The man behind Expedia, Zillow and GlassDoor connects with his West Michigan roots (original) (raw)
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Rich Barton, right, founder of Expedia, Zillow and GlassDoor, was introduced at the Economic Club of Grand Rapids by his proud father, Grand Rapids area resident Jim Barton .
(Jim Harger | Mlive Media Group)
GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Rich Barton, the founder of the Expedia.com and co-founder of the Zillow.com and GlassDoor.com, enjoyed a homecoming of sorts at the Economic Club of Grand Rapids luncheon on Monday, Oct. 21.
His father, Jim Barton, an East Grand Rapids native who moved back to West Michigan 12 years ago, introduced his “Renaissance geek” son to the sell-out crowd at the Ambassador Ballroom of the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel.
“The best word to describe Rich is curious,” said the proud father, who recalled buying a Commodore 64 for his son when they lived in New Canaan, Conn.
Though Rich Barton has never lived in Grand Rapids, the 46-year-old entrepreneur spent time visiting his late grandfather, Horace Barton, at their home in East Grand Rapids and currently visits his parents at their suburban Grand Rapids condominium.
In his talk, titled “Power to the People,” Barton said he was inspired by a 1986 Super Bowl commercial by Apple Computer in which an athlete smashed a monolithic oversized television screen.
That commercial, which aired only once, opened his eyes to the power of personal computing to transform society, said Barton, who went on graduate from Stanford University.
After joining Microsoft in 1991, Barton said he convinced Bill Gates to back Expedia.com, the website that allowed consumers to make their own travel arrangements and purchase airline tickets without a travel agent.
Barton, who left Microsoft when Expedia was spun off as a separate company, said he began looking for other BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals) that would transform the consumer landscape like Expedia did.
After Expedia was acquired by IAC Corp. in 2003, Barton helped create Zillow.com, which creates an accessible site for information about local real estate markets that was previously hidden.
“Home values represent people’s biggest assets,” Barton said. “Why shouldn’t we be able to track the values of our homes the way we track our stocks?”
Barton also is the co-creator of GlassDoor.com, a site in which users contribute information about their employers and the job market.
Based on the same principles as TripAdvisor.com, Barton said GlassDoor.com is now used by 14 million unique visitors to cover 280,000 companies in 190 different countries.
Looking ahead, Barton said he’s involved with a variety of startups that include NextDoor, “a Facebook for your neighborhood,” RealSelf, a review site for plastic surgery, and others.
All of these sites are exploding with the use of smartphones whose apps allow consumers to connect to information instantly from their handsets, Barton said.
“This is growing faster than any technology we’ve ever seen and it’s literally changing everything,” Barton said. “If you’re not thinking about this as a business opportunity for youir company, you’re not thinking.”
Asked about his favorite activity, Barton confessed: “My favorite thing is when I get away from technology. I’m the happiest when I’m not getting reception.”
Jim Harger covers business for MLive/Grand Rapids Press. Email him at jharger@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter or Facebook or Google+.
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