The “upside-down hotel” tackling the hidden cost of loneliness | Veerle Donders on Winning Friends

Most companies track budgets and KPIs, but they rarely track loneliness. Yet it’s one of the biggest reasons international work assignments fail.Veerle Donders, Director of Concept & Brand at Zoku, has spent nearly a decade trying to fix that. Together with the Zoku team, she helped build the “upside-down hotel”: a home-office hybrid designed to make business travel human again. Based on 150 interviews, seven prototypes, and countless small design decisions, Zoku flips the traditional hotel model by putting community front and centre.In this episode, Veerle shares:💸 how loneliness became a billion-dollar problem hiding in plain sight🏠 why Zoku redesigned the hotel around human connection🧠 what 150 interviews taught them about what people truly need🪜 how design cues and rituals make belonging feel effortless🌍 why community is becoming a competitive advantage in global businessListen and share with your friends today!Winning Friends is powered by e-Residency of Estonia, where founders around the world launch, run, and scale companies 100% digitally.