Ep.389 ~ Selling HomeAway for $3.9 Billion, and Helping a Million Entrepreneurs in 5 Years ~ Ross Buhrdorf

Many of us entrepreneurs in the internet/tech world are younger. Most of us are in our 20’s and 30’s because we grew up with computers.  Every now and then we get a guest that has been involved with tech and internet companies since before the Dot Com Boom and it is exciting to hear their stories because it seems like they have seen it all.

 

Today’s guest is Ross Buhrdorf and he is the founding CTO that worked with the global giant HomeAway.com for eleven years until they sold to Expedia for $3.9 billion.  Ross was also involved with one of the first major search engines Excite.com that was once bigger than Google. Today, Ross and I chat about his time with Excite and HomeAway and what it was like building these companies up to become tech giants.  Later in the episode, Ross shares with us about how he sets goals and how he uses neuro-linguistic programming to help create the success that he has had. Lastly, Ross shares about his newest venture Zen Business, that is helping entrepreneurs incorporate easily for a very low cost in any state of their choosing.

 

02:54: Why Ross Lives in Austin, Texas?

07:29: Ross’s Early Career at Excite.com and HomeAway.com

11:49: Working with One of the World’s Largest Search Engines During the Tech Boom

16:49: Tipping Point When Google Took Dominance

19:44: Working as a Founding CTO with HomeAway.com  

23:09: Picking Great Companies to Work With

30:44: Selling HomeAway for $3.9 Billion

33:09: The Vacuum of TIme After Exiting a Business

40:44: Goal Setting from the CTO of a Billion Dollar Company

44:19: Zen Business Incorporating Business for Free

47:49: Helping 1,000,000 Entrepreneurs in Five Years

51:48: Ross on Influence

 

Contact Info:

 

https://www.zenbusiness.com/

ross@zenbusiness.com