How A Warren Buffett Protégé Built Overstock.com: CEO Patrick Byrne (Part 3)

SM: What was the source of your own financing? PB: We were turned down by 55 venture capitalists. I do not intend for that to be a dig at them. In retrospect, I have a much more positive view of the venture capital industry than I did back then. That just tells you how bad

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Helping You Book Vacation Rentals: FlipKey CEO T. J. Mahoney (Part 3)

SM: What was your strategy for entering a market that was already dominated by HomeAway? TM: Before leaving Compete, I had actually asked them if they would help sponsor some research for the industry. They helped conduct some surveys for us, and we released some market research for the vacation rental industry.

How A Warren Buffett Protégé Built Overstock.com: CEO Patrick Byrne (Part 2)

SM: What was the genesis of Overstock.com? PB: I came up with the idea just after I retired and went to Dartmouth. When I was over in China with the American college students, we brainstormed different names for the company. The name Overstock.com from a brainstorming and voting session. There were 20 students in that

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Helping You Book Vacation Rentals: FlipKey CEO T. J. Mahoney (Part 2)

SM: What roles did you hold at Compete? TM: Initially I was their founding consultant. Compete has a dedicated consulting practice, which is how they make the majority of their money. I was one of the first consultants who helped to develop some of their vertical categories. In 2005, I helped launch Compete.com as a

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Helping You Book Vacation Rentals: FlipKey CEO T. J. Mahoney (Part 1)

T.J. Mahoney is the founder and CEO of FlipKey, a leading vacation rental service with verified vacation guest reviews. Prior to founding Flipkey he worked at Compete.com, Zefer, and Accenture. He is a graduate of Macalester College. SM: Can you take us back to the beginning of your story? Where do you come from? TM:

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How A Warren Buffett Protégé Built Overstock.com: CEO Patrick Byrne (Part 1)

Dr. Patrick M. Byrne is chairman and CEO of Overstock.com, Inc., a Utah-based Internet retailer that has been publicly traded since 2002. Under Byrne’s leadership, the company’s revenue soared from $1.8 million in 1999 to $760.2 million in 2007. Before founding Overstock.com, Byrne served as chairman, president, and CEO of Centricut, LLC, and held the

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Helping Failing High School Students Pass: Revolution Prep Founders Ramit Varma and Jake Neuberg (Part 7)

SM: Would you consider taking outside financing? RV: We will consider anything. Right now the business is running in a healthy fashion without outside financing. If someone brought in quality board members and added something more than just financing to our business, that would appeal to us.

Helping Failing High School Students Pass: Revolution Prep Founders Ramit Varma and Jake Neuberg (Part 6)

SM: You have scaled to a $13 million business over the past seven years. What has been challenging in that process? RV: The most challenging aspect has been our individual personal growth. When we first started the business we did everything, including the teaching.