Making learning his superpower, lobbying Google for relief and thinking about the accelerated decoupling of the world – those are the things that have been keeping Tao Tao, Co-founder and COO of GetYourGuide, busy through Covid-19. In addition to saving the business he co-founded with three of his college classmates 10 years ago. Through that process, he’s proudest of the fact that they haven’t had to lay off any staff because “solidarity is a real thing”.

In this wide-ranging conversation, in which we also learnt his mother is his superhero, Tao Tao speaks about how his immigrant upbringing has fortified him for life, the lessons he’s learnt through Covid-19, what he would say to students if he were to give a commencement address and how Google must do the right and smart thing by the industry.