of users and a youthful, fairly brash style inspired a string of fellow social travel platforms in subsequent years (whether those later founders will admit it or not).

But the company was inevitably going to find the road would be a bumpy one, with the emergence and omnipresence of Facebook in the world of social networks and a tactical error or two along the way.

After the buzz turned to the reality of maintaining a business in a digital market that was continually evolving, WAYN was eventually sold to Lastminute.com Group in 2016.

Co-CEO Jerome Touze (his fellow boss was Pete Ward) tells the story of WAYN in the latest episode of How I Got Here.

HIGH is a weekly show produced by PhocusWire and Mozio, aimed at getting the inside stories behind startups and innovation in travel and transportation.

Other episodes: on PhocusWire and Mozio.

WAYN (Where Are You Now?) was founded by three young entrepreneurs with a simple concept: create a platform for travelers to connect when on the road.The U.K.-based brand was a pioneering travel social network that captured a huge amount of attention in the mid-2000s for its rapid growth, bold ideas and ability to attract investment from some of the biggest names in the online travel industry at the time.Millions of users and a youthful, fairly brash style inspired a string of fellow social travel platforms in subsequent years (whether those later founders will admit it or not).But the company was inevitably going to find the road would be a bumpy one, with the emergence and omnipresence of Facebook in the world of social networks and a tactical error or two along the way.After the buzz turned to the reality of maintaining a business in a digital market that was continually evolving, <a href='https://www.phocuswire.com/WAYN-travel-social-network-bought-by-Lastminute-com-Group'>WAYN was eventually sold to Lastminute.com Group in 2016</a>.Co-CEO Jerome Touze (his fellow boss was Pete Ward) tells the story of WAYN in the latest episode of How I Got Here.HIGH is a weekly show produced by <a href='https://www.phocuswire.com'>PhocusWire</a> and <a href='http://www.mozio.com/'>Mozio</a>, aimed at getting the inside stories behind startups and innovation in travel and transportation.Other episodes: on <a href='https://www.phocuswire.com/How-I-Got-Here'>PhocusWire</a> and <a href='https://www.mozio.com/move/How-I-Got-Here'>Mozio</a>.

The weekly How I Got Here podcast talks to those behind the success stories in travel and transportation, hosted by PhocusWire's Kevin May and David Litwak at Mozio.

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