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| photography by Dan Sellers |
Pegasus solutions is a Dallas-based company specializing in providing technology and services to hotel and travel distributors. Chairman and CEO John Davis founded the company in 1989 at the urging of 16 of the world’s leading hotel and travel companies who wanted help lowering their reservation distribution costs. (It wasn’t his first entrepreneurial effort: Davis was also behind the mega-successful 800-FLOWERS floral service.) Pegasus’ technology has not only lowered costs for hoteliers but revolutionized the travel industry for customers. Their TravelWeb.com was the first site to offer real-time online hotel reservations for agents and Internet users. Today, they represent more than 60,000 hotels worldwide and power sites like Expedia and Orbitz.
Age: 54
Title/Company: Chairman and CEO/ Pegasus Solutions
Tenure: 18 years
What was your first job?
Sales Coordinator for 3M Company.
What was your worst job?
Shift work at a chemical plant.
If you couldn’t say “the people I work with,” what would you say is the best part of your job?
The challenge.
What’s the worst part?
Personnel issues.
| LIGHTNING ROUND CEOs are known for making quick decisions. We made it easy by limiting their options to two. Here are Davis’ picks: |
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On weekends, where would people find you?
Golf course or sporting event.
What book is currently on your nightstand?
Cross by James Patterson.
What’s your favorite TV show?
Boston Legal and 24.
What three Web sites do you visit most frequently?
USA Today Weather, Sportsline, Yahoo Finance.
What’s your most recent major purchase?
HD Theater Projector.
What’s your biggest regret?
None.
What do you consider to be your biggest weakness?
The ribeye at Al Biernat’s.
What’s the best advice anyone ever told you?
Be nice to everyone on your way up, ’cause you never know who you might meet on your way down.
