Expedia And Zillow Founder Rich Barton Wants To Fund ‘Power To The People’ Startups


Rich Barton may still be best known for his role as a founder at pioneering web properties such as Expedia and Zillow, but in recent years he has emerged as an investor in some really interesting startups, from mobile-only hotel booking app HotelTonight to neighborhood-focused social network Nextdoor to workforce review site Glassdoor.

So when we ran into Barton backstage at this week’s Disrupt conference (where he was judging the startup Battlefield), we asked him to stop by the TechCrunch TV setup and talk about his investment strategies and what kinds of founders and startups are catching his eye.

Barton says that the common thread in his investments is the idea of bringing “power to the people” by making certain kinds of key information accessible in new ways. Hear more about that in the video embedded above.