How TravelPerk Survived COVID and Scaled to Industry Leadership with JC Taunay-Bucalo | PodKast #239

In this episode, JC, President and COO of TravelPerk, shares the inside story of how a business travel startup survived the pandemic — a moment when their core product literally became illegal. From navigating uncertainty to making bold long-term bets, JC reveals how TravelPerk came out stronger, emerging as one of the two surviving players in the market.We dive deep into leadership during crisis, how to scale culture with nearly 2,000 employees, the shift to automation and AI, and why they chose not to pivot when everyone else did. A must-listen for operators, founders, and leaders building in uncertain times.(00:00) Intro(02:04) “Our product became illegal overnight”(04:48) Why they didn’t pivot or lay off most of the team(07:06) Acquiring customers during lockdowns(08:18) Massive rebound growth in 2022(11:16) The 2023 automation playbook(17:45) How LLMs reduced a 50-person team to 5(21:14) Pausing all new features for 1 year(23:19) “Disagree and commit” – decision-making at scale(45:55) The future of SaaS: from UI to invisible agents