Sonder has found itself at the center of perhaps the hottest sector in the travel industry this year.Some might argue that the buzz around private accommodation has never really gone away since the emergence of Airbnb and other brands at the turn of this decade.But the evidence suggests that investors are taking a significant interest once more in hospitality brands generally (Exhibit A: OYO) and alternative accommodation platforms specifically.Sonder was one of those sites that emerged in the wake of Airbnb's trailblazing in 2012. Yet it's model, strategy and focus is very different, as CEO and co-founder Francis Davidson is keen to explain.The company is now in the so-called "unicorn club" following its $210 million funding round earlier year, so is naturally under the spotlight as it expands and evolves.Davidson joins us for the latest episode of How I Got Here.HIGH is a weekly show produced by PhocusWire and Mozio, aimed at getting the inside stories behind startups and innovation in travel and transportation.Other episodes: on PhocusWire and Mozio.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's been almost two years since fare-filing platform ATPCO bought Routehappy - a deal that not only secured Routehappy's position on the aviation map but also set about a major evolution of the 54-year-old buyer.Routehappy's rich content platform, essentially a mechanism to showcase features and amenities of aircraft and airlines at the booking phase for consumers, has spearheaded a wider shift to retailing and next-generation distribution for ATPCO.Routehappy CEO Robert Albert clearly created something that legacy platform ATPCO realized would be beneficial to its own future, working alongside its existing fare and data services.The story behind Routehappy is an important one for startups to understand, as a small but growing business had to forge relationships with huge companies and illustrate to the industry that it was a product worth using.Ex-Travelocity strategy exec Albert's story ranges from the usual dilemmas around making money, how to solve the problems it faced and, most recently, getting acquired.He joins us for episode ten of How I Got Here.HIGH is a weekly show produced by PhocusWire and Mozio, aimed at getting the inside stories behind startups and innovation in travel and transportation.Other episodes: on PhocusWire and Mozio.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's been almost two years since fare-filing platform ATPCO bought Routehappy - a deal that not only secured Routehappy's position on the aviation map but also set about a major evolution of the 54-year-old buyer.Routehappy's rich content platform, essentially a mechanism to showcase features and amenities of aircraft and airlines at the booking phase for consumers, has spearheaded a wider shift to retailing and next-generation distribution for ATPCO.Routehappy CEO Robert Albert clearly created something that legacy platform ATPCO realized would be beneficial to its own future, working alongside its existing fare and data services.The story behind Routehappy is an important one for startups to understand, as a small but growing business had to forge relationships with huge companies and illustrate to the industry that it was a product worth using.Ex-Travelocity strategy exec Albert's story ranges from the usual dilemmas around making money, how to solve the problems it faced and, most recently, getting acquired.He joins us for episode ten of How I Got Here.HIGH is a weekly show produced by PhocusWire and Mozio, aimed at getting the inside stories behind startups and innovation in travel and transportation.Other episodes: on PhocusWire and Mozio.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's been almost two years since fare-filing platform ATPCO bought Routehappy - a deal that not only secured Routehappy's position on the aviation map but also set about a major evolution of the 54-year-old buyer.Routehappy's rich content platform, essentially a mechanism to showcase features and amenities of aircraft and airlines at the booking phase for consumers, has spearheaded a wider shift to retailing and next-generation distribution for ATPCO.Routehappy CEO Robert Albert clearly created something that legacy platform ATPCO realized would be beneficial to its own future, working alongside its existing fare and data services.The story behind Routehappy is an important one for startups to understand, as a small but growing business had to forge relationships with huge companies and illustrate to the industry that it was a product worth using.Ex-Travelocity strategy exec Albert's story ranges from the usual dilemmas around making money, how to solve the problems it faced and, most recently, getting acquired.He joins us for episode ten of How I Got Here.HIGH is a weekly show produced by PhocusWire and Mozio, aimed at getting the inside stories behind startups and innovation in travel and transportation.Other episodes: on PhocusWire and Mozio.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's been almost two years since fare-filing platform ATPCO bought Routehappy - a deal that not only secured Routehappy's position on the aviation map but also set about a major evolution of the 54-year-old buyer.Routehappy's rich content platform, essentially a mechanism to showcase features and amenities of aircraft and airlines at the booking phase for consumers, has spearheaded a wider shift to retailing and next-generation distribution for ATPCO.Routehappy CEO Robert Albert clearly created something that legacy platform ATPCO realized would be beneficial to its own future, working alongside its existing fare and data services.The story behind Routehappy is an important one for startups to understand, as a small but growing business had to forge relationships with huge companies and illustrate to the industry that it was a product worth using.Ex-Travelocity strategy exec Albert's story ranges from the usual dilemmas around making money, how to solve the problems it faced and, most recently, getting acquired.He joins us for episode ten of How I Got Here.HIGH is a weekly show produced by PhocusWire and Mozio, aimed at getting the inside stories behind startups and innovation in travel and transportation.Other episodes: on PhocusWire and Mozio.