Vertical Travel Search Engine Kayak CEO Steve Hafner (Part 5)

SM: Obviously you made a big departure from established business models in the travel industry. Can we discuss that in terms of growth? SH: Our business model is very similar to Google’s. We get paid for the referral. We are unbiased which is great for consumers because when you have an advertising driven model the

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Vertical Travel Search Engine Kayak CEO Steve Hafner (Part 4)

SM: Let’s discuss the competitive landscape. What was it like when you started and what is it like now? SH: The market has evolved quite a bit but not as much as we expected it to. Initially the only competition came from two companies. One was called FareChase and they did not have a consumer

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Vertical Travel Search Engine Kayak CEO Steve Hafner (Part 3)

SM: When did you launch the service? SH: It was October 2004. SM: Can you give us an idea as to what kind of ramp you saw in terms of traffic building and adoption? The vertical search concept was still new in 2004. SH: There had been folks who tried to do it in the

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Vertical Travel Search Engine Kayak CEO Steve Hafner (Part 2)

SM: What gave you the idea for Kayak? SH: Orbitz was a great company, but it never fulfilled on its original mission which was to help consumers find great airline and hotel deals. The reason it did not fulfill it’s original mission is because we could not convince every airline, hotel, and rental car company

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Vertical Travel Search Engine Kayak CEO Steve Hafner (Part 1)

I have written endlessly about the verticalization of the web, and the rise of vertical search engines, vertical ad networks, and the threat they pose to Google. I have also featured Kayak in the Deal Radar series earlier, and here, I speak with their CEO for a comprehensive discussion on Kayak’s strategy.

Bringing Banking To The Cell Phone Masses : Obopay CEO Carol Realini (Part 8)

SM: What has been your financing strategy? CR: One skill set I brought was fundraising experience. We did your typical small seed round, primarily led by the principles who put money down to build the first prototype. The first real round was led by Redpoint.

Bringing Banking To The Cell Phone Masses : Obopay CEO Carol Realini (Part 7)

SM: When did you make the decision to go to India? CR: A little over a year ago we had an investor say “it is time to go to India now”. I went over to India and it was clear the opportunity was there. By the time my trip was over I hired a head

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Bringing Banking To The Cell Phone Masses : Obopay CEO Carol Realini (Part 6)

SM: Do you maintain relationships with multiple banks or a single bank? CR: We have relationships with multiple banks which is similar to how PayPal uses two banks. They use Chase and Wells Fargo. Historically companies buy wholesale services from different providers and, depending on their capabilities, buyers can be selective where they go for

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