Hotwire, Expedia, and TripAdvisor execs take seat in mysterious startup

May 14, 2008 | Online Travel

For now, Glassdoor.com is keeping most details of its product under wraps. All we know is that the company was founded by two online travel heavyweights, and that its board is bursting with online travel expertise. Is there another online travel shop in the works, or is it real estate as some suggest.

On the heels of launching an invitation-only, private beta, Glassdoor.com, a new consumer technology company that has yet to disclose details of its product, today announced the remaining three members of its five-member board of directors. The new members join Glassdoor co-founders Robert Hohman, the company�s chief executive officer, and Rich Barton, who is non-executive chairman of the Glassdoor board and currently CEO, chairman and co-founder of Zillow.com.

The new Glassdoor board members include: Erik Blachford, CEO of TerraPass and former president and CEO of Expedia, Inc. and CEO of IAC/InterActiveCorp’s travel division; Stephen Kaufer, president and CEO of TripAdvisor and former president of CDS, Inc.; and Rusty Rueff, former CEO of SNOCAP, the digital music commerce provider for MySpace, and previous EVP at Electronic Arts and executive at PepsiCo.

�I�m excited about the stellar group of executives who�ve come together on our board. This is a high-energy and well-rounded team that will be instrumental in helping chart the strategic path for Glassdoor,� said Hohman. �We�re getting close to officially unveiling Glassdoor and are very excited with our progress to date and the opportunities ahead.�

Glassdoor was founded in late 2007 by Barton and Hohman, who previously worked together at Expedia, which Barton founded in 1994, and also Microsoft, where they both began their careers. The third co-founder is Tim Besse, who is vice president of product and marketing.

Initial funding for Glassdoor was provided by the founders, followed by $3 million in Series B financing led by Benchmark Capital. After months of development, Glassdoor recently launched a private beta and expects to debut publicly in the coming months.

Below is a brief biographical summary of each board member. Additional information on each can be found at http://www.glassdoor.com .

Robert Hohman. Hohman was most recently president of discount travel site Hotwire.com, which is a division of Expedia, Inc., and was previously president for Expedia�s luxury brand, Classic Custom Vacations. As one of the original Expedia team members who joined from Microsoft, Hohman also served as executive vice president of cruise and packages after leading the engineering team that developed the site�s booking system. Hohman started his career at Microsoft and worked in a variety of engineering roles.

Richard Barton. Barton co-founded real estate Web site Zillow.com in 2005 and serves as CEO and chairman of the board. Barton founded Expedia within Microsoft in 1994 and took the company public in 1999. He served as the president, CEO and a director until March 2003. He is currently a venture partner at Benchmark Capital and on the board of directors of Netflix and Avvo.

Erik Blachford. Erik Blachford is currently the CEO at TerraPass, Inc. He was formerly president and CEO of Expedia, Inc. and CEO of IAC/InterActiveCorp’s travel division, IAC Travel, which included online travel businesses Expedia, Hotels.com, Hotwire, Classic Custom Vacations, and Interval International. Previous positions include president, Expedia North America and senior vice president, marketing and programming. Blachford also serves on the board of directors at TerraPass, Zillow, and PickPackGo.

Stephen Kaufer. Stephen Kaufer is the CEO and co-founder of TripAdvisor, a Web site providing traveler reviews and recommendations. He was formerly the president of CDS, Inc., an independent software vendor specializing in programming and testing tools. Previously, Kaufer was co-founder and vice president of engineering of CenterLine Software. Winner of the 2005 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Kaufer holds several software patents and is a frequent speaker at international conferences. He is also a board member of the Caring for Carcinoid Foundation.

Rusty Rueff. Rueff was most recently CEO of SNOCAP until its sale to imeem in April 2008. Rueff was previously an executive vice president at Electronic Arts, where he was responsible for a number of corporate functions and services. Before joining EA, he was with the PepsiCo companies for 10 years, serving in a variety of positions and has also been an on-air radio personality. He is a member of the board of directors of ItzBig, Inc., an executive trustee of the American Conservatory Theater, a member of the Grammy Foundation Board, a member of th e Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and co-author of the book �Talent Force� (Prentice-Hall. 2006).