Tao Tao
InvestorUnicorn founderCo-founder at Getyourguide
Berlin, Germany
Writes $5K – $50K checks · typically $25K
FoundedGetyourguide$2B
About
Born in Beijing in January 1985, Tao Tao moved to Berlin at six, later lived around Berlin and Munich, and met future co-founder Johannes Reck during a scholarship year at Woodberry Forest School in Virginia. After physics study at ETH Zurich, an economics BSc at Tilburg and a Peking University exchange, he helped turn a poorly performing student peer-to-peer guide project into GetYourGuide's commission marketplace for professional experience operators. Tao has remained the operating co-founder: his public remit has spanned supply, business development, sales, customer service, content, localization, site merchandising, consumer experience and go-to-market strategy. He helped the company expand internationally, protected refunds and supplier relationships during the near-zero-booking pandemic shock, and personally relocated to New York from 2023 to 2025 to reinforce US expansion. His public operating themes include customer-led learning, authentic high-performance culture, global marketplace liquidity, supplier technology, AI-assisted localization and curation, travel as cultural connection, European tourism dispersal and a more strategic German skilled-migration policy. Separately from GetYourGuide's institutional backers, named announcements document personal angel participation in Passionfroot, Oaks, Arbio and Mercura; no personal exit or authoritative check-size mandate is public.
Invests in
AI & Machine LearningCreator EconomyEnterprise SoftwareFuture of WorkMarketplacesTravel & Hospitality
Co-founder at Getyourguide
Intro paths
In turn, Tao can intro founders to Getyourguide's investors below.
Getyourguide's investors · 9
Co-founders at Getyourguide
Experience
- GetYourGuideCo-Founder & COOcurrent2009 — present
- SiemensIntern2007Shanghai, China
Skills & more
+12 more
Business StrategyManagement ConsultingWeb DevelopmentSocial MediaDigital MarketingOnline AdvertisingOnline MarketingBusiness DevelopmentStrategyNegotiationSalesforce.comGoogle AnalyticsLanguages Chinese · English · French · German
From Tao's professional profile.
Investments
Board seats
GetYourGuide Deutschland GmbH
Investor
Per curated public sources.
Founder fit — who Tao backs
Likely strongest for an early founder with a specific operational problem in a fragmented real-world market, credible customer evidence, international ambition and a reason to seek Tao's marketplace, supply, customer-service or cross-cultural scaling advice. Public mentoring activity also indicates interest in immigrant and young founders, but it is not an investment mandate.
['late-stage-only capital requests', 'pitches without customer research', "requests that confuse GetYourGuide's investors with Tao's money", 'claims based on same-name profiles without GetYourGuide linkage', 'assumed check size or guaranteed introductions']
How to pitch
Lead with the user or supplier pain, proof of demand, the repeatable acquisition or workflow loop, international implications and the exact operating question where Tao can help. Confirm current investing activity, vehicle, stage and check directly. Directory claims of $5,000-$50,000 checks are not treated as his stated mandate.
Stages: pre-seed, seed, select Series A follow-on · Sectors: Travel and hospitality technology, Marketplaces, Creator economy, Enterprise software, Artificial intelligence, Future of work and employee support, Property operations
Editorial inference from Tao's portfolio, writing and public record — not a published mandate.
Investment themes
7 documented themes from Tao's essays, talks and portfolio, grouped by what they say about founders.
▶More themes7
Infinite learning, customer evidence and first-principles strategy
Authentic, transparent, high-performance culture
Global marketplace liquidity, supplier quality and operational clarity
Fast, locally empowered crisis response with customer refunds and supplier support
AI-assisted translation, service, curation and supplier growth
Travel as guided cultural connection and local economic opportunity
Skilled migration, European tourism competitiveness and transparent digital markets
Podcasts & interviews
featuring Tao TaoThe lessons GetYourGuide learnt along the way to becoming a marketplace
webintravel.com · webintravel.com
Ask Me Anything: Tao Tao, Co-Founder and COO at GetYourGuide
tourpreneur.com · tourpreneur.com
Corona trifft GetYourGuide hart: 2020 existiert für uns nicht
wiwo.de · wiwo.de
Tao of GetYourGuide on Building a $2B Travel Giant
betweentwocoos.com · betweentwocoos.com
Tao Tao On Building A $2 Billion Business
alejandrocremades.com · alejandrocremades.com
GetYourGuide's Evolving Approach to Curating an Experience Marketplace
tourpreneur.com · tourpreneur.com
Writing
1 more post
Network2
Investors connected to Tao in public investor directories — a warm-intro map.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Tao Tao do at GetYourGuide?
