How Wealthy Barton Constructed Expedia and Zillow from $0 to $35B — Audacious Targets, Provocation Advertising, Scrabble for Naming, and Highly effective Every day Rituals (#806)

“I’ve developed a reasonably good playbook round what I’d name provocation advertising. When you will have a very provocative characteristic that you realize persons are going to really feel emotional about by hook or by crook and so they’re going to speak about it, you’re on to one thing.”
— Wealthy Barton

Wealthy Barton (@Rich_Barton) is the co-founder and co-executive chairman of Zillow, an organization reworking how folks purchase, promote, hire, and finance houses. Wealthy has been a member of Zillow’s board since its inception in 2004 and has served as each its CEO and govt chairman.

Earlier than Zillow, Wealthy based Expedia inside Microsoft in 1994 and efficiently spun the corporate off as a public firm in 1999. He served as president, CEO, and board director of Expedia and later co-founded and served as non-executive chairman of Glassdoor. Wealthy was a enterprise associate at Benchmark Capital and continues to be a board director for Qurate, Stanford Board of Trustees, and Zillow Group.

Wealthy has been married to Sarah since 1993 and has three grown, kick-ass kids, who couldn’t be extra superior and totally different. He likes to snowboard, surf, play tennis, golf, hike, and fish together with his household and associates and has to spend an growing period of time protecting sturdy and match as a way to be so energetic.

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How Wealthy Barton Constructed Expedia and Zillow from $0 to $35B — Audacious Targets, Provocation Advertising, Scrabble for Naming, and Highly effective Every day Rituals

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Establishments/Firms/Locations

Zillow: Actual property market firm co-founded by Wealthy Barton and Lloyd Frink.
Expedia: Microsoft-originating journey know-how firm that went public below Wealthy’s management.
Glassdoor: Job/firm overview website co-founded by Wealthy Barton and Bob Hohman. Talked about for its provocative knowledge (salaries, CEO evaluations) and “give to get” mannequin.
CNBC: Wealthy’s favourite supply of reports as a result of “enterprise information is mostly completely satisfied.”
Hyperice: Firm making wellness/restoration merchandise (just like the Venom).
Marvel: New York Metropolis-based comedian guide writer and media juggernaut.
Abercrombie & Fitch: American way of life retailer.
4 Seasons: Worldwide luxurious resort chain.
Microsoft: Multinational company and know-how conglomerate — one in all Wealthy’s first jobs out of school.
Egghead: Defunct software program retail retailer chain. Wealthy’s first job concerned getting MS-DOS 5 into Egghead.
Barnes & Noble: Firm working roughly 600 retail bookstores throughout america.
Borders: As soon as mighty, now defunct American bookselling chain.
Bear Stearns: American funding financial institution, securities buying and selling, and brokerage agency that failed in 2008.
BCG (Boston Consulting Group): American international administration consulting agency.
Alliance Consulting Group: Technique consulting agency the place Wealthy labored proper out of school.
Stanford College: Extremely selective, non-public analysis college.
Apple: American multinational company and know-how firm.
Patagonia: Retailer of out of doors clothes targeted on environmental sustainability.
Disney: American multinational mass media and leisure conglomerate.
Northwestern College: Non-public analysis college in Evanston, Illinois.
Prodigy: Early on-line service supplier the place Wealthy used Straightforward Sabre.
College of Washington: Analysis-intensive public college with a powerful concentrate on STEM fields.
GE (Common Electrical): An American multinational conglomerate based in 1892.
Honeywell: Publicly traded, multinational conglomerate company.
IAC (InterActiveCorp): Media and web conglomerate based by Barry Diller, acquired Expedia. Wealthy served on its board.
Gurney’s: Immerse your self in coastal class and seaside allure at this iconic seaside resort. Sorry, however day passes for locals not honored.
Italy: The Tenth-largest nation in Europe by space.
Idealab: Startup incubator based by Invoice Gross. Talked about as potential origin place of the AdWords idea.
TCV (Expertise Crossover Ventures): Enterprise capital agency, co-invested with Benchmark in Zillow’s A spherical.
Avvo: On-line authorized market co-founded by Wealthy Barton and Mark Britton. Talked about for ranking attorneys and subsequent lawsuits (“provocation advertising”).
Sand Hill Highway: This stretch of roadway serves as the house to corporations which have funded among the largest tech firms available in the market.
Tripadvisor: Journey overview website, used as a comparability/mannequin for Avvo.
FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation): Talked about metaphorically within the Die Onerous analogy relating to the Avvo launch technique.
SEC (Securities and Alternate Fee): US authorities company the place Mark Britton labored.
ISS (Institutional Shareholder Companies): Agency that charges public firm boards/administrators. Wealthy talked about having low rankings however not caring.
Stripe: Monetary know-how firm, talked about for instance of a late-stage non-public firm possible compensating administrators effectively.
Automattic: Firm based by Matt Mullenweg (WordPress), recognized for its distributed workforce mannequin.
Shopify: E-commerce platform firm, talked about as one other instance that dealt with the pandemic/distant work effectively.
MindHead: Fictional cult-like faith/group from the film Bowfinger.
Burning Man: Per week-long, large-scale desert occasion targeted on “neighborhood, artwork, self-expression, and self-reliance.”

