I wrote to his official Kayakemail address, and he wrote back. He might have copied and posted the body of the email, but he needed to have typed my name. I don't know if you know but Kayak's focus on customer service is legendary. They keep this old school big red phone in the office. Every time a customer calls, they pick and talk. The Kayak engineers themselves reply to every email every customer ever sends them. I just got my first hand experience of that legendary customer service.
OnStartups.com: Startup Insights From Paul English, Co-Founder of Kayak (Via Paul Orlando, @porlando) the most popular travel search site on the web (and one of the top 1,000 most popular sites on the web)..... In Dec 2007, with just 39 employees, Kayak raised $230 million (at a much higher than that valuation) to acquire their largest competitor, SideStep. Paul is on my list of “best entrepreneurs I’ve met”. ...... my next 10 year project. I'll be at Kayak, of course, pushing it, pushing it, but I'm starting a new project that has an audacious goal of creating free low-bandwidth Internet for the whole continent of Africa.
Fast Company: Kayak.com Cofounder Paul English Plans to Blanket Africa in Free Wireless Internet (Via Adam Carson, @adamkcarson) a "big, big project," one that will consume the next decade of his life ..... 8.7% Internet penetration right now ..... belief that providing basic Internet is as essential to society as clean water and clean power. ..... he nonprofit/for-profit hybrid this summer and begin creating partnerships between JoinAfrica and local African for-profit telcos. ...... he's already bought satellite dishes and other gear and helped hook up villages in a number of African countries over the past decade, from Burundi to Uganda and Malawi to Zambia. "Having email and Skype has been transformative for the handful of villages I've worked in," he says. ....... "The continent of Africa has been so fucked over from an economic standpoint -- as an engineer, how do I use my skills to do something that's transformative?" ...... assure the system is "incredibly measurable and incredibly managed." ..... the project might cost billions ..... "The way Kayak is involved is that it's helping make me very wealthy, and I plan to deploy that wealth" ...... massive scale and hybrid business model
This speaks to me. This hits me like when I first read about the Chrome OS. (Chrome Operating System) I have been talking about "an operating system that supports a browser and nothing else, and hardware that supports that operating system and nothing else, something barebones" for a few years now. And I have been talking about "wireless broadband supported by ads" for a few years now. Actually that was my startup that Adam had put 50K of his money into, and 35K of money of people he knew. That money went back to the investors in February 2009 for understandable reasons. I liked the "we still believe in you, we still believe in the vision" parting talk. Lost the investment, kept the friendship. (Ignite, Set It On Fire)
The vision still rings true, only feels more possible due to the Chrome OS. The demand is still there. Billions lack wireless broadband. Heck, most people in America lack wireless broadband. (Job Search) Mobile is great, but you really need that screen size and keyboard size. Global South people are not mini people who can make do with mobile phones alone. Universal broadband will create One World for the first time ever.
Internet access is the voting right for this Internet Century.
Bill Gates thinks the world population will stabilize around nine billion. All countries can be turned into democracies. Poverty can be eradicated. Hunger can be ended. Universal broadband is possible. Big things are possible.
I don't think of the internet as a privilege that people get to access once they get rich enough, so focus on food. Cars, yes, but not the internet. The internet is the catalyst that will make all those other big things possible.
Travel is like music. I never met anybody who did not like music. We no longer live in an era when you needed to be Marco Polo to travel. I have been all over America. I plan on going all over the world. Eventually. I got time. I have sketches in my mind for all India, all Africa, all China travels. You comb the land.
OnStartups.com: Startup Insights From Paul English, Co-Founder of Kayak (Via Paul Orlando, @porlando) the most popular travel search site on the web (and one of the top 1,000 most popular sites on the web)..... In Dec 2007, with just 39 employees, Kayak raised $230 million (at a much higher than that valuation) to acquire their largest competitor, SideStep. Paul is on my list of “best entrepreneurs I’ve met”. ...... my next 10 year project. I'll be at Kayak, of course, pushing it, pushing it, but I'm starting a new project that has an audacious goal of creating free low-bandwidth Internet for the whole continent of Africa.
Fast Company: Kayak.com Cofounder Paul English Plans to Blanket Africa in Free Wireless Internet (Via Adam Carson, @adamkcarson) a "big, big project," one that will consume the next decade of his life ..... 8.7% Internet penetration right now ..... belief that providing basic Internet is as essential to society as clean water and clean power. ..... he nonprofit/for-profit hybrid this summer and begin creating partnerships between JoinAfrica and local African for-profit telcos. ...... he's already bought satellite dishes and other gear and helped hook up villages in a number of African countries over the past decade, from Burundi to Uganda and Malawi to Zambia. "Having email and Skype has been transformative for the handful of villages I've worked in," he says. ....... "The continent of Africa has been so fucked over from an economic standpoint -- as an engineer, how do I use my skills to do something that's transformative?" ...... assure the system is "incredibly measurable and incredibly managed." ..... the project might cost billions ..... "The way Kayak is involved is that it's helping make me very wealthy, and I plan to deploy that wealth" ...... massive scale and hybrid business model
This speaks to me. This hits me like when I first read about the Chrome OS. (Chrome Operating System) I have been talking about "an operating system that supports a browser and nothing else, and hardware that supports that operating system and nothing else, something barebones" for a few years now. And I have been talking about "wireless broadband supported by ads" for a few years now. Actually that was my startup that Adam had put 50K of his money into, and 35K of money of people he knew. That money went back to the investors in February 2009 for understandable reasons. I liked the "we still believe in you, we still believe in the vision" parting talk. Lost the investment, kept the friendship. (Ignite, Set It On Fire)
The vision still rings true, only feels more possible due to the Chrome OS. The demand is still there. Billions lack wireless broadband. Heck, most people in America lack wireless broadband. (Job Search) Mobile is great, but you really need that screen size and keyboard size. Global South people are not mini people who can make do with mobile phones alone. Universal broadband will create One World for the first time ever.
