Kayak CEO Steve Hafner on the state of travel, AI's place, hospitality trends, and more! | E1822

This Week in Startups is brought to you by… Roots. Invest in the only real estate investment trust that creates wealth for you and its residents at https://investwithroots.com/TWIST Squarespace. Turn your idea into a new website! Go to https://Squarespace.com/twist for a free trial. When you're ready to launch, use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. LinkSquares. Life for in-house legal just got a whole lot easier. From contract creation to execution and more, LinkSquares is the go-to for all your legal needs. Learn more at https://linksquares.com/twist * Today's show: Kayak CEO Steve Hafner joins Jason to discuss the current landscape of the travel industry (1:56), its economic dynamics (17:40), emerging trends in hospitality (41:08), and much more! * Time stamps: (0:00) Kayak CEO Steve Hafner joins Jason (1:56) The state of the travel industry today and the adoption of AI (10:50) Roots - Head to https://investwithroots.com/TWIST to sign up and start investing today! (12:15) Navigating shifts in UI and building bulletproof features for at-scale companies (15:32) Kayak's response to the impact of Covid-19 on the industry (17:40) The economics of the travel industry (28:14) Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://Squarespace.com/twist (29:36) OpenTable, diner ratings, and the advent of QR code ordering (34:29) The drive behind OpenTable's revenue stream and product adoption (39:54) LinkSquares - The go-to for all your legal needs; learn more at https://linksquares.com/twist (41:08) Hospitality trends in hotels (50:02) The impact of AI gains on Kayak's operations * Follow Steve: https://twitter.com/shafner * Read LAUNCH Fund 4 Deal Memo: https://www.launch.co/four Apply for Funding: https://www.launch.co/apply Buy ANGEL: https://www.angelthebook.com Great recent interviews: Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland, PrayingForExits, Jenny Lefcourt Check out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis * Follow Jason: Twitter: https://twitter.com/jason Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis * Follow TWiST: Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin * Subscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.founder.university/podcast