How I Got Here, episode 38 - Travis Katz of Trip.com

Travis Katz, Co-founder and CEO

How I Got Here is a weekly podcast from PhocusWire and Mozio, getting the inside stories behind innovation and startups in travel and transportation.

Travis Katz brought Gogobot through a crowded field of social trip planning sites to an eventual sale to one of the biggest names in online travel. He tells the story to Mozio's David Litwak and Kevin May of PhocusWire.

Travis Katz launched Gogobot at the height of the "social trip planning" wave in online travel.

The ex-MySpace exec knew for the company to succeed after the buzz of that 2010 period that it would take a lot more than a fancy user experience and PR to propel it into a phase of genuine growth.

Gogobot's focus on data and mobile was the key element in its push towards establishing itself as a worthy player in the ecosystem.

A name change to Trip.com in 2016 set the wheels in motion for what would become a sale to Chinese online travel giant Ctrip in late-2017 (Ctrip later rebranded to Trip.com Group).

Katz joins us as the latest guest on How I Got Here.

HIGH is a weekly show produced by PhocusWire and Mozio, aimed at getting the inside stories behind startups and innovation in travel and transportation.

It's hosted by our editor in chief, Kevin May, and Mozio co-founder and CEO David Litwak.

Here is the video version via PhocusWire's YouTube channel: