This Article is From Nov 26, 2014

Handling A Thief In Business Class

I was born and raised in Ireland. I graduated from university on a Saturday and took my first overseas flight the next day to New York City, where I was going to start a job as a commodities trader. I remember landing at JFK airport, getting off the plane, and walking through some sliding glass doors to get my first glimpse of America.

There was this weird deja vu moment like I had seen America before, but I think that was just due to all the American television I watched growing up, with shows like the "The A-Team," "Star Trek," "The Six Million Dollar Man," "Sesame Street" and "Beverly Hills 90210" shaping my perception of the United States. But I still couldn't believe how big the cars were.

Considering all the American TV I watched, I'm surprised that I still have an Irish accent. When I first started working in the USA, some of my colleagues had a hard time understanding me, especially when it came to numbers. I would yell out the number three, which when I say it, sounds like "tree," or the number five, which sounds like "foive." I always think I'm speaking in a neutral accent. Apparently I'm not.

I flew quite a bit for business while working as a trader, and now that I'm chief executive of Money.Net, I'm still flying all the time. I enjoy it, and I've found the confined nature of air travel isn't always negative since airport gates are one of the few places where people's use of computing is easily seen by strangers.

I was flying to Houston earlier this year just after we had launched Money.Net. While we were waiting by the gate, I noticed that Money.Net was running on a gentleman's laptop. This was my first sighting of our product randomly "in the wild," and it was that moment of airline-gate validation by a random stranger that confirmed to me that, even though we were a startup, we were on our way.

I'm a friendly person, and I would share my meal with you, if you asked. The key, though, is to ask. I was flying in business class from New York to London on a Sunday evening so I could make my early Monday morning meeting there. I was tired after working the entire week and weekend. Once on the plane, I got comfortable and fell asleep right before dinner service. My tray was down and I was served dinner. I woke up and saw my seatmate grab some of my meal. He had his own, but perhaps he wanted my vegetarian offering. He had already worked through a portion of it. There was still five hours to go into the flight, and I didn't want to create a scene.

Sometimes you have to choose your battles and not waste mental energy. Giving this guy a lesson in ethics wasn't going to achieve anything as he had already been on the receiving end of my glare and knew what he was doing was wrong and also a weird invasion of the small amount of personal space one has on a flight.

I called the flight attendant and informed him of the situation while making sure my new dining buddy could hear me clearly. I got a new meal and moved on with my life. The lesson I learned that day is that while taking a macro 30,000-feet-view can sometimes be helpful in business, you have to always stay alert and focused. But I also learned that even at 30,000 feet there is always someone trying to eat your lunch.

Q: How often do you fly for business?
A: Three times a month, mostly international.

Q: What's your least favorite airport?
A: Actually, I like almost all airports, but two or three years ago I flew into Helsinki Airport and waited for a ride at an uncovered taxi stand outside the airport. I have never been so cold in my entire life.

Q: Of all the places you've been, what's the best?
A: India. I've been there many times for business and for vacations, and I think the people, the culture and the architecture are incredible. It's all very timeless.

Q: What's your secret airport vice?
A: I do understand the need to eat healthy; however, when I'm in an airport I can't resist McDonald's French fries, Burger King Whoppers and Starbucks cappuccino. I call it my own personal happy meal.

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