An Interview with Adam Goldstein: Co-Founder of Hipmunk
Adam graduated from MIT in 2010 with degrees in Electrical Engineering/Computer Science and Mechanical Engineering, and was North American Debating Champion in 2010.
How and where did you get the idea for your company?
At MIT I was very active on the debate team, and we traveled all around the US and the world competing in tournaments (Stanford, Oxford, University College Cork (Ireland), Assumption University (Thailand)). By the time I was a senior I was booking all the travel for the team, and spending hours working around different people’s schedules and desires. I became so frustrated by the experience on the existing sites that I decided to try to build something better.
Who’s one person you’ve always looked up to?
Steve Jobs. I was a huge Apple fan as a kid, and went to many of his presentations. I developed software for Macs for years in middle and high school, and even wrote a book about it (AppleScript: The Missing Manual).
What’s the most important action you took that you believe brought success to your business?
Finding a great co-founder (Steve Huffman). So many companies fall apart because the founders are either too similar or two different. We have similar technical backgrounds but are comfortable.
What’s the number one tip you would offer to a young entrepreneur?
Build something that solves a problem you know about it. If you have it, chances are that others do too. Then be critical about what you’ve built, because your first few versions almost certainly aren’t as good as you think they are. At Hipmunk our first few versions (pre-launched) were laughably bad.
What are your 5 favorite online tools?
- Hipmunk—I travel constantly (200,000+ miles this year)
- Gmail for email and chat
- Google Calendar for managing my calendar (and now helping me coordinate it with my Hipmunk searches)
- Reddit for fun
- Pandora for background music
-
Less than a week after DJ A.M. 's death, girlfriend Hayley Wood is denying rumors that he... Read Full Story » -
It was only a few days ago that we spoke with Adam Goldstein from Hipmunk after a shakeup came... Read Full Story » -
DJ AM (a.k.a. Adam Goldstein) was laid to rest in a private ceremony Wednesday at Hillside... Read Full Story » -
Celebrity DJ Adam Goldstein, also known as DJ AM, was found dead in his New York apartment... Read Full Story »
