Summary: Trip Advisor Co-founder/CEO Stephen Kaufer has managed to build a multi-billion dollar business, but he doesn't credit the success to design, technology, or marketing. Instead, he says a commitment to ongoing improvement has been one of the most important aspects of his corporate philosophy. For the last 12 year, TripAdvisor has released a new version of their website Every. Single. Week. Kaufer’s matra is “speed wins.” At one point the product team, feeling overwhelmed by the size and complexity of the codebase, petitioned to make releases bi-weekly. The request was summarily denied with a flat no. Further pleas were made and met with flat no’s. Kaufer credits the decision to his background in computer science, but are also an important reflection of his managerial sensibility. “It’s not like we’re building embedded software that’s shipping out on a chip,” he says. “If the site goes down we can revert. I don’t slap the team around if there’s a bug. That’s software.” Photo Credit: http://bit.ly/1NVLG4S
