Many stories in this edition revolve around the initial stages of growth and innovation, ranging from early-stage SaaS startups to how large incumbents are evolving. Discover insights that could spark ideas, drive conversations, or influence your next big decision. I hope you enjoy it, and as always, thanks for your attention. Theta sponsors this newsletter
Thank you to everyone who took a moment to fill out our brief survey to help me better understand who you are and make this newsletter more relevant and valuable. If you haven't had the chance to complete the 1-minute survey, please consider doing so. Your feedback is crucial, and I'm excited to share the results with you in the coming days. 0. The most clicked link in the previous newsletterThe most clicked link in Travel Tech Essentialist #137 was Amadeus’ top travel startups to watch for 2024. 1. GPTs at workAs you probably know, GPTs are custom versions of ChatGPT that can be tailored for very specific tasks. Lenny Rachitsky (Lenny’s Newsletter) shared 20 examples of how people are using GPTs today to make their workplaces more productive. Maybe you can get inspired by one of these ideas to create your own GPT. One of the examples is a GPT custom built to have conversations with your customer persona.
2. The impact of eDreams PrimeeDreams announced its April-December 2023 results (its fiscal year ends in March). As has been the norm since 2017, the company has placed a very strong focus in their communication on the growth of their Prime subscription program. The company now describes itself as no longer a traditional travel company but “a subscription business.” Since its launch in 2017, eDreams' Prime membership has grown impressively, reaching 5.4 million by the end of 2023. The company expects this number to rise to 7.25 million by March 2025.
The market has rewarded eDreams investors in the seven years since 2017, in which eDreams’ stock has appreciated by 120%, ahead of Bookings (+90%) and Expedia (13%). I’d think that a key reason for eDreams to develop a membership program is to reduce its reliance on high-cost customer acquisition channels. By shifting away from a transaction-based acquisition model, they aim to reposition themselves in a business with more loyal and recurring customer revenue, lower variable costs, and higher margins. However, the results do not reflect this dynamic. Variable costs (primarily marketing expenses) as a percentage of revenues, are at the higher end compared to other Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) and continue to climb, increasing from 59% in 2017 to 82% in 2022, and 73% in 2023. Adjusted EBITDA/Revenue has declined from 20% in 2014 to 12% in 2023.
3. Startups vs IncumbentsThis week, I came across these two observations which I thought were particularly insightful on a startup's race for distribution versus an incumbent's race for innovation, as well as the impact of internal dynamics between startups and established companies:
4. Five NDC Killer AppsOliver Ranson's The Airline App Economy discusses the potential of the New Distribution Capability (NDC) in air travel. He outlines five conceptual 'killer apps' that should exist to address current challenges and opportunities, with the goal of maximizing NDC's potential to transform how airlines and passengers interact:
5. How to build a world-class sales organizationLenny Rachitsky had a great conversation with Jason Lemkin, founder of SaaStr (the world’s largest community for B2B/SaaS founders) on how to build a great sales organization. Some key takeaways:
6. SaaS startups: Is your marketing site better than your product?Jason Lemkin believes it should. When it is, you’ll get more leads up and down the funnel without shipping any new features, fixing any bugs or getting engineers to work on any of it. Lemkin points out that a common pitfall for SaaS startups in the $1.5m-$10m ARR range is that their marketing sites often fail to evolve with their products. As products become richer and target markets broaden, outdated marketing sites can detract from the brand's perceived value. He stresses the importance of ensuring your marketing offering reflects the current state of your product and company. He offers practical advice for evaluating and improving your marketing site. Among them:
These are some of the questions that Lemkin raises, which your marketing site should answer first, before potential customers ever even see your product, in many cases.
7. Journeys of the top $1+ Billion foundersEndeavor researched the career pathways of 200 unicorn founders (100 in the US, 100 in emerging markets). Here are some of the key learnings:
8. KLM is using AI to reduce food wasteKLM is reducing onboard food waste using AI to accurately forecast passenger numbers and ensuring that the right amount of meals are prepared. The AI model, named TRAYS, developed with Kickstart AI, fine-tunes meal planning based on historical data and continuous updates up to 20 minutes before departure. A three-month analysis shows that 63% less food is wasted compared to catering for every booked passenger. KLM said that the largest improvement can be seen on intercontinental KLM flights from Schiphol, “where 2.5 fewer meals (1.3 kg) need to be thrown away per flight.” So, if 2.5 fewer meals represents, say, a 70% reduction in food waste, it means that approximately 3.57 meals were wasted per flight, and after AI, this number has been reduced to approximately 1.07 meals per flight? That’s a good % improvement, but I am maybe more impressed by how little waste there was before: 3.57 meals in a 250-350 passenger flight. KLM says that on an annual basis, this amounts to a saving of 111,000 kg in meals across all KLM flights that are catered from Schiphol. This would amount to around 213,461 fewer meals per year (using the 2.5 meals @1.3 kg). Assuming a cost of around $5 to $10 per meal for an airline (depending on the source, the range goes from $4 to $20+), this translates into annual savings of $1 million to $2 million for KLM. 9. Fundraising from seed investorsCreated by Alex Cohen, founder of Spendoso. Careful, this is intended for humor and not to be taken seriously. But, with almost 1 million views on X, it's striking a chord for many.
10. Funding and Deals
Are you fundraising?If you are a startup looking to raise a round (from pre-seed to Series D), I can help (for free). Travel Investor Network is a private platform where I recommend innovative travel startups to investors and innovators. If you’re interested, please start by completing this form. Travel Tech Essentialist Job BoardExplore the 1367 open positions on Travel Tech Essentialist’s curated Job Board and stay ahead of the curve by subscribing to job alerts. Some of the jobs on the board:
→ Join the Talent Network. Hiring companies sometimes ask me to help them find the best talent. If you want me to have you on my radar to introduce you to the right opportunities, join the new Talent Network (it takes 3 minutes). → If you're contemplating a career move, simply curious, or an HR professional seeking job insights, subscribe to my Travel Tech Jobs newsletter. If you like Travel Tech Essentialist, please consider sharing it with your friends or colleagues. If you’re not yet subscribed, you can do so here: And, as always, thanks for trusting me with your inbox. Mauricio Prieto
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jueves, 7 de marzo de 2024
Travel Tech Essentialist #138: Sprout
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