Hardware Podcasts

KAYAK: Paul English

How I Built This · 27 Sept 2021 · 1h 12m

What this episode covers

Paul English, co-founder of the travel search engine Kayak, explains how he and Steve Hafner launched the company in 2004 by creating a simple interface that scraped competitor sites and charged them for referrals. English details the strategic decision to use Orbitz as a 'stalking horse' to secure direct partnerships with airlines, allowing Kayak to grow leanly with only 200 employees before selling to Priceline for $1.8 billion. He also discusses his subsequent ventures, including Lola.com, which pivoted to corporate spend management, and his ongoing philanthropic work through King Boston.

Most relevant to

early-stage companies and companies scaling up

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Priceline, Orbitz, Expedia, Intuit, General Catalyst, Sequoia Capital, Boston Light Software, Interleaf, Netcentric, Data General, Wolf Owens, King Boston
Products
Kayak, Lola.com, Get Human, ITA Software, Speed Games, Commodore Vic 20, Moonbeam
Also
Steve Hafner

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