- He is co-founder and COO. His documented remit covers go-to-market, supply acquisition and quality, customer service, consumer experience, content, localization, merchandising and tools for experience providers.
- Who founded GetYourGuide?
- Current company pages name Tao Tao, Johannes Reck, Martin Sieber and Tobias Rein. Contemporary reporting and first-person accounts identify Pascal Mathis as a fifth early co-founder and COO; the reason current pages omit him is not public.
- Did Tao Tao earn a physics degree from ETH Zurich?
- The sources conflict. GetYourGuide's official bio says yes, but Tao explicitly said in an interview that he did not finish physics, and his current professional profile says 'no degree.' This dossier treats ETH as non-degree physics study.
- How did GetYourGuide's business model emerge?
- The student peer-to-peer guide marketplace produced only a few mostly family bookings. An unsolicited professional Swiss activity operator exposed a larger market, leading the team to rebuild for professional suppliers and charge commission on completed bookings.
- What was Tao Tao's role during COVID-19?
- He publicly led operating communication around flexible cancellations, refunds, supplier support, local-team autonomy, cash preservation and recovery readiness. The company used pay cuts, salary-for-options exchanges and reduced-hours support while avoiding a large 2020 layoff.
- Why did Tao Tao move to New York?
- He relocated in late 2023 to signal commitment and connect Berlin leadership with local teams as GetYourGuide doubled down on its top market. He returned to Berlin in September 2025 after US inventory more than doubled and local leadership was established.
- Does Tao Tao invest personally?
- Yes, but the public record is limited. Named evidence supports Passionfroot, Oaks, Arbio and Mercura. GetYourGuide's institutional investors and lenders are not his personal portfolio.
- What check size does Tao Tao invest?
- No authoritative self-stated range was found. Investor directories copy a $5,000-$50,000 claim, but it is not used as his mandate; founders should confirm stage, vehicle and check directly.
- What are Tao Tao's main public-policy views?
- He supports skilled migration, faster visas, less bureaucracy, education mobility and targeted talent incentives in Germany; tourism dispersal and rail investment in Europe; and transparent market access as AI changes digital discovery.
- What public personal background is verified?
- Tao was born in Beijing in January 1985, moved to Germany at six, grew up around Berlin and Munich, attended school in Virginia and is married. He speaks at least Chinese, German and English fluently; exact French proficiency, spouse identity and children remain private or conflicting.
- Who is Tao Tao?
- Born in Beijing in January 1985, Tao Tao moved to Berlin at six, later lived around Berlin and Munich, and met future co-founder Johannes Reck during a scholarship year at Woodberry Forest School in Virginia. After physics study at ETH Zurich, an economics BSc at Tilburg and a Peking University exchange, he helped turn a poorly performing student peer-to-peer guide project into GetYourGuide's commission marketplace for professional experience operators. Tao has remained the operating co-founder: his public remit has spanned supply, business development, sales, customer service, content, localization, site merchandising, consumer experience and go-to-market strategy. He helped the company expand internationally, protected refunds and supplier relationships during the near-zero-booking pandemic shock, and personally relocated to New York from 2023 to 2025 to reinforce US expansion. His public operating themes include customer-led learning, authentic high-performance culture, global marketplace liquidity, supplier technology, AI-assisted localization and curation, travel as cultural connection, European tourism dispersal and a more strategic German skilled-migration policy. Separately from GetYourGuide's institutional backers, named announcements document personal angel participation in Passionfroot, Oaks, Arbio and Mercura; no personal exit or authoritative check-size mandate is public.
- Where does Tao Tao work?
- Tao Tao is Co-founder of Getyourguide.
- What does Tao Tao invest in?
- Tao Tao invests in AI & Machine Learning, Creator Economy, Enterprise Software, Future of Work, Marketplaces, Travel & Hospitality.
- What check size does Tao Tao write?
- Tao Tao typically writes checks of $5K – $50K.
Same school
Also attended Tilburg University73
+ 67 more
Also attended Peking University143
+ 137 more
Also attended ETH Zürich225
+ 219 more
Also attended Woodberry Forest School10
+ 4 more
Shared employers
Also worked at GetYourGuide19
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+ 13 more
Also worked at Siemens209
+ 203 more