斯蒂芬·考费 鹰击长空 睿智旅者
撰文/冯倩雯 Written by Samantha
人物档案/Profile
斯蒂芬·考费
猫途鹰联合创始人兼CEO
Steve Kaufer
Co-founder & CEO of TripAdvisor
“鹰击长空，鱼翔浅底，万类霜天竞自由。”在斯蒂芬·考费的头顶上，是无比辽阔的星空。作为20年前美国创业者的先锋代表之一，他至今仍管理着全球最大的旅游社区和评论网站TripAdvisor。他的定位十分明确，既不是做旅行社，也不是做旅游预订服务的代理商，而是要为旅行者提供免费、客观、公正的旅游资讯服务。怀着无尽的创想，他将伟大的愿景，归于纯粹——希望能帮助全球旅行者制定他们的完美旅程。
当软件工程师遇上旅行
考费毕业于哈佛大学，软件工程师出身的他最初创立TripAdvisor，并非出于多么宏远的理想。这一切要从他的墨西哥之旅开始说起。
1998年，和大多的旅行者一样，考费与她的第一任妻子通过旅行社来咨询他们的行程。他从旅行社带走了三本宣传册子，但几乎别无二致，都将目的地描绘得十分完美，并且价格高昂。于是他通过翻阅各类私人主页（后来发展为博客）的方式，了解并综合了大家的意见，制定了价格合理的出游计划。他们度过了难忘的旅途。
上世纪90年代，互联网方兴未艾。考费当时就想，为何不把这次经历转化为商业模式，创立一个网站，让旅行者聚集起来，自由评论、分享经验？这个想法最终在2000年被付诸实践，诞生了TripAdvisor公司。这种靠人们真实评论建立旅游社区的模式，被认为是互联网领域的颠覆性创新，从此改变了人们旅游出行的方式。
考费呷了一口咖啡，娓娓道来。他告诉记者，每天都会喝三到四杯黑咖啡，并乐此不疲。与TripAdvisor的形象契合，这位说话温和的商人有着猫头鹰般的睿智精明。但也不难发现他感性的一面。他回味，最喜欢的是耶路撒冷（这是与他离世发妻的蜜月之地），而印象最深的莫过于土耳其的伊斯坦布尔，那是他与现任妻子Howe常去的地方。考费与Howe共同抚养8个孩子，他每天都坚持6点多起床，目送最小的孩子上学。
作为IT界内任期最长的CEO之一，考费经过长达17年的精心培育，让TripAdvisor从垂直搜索蜕变成全球最大的旅游平台。这一路上，他陪伴公司经历了无数个跌宕起伏。
关于收购的故事与传闻
在掌管TripAdvisor期间，考费赢得了无数的荣誉与嘉奖，但若要问他最自豪的瞬间，他会毫不犹豫地回答，是公司被收回的那个时刻。
2004年，作为最早的互联网创业企业之一，TripAdvisor被IAC（即后来的Expedia）收购。至2011年，它又从Expedia中拆分出来，独立在纳斯达克上市，如今市值100亿美元，在全球旅游行业的地位仍然举足轻重。
2013年，TripAdvisor开始在市场上进行大规模的收购。次年，其在与全球竞争者Expedia、Priceline以及中国BAT的收购厮杀中，顺利拿下四宗超过3.52亿美元的交易，其中包括以2亿美元收购OTA公司Viator。最近又宣布收购地图社交创业公司Citymaps。至今，其业务已拓展至餐厅预订及门票购买，逐步实现多元化。但在考费看来，这一系列“买买买”的行为，都是为了给用户提供更多的旅游选项。
而面对此前的传闻，称TripAdvisor可能变成美国最大的在线旅游公司Priceline最理想的收购对象，考费表现得相当淡定。他坦言整合是未来趋势，但目前所要考虑的是如何将自身经营好。虽然从近两年来，TripAdvisor的股价表现似乎并不理想，然而考费处之泰然，他回应，“股价并非我们所要担心的，我们只在意今年我的APP好不好用，评论精不精彩。因为我们服务的是用户，只要我们把这些都做好了，股价也自然会上去。”
目前，TripAdvisor在全球49个国家和地区设有分站，每月来自世界各地的直接访问量近3.9亿人，同时收录逾5亿条旅游点评及建议，覆盖超过137,000个旅游目的地，1,935,000家酒店住宿和度假租屋，76万处景点以及430万间餐厅。
保持低调，速度战胜一切
据统计，TripAdvisor于2017年第一季度共收入3.72亿，同比增长了6%。平均每月独立酒店预订用户数量接近1.5亿，同比增长9%；独立访问用户将近3.9亿，同比增长14%。而截至3月31日，其用户点评量达到了5亿条，同比增长了43%。