Internet access is the voting right for this Internet Century.
Bill Gates thinks the world population will stabilize around nine billion. All countries can be turned into democracies. Poverty can be eradicated. Hunger can be ended. Universal broadband is possible. Big things are possible.
I don't think of the internet as a privilege that people get to access once they get rich enough, so focus on food. Cars, yes, but not the internet. The internet is the catalyst that will make all those other big things possible.
Travel is like music. I never met anybody who did not like music. We no longer live in an era when you needed to be Marco Polo to travel. I have been all over America. I plan on going all over the world. Eventually. I got time. I have sketches in my mind for all India, all Africa, all China travels. You comb the land.
So last night I was at my second Digital Dumbo. I even got to say hello to Andrew Zarick, (@a2z) the guy who got me started with Digital Dumbo last month, the organizer. Andrew is from Louisville originally. I have spent a few years in Kentucky. But Louisville is like Kentucky's own New York City. I was in a small town. He might not relate.
The evening was as fabulous as I expected it to be, although the next time I think I am going to pull a Miko Mercer (@mikomercer) and not drink any beer. Only a few days back I learned Ann Curry is half Japanese like Miko. (Ann Curry Commencement)
All beer drinking is obligatory drinking for me. I don't enjoy the process. I enjoy the effect even less. I far more enjoy working the crowd, hopping from one puddle to the next and next.
I paid my compliments, first at my blog in the morning, and then in person to Andrew in the evening. I was 15 minutes late, and still one of the first to show. Digital Dumbo is what the NY Tech MeetUp after party should be, I said.
"I am friends with Nate," he said. If Andrew Zarick is a Louisville guy, Nate Westheimer is a Cincinnati guy. Between them they have all the bases covered. Nate organizes the NY Tech MeetUp. Of course I am familiar with Cincy too. And I am friends with Nate. His is a delightful presence on the local tech scene.
I really like the Dumbo name, and it can't be all technology, although it is the only geographical locale of its kind in the city. The name Dumbo reminds me of Appu, the mascot for the Asian games in Delhi in 1982.
My family and relatives call me Pappu, not Paramendra. Paramendra is the name they came up with when it was time for me to go to school. And a good name too, totally Google friendly. Elephants and mangoes are so India.
One day a high school friend showed up at our house - my grandfather was out on the verandah - and he made the mistake of asking for Paramendra. He was promptly asked to keep walking down the street. My grandfather did not recognize the name off the bat.
I really appreciated the space. The Dumbo Loft is special. I hope they stick to the venue. They might not have anything better in Dumbo. To a few people I said, this space, and this floor, makes me want to practice my kicks, throw around my lower limbs, try out some basic martial arts.
You had to enter your name on a computer when you got there, and the computer would generate a name for you. Mine was DJ something Dog.
The guy serving beer remembered me from last time. Why not? I was the guy who asked for water.
I liked working the room. I would go from one group of two people to another group of three people, until I was tipsy and no longer effective. I left around 9 PM. Most people had formed small groups around people they worked with, people they showed up with. I'd show up and stir the water a bit.
This event had the healthiest male female ratio of any tech event I have ever been to. How did this happen? I think it was pretty much half and half. That sure was not the case at the last Digital Dumbo. And that sure does not happen at the NY Tech MeetUp. I was impressed but also perplexed. I got into a lengthy conversation with this one woman coder. I asked her why she thought most coders were men. She said, beats me, your guess is as good as mine.
You gotta ask, what is Andrew Zarick's secret sauce?
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vcn4rXD8ryOWve9xVRZhH6F9Vk0EnAdkr_GGKvMXWGSks61PenvlW7ZA9BLMfFEkgNuUFcyoJZTERPISx8bm98bqRMNJbj14TRwR4d-nEDfGA3vH7VsKVBOXtOyeXdWwoc5hq7yVNsLos6loEHDJAD=s0-d)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_sAXcXAlCf3wJy5F31GdVU6452HWa8RpS4L4vUiNUFGxTEhuroq_Qdf9mI7X1RlI2B_HdohxsCihJsiTqPO1BgJdqp4CxWqDLzl_LphuE5hvMBmd2nRSe1EcCrRo9cyvtJijFwUhD_pP0JvUo1-S9A=s0-d)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vtyZNuUhyNSy-SBlgesRxsfFlC_qngo_9XMpcAwTXn_cQ4A1syUDcaLHK4qochFMwhISsZVAYqMVI2eSWjz82tbO8jfAUdGkbLMDqdY6QeZri5DvNTRTfGfS_zSVzo3ImaOmMYyVqdQpBnLJAn25S_=s0-d)