Can Kayak compete with Google if, as expected, Google gets more involved in the travel industry?
"Absolutely," says Paul English, Kayak cofounder and chief technology officer.
But, how?
"Innovation velocity," English replies, appropriately, without missing a beat.
Bloomberg interviewed English and the questioning begins with the stated ground rule that inquiries about Kayak's proposed IPO were off limits.
But the interrogation, while avoiding the IPO specifically, was all about issues central to the IPO's fate.
How will Kayak compete with Google if Google absorbs itself more heavily in travel?
And, what if Google has ITA Software personnel on the payroll, as well?
English said Kayak would welcome Google as a competitor and noted that Google doesn't succeed at every venture.
Then he talked about Kayak's advantages in "innovation velocity."
English said Kayak has a relatively small team of 130 "incredibly strong people," and that the company, obviously fleet of foot, releases a new version of its website every Thursday morning.
The "aggressive" team of developers on staff also unveils a new mobile product every few weeks, English says.
The roughly $875 million dollar question -- roughly because Kayak has yet to propose the price range of its IPO -- is what will come first: a Department of Justice decision on Google-ITA or the Kayak IPO.
One school of thought is that the Department of Justice decision on Google-ITA would have to come first because otherwise there would be too much uncertainty surrounding Kayak's journey forward.
Another theory is that Kayak will attempt to execute its IPO soon, even before a Department of Justice decision, as the Google-ITA Software issue already has been cooked into the public financial filings about the IPO and is transparent.
Again, English was barred by Securities & Exchange Commission rules from discussing these IPO-related issues.
Here's the full Bloomberg interview: