Making Uncommon Knowledge Common
“His companies take power from the incumbents and give it to consumers. Instead of trying to hoard information, they are on the side of consumers and giving them more data transparency.
Kwokchain
Glassdoor revealed how employees really felt about companies. Zillow shed light on what any house was worth. Expedia let people see the prices and availability of flights and hotels without talking to an agent. These were knowable things that people have always talked about with each other. There are few topics adults love gossiping about more than work, real estate, or travel. And few categories as core to their net worth.
Rich Barton took these whispered conversations and made them public for everyone to see. Afterwards, everyone wondered why they were ever private.”
Great post about what what makes Rich Barton career unique and why his return to Zillow as CEO is a bigger deal than anyone thinks. I recently got a chance to hear him speak live at the recent T3 Summit. I was a bit skeptical when he first came back to the CEO role but I now think this is exactly his moment. Think about it, although he has nothing to prove, he isn’t exactly a member of the “last name” club; think Gates (his old boss), Jobs, Bezos, and Zuckerberg.
If Zillow is successful at transforming the way we buy and sell real estate, we might all start just referring to him simply as “Barton”.
If he is successful at transforming how we buy and sell – I believe his first name will be sufficient enough to describe and define him.
And yes, agreed, this is his moment.