{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"HotelTonight Founder: How Sam Shank Built &amp; Sold a $400M Travel App (And What He\u2019s Building Next)","description":"In this episode of the Something Ventured podcast, I talk with Sam Shank, the founder of HotelTonight\u2014the groundbreaking last-minute hotel booking app that was acquired by Airbnb in a deal reportedly valued at nearly half a billion dollars. Sam takes us on an incredible journey: from his early days in Hollywood as a production assistant on Wes Craven's iconic horror film Scream (yes, he has an IMDb credit!), to pivoting to tech during the dot-com boom, surviving the crash, and founding multiple startups in the brutal travel space.&amp;nbsp; After two tough swings that taught him invaluable lessons about product-market fit, distribution, and avoiding incremental ideas, Sam spotted a massive opportunity in mobile same-day hotel bookings. Sam shares how HotelTonight cracked the App Store rankings, turned perishable hotel inventory into gold, and ultimately became a perfect strategic fit for Airbnb. Now, Sam is back at it with his new venture in wildfire insurance\u2014using cutting-edge science and AI to make high-risk homes insurable and literally save lives. We also dive into Sam's reflections on Silicon Valley's evolution, the future of AI in travel distribution, self-driving cars, and why building things still excites him after all these years. Hopefully you\u2019ll find it a candid, inspiring conversation with a resilient founder who proves that great outcomes often come on the third try. Timestamps 00:00 \u2013 Intro &amp;amp; How Kent Met Sam 03:29 \u2013 From Hollywood (Scream) to Silicon Valley 09:41 \u2013 Early Startups &amp;amp; Lessons from Failure 19:35 \u2013 The HotelTonight Origin Story 27:18 \u2013 The Airbnb Acquisition 29:52 \u2013 New Venture: Wildfire Insurance with Science &amp;amp; AI 38:48 \u2013 Silicon Valley Then vs. Now + AI's Impact Something Ventured Podcast 8-Bit Capital ","author_name":"Something Ventured -- Silicon Valley Podcast","author_url":"http:\/\/somethingventured.us","html":"<iframe title=\"Libsyn Player\" style=\"border: none\" src=\"\/\/html5-player.libsyn.com\/embed\/episode\/id\/39444745\/height\/90\/theme\/custom\/thumbnail\/yes\/direction\/forward\/render-playlist\/no\/custom-color\/88AA3C\/\" height=\"90\" width=\"600\" scrolling=\"no\"  allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen><\/iframe>","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/assets.libsyn.com\/secure\/item\/39444745"}