Breaking Analysis: Priceline Buys Kayak – Travelling the Road to Success
Priceline is acquiring the travel research site Kayak for $1.8 billion. Kayak has only been
around since 2004. SiliconANGLE Founder John Furrier credits Kayak as being a start-up that has weathered the storm. He said, “What they really demonstrated was entrepreneurial greatness around staying alive, focusing on the product, hiring great engineering, and delivering great value.”
In Furrier’s opinion, Kayak is a fire sale, but not in a bad way. He said ultimately, they knew they would be facing a major pivot point in that the user experience is changing. He said it’s just another example of how the mobile experience is changing the world of big data.
From a shareholder’s point of view, the $1.8 billion price tag was respectable at all levels, and a great move for Priceline. However, Furrier believes that if Kayak had not sold, they would have definitely lost marketshare in having to answer the mobile challenge, thus putting them at risk.
On another quick note in keeping up with Silicon Valley news, Furrier weighed in on Bravo TV’s “Silicon Valley” reality show, saying that although it’s entertaining, he’s disappointed that it doesn’t capture the true essence of Silicon Valley as a “unique, money-making machine.” See the whole segment with Kristin Feledy and John Furrier on the Morning NewsDesk show.
A message from John Furrier, co-founder of SiliconANGLE:
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About SiliconANGLE Media
SiliconANGLE Media is a recognized leader in digital media innovation, uniting breakthrough technology, strategic insights and real-time audience engagement. As the parent company of SiliconANGLE, theCUBE Network, theCUBE Research, CUBE365, theCUBE AI and theCUBE SuperStudios — with flagship locations in Silicon Valley and the New York Stock Exchange — SiliconANGLE Media operates at the intersection of media, technology and AI.
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