Kayak CEO Steve Hafner on the state of travel, AI's place, hospitality trends, and more! | E1822
This Week in Startups
Jason Calacanis
4.2 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 3 October 2023
⏱️ 54 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This Week in Startups is brought to you by…
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Today’s show:
Kayak CEO Steve Hafner joins Jason to discuss the current landscape of the travel industry (1:56), its economic dynamics (17:40), emerging trends in hospitality (41:08), and much more!
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Time stamps:
(0:00) Kayak CEO Steve Hafner joins Jason
(1:56) The state of the travel industry today and the adoption of AI
(10:50) Roots - Head to https://investwithroots.com/TWIST to sign up and start investing today!
(12:15) Navigating shifts in UI and building bulletproof features for at-scale companies
(15:32) Kayak's response to the impact of Covid-19 on the industry
(17:40) The economics of the travel industry
(28:14) Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://Squarespace.com/twist
(29:36) OpenTable, diner ratings, and the advent of QR code ordering
(34:29) The drive behind OpenTable's revenue stream and product adoption
(39:54) LinkSquares - The go-to for all your legal needs; learn more at https://linksquares.com/twist
(41:08) Hospitality trends in hotels
(50:02) The impact of AI gains on Kayak’s operations
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Follow Steve: https://twitter.com/shafner
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I've been teaching people how to give matriety's tips for the last 20 years. |
| 0:03.4 | As my dad taught me, you take the $20 bill or 50, depending on where you go. |
| 0:10.2 | You fold it twice. |
| 0:11.8 | Now you got it in your hand. |
| 0:13.8 | You put it between your thumb and your palms. |
| 0:15.8 | And now you're holding a 20 or a 50. |
| 0:18.1 | You go up to the matriety station. |
| 0:19.6 | There's 20 people around the table. |
| 0:21.7 | You put your hand on the matriety table behind the light, you know, where the book is. |
| 0:26.8 | Say, I am so sorry. |
| 0:28.4 | I may have made a reservation. |
| 0:29.6 | I might have forgotten if there's anything you can do for me. |
| 0:32.1 | You're keeping eye contact and you just turn over your hand halfway. |
| 0:36.3 | Person sees the 50 and you say, Oh, what's your name? |
| 0:39.1 | Well, Susan, nice to meet you. |
| 0:40.1 | Susan, I'm Jason and you hand them the 50 or the 20. |
| 0:43.8 | Boom. |
| 0:44.1 | Goes right in the pocket. |
| 0:45.3 | Let me see what I can do for you. |
| 0:46.9 | I've done this a hundred times. |
| 0:48.0 | You know how many times they gave me the money back and didn't get me a table once. |
| 0:52.9 | Yeah, you know, it's a quicker way to do it. |
... |
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