Books and Written Works

Films/TV Exhibits/Music

Folks

Eddy Cue: Apple govt talked about within the context of Apple’s product “magic” (particularly Common Management).
Sarah Barton: Wealthy’s spouse, talked about in relation to her residency match, the delivery of their twins, and household selections (transferring to Italy, getting tattoos).
Brad Chase: Wealthy’s first vital boss at Microsoft. Inspired him to take huge swings, supported him regardless of the failure of the DOS for Dummies bundle undertaking.
Leonard and Stephen Riggio: Talked about in relation to Barnes & Noble management throughout the DOS for Dummies bundle undertaking.
John Kilcullen: Creator of the For Dummies guide collection, met with Wealthy for the failed bundle undertaking.
Nina Marton: Stanford engineering classmate who obtained a job at Microsoft first and inspired Wealthy to hitch.
Michael Porter: Tutorial related to aggressive technique ideas realized by Wealthy throughout his consulting stint.
Invoice Gates: Co-founder of Microsoft. Talked about particularly for greenlighting the inner enterprise that turned Expedia and promising to contemplate spinning it out.
Steve Ballmer: CEO of Microsoft on the time Expedia was spun out.
Jack Welch: Chairman and CEO of Common Electrical (GE) between 1981 and 2001.
Greg Maffei: CFO of Microsoft, turned Chairman of Expedia after the spin-out.
Barry Diller: Media govt, founding father of IAC. Acquired Expedia. Was Wealthy’s chairman for a interval.
Dara Khosrowshahi: Labored for Barry Diller/IAC, key strategist concerned within the Expedia acquisition. Later turned CEO of Expedia after Wealthy.
Ermelinda Campani: Ran the Stanford program in Florence, helped Wealthy’s household once they moved there.
Lloyd Frink: Wealthy’s Stanford classmate, Expedia colleague, and co-founder of Zillow.
Invoice Gurley: Has been a common associate at Benchmark for greater than 20 years.
Garrett Camp: Implied co-founder/early determine at Uber. Talked about self-funding early phases.
Travis Kalanick: Implied co-founder/early determine at Uber.
Jason Calacanis: Implied early determine/investor at Uber.
Invoice Gross: Founding father of Idealab, talked about in relation to the potential origin of the AdWords idea.
David Beitel: CTO at Expedia and Zillow.
Walt Mossberg: Influential tech columnist who reviewed Zillow favorably at launch, inflicting a surge in visitors. In comparison with Oprah when it comes to affect on the time.
Oprah Winfrey: Iconic American speak present host, tv producer, actress, creator, and media proprietor.
Amy Bohutinsky: Head of Advertising at Zillow throughout launch, credited with the “lemonade out of lemons” method to the launch day crash and the data-driven PR technique.
Bob Hohman: Expedia colleague, co-founder of Glassdoor with Wealthy.
Mark Britton: Expedia colleague (former Common Counsel), co-founder of Avvo with Wealthy.
Bruce Dunlevie: Enterprise capitalist at Benchmark Capital.
George Clooney: Actor talked about relating to his position within the film Up within the Air.
Chris Sacca: A mutual buddy of ours.
Wile E. Coyote: If he catches you, you’re via.
Matt Mullenweg: Founding father of Automattic (WordPress). Influenced Barton’s considering on distant work (“Cloud HQ”) throughout the pandemic.
Mark Helprin: Writer of fiction books together with The Oceans and the Stars, Soldier of the Nice Conflict, A Winter’s Story.
John Mearsheimer: Political scientist related to “offensive realism,” talked about in relation to Mark Helprin’s writing themes.
Haruki Murakami: Japanese creator of magical realism fiction.
Neal Stephenson: Science fiction creator (Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon, Termination Shock, Polostan).
Ted Chiang: Science fiction creator of brief story collections (Tales of Your Life and Others, Exhalation). His story was the idea for the film Arrival.
Jeremy Renner: Actor talked about for his position in Arrival.
Ken Liu: Science fiction/fantasy creator (The Paper Menagerie).
Amor Towles: Writer (Lincoln Freeway) who previously labored in finance.
Hugh Howey: Writer talked about in passing.
Brian Koppelman: Co-creator of Billions, co-writer of Rounders, host of The Second podcast, found Tracy Chapman.
Tracy Chapman: Musician found by Brian Koppelman.
Eddie Murphy: Actor/comic talked about for his roles in Bowfinger.
Steve Martin: Actor/comic talked about for his position in Bowfinger.
Heather Graham: Actress talked about for her position in Bowfinger.
Christiane King: Procreate tutorial teacher.

Ideas

Common Management (Apple): Described as “magic” when Wealthy’s mouse moved seamlessly from Mac to iPad.
Anaconda Food plan: Wealthy’s 12-egg technique for getting his son to realize weight.
640k Barrier: Technical limitation in early MS-DOS overcome by MS-DOS 5.
COGS (Value of Items Bought): Enterprise time period talked about relating to the “DOS for Dummies” bundle value.
Intrapreneurs: People who act like entrepreneurs inside a bigger group.Wealthy identifies with this and discusses defending them.
Company Immune System: Metaphor for the way giant organizations can reject innovators.
Shoppers and Servers: Software program structure idea utilized by Wealthy as an analogy for dividing the world into service suppliers and builders.
Web Bubble: a speculative bubble that developed following the popularization of the World Large Internet in 1991.
Aggressive Technique / Michael Porter 5 Forces: Enterprise technique frameworks realized/referenced by Wealthy.
Conglomerate Low cost: Monetary idea the place diversified firms are valued lower than the sum of their components.
Compensation-Accountability Disconnect: Situation Wealthy noticed at Microsoft that the Expedia spin-out aimed to handle (partly).
S-1: Doc filed for an IPO (Preliminary Public Providing). Talked about relating to Expedia’s IPO.
IPO (Preliminary Public Providing): Time period for the primary time a personal firm sells shares of its inventory to the general public on a inventory alternate.
IPO Roadshow: Technique of pitching an organization to institutional buyers earlier than an IPO. Wealthy described his expertise.
Zestimate: Zillow’s proprietary dwelling valuation algorithm/characteristic. Key innovation and “provocation advertising” software.
TAM (Whole Addressable Market): Enterprise idea mentioned in relation to Uber’s market measurement notion.
AdWords (Google): Promoting platform/mannequin admired by Wealthy and Frink, probably impressed public sale concepts for Zillow (which failed for housing). Talked about potential origin from Overture/GoTo.com (Idealab).
Value Discovery: Financial idea, aim of Zillow’s early public sale concept and later the Zestimate.
Vertical Integration (Google): Strategic concern for marketplaces counting on Google visitors, as Google enters their enterprise areas (journey, evaluations, and many others.).
Tremendous App (Zillow Technique): Zillow’s long-term aim to be a one-stop built-in platform for renting/shopping for.
Excessive Level Scrabble Letters (Z, X, Q): Utilized in Wealthy’s firm naming technique for distinctiveness.
Naming Guidelines (Wealthy’s): Choose made-up phrases, uncommon letters (Z, X, Q), fewer syllables (2 best), evocative of optimistic issues, potential verb use, double letters/palindromes.
Board of Administrators Position: Mentioned features in non-public (teaching, technique, recruiting) vs. public firms (shareholder illustration, CEO hiring/firing, capital allocation). Mentioned potential pitfalls (course of focus, CYA, ISS rankings).
Cloud HQ / Cloud Headquarters: Wealthy’s time period (influenced by Matt Mullenweg) for Zillow’s distributed/distant work mannequin post-pandemic.
Offensive Realism (John Mearsheimer): Political science idea talked about relating to Mark Helprin’s writing themes.
A&R (Artists and Repertoire): Music business position (expertise scouting/improvement), talked about relating to Brian Koppelman’s previous.
“Don’t Panic”: A phrase from The Hitchhiker’s Information to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, typically used as a common recommendation in difficult or sudden conditions.

Merchandise/Manufacturers/Companies/Video games

iPad: Apple pill pc.
Pocari Sweat: Japanese electrolyte drink favored by Barton (advisable by his nutritionist).
Hyperice Venom: Heated vibrating again wrap utilized by Barton throughout his morning routine.
MS-DOS 5: Microsoft working system Barton labored on early in his profession.
Home windows 95: Main Microsoft working system launch Barton labored on earlier than transferring to the buyer division.
Home windows NT: A household of working techniques developed by Microsoft that use the “NT” (New Expertise) core.
CD-ROM: Optical disc format, talked about relating to multimedia merchandise (Encarta) and the failed journey information concept.
Encarta: Microsoft’s multimedia encyclopedia on CD-ROM. Barton managed a portfolio together with an Encarta journey information idea.
easySABRE: Software program software utilized by journey brokers (accessed by Barton through Prodigy) that impressed the Expedia idea.
Peloton: Train bike/platform utilized by Barton.
Scrabble: Board sport, used as an analogy for letter frequency/worth in Barton’s naming technique.
Taco Cat (Goat Cheese Pizza): Card sport talked about as easy enjoyable throughout disconnected time.
Google Maps: On-line mapping service, built-in with Zillow’s Zestimate idea (costs on roofs).
Kindle: Amazon’s e-reader machine/platform, how Barton primarily reads now.
Starlink: Satellite tv for pc web service, talked about as making disconnection more durable.
Airstream: Model of journey trailers.
Procreate: Digital portray app for iPad utilized by Barton.
WordPress: Content material administration system/platform related to Matt Mullenweg/Automattic.
Balenciaga: Luxurious style model.
Prada: One other luxurious style model.
Zoom: Video conferencing software program, talked about relating to IPO roadshows probably transferring on-line.

