Episode #211: Elia Wallen — Building a $2B travel platform by serving SMBs

How a founder built a multi-billion dollar company in an overlooked market.
For operators deciding whether to chase hype markets or serve ignored customers.

Elia Wallen is the founder and CEO of Engine, a business travel platform that grew out of his earlier company Travelers Haven. What started as a corporate housing service expanded after customers repeatedly asked his team to book hotels for traveling workforces. Looking closer revealed a gap between consumer OTAs and enterprise travel management companies that left SMB travel largely unmanaged. In this episode, Elia explains how Engine built a $2B+ company by focusing on SMB customers, running high-touch outbound sales, and staying disciplined on capital while competitors raised and spent aggressively.

WHAT YOU’LL HEAR
– Why SMB travel was a large but ignored market between OTAs and enterprise TMCs
– How Engine built growth through outbound “smile and dial” sales to smaller businesses
– What broke when Engine expanded from hotels into flights and cars
– Why Elia turned down additional capital and avoided hiring a traditional CMO