62. THE TEAM
MeghGautam Al Hassan Hleileh
MS&E MS MBA 2
BTech in IT MA in POL
PICTURE PICTURE ECON SOC H
Hung Le ElikaMahdavi
MS&E MS MS&E MS
BS in EE/CS BS in Indus.Eng.
PICTURE PICTURE
63. TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Overview of our idea evolution
2. Our journey from week 1 to week 8
3. Current Idea
Archetype
Product vision
Partner
Channel & Demand Creation
Competitive Landscape
Market Sizing
4. Lesson learned and what next
64. IDEA EVOLUTION THROUGH PIVOT
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Travel Social Ex-pat Safe Travel inspiration - Nudge to enrich life
booking travel travel travel Social platform that
portal for planning portal to portal for nudges people to
Middle Middle US inspire and enrich
Easterns East travelers their life
to M.E.
Focus Competition Market size Market Scalability
Customer Customer size Market size
Insights Insights Research
65. Interviews: 20
1
Travel
booking
portal for
Middle
Easterns
66. WEEK 1 – MAKE MY DREAM
Week 1
New
Remain
Remove
Middle East focused Travel booking portal
Hotels Middle East focused platform price
Product Development Lowest Trusted relationships Young and the affluent
Airlines A/B testing Best inventory Successful partnerships High disposable incomes
Events (Festivals) Relationship with Convenient Brand awareness/ Willing to explore
Offer a booking platform with group discounts and flash-sales
Car rentals
Promotion companies
hotels; airlines; car
rentals
Experiential UI
Social Validation
identification
Pilots Young and single
Deal listings Sourcing deals Create a Community Cross pollination Divergent origins
State Tourism Acquisition, retain Multiple options Events (Parties!) Social media savvy
Ramp up strategy through social conversations
Travel agents customers Best Actionable deals
Conventions (CES) Relevant locations Young couples
Business Schools Trendsetting behavior
Preserve memories of travel through photo sharingand quotes
(Study groups)
Young families
Best education for kids
Cultural experience
Web and mail Trendy destinations
Advertising
Market understanding Social Media
Best in class product Word of Mouth
Relationship with Referrals
partners Customer call centers
Human Capital Magazines
Human Capital Percentage of booking costs
Product Development Percentage of hotel/package (s)
Advertising costs Advertising revenues
Maintaining relationships Event of the month
Refunds Exclusive partnership with events
67. WEEK 1 – MAKE MY DREAM
Week 1
New
Remain
Remove
Hotels Product Development Lowest price Trusted relationships Young and the affluent
Airlines A/B testing Best inventory Successful partnerships High disposable incomes
Events (Festivals) Relationship with Convenient Brand awareness/ Willing to explore
Car rentals hotels; airlines; car Experiential UI identification
Promotion companies rentals Social Validation Pilots Young and single
Deal listings Sourcing deals Create a Community Cross pollination Divergent origins
State Tourism Acquisition, retain Multiple options Events (Parties!) Social media savvy
Travel agents customers Best Actionable deals
Conventions (CES) Relevant locations Young couples
Business Schools Trendsetting behavior
(Study groups)
Young families
Best education for kids
Cultural experience
Web and mail Trendy destinations
Advertising
Market understanding Social Media
Best in class product Word of Mouth
Relationship with Referrals
partners Customer call centers
Human Capital Magazines
Human Capital Percentage of booking costs
Product Development Percentage of hotel/package (s)
Advertising costs Advertising revenues
Maintaining relationships Event of the month
Refunds Exclusive partnership with events
68. WEEK 1 – MAKE MY DREAM
Week 1
New
Remain
Remove
Hotels Product Development Lowest price Trusted relationships Young and the affluent
Airlines A/B testing Best inventory Successful partnerships High disposable incomes
Events (Festivals) Relationship with Convenient Brand awareness/ Willing to explore
Car rentals hotels; airlines; car Experiential UI identification
Promotion companies rentals Social Validation Pilots Young and single
Deal listings Sourcing deals Create a Community Cross pollination Divergent origins
State Tourism Acquisition, retain Multiple options Events (Parties!) Social media savvy
Travel agents customers Best Actionable deals
Conventions (CES) Relevant locations Young couples
Business Schools Trendsetting behavior
(Study groups)
Young families
Best education for kids
Cultural experience
Lack of focus in value propositions
Web and mail Trendy destinations
Advertising
Market understanding Social Media
Too broad a platform
Best in class product Word of Mouth
Relationship with Referrals
partners Customer call centers
Too many value propositions
Human Capital Magazines
Human Capital Percentage of booking costs
Product Development Percentage of hotel/package (s)
Advertising costs Advertising revenues
Maintaining relationships Event of the month
Refunds Exclusive partnership with events
69. WEEK 1 – MAKE MY DREAM
Week 1
New
Remain
Remove
Hotels Product Development Lowest price Trusted relationships Young and the affluent
Airlines A/B testing Best inventory Successful partnerships High disposable incomes
Events (Festivals) Relationship with Convenient Brand awareness/ Willing to explore
Car rentals hotels; airlines; car Experiential UI identification
Promotion companies rentals Social Validation Pilots Young and single
Deal listings Sourcing deals Create a Community Cross pollination Divergent origins
State Tourism Acquisition, retain Multiple options Events (Parties!) Social media savvy
Travel agents
Conventions (CES)
customers Market sizing problem
Best Actionable deals
Relevant locations Young couples
Business Schools Trendsetting behavior
(Study groups) The method we used was a top-down
approach Young families
Best education for kids
Cultural experience
We didn’t use net numbers (gross)
Web and mail Trendy destinations
Advertising
Market understanding Social Media
Best in class product
Relationship with The lesson here is that if we were to do it
Word of Mouth
Referrals
partners again we would use bottom up / net figures
Customer call centers
Human Capital Magazines
Human Capital Percentage of booking costs
Product Development Percentage of hotel/package (s)
Advertising costs Advertising revenues
Maintaining relationships Event of the month
Refunds Exclusive partnership with events
70. WEEK 1 – MAKE MY DREAM
Week 1
New
Remain
Remove
Lack of focus in
customer segments
Hotels Product Development Lowest price Trusted relationships Young and the affluent
Airlines A/B testing Best inventory Successful partnerships High disposable incomes
Events (Festivals) Relationship with We were not focused on a
Convenient Brand awareness/ Willing to explore
Car rentals hotels; airlines; car specific customer segment
Experiential UI identification
Promotion companies rentals Social Validation Pilots Young and single
Deal listings Sourcing deals – too broad.
Create a Community Cross pollination Divergent origins
State Tourism Acquisition, retain Multiple options Events (Parties!) Social media savvy
Travel agents customers Best Actionable deals
Conventions (CES) Our interview base was
Relevant locations Young couples
Business Schools Trendsetting behavior
(Study groups) biased towards our network
– needed a better sample. Young families
Best education for kids
Cultural experience
Web and mail Trendy destinations
Advertising
Market understanding Social Media
Best in class product Word of Mouth
Relationship with Referrals
partners Customer call centers
Human Capital Magazines
Human Capital Percentage of booking costs
Product Development Percentage of hotel/package (s)
Advertising costs Advertising revenues
Maintaining relationships Event of the month
Refunds Exclusive partnership with events
71. WEEK 1 – MAKE MY DREAM
Week 1
New
Remain
Remove
Hotels Product Development Lowest price Trusted relationships Young and the affluent
Airlines A/B testing Best inventory Successful partnerships High disposable incomes
Key learning
Events (Festivals) Relationship with Convenient Brand awareness/ Willing to explore
Car rentals hotels; airlines; car Experiential UI identification
Promotion companies rentals Social Validation Pilots Young and single
Focus is crucial – be it in your value proposition or in your customer
Deal listings
State Tourism
Sourcing deals
Acquisition, retain
Create a Community
Multiple options
Cross pollination
Events (Parties!)
Divergent origins
Social media savvy
segmentation
Travel agents customers Best Actionable deals
Conventions (CES) Relevant locations Young couples
Business Schools Trendsetting behavior
Market sizing – Use bottom up whenever possible
(Study groups)
Young families
Best education for kids
Get out of the building – in spirit and in action. Avoid bias Cultural experience
Trendy destinations
Web and mail
Advertising
Market understanding Social Media
Best in class product Word of Mouth
Relationship with Referrals
partners Customer call centers
Human Capital Magazines
Human Capital Percentage of booking costs
Product Development Percentage of hotel/package (s)
Advertising costs Advertising revenues
Maintaining relationships Event of the month
Refunds Exclusive partnership with events
72. Interviews: 20
1 2
Travel Social
booking travel
portal for planning
Middle
Easterns
Customer
focus
73. WEEK 2 – SOCIAL TRIP PLANNING
Week 2
New
Remain
Remove
Pivot to social travel planning for group traveling
Social Networks Through Acquisition
Customer our mentors, we really dug into our customers insights
Easy and pleasurable Trusted relationships Young and the affluent
Travel Publications Customer Retention trip planning Successful partnerships High disposable incomes
Product Dev Best inventory Events (Parties!) Willing to explore
Hotels They were telling us that they didn’t just want to go to the
Relationship with key
Business Schools partners Convenient Brand awareness/ Young and single
Travel agents
middle east
Sourcing deals Experiential UI identification Divergent origins
Airlines Lowest price Pilots Social media savvy
Events Multiple options Cross pollination
Deal listings They wanted a seamless, social and enjoyable travel
Best Actionable deals Young couples
Car rentals
experience from A-Z Relevant locations
Create a Community
Trendsetting behavior
Promotion companies Social Validation Young families
State Tourism
Conventions (CES)
We pivoted to The Middle Easts travel booking portal with a Best education for kids
Cultural experience
ramp up focused on influential who want easy and
Word of Mouth Trendy destinations
Social Media
Market understandingtrip planning
pleasurable
Human Capital Web and mail
Relationship with Advertising
partners Referrals
Customer call centers
Best in class product Magazines
Human Capital Percentage of booking costs
Product Development
Advertising costs Percentage of hotel/package (s)
Maintaining relationships Advertising revenues
Refunds Event of the month
Exclusive partnership with events
74. WEEK 2 – SOCIAL TRIP PLANNING
Week 2
New
Remain
Remove
Social Networks Customer Acquisition Easy and pleasurable Trusted relationships Young and the affluent
Travel Publications Customer Retention trip planning Successful partnerships High disposable incomes
Product Dev Best inventory Events (Parties!) Willing to explore
Hotels Relationship with key
Business Schools partners Convenient Brand awareness/ Young and single
Travel agents Sourcing deals Experiential UI identification Divergent origins
Airlines Lowest price Pilots Social media savvy
Events Multiple options Cross pollination
Deal listings Best Actionable deals Young couples
Relevant locations Trendsetting behavior
Car rentals Create a Community
Promotion companies Social Validation Young families
State Tourism Best education for kids
Conventions (CES) Cultural experience
Word of Mouth Trendy destinations
Social Media
Market understanding
Human Capital Web and mail
Relationship with Advertising
partners Referrals
Customer call centers
Best in class product Magazines
Human Capital Percentage of booking costs
Product Development
Advertising costs Percentage of hotel/package (s)
Maintaining relationships Advertising revenues
Refunds Event of the month
Exclusive partnership with events
75. WEEK 2 – SOCIAL TRIP PLANNING
Week 2
New
Remain
Remove
Social Networks Customer Acquisition Easy and pleasurable Trusted relationships Young and the affluent
Travel Publications Customer Retention trip planning Successful partnerships High disposable incomes
Product Dev Best inventory Events (Parties!) Willing to explore
Hotels Relationship with key
Business Schools partners Convenient Brand awareness/ Young and single
Travel agents Sourcing deals Experiential UI identification Divergent origins
Airlines Lowest price Pilots Social media savvy
Events Multiple options Cross pollination
Deal listings Best Actionable deals Young couples
Relevant locations Trendsetting behavior
Car rentals Create a Community
Promotion companies Social Validation Young families
State Tourism Best education for kids
Conventions (CES) Cultural experience
Trendy destinations
Word of Mouth
Social Media
Market understanding
Human Capital Web and mail
Relationship with Advertising
partners Referrals
Customer call centers
Best in class product Magazines
Human Capital Percentage of booking costs
Product Development
Advertising costs Percentage of hotel/package (s)
Maintaining relationships Advertising revenues
Refunds Event of the month
Exclusive partnership with events
76. WEEK 2 – SOCIAL TRIP PLANNING
Week 2
New
Remain
Remove
Social Networks Customer Acquisition Easy and pleasurable Trusted relationships Young and the affluent
Travel Publications Customer Retention trip planning Successful partnerships High disposable incomes
What was the problem?
Product Dev Best inventory Events (Parties!) Willing to explore
Hotels Relationship with key
Business Schools partners Convenient Brand awareness/ Young and single
Travel agents Sourcing deals Experiential UI identification Divergent origins
Airlines
When research for potential partners, we learned of several existing
Lowest price Pilots Social media savvy
Events competitors with similar product Multiple options Cross pollination
Deal listings Best Actionable deals Young couples
Relevant locations Trendsetting behavior
Car rentals crowded Create a Community
Promotion companies Social Validation Young families
State Tourism Best education for kids
hypercompetitive
Conventions (CES) Cultural experience
Trendy destinations
Word of Mouth
Social Media
Market understanding
Human Capital Web and mail
Relationship with