Stephen Kaufer, president and CEO
Kaufer co-founded TripAdvisor in 2000 with the mission to help travellers around the world plan and have the perfect trip. Under Kaufer’s leadership, TripAdvisor has grown into the largest Web 2.0 company in the northeast and the world’s largest travel community, with more than 36 million monthly visitors, 11 million registered members and 30 million reviews and opinions. Kaufer has also built the TripAdvisor Media Network, acquiring 11 leading travel brands, and has expanded the TripAdvisor brand into France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and the U.K. Kaufer and his co-founders sold TripAdvisor to InterActive Corporation in 2004, which later spun off its travel businesses to Expedia, Inc., and Kaufer has continued to run day-to-day operations. Prior to co-founding TripAdvisor, Kaufer was president of CDS, Inc., a successful independent software vendor specializing in programming and testing tools. Previously, Kaufer was co-founder and vice president of engineering of CenterLine Software, where he led the development of several award-winning programming environments. Kaufer, winner of the 2005 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, holds several software patents and has spoken at dozens of travel and high-tech conferences worldwide. He is on the board of directors at Glassdoor (www.glassdoor.com), a job review site; CarGurus (www.cargurus.com), an online automotive community; and the Caring For Carcinoid Foundation (http://www.caringforcarcinoid.org), a non-profit charity dedicated to finding a cure for Carcinoid and Neuroendocrine cancers. He has a B.S. in computer science from Harvard University.
Christine Petersen, chief marketing officer
Petersen heads consumer marketing, product development and community support for TripAdvisor. Since joining in 2004, Petersen has overseen tremendous growth of site traffic, revenue, content and membership, including driving user involvement through the launch of rich product offerings such as maps, video, personalization and intra-member email. She joined TripAdvisor from Travelocity (formerly Preview Travel, Inc.), where she was vice president of member services and customer marketing. Petersen previously held senior marketing positions at Charles Schwab & Co., American Express, and Fidelity Investments. She holds an M.B.A. from Columbia University and a bachelor's degree from Colby College.
Marc Charron, managing director, Europe
Marc Charron is responsible for leading TripAdvisor's rollout of local language sites and managing operations across Europe. Prior to joining TripAdvisor, Charron served as vice president of product marketing at SquareTrade, Inc. in San Francisco. Before SquareTrade, Charron served as managing director of QXL.com, Getz International Travel and Danube Travel, all based in London. Charron began his travel career in 1991 with Carlson Travel in Vienna. He received a bachelor's degree from Trinity University in Texas and spent a year abroad studying at the London School of Economics.
Andy Gelfond, vice president, engineering
Andy Gelfond is responsible for leading TripAdvisor's engineering organization. Prior to joining TripAdvisor in 2004, Gelfond was founder and CTO of several Boston-based companies including InterGroup Technologies, LumaPath and Publish2Go, and was an architect and development manager for Lotus Development Corporation. Gelfond moved to the Boston area in 1988 after selling one of his companies, DeltaCom, to Index Technology. He attended the Moore School of Engineering, University of Pennsylvania.
Robin Ingle, senior vice president, advertising sales
Robin Ingle is responsible for all graphical and cost-per-click advertising sales as well as ad operations for TripAdvisor. She joined TripAdvisor in 2001 and most recently led international development. Prior to that, Ingle handled all client relations for the company. Before joining TripAdvisor, Ingle served as vice president of advertising at Access Media, vice president of sales for MediaPassage, and director of display advertising at the Chicago Sun-Times.
Eric Rosenzweig, senior vice president, strategic development and sales
Before joining TripAdvisor, Rosenzweig spent two years as executive vice president at SideStep and prior to that he was at Travelocity for two-and-a-half years, most recently as vice president of business and corporate development. Before Travelocity, Rosenzweig was with Preview Travel. Rosenzweig earned M.B.A. and J.D. degrees from the University of California, Berkeley and a bachelor of arts degree from Harvard University.
Bryan Saltzburg, general manager, new initiatives
Prior to joining TripAdvisor as the head of new initiatives, Saltzburg worked for Travelocity, most recently serving as Vice President of Leisure Businesses. Over his eight years there, Saltzburg was responsible for launching their successful online cruise business, and for managing and building the high-growth Dynamic Packaging, Activities and Events, and Insurance businesses. Saltzburg previously held marketing and business development positions at Walt Disney Company, Neutrogena and Princess Cruises. He holds a B.S. in education and social policy from Northwestern University and an M.B.A from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California.
Tyler Young, vice president, finance and administration
Prior to joining TripAdvisor in 2004 as the company’s controller, Young spent seven years in public accounting with Deloitte & Touche, most recently as audit manager. He is a certified public accountant and won the South Carolina Golden Quill award in 1999 for passing the CPA exam with the highest score in the state. Young holds a B.A. in government and economics from Dartmouth College and continued his accounting education at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of South Carolina.
David Morris, group corporate counsel
David is responsible for managing legal issues at the company. Prior to joining TripAdvisor in 2008, he spent five years as Senior Counsel at Invensys PLC. Prior to that, David also worked at Millennium Pharmaceuticals and the law firm of Hinckley, Allen & Snyder. David has a J.D. from Boston University School of Law, an M.S. from Boston University School of Communications, a B.A. from Brandeis University, and is completing an M.B.A. at Suffolk University.
