The Cambridge company you've never heard of that has Google over a barrel
By adamg on Wed, 04/21/2010 - 9:14am
Bloomberg, via the Times, reports Google could be about to spend $1 billion on ITA Software, a Kendall Square company that sells airline-scheduling applications - of the sort a giant search engine might need if it wanted to begin providing flight information for travelers.
Stephen Laniel, who once worked there, explains why the company could be worth that much: They're the only people who have really figured out how to get the cheapest fare from A to B (Orbitz, for one, is based on their software).
... ITA is sitting on the best kind of monopoly you can hope for: they've solved a problem that no one else can solve. ...
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I've heard of them plenty,
I've heard of them plenty, long time ago.
They're big Common Lisp users.
Ah, let me amend my headline, then
The Cambridge company you've never heard of unless you use Lisp or were into computer science at MIT or are involved in the online travel business that has Google over a barrel
Or unless you've been using ITA's airline search for years
as I have, as well as many other folks I know:
http://matrix.itasoftware.com/cvg/dispatch
Or...
If your startup was located in the same building in Kendall Square... (like me)
I'm a LISP variable! BIND ME
I'm a LISP variable! BIND ME BIND ME!
I hope they buy them, I know a bunch of folks over there who have been working for years. Lots of very smart people there (they have always been strict on hiring) so good for them!