Hopper President and Co-founder Dakota Smith discusses his path to establishing the company , how Hopper helped pioneer travel , and its plans for the future
Meet Dakota Smith , President and Co-founder of travel bookings app and marketplace Hopper . A familiar brand for US and Canadian-based travellers , particularly younger generations , Hopper has grown significantly from its 2007 beginnings as a data hub for improved travel experiences , offering an array of travel products and generating over US $ 750m in funding along the way .
Joining fellow founders Frederic Lalonde and Joost Ouwerkerk , Smith ’ s entry has seen the entrepreneurs grow Hopper exponentially to become one of North America ’ s most-used travel booking apps .
A culture of travel : The path to Hopper Revealing he was always interested in travelling as a youth , Smith was fortunate to live in many different countries when growing up . For Smith , founding his first business , Traveler ’ s Digest , was his way of following a “ passion in life , [ his ] biggest hobby ”.
“ Traveler ’ s Digest was small to start but actually grew into a fairly interesting company . We were promoting tourism in the Asia-Pacific , and a lot of our clients as we matured were major hotel chains or tourism boards . It was a really fun way to spend my early twenties , and I loved being in Hong Kong , a different culture altogether ,” adds Smith .
“ Founding an online travel company like Traveler ’ s Digest primed me really well . It gave me an early entrepreneurial experience I would otherwise not have had . I was managing a lot of different departments by myself , hiring employees , financial management , etc ., so it was a super exciting experience .”
Although Traveler ’ s Digest ultimately didn ’ t work out for Smith , it was a return to his home country Canada which set him on a path to collaborating with Lalonde and Ouwerkerk , where Hopper took off .
“If Hopper can help travellers experience that bit more of the world , then that is a success ”
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