Episode 447 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Steve Kaufer, serial entrepreneur & tech CEO - The Definitive Story of TripAdvisor.
People often ask me how I land guests for my podcast. After 8 years of podcasting and over 450 episodes, I’m fortunate to get a lot of amazing inbound requests. But another key way I land guests is at events, and this episode is a perfect example.
Back in July, I was fortunate to attend Founder Collective’s summer party and spotted Steve in the crowd. I had never met him before, but I knew this was my chance to land him as a guest and record the definitive story of TripAdvisor. Needless to say, I was thrilled when he said yes to my invite.
Similar to my recent interview with Eran Egozy, co-founder of Harmonix, creators of the Guitar Hero and Rock Band franchises.., we went long-form, Joe Rogan style. This interview is almost two hours long, but we obviously had a ton to cover.
TripAdvisor is one of the greatest consumer success stories to come out of Boston, but I don’t think we give the company enough credit for its sheer scale and impact. While TripAdvisor didn’t invent user-generated content or online reviews, it basically institutionalized both well ahead of the pack. Their marketing strategy is absolutely brilliant, as you see their brand everywhere, and hotel operators regularly ask guests to leave reviews.
What’s also remarkable is that the company raised just over $4 million in capital, and only four years later exited for over $200 million to IAC before later spinning out as its own public ticker. It’s extremely rare to have the same co-founder serve as CEO through every single phase of a company from its origins as a B2B model (yes, originally a B2B model) through hypergrowth and navigating a global pandemic. Steve shares incredible stories and hard earned advice from across that journey.
In addition to the full lifecycle story of TripAdvisor, we also discuss his previous company, Centerline Software – which ended up not being the return that investors had hoped for, plus his current mission driven venture, Give Freely, a browser extension and charitable giving platform.
#startups #tripadvisor, #entrepreneurship #consumer #podcast
