OVER DEZE AFLEVERING
Almost 13 years ago, Tom Ormerod walked away from a lucrative 20-year real estate career after a blunt intervention forced him to admit he was miserable. In this episode of Bold Ideas, host Marianne Marchesi sits down with the serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Luxico and Staylonger.
Alongside his wife Alex, Tom pioneered Australia's first "home hotel" concept with Luxico - giving VIPs, families, and affluent travellers 24/7 concierge support and high-end local experiences. We dive into the chaos behind his hospitality empire, including how it became the unscripted Binge reality show Billion Dollar Playground. Tom shares the logistics of intense people management, handling demanding high-net-worth guests, and how reality TV propelled his team to global stardom.
He also unpacks his latest venture, Staylonger, a flexible mid-term accommodation platform built to bridge the gap between Airbnb and traditional real estate - and how he's navigated tough capital raises with a former Airbnb chief as chairman.
If you're sitting on a business concept but feel frozen by the barriers to entry, this is an essential guide to leveraging digital tools, ignoring naysayers, and testing your market fast.
In this episode, we discuss:
- The real estate intervention that ended Tom's corporate career
- Spotting the home hotel gap after bizarre key-hunting experiences
- Building a premium Sorrento network of celebrities and Grand Prix drivers
- Behind Billion Dollar Playground: filming, pressure, and overnight stardom
- How Staylonger maximises homeowner yields in the 30-day-plus market
- Warm capital raising: relationships, MVP proof, and advisory networks
- Building a rejection muscle and mining gold from investor "no"s
- Going international via BBC success into Ibiza and London
- Using tools like Replit to spin up MVPs before spending big
- Avoiding founder traps like personal guarantees on leases
Follow Luxico on Instagram at @luxico or www.luxico.com.au
To get in touch, contact us via Instagram @boldideas_au
This episode is brought to you by Legalite, where bold ideas thrive. Visit www.legalite.com.au to find out how we can help you.
