It's Personal Stories, A Hospitality Podcast · David Kong, Dorothy Dowling, Rachel Humphrey, Lan Elliott

David Mililli, Founder & Host, Modern Hotelier Podcast, interviewed by David Kong

·32 min·3 clips

David Mililli recalls friends doubting online credit card payments, but he saw the internet transforming travel forever.

David Mililli, founder of the Modern Hotelier podcast, discusses his career and industry insights with host David Kong. Mililli is a seasoned hospitality technology executive and mentor at NYU's Hospitality Innovation Hub. His journey began as a union busboy at the Hyatt Pittsburgh in the early 1990s. He became the youngest general manager in New York City by 1995, running an 80-room Times Square property. The internet boom led him to co-found one of the first booking engines for independent hotels around the year 2000. He later founded Open Hospitality, an early one-stop digital shop for hotels offering websites, booking engines, and e-marketing. Mililli recalls early skepticism, including friends who insisted no one would ever put their credit card on the internet. He cultivated innovation at his companies by having teams analyze features from non-hospitality websites like Ford or Staples. His firm pioneered pre-stay emails with weather forecasts and post-stay surveys that connected to TripAdvisor as early as 2004. A key leadership lesson was the critical importance of choosing the right business partner, which he compares to a marriage. He once hired a top salesperson who had been a fierce competitor because he believes in surrounding himself with the best talent. On AI, he compares modern revenue management systems to GPS, processing multiple data sources to recommend optimal pricing. He advises startup founders that being a founder does not automatically make someone a capable CEO, as many lack broader business orchestration skills. Memorable podcast moments include a successful entrepreneur breaking down while discussing her struggle with depression. Another guest, Scott Eddy, lives without a permanent home, traveling the world while staying in hotels and on cruise ships. Mililli's grandfather offered enduring advice on a napkin, writing "I over E equals S," meaning intelligence over emotions equals success. His personal routine involves scheduled decompression time, like watching YouTube with a glass of wine, to counter constant connectivity. He regrets not taking even more risks earlier in his career, especially before having children. Final advice centers on understanding team members' career aspirations, illustrated by a sales employee he mentored into a global leadership role. The tone is conversational and reflective, blending career storytelling with practical leadership and innovation advice. Hospitality professionals and tech entrepreneurs will appreciate the firsthand accounts of industry evolution and startup challenges. Listeners seeking highly technical deep-dives or contentious debate might find the episode too narrative-focused.

As heard by us

Hospitality leadership, startup judgment, and AI are filtered through one long operating career.

David Millili's arc through hospitality gives the conversation its center, while the discussion broadens into board work, startup advising, and podcasting.

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Why you'd press play

A calm, practical conversation that starts with a union busboy job at the downtown Hyatt in Pittsburgh and widens into AI, founders, and hotel operations.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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