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The AirHelp story is one that began in 2013 - the brainchild of its charismatic and energetic founder Henrik Zillmer.The service is actually very simple in scope: providing air passengers with the means to secure compensation from airlines when things go wrong.It has since grown to a team of 750 but the route along the way is a trademark one that illustrates just how far a startup has to go to gain recognition and forge partnerships.Like many startups in travel and transportation, AirHelp was born out of a frustration with how things are handled (or not) by existing players.Zillmer realized that to make a mark the company should take a few risks and deploy a series of unique and often hilarious marketing tactics.It worked. The company employs legal teams on over 30 countries and, in some cases, has fought to make the laws around compensation clearer and fairer for passengers.Zillmer's story around the creation and evolution of AirHelp is both fascinating and funny. He joins us for the latest of HIGH.HIGH is a weekly show produced by PhocusWire and Mozio, aimed at getting the inside stories behind startups and innovation in travel and transportation.Other episodes: on PhocusWire and Mozio.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The AirHelp story is one that began in 2013 - the brainchild of its charismatic and energetic founder Henrik Zillmer.The service is actually very simple in scope: providing air passengers with the means to secure compensation from airlines when things go wrong.It has since grown to a team of 750 but the route along the way is a trademark one that illustrates just how far a startup has to go to gain recognition and forge partnerships.Like many startups in travel and transportation, AirHelp was born out of a frustration with how things are handled (or not) by existing players.Zillmer realized that to make a mark the company should take a few risks and deploy a series of unique and often hilarious marketing tactics.It worked. The company employs legal teams on over 30 countries and, in some cases, has fought to make the laws around compensation clearer and fairer for passengers.Zillmer's story around the creation and evolution of AirHelp is both fascinating and funny. He joins us for the latest of HIGH.HIGH is a weekly show produced by PhocusWire and Mozio, aimed at getting the inside stories behind startups and innovation in travel and transportation.Other episodes: on PhocusWire and Mozio.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The AirHelp story is one that began in 2013 - the brainchild of its charismatic and energetic founder Henrik Zillmer.The service is actually very simple in scope: providing air passengers with the means to secure compensation from airlines when things go wrong.It has since grown to a team of 750 but the route along the way is a trademark one that illustrates just how far a startup has to go to gain recognition and forge partnerships.Like many startups in travel and transportation, AirHelp was born out of a frustration with how things are handled (or not) by existing players.Zillmer realized that to make a mark the company should take a few risks and deploy a series of unique and often hilarious marketing tactics.It worked. The company employs legal teams on over 30 countries and, in some cases, has fought to make the laws around compensation clearer and fairer for passengers.Zillmer's story around the creation and evolution of AirHelp is both fascinating and funny. He joins us for the latest of HIGH.HIGH is a weekly show produced by PhocusWire and Mozio, aimed at getting the inside stories behind startups and innovation in travel and transportation.Other episodes: on PhocusWire and Mozio.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The AirHelp story is one that began in 2013 - the brainchild of its charismatic and energetic founder Henrik Zillmer.The service is actually very simple in scope: providing air passengers with the means to secure compensation from airlines when things go wrong.It has since grown to a team of 750 but the route along the way is a trademark one that illustrates just how far a startup has to go to gain recognition and forge partnerships.Like many startups in travel and transportation, AirHelp was born out of a frustration with how things are handled (or not) by existing players.Zillmer realized that to make a mark the company should take a few risks and deploy a series of unique and often hilarious marketing tactics.It worked. The company employs legal teams on over 30 countries and, in some cases, has fought to make the laws around compensation clearer and fairer for passengers.Zillmer's story around the creation and evolution of AirHelp is both fascinating and funny. He joins us for the latest of HIGH.HIGH is a weekly show produced by PhocusWire and Mozio, aimed at getting the inside stories behind startups and innovation in travel and transportation.Other episodes: on PhocusWire and Mozio.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The story behind Cleartrip is one based on a series of moves to do things differently to the competition, constantly thinking ahead and a small degree of luck.Launched in 2006, Cleartrip's co-founders including CEO Stuart Crighton had been able to see what the global online travel agency marketplace had been doing in its formative years, as well as observe fellow domestic player MakeMyTrip's first few years in India.But Crighton and his team wanted to do things differently, such as taking a simpler approach to design and focusing on key areas in the sector to get the brand a point of difference.Like most startups, Cleartrip's early years are full of intriguing and, especially in Crighton's case, often very funny tales.The storytelling does not mask any such lack of seriousness about the business, however, with the company acknowledging at important moments that it should shift and target an entirely new region, despite the enormous domestic market it launched in.Crighton joins us for the latest episode of How I Got Here.HIGH is a weekly show produced by PhocusWire and Mozio, aimed at getting the inside stories behind startups and innovation in travel and transportation.Other episodes: on PhocusWire and Mozio.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.