Podcast Interview: Priceline Co-Founder Paul Breitenbach

Episode Summary

Paul Breitenbach, a co-founder of Priceline, grew up on the Jersey Shore and was a working musician as a teenager, and he recalls joining a musicians’ union at 13 or 14. He says music taught him to work hard and dig deep. He and his brother also had what he calls the largest paper route, and they offered a five-dollar service that delivered the paper wherever customers wanted it. When the children of an elderly woman on the route asked whether he would bring the paper inside and hand it to their mother, he said it would be a privilege. Paul says the relationship helped her stay in her home for another seven years, and her family helped pay for part of his college. Serving is a privilege, Paul says.

Paul started music school, but after a few weeks he called his parents to say he had made a mistake. He had been fascinated by computers since building one as a kid, and he was drawn to technology and how people interact with it. His advice is to have the courage to change course, find a way to add value instead of repeating what others do, and always try to do the right thing.

As a leader, Paul follows servant leadership: canvass and listen first, then be decisive, since fear of making the wrong decision can paralyze leaders. He coached Little League for years, and he says coachability is one of the most important traits, starting with the self-awareness to know your strengths and weaknesses. The best teams, he says, are the ones where one person’s strength covers another’s weakness, with everyone paddling in the same direction in the canoe.

At Priceline, Paul calls himself a humble founding team member and says a huge part of the company’s success was being willing to bring in people who were better than the founders. He was the Chief Marketing Officer, and he says the brand promise that you could be smart by saving money has endured. He also tells the story of William Shatner, whom the team reached through friends of friends of friends. They wrote every word he said for years, starting with radio and print because they could not yet afford television.

Today Paul leads r4 Technologies, an AI company whose name stands for right product, right consumer, right time, and right price. Paul says the vision was a predictive AI platform that does not require data scientists, and one use is finding the 30 to 40 percent of food produced in the US that is wasted and matching it to SNAP recipients, so $300 buys $600. Paul believes AI will make the internet look small.

What You’ll Learn

Have the courage to follow your real interests: a high school guidance counselor would not let Paul try an office program because he was a musician, and he says it took courage in college to step out and pursue what he cared about.

Be careful who you ask for advice, Paul says, because getting guidance from the wrong person is like teenagers in the lunchroom asking each other, and it can throw you into a ditch.

Innovation is a tough business, Paul says, because the pioneers take the arrows, but he argues that this is where real value gets added and what helps drive people forward.

You do not have to be the number one draft pick to win: Paul recalls that his Little League teams were always the last to draft, yet reached the championship game three years in a row and won it twice.

Marketing now is about understanding need states, Paul says, because there are so many ways to reach the same pair of eyeballs that a one-size-fits-all brand is much harder to build.

So many skills can be learned today, Paul says, that the missing ingredient is will, and he argues that you can be competitive and a good person while outworking and outthinking others.

About Paul Breitenbach

Paul Breitenbach is a co-founder of Priceline, the company that disrupted the world of travel. He served as the company’s Chief Marketing Officer and today is the founder and CEO of r4 Technologies, an AI company focused on predictive decisions. Paul grew up on the Jersey Shore, where he started out as a working musician, and he holds a bachelor’s degree and an MBA from Cornell University.

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