How can big companies come up with fresh ideas? As organisations grow larger they inevitably become tangled in bureaucracy, procedures and hierarchies which often err on the conservative, safe side. While this creates stability, in the fast-paced world of technology this can also lead to a lack of innovation which can be fatal – particularly given the digitally disrupted environment in which we now live. Travel technology specialist Travelport is tackling this problem head-on with an in-house “incubator” which aims to capture new ideas from both inside and outside the company, nurturing them into life, with the potential to create the next Uber or Airbnb.
Within Travelport this process is being overseen by Jason Nash, the company’s Global Vice President of Marketing and Product Incubation. Recently in Australia, Nash spoke to travelBulletin about Travelport Labs, which follows a mantra of “ideation, acceleration and incubation”. The organisation operates a series of four-month long classes in so-called Lean Startup techniques – new business models which encourage agile development and fast product testing and evaluation, with the aim of quickly working out and implementing new solutions – or perhaps quickly rejecting ideas that look good initially but don’t pan out in a practical sense.
Initially available to internal Travelport staff, the program has now expanded to include the option for outside entrepreneurs to participate, with the company helping to fund their ideas in return for a small stake in their businesses. “These really are startups at the beginning of a journey,” Nash said, with Travelport providing up to $45,000 per enterprise to help out. Once they join the class, participants are able to tap into a range of experts in areas such as design, wire-frame development, product evaluation, marketing and software – and the four month class period culminates in a Demo Day where they present to senior Travelport staff as well as venture capitalists who may potentially fund further commercialisation of the ideas.
“The program aims to give us access to bright young things with bright ideas,” Nash said. “Often large businesses lose their best people because they are frustrated entrepreneurs – or ‘intrapreneurs’. Travelport Labs allows us to explore ideas that would probably get killed off in the centre. We’re looking for disruption; we want to identify big ideas,” he added. Those within the company who enrol in the program are expected to have 60% of their time freed up to work on their ideas, so they don’t completely lose touch with their day-to-day activities.
Interestingly, Travelport doesn’t insist that participants utilise its technology, although it’s most likely that solutions developed are in the travel space, and those in the class are certainly exposed to Travelport solutions. One of the participants in a recent class is a business called ‘Unboundly’ comprising three founders who noticed while they were travelling as students that it was possible to significantly reduce the cost of their flights by accessing low cost carriers. Unboundly bundles up LCC content to produce fares up to 50% cheaper than US-based OTAs.
Another solution being developed within Travelport’s incubation program is a system to help airlines with unforeseen schedule changes. Addressing the current extremely manual process involving the issue of paper vouchers for meals and accommodation to disrupted passengers, the ‘Travelcare’ project has already produced a prototype solution, described as a ‘minimally viable product’ which initially targets just the crew, with the aim of further development into a full-blown answer.
And it’s not just new products – Travelport’s long-standing Viewtrip system is also being subjected to the lean startup regime. Agile techniques are now seeing the Viewtrip platform revamped, with new releases every two weeks and a significantly more consumer-focused solution.
Travelport is looking for the next big idea, with applications for upcoming classes currently being solicited on the Travelport Labs website at travelport.com/labs.