“5亿条点评持续塑造了TripAdvisor在全球范围的品牌亲和力，我们正借助这一优势，继续优化酒店预订的体验。”考费表示，将在今年第二季度启动品牌广告活动，深化用户对TripAdvisor的品牌认知——不仅是用户研究酒店、而且是预订时寻求最优惠价格的好去处。而针对未来创新，他说道：“创新从一开始就是TripAdvisor的基因，我们每隔两年就会推出一系列新的战略。未来可能是基于虚拟现实的技术。比如用户点开照片，就如同身临其境。”
低调、谦逊是TripAdvisor公司的文化基因，也是考费本人的性格。和一般上市公司CEO喜欢占据超大景观视角的办公室不同，他办公的地方是和员工的格子间连在一起的。“我不需要看风景，我只需面对我的员工，要保证时刻处于他们之中，与他们共同解决问题。”
在他每天进出的一扇门上，贴着一张纸条：Speed wins（速度战胜一切）。这是他十年前写下的字条，也是TripAdvisor内部员工们非正式的座右铭，每一次搬家，这张纸条就会跟着考费贴到新的地方。
TripAdvisor诞生于全球第一轮互联网泡沫破裂之际，分享到近20年来科技进步的好处。展望未来20年，考费表示看好人工智能和精准医疗两大领域，“尤其是语音识别，一旦得到普及，这种影响将是颠覆性的。”
放眼全球，读懂中国市场
诚如上述，在TripAdvisor通往中国的道路上，面对与携程、马蜂窝、穷游等本土资深玩家的较量，拼的也是速度。这本该是它的强项，却没想到中国市场的情况比想象中复杂。
从最初将全球发展模式简单复制和搬运的“到到网”，再到如今寻求更清晰和准确定位的“猫途鹰”，今年已是TripAdvisor布局中国市场的第八个年头。考费称，猫途鹰在中国市场的发展，并不会走“大而全”的预订网站路子，既不会变成携程等OTA，也不会像大众点评等团购类网站模式靠拢。“我们的愿景是成为中国自助出境游用户必用的APP。”
通过对中国市场的分析，他总结出两点发现，一是中国市场用户移动端转移速度远远超出全球其他市场；另外比较有趣的一点是，中国出境游用户行为存在较大差别，而出行中更关注“吃”这个元素。因此，顺应中国消费者对于移动端的偏爱，猫途鹰的发展战略也做出了相应的改变，努力提升移动端的用户体验。首先做好本土翻译工作，通过大数据整合录入中国用户关注度最高的信息，提升翻译质量；并计划在中文APP中开设新的板块，进行内容上的优化，例如针对中国用户在海外的点餐需求，嵌入双语推荐菜单以及餐厅预订等功能。
对他而言，找准合适定位，可以避开很多竞争的战场。基于此，猫途鹰将继续聚焦于服务中国细分的自助出境游群体。事实上，从全球目的地市场来看，TripAdvisor的流量规模、市场渗透率、对当地旅游资源的掌控等等，都让对手难以在短时间内超越，而利用海外优势来做海外业务，显然是它最根本的竞争策略。
STEVE KAUFER
SMART TRIPADVISOR, SPEED WINS
SMART TRIPADVISOR, SPEED WINS
As one of the US leading entrepreneur representatives 20 years ago, Steve Kaufer is still at helm of the world’s biggest tourism community and comment website TripAdvisor. With a definite position of the company orientation, he determines to build TripAdvisor into a platform that can provide free and objective travel information and service to the travelers. With such great but pure ambition, he wishes to exert his strength to help travelers from all over the world in making their perfect journeys.
