Ever wonder how Zillow got started? Here is the story.
Rich Barton co-founded Zillow in 2006. He graduated from Stanford with an Engineering degree, went to work for Microsoft in 1991. A few years later he pitched an idea to Bill Gates – let travelers book their own flights and hotels on-line. Gates gave him the green light and in 1996 Barton launched Expedia. In 2003 Expedia was sold for 3.6 billion dollars.
A few years later, Barton and Lloyd Frink, also a Microsoft and Expedia alum, were looking for homes for their families. Since both were tech and internet geeks, they found it frustrating that they had to use a professional to get information about any home they were interested in. They felt the process was too hard, and since the internet had been around for a while, it had to be easier to get basic marketplace information.
The seed for Zillow was planted.
Barton thought: “How would it be to strap on Oculus virtual reality goggles and take a spin around apartments and homes? Can we develop this kind of technology? Can we change the basic mechanics of home shopping? We believe we can, and we will be leading the way on all of it.”
Zillow launched in 2006. By 2022, Zillow had over 5000 employees and had been accessed on line over 10 billion times.
Barton became a billionaire.