Worst Zestimate Ever
Bloomberg Businessweek|May 09, 2022
Why Zillow’s home-flipping moonshot never got out of orbit
PATRICK CLARK
Worst Zestimate Ever

In the 1994 book Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies, the management guru Jim Collins introduced the concept of the Big Hairy Audacious Goal. The BHAG (pronounced “bee-hag”) describes a method of stimulating progress by setting a clear, possibly unreasonable objective and chasing it relentlessly. Collins was thinking of Boeing’s race to develop the 707, but he also applied the concept more broadly. Climbing Mount Everest is a classic BHAG. So is sending humans into outer space. Some executives may find the term uncomfortably anatomical, preferring to pepper their PowerPoint presentations with true norths and north stars, Manhattan Projects and Marshall Plans, and, most of all, moonshots.

Rich Barton, chief executive officer of Zillow Group Inc., likes Collins’s formulation. “I find big, hairy, audacious goals are really motivating and inspirational,” he says. Barton founded an online travel agency inside Microsoft Corp. in 1994. Five years later, he walked into a meeting with future CEO Steve Ballmer and asked for a $100 million marketing budget. Ballmer laughed the young executive out of the room but later blessed a plan to take Expedia Group Inc. public. Eventually, Barton left Expedia and tackled the housing market. His first effort, a plan to sell homes at auction, was a dud. But in the process of pursuing it, he and his co-founders hit upon a better idea: They would track home values as if they were stock prices.

Esta historia es de la edición May 09, 2022 de Bloomberg Businessweek.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

Esta historia es de la edición May 09, 2022 de Bloomberg Businessweek.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

MÁS HISTORIAS DE BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEKVer todo
Instagram's Founders Say It's Time for a New Social App
Bloomberg Businessweek US

Instagram's Founders Say It's Time for a New Social App

The rise of AI and the fall of Twitter could create opportunities for upstarts

time-read
4 minutos  |
March 13, 2023
Running in Circles
Bloomberg Businessweek US

Running in Circles

A subscription running shoe program aims to fight footwear waste

time-read
3 minutos  |
March 20 - 27, 2023
What I Learned Working at a Hawaiien Mega-Resort
Bloomberg Businessweek US

What I Learned Working at a Hawaiien Mega-Resort

Nine wild secrets from the staff at Turtle Bay, who have to manage everyone from haughty honeymooners to go-go-dancing golfers.

time-read
10 minutos  |
March 20 - 27, 2023
How Noma Will Blossom In Kyoto
Bloomberg Businessweek US

How Noma Will Blossom In Kyoto

The best restaurant in the world just began its second pop-up in Japan. Here's what's cooking

time-read
3 minutos  |
March 20 - 27, 2023
The Last-Mover Problem
Bloomberg Businessweek US

The Last-Mover Problem

A startup called Sennder is trying to bring an extremely tech-resistant industry into the age of apps

time-read
10+ minutos  |
March 20 - 27, 2023
Tick Tock, TikTok
Bloomberg Businessweek US

Tick Tock, TikTok

The US thinks the Chinese-owned social media app is a major national security risk. TikTok is running out of ways to avoid a ban

time-read
10+ minutos  |
March 20 - 27, 2023
Cleaner Clothing Dye, Made From Bacteria
Bloomberg Businessweek US

Cleaner Clothing Dye, Made From Bacteria

A UK company produces colors with less water than conventional methods and no toxic chemicals

time-read
3 minutos  |
March 20 - 27, 2023
Pumping Heat in Hamburg
Bloomberg Businessweek US

Pumping Heat in Hamburg

The German port city plans to store hot water underground and bring it up to heat homes in the winter

time-read
3 minutos  |
March 20 - 27, 2023
Sustainability: Calamari's Climate Edge
Bloomberg Businessweek US

Sustainability: Calamari's Climate Edge

Squid's ability to flourish in warmer waters makes it fitting for a diet for the changing environment

time-read
4 minutos  |
March 20 - 27, 2023
New Money, New Problems
Bloomberg Businessweek US

New Money, New Problems

In Naples, an influx of wealthy is displacing out-of-towners lower-income workers

time-read
4 minutos  |
March 20 - 27, 2023