How A Warren Buffett Protégé Built Overstock.com: CEO Patrick Byrne (Part 4)

SM: Did you go public on the strength of the bankruptcy inventory? PB: No, that inventory was in 2000 and 2001. By the time we went public, bankruptcy inventories were not carrying us. We had the Safeway deal, and we had stable lines of supply.

Helping You Book Vacation Rentals: FlipKey CEO T. J. Mahoney (Part 4)

SM: How did you initially populate your reviews? Did you crawl the Web for those as well? TM: No, the reviews came from guests. We had created the accounts for the property managers, but in order for them to use our service effectively they had to upload guest records, which allowed us to invite guests

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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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