Can Kayak compete with Google if, as expected, Google gets more involved in the travel industry?
“Absolutely,” says Paul English, Kayak cofounder and chief technology officer.
But, how?
“Innovation velocity,” English replies, appropriately, without missing a beat.
Bloomberg interviewed English and the questioning begins with the stated ground rule that inquiries about Kayak’s proposed IPO were off limits.
But the interrogation, while avoiding the IPO specifically, was all about issues central to the IPO’s fate.
How will Kayak compete with Google if Google absorbs itself more heavily in travel?
And, what if Google has ITA Software personnel on the payroll, as well?
English said Kayak would welcome Google as a competitor and noted that Google doesn’t succeed at every venture.
Then he talked about Kayak’s advantages in “innovation velocity.”
English said Kayak has a relatively small team of 130 “incredibly strong people,” and that the company, obviously fleet of foot, releases a new version of its website every Thursday morning.
The “aggressive” team of developers on staff also unveils a new mobile product every few weeks, English says.
The roughly $875 million dollar question — roughly because Kayak has yet to propose the price range of its IPO — is what will come first: a Department of Justice decision on Google-ITA or the Kayak IPO.
One school of thought is that the Department of Justice decision on Google-ITA would have to come first because otherwise there would be too much uncertainty surrounding Kayak’s journey forward.
Another theory is that Kayak will attempt to execute its IPO soon, even before a Department of Justice decision, as the Google-ITA Software issue already has been cooked into the public financial filings about the IPO and is transparent.
Again, English was barred by Securities & Exchange Commission rules from discussing these IPO-related issues.
Here’s the full Bloomberg interview:
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Actually Paul English IS the secret weapon.
(side note – how’d that Hipmunk ad sneak in that video? savvy PR move or just unfortunate timing)
Jim: From all I’ve ever heard about Paul, I’d have to agree.
Don’t know about the Hipmunk angle.
Timing is everything in life:)
he’s a good speaker.
as its turning out, if kayak continues with the tone that English just presented, i think Kayak could leverage the Google-ITA situation all the way to a spectacular IPO…
google can really help make the travel search category more quickly mainstream and drag kayak along with it at a speed that kayak wouldn’t have achieved otherwise..
I like the approach Paul English puts forth a lot better than the recent Robert Birge quotes.
It’ll be interesting to see how the ‘secret weapon’ gets deployed – it’s been a while since kayak stole the limelight – and whatever it has in the hopper better be good.
Hajime!