In 2004, Orbitz alumnus Steve Hafner co-foundedKayakand fixed the aggravating process of shopping for airplane tickets.
We asked him how he gets his work done.
Like most Americans, Im a mutt.
My mom is Swedish and my dad is German and Irish.
I was born in Peru and moved around a lot growing up.
The Internet was created right when I was finishing college and I knew it would revolutionize commerce.
We took that company public in 2003 for over $1B.
But I wasnt satisfied with what we had built, so I left and started Kayak.
The Priceline Group bought us in 2013 for $2.1B but nothings changed in my role.
The world is a big place and people need to see it.
Our mission at Kayak is to help with that.
What apps, software, or tools cant you live without?
Kayak for sure, plus Uber and Waze.
I travel all the time and FaceTime keeps me connected to my five daughters and fiancee Staci.
For work, Slack, Google Docs, and Dropbox.
For play, Netflix, Spotify,LaughableandSeatGeek.
Im also an Amazon Alexa fan.
Whats your workspace setup like?
Only a few people at Kayak have offices and Im not one of them.
Right now, my seat is right outside of our kitchen.
Whats your best time-saving shortcut or life hack?
My out of office messages tell people that their emails will be automatically deleted while Im gone.
If its important, they can tell me when Im back or handle it themselves.
Life is too precious and short to always be on.
Whats your favorite to-do list manager?
I keep a small spiral notebook and write everything down in itvery old-school for a tech guy.
What everyday thing are you better at than everyone else?
Ive probably spent way too much time in bars during my travels.
What do you listen to while you work?
The news annoys me these days.
What are you currently reading?
Or whats something youd recommend?
My favorite book isA Confederacy of Duncesand Im reading it again right now.
Its too funny not to revisit every year.
I also recently read Elon Musks biography which I found inspiring.
How do you recharge?
What do you do when you want to forget about work?
I also like working out and cross training.
Whats your favorite side project?
I love manual tasks like yard work and tinkering with broken stuff.
Whats your sleep routine like?
Are you a night owl or early riser?
I aspire to be a night owl, but having two daughters under two makes that really hard.
So these days Im an early (and often) riser.
Fill in the blank: Id love to see _________ answer these same questions.
Paul English, co-founder of Kayak, and our former CTO.
The best leaders know their strengths and deficiencies, and plug the latter with complementary talent.
Paul is everything that Im not, which was essential to our success in the early days.
Whats the best advice youve ever received?
It seems silly, I know.
Kayaks office culture and environment reflect that idea too.
We want our folks to have surroundings that add energy to their lives and enjoy coming to work.
Is there anything else youd like to add that might be interesting to readers?
Im always on the lookout for how to make life simpler.
Theres so much wasted time, effort, and capital in the world.
For example, I cant wait for self-driving cars and car-sharing fleets to become mainstream.
Imagine a world with fewer streets, parking lots, garages, and traffic.
New York City could have green pedestrian thoroughfares!
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
