Engine Culture Memo

Our Journey

Engine started by accident, but our growth has been anything but. 

The seed from which Engine was born began in the days of Traveler’s Haven, a corporate housing platform for traveling workforces like nurses and project-based teams. Customers kept asking us for more than furnished housing: hotels, logistics, and cost controls. They needed a travel solution built for real businesses, not Fortune 500 budgets. That demand sparked Hotel Engine, first as a side project, then as its own company.

What started on the margins quickly proved its worth. We spun out in 2018, raised our first capital in 2019, and in February 2020, I stepped in to lead Hotel Engine full time, right as the pandemic hit. While the travel industry struggled, we doubled down on our DNA: listen to customers, move fast, deliver value. We found critical demand among frontline workers traveling to cities in need — the same customers who inspired our founding — and we moved quickly to serve them.

As workforces spread out, businesses needed ways to bring people back together. That meant more than hotels. Flights. Cars. Logistics. Scale. The name could no longer contain the vision, so in Summer 2024, Hotel Engine became Engine.

Today, we serve more than 20,000 companies and over a million travelers, driving billions in bookings. We are cash-flow positive, growing fast, and putting joy back in the journey.

If there’s one throughline in our story, it’s customer obsession.

Everything we do must be rooted in customer value. We obsess over simplifying travel and helping customers save money. We believe loyalty is earned, not locked in by contracts. That is why our platform has always been free to use, and why designing experiences that make Engine the platform travelers want to use is essential.

That’s how we win.

Our next chapter

We’re at an inflection point and the opportunity ahead is massive. 

Global business travel spending is forecasted to reach approximately $1.62 trillion in 2026. And more than 50% of that spending for small and medium size businesses remains unmanaged — a gap Engine is uniquely positioned to close.

Engine isn’t just building travel tech, we’re redefining how the world travels. To do that, we need a culture as ambitious as our mission.

Culture is not words on a wall. It’s who we hire, how we work, and what we reward. As we scale, we are sharpening our DNA — the traits that fuel our success. Clear. Demanding. Transparent.

Because the truth is, Engine isn’t for everyone. This is a place for people who thrive on speed, intensity, and impact. It’s unapologetically intense, but it’s also incredibly rewarding.

If that excites you, you’re in the right place.

Engine DNA

Customer Obsessed
Our success begins and ends with our customers. We deliver experiences that are effortless, reliable and delightful. Loyalty isn’t locked in by contracts; it’s earned through every interaction, every day. We win only when our customers win.

Drivers, Not Passengers
At Engine, everyone takes the wheel. We act like owners, not bystanders, solving problems when we see them and carrying outcomes through to the finish. No task is beneath us, and no idea is too bold. If you’re waiting for someone else, you’re in the wrong seat.

Speed with Precision
The opportunity ahead of us is too big to slow down. We move fast without cutting corners. We have a bias to action, make quick decisions, and keep the bar high. Speed demands sharp judgment, decisiveness, and removing bureaucracy.

Insist on High Standards
We raise the bar in everything we do: our products, our work, and our customer interactions. We inspire and push each other to achieve more. Every seat must be earned, and underperformance is addressed quickly and respectfully.

Conviction with Rationale
We propose & challenge ideas with conviction, grounded in logic and communicated with clarity. We say what we mean and we say it clearly. We debate openly, but we listen, adapt, and let the best ideas win. Progress requires alignment, not consensus.

Deliver Results
Execution is everything. We’re always driving forward and never just spinning our wheels. We do this efficiently by cutting distractions, prioritizing what moves the mission forward and eliminating what doesn’t. We measure progress by impact, not effort.

Innovate & Elevate
We explore bold ideas and embrace the unknown. Innovation fuels our progress as a company, and personal growth drives our excellence as individuals. We experiment, learn fast, and continually master our craft, to stay at the leading edge.