1% chance of survival, now $1 billion business

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What would you do if your $100 million business collapsed to zero revenue in two weeks?

Most entrepreneurs would cut losses and move on. Maybe pivot to something else. Probably shut down and try again later with a different idea.

Duke Chung sold his childhood collectibles to make payroll. He maxed out credit lines. He and his cofounders stopped paying themselves entirely while their company bled money during a global shutdown.

Investors told him TravelBank had a 1% chance of survival. By 2021, U.S. Bank acquired it for $200 million. By 2025, the platform surpassed $1 billion in annualized card spend. Harvard Business School now teaches his story as a case study on resilience.

The frustration that became a company

After Microsoft acquired his first startup, Chung found himself stuck using their internal expense and travel system. Clunky. Outdated. Time-consuming.

He looked around and realized most companies dealt with the same frustration. Expense management software felt like it was built in the 1990s because most of it was.

In 2016, Chung and cofounders Ching-Ho Fung and Reid Williams launched TravelBank to build what they wished existed. Intuitive interface. Automated workflows. Mobile-first design.

The platform worked. By 2019, clients were booking over $100 million in travel through TravelBank annually. Revenue was growing. Investors were happy.

Then the pandemic hit.

From $100 million to zero in weeks

March 2020 destroyed the travel industry instantly. Business travel disappeared completely.

TravelBank's revenue collapsed from $100 million to nearly zero within weeks. The entire business model depended on people traveling. Nobody was traveling.

Investors delivered brutal news: TravelBank had maybe a 1% chance of survival. The company should probably shut down and move on.

Chung and his cofounders made a different decision. They would fight for that 1% chance.

Selling collectibles to make payroll

The survival plan required extreme sacrifices.

Chung and his cofounders deferred their salaries completely. They maxed out business credit lines. When that wasn't enough, they sold personal belongings. Childhood collectibles. Anything that could generate cash to cover one more month of payroll.

Most employees left. The few who stayed took 10% pay cuts just to keep the company breathing.

It looked hopeless. Burning through savings to keep a travel company alive during a global shutdown seemed delusional.

But one investor saw something different.

The investor who leaned in

Conductive Ventures watched how hard Chung and his team were fighting. While other investors pulled back, Conductive Ventures leaned in.

They provided belief when belief was the scarcest resource. They saw the conviction and sacrifice. They believed TravelBank could make it through.

Here's what most founders miss: your commitment level signals whether your business is worth saving. When Chung sold personal belongings to make payroll, he demonstrated conviction that made investors reconsider their dismissal.

The SaaS pivot with no sales team

With Conductive Ventures' support, TravelBank pivoted from travel booking to SaaS expense management. They'd build partnerships with card providers and banks.

One problem: they had no sales team left. Most employees were gone.

So they formed strategic partnerships instead of selling directly. Brex, Rippling, and U.S. Bank became partners who would sell TravelBank's product to their customers.

This reveals something crucial about constraints. When you can't do things the traditional way, you're forced to find leverage points others miss. TravelBank couldn't afford salespeople, so they built partnerships that gave them access to millions of customers instantly.

By July 2021, TravelBank had climbed back to $2 million in monthly travel booked, on track to hit $4 million by December.

The $200 million decision

In late 2021, U.S. Bank made an acquisition offer.

TravelBank was recovering. New partnerships were lined up. The travel market was rebounding. If they stayed independent, the upside could be massive.

But the Delta variant was spiking. Another shutdown could destroy them after barely surviving the first one. Financial stability from a 150-year-old bank suddenly looked attractive.

After months of negotiation, they finalized the acquisition in November 2021 for $200 million.

The founders negotiated something unusual. Every employee would be paid back their lost salaries from the 18-month survival period. Everyone would receive bonuses equal to raises they would have gotten. Retention bonuses ensured the team stayed together.

When Chung announced this, employees cried. The team that sacrificed everything was finally getting rewarded.

Building to a billion after acquisition

Chung and Williams stayed on as CEO and CTO. The team remained intact. TravelBank kept its independence while gaining U.S. Bank's resources.

In 2023, they launched Commercial Rewards Card, built on TravelBank technology. By 2025, TravelBank surpassed $1 billion in annualized card spend across thousands of companies.

Harvard Business School now teaches Chung's story as a case study. From selling belongings to make payroll to building one of the fastest-growing spend management platforms in banking.

What entrepreneurs can learn from 1% odds

Survival odds assume normal behavior

Investors predicted 1% survival assuming normal founder effort. They didn't account for someone willing to sell everything to keep fighting. Expert predictions assume average commitment.

Your conviction signals to others

Conductive Ventures invested because they saw Chung's fight. Your commitment level tells investors whether your business deserves saving. Half-hearted efforts get written off. Total commitment attracts belief.

Constraints force better strategy

Without a sales team, TravelBank built partnerships that scaled faster than direct sales ever could. Constraints eliminate conventional paths and reveal leverage points.

Know when to take the win

Chung chose the $200 million exit that rewarded his team over chasing bigger personal upside. Sometimes the right move is taking care of the people who believed in you.

Most people hear "1% chance" and give up. The math says it's over. Walking away is rational.

Chung heard "1%" and saw the only number that mattered: it wasn't zero.

The 99% who don't survive quit before they reach the 1% that makes it. They listen to the odds instead of fighting through them.

Expert predictions assume normal behavior. When you're willing to do what normal founders won't, the odds change completely.

From nearly zero to a billion dollars in card spend. From 1% survival odds to Harvard case study. From selling childhood collectibles to building a platform thousands of companies depend on.

That's what happens when you fight for the 1% while everyone else accepts the 99%.

What would you be willing to sell to save your business?