Awards

Hugo Award: Annual literary award for the most effective science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the earlier yr.
Nebula Award: Annual award for the most effective works of science fiction or fantasy revealed in america.

Related Assets

SHOW NOTES

[00:00:00] Begin.
[00:05:30] Eddy Cue magic.
[00:06:14] Wealthy’s morning routine and exercise philosophy.
[00:13:38] How Brad Chase at Microsoft taught Wealthy to swing huge.
[00:15:46] The failed DOS for Dummies guide bundle undertaking.
[00:18:52] Steering an organization towards a tradition of innovation.
[00:20:26] Wealthy’s journey from administration consulting to Microsoft.
[00:24:34] How Expedia got here to be.
[00:32:32] Pitching and recruiting workforce expertise.
[00:37:18] Diploma design at Stanford.
[00:39:45] Realizing the worth of actual work as a youth.
[00:41:44] A fascination with Italy.
[00:43:01] Promoting Expedia to Barry Diller/IAC.
[00:43:51] Dara Khosrowshahi’s position in Expedia’s acquisition.
[00:45:23] From a post-Expedia sale sabbatical in Italy to the delivery of Zillow with Lloyd Frink.
[00:55:41] “Large pond, good fishermen” as enterprise standards.
[00:56:50] Early Zillow errors.
[01:00:05] The Zestimate: Zillow’s killer characteristic.
[01:01:29] Making lemonade from the lemons of Zillow’s launch day server crash.
[01:03:49] Wealthy’s provocation advertising playbook.
[01:05:30] Regulatory battles and resistance to business disruption.
[01:10:44] Founding Glassdoor and its “give to get” knowledge assortment mannequin.
[01:12:58] Avvo and ranking attorneys — authorized challenges as advertising.
[01:16:11] Digital marketplaces and Google disintermediation considerations.
[01:19:52] How Wealthy names firms to be memorable.
[01:25:28] Why Wealthy recommends leaving concern out of the provocation advertising equation.
[01:26:48] Working with Benchmark Capital.
[01:30:37] What serving on a board seems to be like and Wealthy’s membership standards: “Is it native? Is it enjoyable? Is it profitable?”
[01:39:00] Wealthy’s motivation and routine for staying wholesome in his 50s.
[01:47:13] Cultivating management via absence — the two-week disconnected journey.
[01:49:34] Constructing a superb firm by protecting good firm.
[01:51:42] Growing the ability to fireplace folks as a win/win proposition.
[01:54:41] Wealthy’s household tattoo design and symbolism.
[01:57:29] Recommendation for balancing household {and professional} life.
[02:01:08] The advantages of distributed workforces post-pandemic.
[02:03:23] Really helpful studying.
[02:12:17] Wealthy’s billboard.
[02:14:25] The significance of sabbaticals and disconnecting from digital units.
[02:17:41] Taking over Procreate digital artwork throughout COVID.
[02:19:05] Parting ideas.

RICH BARTON QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW

“Nice organizations encourage innovation, encourage big-idea folks to take huge swings and don’t punish them when it doesn’t work out in keeping with plan.”
— Wealthy Barton

“Energy to the folks, child. You construct magic stuff for plenty of shoppers that they need to speak about with their associates, unprompted on the sidelines of the soccer sport or what have you ever.”
— Wealthy Barton

“[Almost] all of my errors as a frontrunner have been leaving the pitcher on the mound too lengthy hoping that the arm would get higher.”
— Wealthy Barton

“If you happen to’re not pleased with the efficiency of this individual, I assure you the individual isn’t completely satisfied both. Due to this fact, you’ll be able to enhance love on this planet by releasing that individual to search out the place that individual belongs.”
— Wealthy Barton

“I’ve developed a reasonably good playbook round what I’d name provocation advertising. When you will have a very provocative characteristic that you realize persons are going to really feel emotional about by hook or by crook and so they’re going to speak about it, you’re on to one thing.”
— Wealthy Barton

Associated

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