It All Began with a Trip to Mexico
Steve Kaufer, graduated from Harvard University, is the CEO and Co-founder of TripAdvisor. He co-founded TripAdvisor in 2000 with the mission to help travelers around the world plan and book the perfect trip. As for the story of his founding such platform, it all began with a trip to Mexico. Like many travelers in 1999, Stephen Kaufer’s vacation began with a travel agent. Seeking recommendations on where to stay in Mexico, he left the agent’s office with three beautiful brochures for three gorgeous resorts at three distinct price points. “The decision process—searching the web to find what real people had to say about the resort—changed a very expensive purchase decision for me,” said Kaufer. “So, I thought, how can I turn this into a business?” And, so, TripAdvisor was born.
As co-founder and CEO, Kaufer has been with the company throughout its 17-year journey from B2B vertical search engine to becoming the world’s largest travel site. Along the way, he has steered the company through pivots, sales, acquisitions and an IPO, to become an industry-leader in a highly competitive and rapidly evolving market.
Story and Process of the Merger & Acquisition
During his time at the helm of TripAdvisor, Kaufer has earned a slew of awards and recognition for his entrepreneurship and leadership. But what really made him proud is the repossession of the company. In 2004, TripAdvisor was sold to InterActive Corporation (IAC, the parent company of Expedia) for $210 million in cash. In 2011, it spun out as an independent, publicly traded company. Kaufer has remained onboard through it all. Since 2013, TripAdvisor has initiated a series of large-scale merger and acquisition, and till now its business scope has been successfully expanded and realized diversification. As far as Kaufer is concerned, all the M&A projects were undertaken with an aim to provide more options and service to its customers.
So far, TripAdvisor has become the largest travel site in the world, enabling travelers to unleash potential of every trip. It also offers advice from millions of travelers, with 500 million reviews and opinions covering 7 million accommodations, restaurant and attractions. Its branded sites make up the largest travel community in the world, reaching 390 million average unique monthly visitors in 49 markets worldwide.
Keep a Low Profile and Let the Speed Wins
According to statistics, Q1 revenue of TripAdvisor was USD 372 million, up by 6% year-over-year, and the average monthly unique hotel shoppers reached nearly 150 million, up 9% year-over-year; average monthly unique visitors reached nearly 390 million, up 14% year-over-year; and the user reviews and opinions grew 43% and reached 500 million at March 31, 2017. As quoted from Steve Kaufer, “Later in Q2, we plan to launch a brand advertising campaign to build user awareness of TripAdvisor as not only a great place to research a hotel, but a great place to find the lowest prices when a user is ready to book.”
Innovation, low-profile and modesty are the cultural genes of TripAdvisor. The opposite of slow, TripAdvisor maintains what Kaufer calls a culture of speed. “Our culture is we’re just going to move. We don’t want to be locked into a process that’s going to slow us down,” he said. That speed enables the team to release small patches of software on the site every day, and release new features every week. TripAdvisor was born in the time when the first round of Internet bubble get burst, and has been sharing the advantages brought by the technology advances for the past two decades. In the coming two decades, Kaufer thinks highly of the development of artificial intelligence and precise medicine, and believes that “once the application of voice recognition technology gets popular, the influence will be enormous.”
Global Expansion and Entering the Chinese Market
As is mentioned above, TripAdvisor, when competing with the local travel agencies such as Ctrips, qyer.com in making its entrance into the Chinese market, has also took the Speed Wins Strategy. This year has marked the eighth year of TripAdvisor’s arrival in the Chinese Market. As is quoted from Kaufer, TripAdvisor wishes to become the necessary APP for those Chinese who want to go abroad for package tours.
Based on the analysis of the Chinese market, Kaufer has made the following two conclusions: first is that the development of the user mobile application in China has greatly surpassed the ones in other countries; second, there exists a distinctive difference between behaviors of the tourists of China and of other countries, while the former focus more on the needs of dining experience. Therefore, it is very important for TripAdvisor to satisfy the needs of the Chinese tourists and make changes accordingly so as to increase its guest’s experience. As for Kaufer, to have a precise position of the development orientation enables TripAdvisor to get rid of many competitions. Based on that understanding, TripAdvisor will continue to focus on the package tour travelers’ needs and expand its business and service accordingly. From the global market perspective, we can tell that with the help of the big internet flow, high market penetration rate, and the abundant possessions of the local resources, TripAdvisor’s taking advantage of its overseas strengths may greatly contribute to the success of its global expansion.
本网站部分图片来源于网络，如有侵权，请联系780236430@qq.com ，我们会在5个工作日内查证删除。图片其版权均归原作者及其网站所有。