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From dot.com to karaoke

Declan Curry | 11:06 UK time, Thursday, 20 November 2008

UPDATE: No karaoke. We're not allowed to put the words of the song up on the TV screen - and if you can't sing along at home, there's not much point in doing it. I think this is what they call a narrow escape.


Advance warning.

There may be singing ahead.

And it won't all be about moonlight or music. Or even love or romance.

It's Strictly Business.

Our guest today is . You'll remember her as one half of the most glamorous couple in e-commerce; co-founder (with previous Working Lunch guest ) of , the online travel company.

It was one of those businesses that caught the spirit of the times - made possible by technology, underpinned by our growing wealth, and driven by our growing long-hours culture of working hard and playing hard.

And - in media terms - it helped that the two of them together were impossibly glamorous.

Life has taken an unexpected turn for her since then.

Martha was in a car crash that came close to killing her. Recovery was long and painful.

But - to the great joy of everyone who admires her - she's back in business.

And that's where the singing comes in.

Because her new business is karaoke.

Thorough as ever, she spent six hours a day singing in Tokyo bars to research the market. So now she has high-class karaoke bars, and a .

We'll ask her where the idea came from. And with any luck we'll get a tune out of her that you can sing along to at home.

I'll lead the singing in the studio. And Naga will weep, silently, on the sofa.

Comments

  • Comment number 1.

    Since she's apparently so well known: When she's on the show ask her what she's doing to campaign against dispossession - repossessions and foreclosures, seizures, warrants - for the sake of people whose lives are being ground into powder thru no fault of their own.

    Actually, ask yourself what you're doing, DC.
    GC

  • Comment number 2.

    Personally I don’t see how high class and Karaoke bars go together so it will be interesting to see how this new venture gets on. As for her appearance on your show I was disappointed with the interview, in these troubled times it would have been good if you could have gone into a little more depth about how she is setting up this business, a bit more detail about how she is financing, how she is picking her locations and what she is doing about property (ownership/leasing?). I know she may well not want detailed information to be made public but it would be nice to have a little more meat on the bones, perhaps you could find more people who are just starting or have recently started new ventures and get them to give up a few more details, it would make a change from the economy and big business.

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