I pitched the idea of Expedia as a consumer-focused travel software company, emphasizing that it should prioritize travel over software.

We took 150 people from Microsoft to join Expedia, and almost all of them chose to take the adventure, which was a testament to the opportunity we presented.

I pitched the spin-out of Expedia as an HR experiment to retain talent, as Microsoft was so large that many talented individuals could hide away and not contribute meaningfully.

On the day of Expedia's IPO, my son was born, and I jokingly promised the team I would name him Expedia if that happened.

We faced challenges in raising funds, with many investors not responding or passing on Airbnb, claiming it didn't fit their investment thesis or that the travel market wasn't big enough, but we eventually secured a $1.5 million valuation for Airbnb.

The hardest part of recruiting for Expedia was convincing the spouses of potential hires, as they were often the most skeptical about the risks involved.

In a pivotal meeting, I asked an investor for $25,000 to expand our operations, and he agreed without hesitation, which was a huge relief for us.

Expedia started as a venture within Microsoft, and I left the operating system group to pursue it because of my wife's medical residency requirements.

Expedia was profitable and growing rapidly, which made it a successful business even during the dot-com crash, unlike Microsoft, which took years to recover.