Lynn Fischer is Chief Marketing Officer at XO, a company that is revolutionizing the private aviation industry through the use of data intelligence.
They work in Europe, the US and Middle East and offer passengers the ability to purchase individual seats on a growing number of regularly scheduled and crowdsourced flights.
Before joining XO, she was CMO at Newlab, a technology innovation hub, head of marketing at Lyft Bikes and Scooters, and held leadership positions at premier agencies and brands such as WPP, Time Inc., and CBS Interactive.
Tell us a bit about yourself, background and your current role:
I have worked in marketing for over two decades, however, my entry into the industry was not conventional. I studied finance and economics at New York University (NYU) and this is what spurred desire to pursue a career in marketing.
Economics is fundamentally about understanding the relationship between supply and demand and the behaviours which influence both. My career working at brands such as CitiBike, Lyft and NewLab has been an extension of my passion for economics, and understanding how best you can market products, ideas and services that create demand and retention among customers.
Throughout my career I have specialised in working at companies focused on mobility. I’ve always had an interest in working with brands that are transforming the mobility space, and this is what first attracted me to XO. My father is a retired pilot and my sibling is a commercial pilot. Coming from a family of aviators, moving to a company dedicated to transforming the private aviation industry really piqued my interest.
I have been at XO for close to two years and love waking up every day to collaborate with people who are looking for innovative ways to make air travel more efficient, accessible, and transparent. At XO, consumers can book an entire private jet, as well as individual seats, and access 2,400 private jets at a tap of a button, in 10 seconds or less.
As Chief Marketing Officer, I have the pleasure of working with the product team, engineering team and others to effectively communicate the innovative ways we are deploying technology and AI to make the private aviation market more accessible and transparent than ever before.
Have you faced any challenges along the way?
Everyone faces challenges in their career. However, I believe that one of the biggest challenges marketeers like me face every day is understanding the courage to abandon multiple great ideas to meet one big goal. As Steve Jobs said; “People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things.”
What has been your biggest achievement to date?
I’ve always been a strong advocate for women to have the opportunity to pursue their passions and grow as great leaders. My achievement has been the privilege of working with many amazing women who continue to inspire me through their insights, tenacity, and integrity.
What one thing do you believe has been a major factor in you achieving success?
Uncovering a personal passion as a part of a career choice was a significant factor for me. Working with an 1 organisation that strives to find efficiencies in how people travel while connecting back to my family’s vocation and my time studying to be a pilot, has been ideal for my personal growth and current role.
What is your next challenge and what are you hoping to achieve in the future?
My next biggest challenge, and what I am looking forward to the most is where we take XO next. I’m excited to see how we really look at air mobility more broadly and how we bring it to be more accessible to more people. I think what we are doing with the shared flight business, is super compelling. This will broaden our scope in offering our shared flights to more cities and people – one of our valuable growth plans over the next 5 years.
With growth must come environmental stewardship. Whenever XO customers book a flight through the XO mobile app or website, they can offset their impact by choosing to purchase certified carbon credits. We do the maths and compute offset costs, and our partner South Pole — one of the world’s leading providers of sustainability solutions — facilitates investments in certified climate action projects. Our sister company, VistaJet, has committed to carbon neutrality by 2025 which will serve as a blueprint for all Vista Global Holding (Vista) companies.
What would your advice be to women thinking of pursuing a career in your industry?
XO is both an aviation and technology brand and I’m a big proponent of women exploring careers not only in aviation but also in tech, where women are also underrepresented. It’s so important to go out and explore careers in tech, science, aviation and to speak with women already working within those spaces. Finding a mentor is also super helpful and allows women to genuinely start considering such paths as a career.
If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self what would it be?
My one piece of advice to my younger self and also women looking to get into the industry, is to always remain curious. You have to be curious about the product you’re selling, the consumers that are purchasing your products or services and strive to be the voice of the customer within your company. Curiosity and marketing go hand-in-hand.
