lifestyle and culture

Natasha Zone, founder and CEO of onezone app, on harnessing the power of tech to create the ultimate curated lifestyle discovery app.
Natasha Zone, founder and CEO of onezone
What was the idea and catalyst behind building onezone?
The idea and catalyst behind onezone is rooted in the observation of existing luxury concierge services and recommendation/discovery platforms, which either target ultra-wealthy clients or are social media platforms lacking quality control and trust. This highlights a significant gap in the market for a digital hospitality marketplace that offers curated discovery for affluent individuals with high disposable income seeking out the best of hospitality in their city, who have no trusted brand or service available to them to do so. onezone fulfills the need of a trusted brand and reputable platform for this audience, as well as a new generation of digital-first consumers desiring to discover and book the best experiences. Additionally, onezone brings this valuable community, and new customers, to restaurants and hospitality brands who seek quality clientele that prioritise exceptional experiences.

What pillars of DNA define onezone as a brand?
The pillars of DNA that define onezone as a brand include:
1. Curation, our USP: onezone prioritises curation on both sides of its digital hospitality marketplace, establishing a trusted brand and consistent standards that provide value to both users/ consumers and hospitality brands/businesses.
2. Community and Brand Value: The curated element of the brand fosters a valuable community on one side, and quality experiences on the other. This specialist curation is highlighted in our bespoke imagery, intentional organ- ic growth, real-time content and intuitive app/platform.
3. Diversity and Sustainability: onezone is committed to supporting female-founded, Black-owned and sus- tainable businesses, alongside community heroes and minorities; editorially on the app, consistently on social media and through our team in real life.
4. Industry Support: onezone actively contributes to the hospitality industry, as recognised by industry leaders, operators and owners. The development of new features – including private dining/events to drive more incremental revenue to our partners – demonstrates one- zone’s dedication to supporting the industry as a whole.
These pillars collectively reinforce onezone’s commitment to quality, trust, community and diversity in the digital hospitality space.

What sets onezone apart from other city guide apps in the market?
onezone distinguishes itself from other apps in several significant ways:
1. Curated Discovery: Unlike many social discovery apps that rely on influencers and friends for content, leading to unreliable and outdated information, onezone focuses on curated content. This approach ensures that users receive valuable, trustworthy and real-time recommendations as soon as they open the app.
2. Content Quality and Relevance: onezone offers bespoke content that is relevant to our specific audience/community and vetted for quality. This level of curation enhances user trust and satisfac- tion, setting us apart from com- petitors that may not prioritise these aspects.
3. Comprehensive Aggregation: onezone integrates discovery, booking and social features into a single platform. By curating across all verticals and price points, and integrating seamlessly with all traditional reservation softwares, onezone provides a unique holistic experience that allows users to discover, plan, book and trust the outcome, all in one.
4. Trustworthy Brand Alignment: onezone builds a brand that resonates with users, positioning itself as a trusted service in the crowded app/discovery market. This alignment fosters a loyal user base that seeks a reliable and comprehensive solution for city discovery/exploration.
5. Addressing Distrust in Existing Platforms: Traditional discovery platforms often rely heavily on user reviews, which can lead to distrust due to the potential for negative bias. New-age discovery platforms often deliver hype and viral moments rather than authentic recommendations and trustworthy reviews. onezone’s curated approach mitigates these issues, offering a more enjoyable and reliable user experience.
Overall, onezone’s emphasis on curated, high-quality content, along with its comprehensive features, makes it a unique and valuable tool for discovering and booking.

How do you continuously refine the user journey experience and manage user retention?
We’re obsessed with feedback. We see how users move through the app, where they drop off, what they save, and where they click out. Then we iterate and refine. We use hot tip hacks, curated content drops, industry insights and smart notifications to keep people coming back. We also run surveys, ask questions and trial quickly/adapt swiftly, until we get it right. Ultimately, people return because they trust us, and we work hard to earn that trust. onezone has the finger on the pulse on the coolest city hot spots.

What does it take to curate each city?
Curating the world requires a curated team with a unique set of skills:
1. Deep Hospitality Knowledge/Expertise: Our team possesses extensive knowledge of the hospitality industry, enabling us to identify and evaluate the best places that align with our vision for onezone.
2. Understanding of Audience Needs: We have a keen understanding of what our audience, community and users desire – be it the latest brands, culinary trends, ambiance or service standards. This insight helps us curate experiences and a platform that truly resonates with our users.
3. Unmatched Work Ethic: Our team is committed to excellence; willing to rise at any time to capture the best content for the app; spending hours with our partners/industry operators to listen and understand their challenges; and constantly revising, adapting and improving to create the best product and service for our users.
This dedication reflects our desire to curate the best platform for both users and partner brands, always striving to do our utmost and whatever it takes.
How many people are in your team now and did you start out alone?
I began this journey as a solo founder, with past experience making me aware that co-founders can sometimes introduce strife and turmoil in a business. Over the past three years, I have carefully built a lean team of five experts. Each team member has ownership of their respective department, allowing us to fill each other’s blind spots, and be accountable to one another, for our combined success. We passionately support each other, operate at a high level and continuously challenge each other to improve and aspire to be better. This collaborative spirit is instrumental to our growth and success.

As a tech entrepreneur, what would you advise for those looking to follow the same path and those who are starting out?
∙ Be grateful and stay humble – not everyone has the opportunity to do something extraordinary.
∙ Prepare yourself to sacrifice the “normal” – if you see this as your life, you’ll do good. If it’s a job, if it’s “work”, you probably won’t.
∙ Be obsessed with your industry. I live and breathe hospitality. Be outrageously persistent, knock down every door, and always find another way forwards.
∙ Stay scrappy, pivot quickly and make decisions; there is no right or wrong. Be careful who you take advice from and be extra careful who you take money from.
∙ Find your team – they will make every day better.
∙ Ultimately surrender. Do everything you can and then believe it will be.
What were the challenges you overcame and how did you tackle this?
Being a female founder in the tech industry can be particularly challenging. Female founders often face disparities in securing funding and high valuations as males tend to favour male-led startups, leading to a significant gender gap in investment opportunities, from both angels and venture capitalists. Gender biases can also lead to stereotypes that undermine the credibility of female founders. This can affect how our ideas are received, how seriously we are taken in male-dominated environments, and it can be harder for us to establish connections, mentors and networks. Our company ethos does not allow bias and stereotypes to prevent progress. We have strengthened our business with an advisory board and strategic investors who share their expertise and experience to advance onezone’s mission.
This is The Discovery Issue – what has been a recent game changing discovery?
We see a unique opportunity to develop an AI product based on our curated dataset. In an industry where artificial intelligence has struggled to deliver expert recommendations due to a reliance on broad data scraping, onezone can leverage its specific, high-quality, curated content to provide meaningful insights and recommendations that truly resonate with our users. This discovery enhances our value proposition and positions us for future growth and innovation in the hospitality sector.
Another exciting discovery has been the recent realisation that our platform is actively driving consumer trends. More users are exploring new places thanks to our app, which highlights incredible spots in their vicinity. We’ve received feedback from self-proclaimed foodies who initially downloaded the app skeptically, only to find themselves pleasantly surprised by the number of exciting restaurants they had never known existed nearby. Additionally, we’ve discovered that the next generation of consumers lacks a centralised, curated source for private dining rooms and event spaces. By building a trusted brand, onezone has the opportunity to fill this gap in the market, meeting the needs of both our users and partners. This emphasises the value of building a two-sided curated hospitality marketplace.
“Curating the world requires a curated team with a unique set of skills”
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