Jeff Manheimer (CGS’00, COM’02): From Boston University Graduate to Tech CEO
When he was struggling to find investors for his start-up, Jeff Manheimer (CGS’00, COM’02) lived in his mother’s basement. His persistence eventually paid off. With a partner in Jen O’Neal, a UC Berkeley graduate, Manheimer was able to create Tripping.com, the first truly comprehensive search engine for vacation rentals.
After graduating from the College of General Studies, Manheimer decided to turn his attention to public relations. While studying at the College of Communication, Manheimer took a part-time job at the Hyatt in Cambridge. Originally just taking room service orders in the hotel basement, Manheimer was able to work his way up after graduating college, and made his way to the Hyatt headquarters in Chicago.
One day, Manheimer was contacted by O’Neal who was looking for a partner to help create Tripping.com, a site she hoped would be the destination for young budget travelers. When he joined the team, Manheimer became the company’s COO while O’Neal was the CEO.
While their plan was beginning to come to fruition, the duo would soon fall on some hard times. According to Manheimer who recently did an interview with Bostonia, “No investor in the first four years would give us the time of day, let alone consider funding.” Eventually, a group of Japanese investors called Recruit Holding decided to invest in Tripping.com.
Now, in 2018, after a record year in which Tripping.com doubled its listings to 10 million, Manheimer has become CEO with O’Neal transitioning to executive chair of the board. Read the story of Manheimer’s start-up journey at Bostonia.