Management
Tracey Zhen VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER
Tracey brought her passion for travel and growing e-commerce businesses to FlipKey in 2012. A highly adaptable leader, she has experience working with both start-ups and large organizations, which puts her right at home with FlipKey’s mix of a start-up culture with TripAdvisor’s global underpinnings. Tracey's first experience with vacation rentals was in 2000, when she was planning a ski trip with a large group of friends. Finding a hotel that accommodated 16 people was a bit challenging, but she found a great house in Utah for a fraction of the price.
Tracey is looking to leverage her experience in online travel to make booking vacation rentals as easy as hotels. Prior to FlipKey, Tracey was General Manager of Expedia’s Emerging Markets, where she successfully launched and managed eight European markets. Before her time at Expedia, Tracey spent six years at InterActiveCorp across various roles including strategic planning, mergers and acquisitions, and finance. She also helped launch IAC’s interactive TV start-up in the UK.
Having lived there for many years, London remains one of Tracey’s favorite European travel spots, but she also recommends Val d'Isere, France for skiing, and the Scandinavian charm of Copenhagen. She has a strong enthusiasm for travel in Southeast Asia, where her favorite destinations are Laos and Cambodia.
Eric Horndahl GENERAL MANAGER AND VICE PRESIDENT, MARKETING
Eric joined FlipKey in 2008 and is responsible for all things marketing and the day-to-day operations of the rental owner business. Eric's experience with renting vacation homes online goes all the way back to the late ‘90s when he rented a condo for a group ski trip to Lake Tahoe. Although he loves all that vacation rentals have to offer, he recognizes the pain points of finding and booking a rental online and was attracted to FlipKey to transform the experience.
Prior to FlipKey, Eric cut his teeth at eBay and BuyerZone, which were both very successful high-growth Internet commerce businesses. He has held a wide range of functional roles across marketing, business development, operations, and finance.
Eric's favorite vacation destinations include the Amalfi Coast, Aruba, San Diego, Stockholm and Whistler.
Jeremiah Gall COO & CO-FOUNDER
Jeremy is a co-founder of FlipKey and responsible for keeping its engine running smoothly and operations sound. He's had vacation rental fever from a young age, watching his family manage their summer rental on Cape Cod. With an obsessive attention to detail and passion for delivering customer satisfaction, Jeremy manages both strategic relationships with partners and our internal processes to ensure everyone remains productive and happy.
Jeremy began his career as a corporate attorney working with technology start-ups and venture capital funds. Taking his legal skills and his entrepreneurial drive on the road, Jeremy then began working with social media start-ups, which eventually led to him FlipKey.
Combining an encyclopedic knowledge of vacation rentals with an uncanny traveler instinct, Jeremy oversees new initiatives at FlipKey that are as diverse as his background. He believes your next vacation should be your best. Right now you're so close—don't delay, stop reading this bio, and find yourself a fantastic rental. Here are some of Jeremy's favorites to get you inspired: Stowe Bear Hollow, Classic Pawleys Beachfront, Italian Farmhouse and Private Hawaiian Oasis.
Steve Strassmann CTO
Steve may be a relative newcomer to FlipKey, but his first vacation rental was in Hida-Takayama, Japan, in the ‘80s. He thinks it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why a vacation rental is better than a hotel room—take it from a guy who has traveled with three kids.
Steve brings to FlipKey a passion for customer-focused design and enterprise-class engineering. He previously helped define cloud computing at VMware, working on the team that brought the company’s flagship cloud product to market. While at Orange, the European wireless carrier, Steve led a research and development team focused on smart networks, and he has taught a mobile app development class at MIT. Steve also worked at Apple in their Advanced Technology Group. He is now perfectly willing to compare Apple to Orange.
Steve has received three degrees from MIT, including a PhD from the MIT Media Lab, and he holds four patents. An avid entrepreneur, he has also founded two venture-backed start-ups. Steve prefers vacation spots with great wifi or great sunsets—ideally both. His favorite destinations include Samaná, Dominican Republic; Vieques, Puerto Rico; Gleneagles, Scotland, and the original Legoland in Billund, Denmark.