♪ >> live from pier three in san francisco, welcome to "bloomberg west can go where we focus on innovation, technology, and the future of business. i'm brad stone. here's a check on your top headlines. rand paul has officially announced his candidacy for president. he spoke in louisville, where he says he is running to defeat the washington machine. senator paul: too often when republicans have won, we have squandered our victory by

becoming part of the washington machine. that's not who i am. brad: the 52-year-old first-term senator is headed to new hampshire today followed by key early states like iowa, south carolina, and nevada. senator ted cruz is also declared for the race. fedex is purchasing tnt for $8.8 billion in cash. the same amount of money they hinted at in 2012 before regulators said they would kill the deal. the fedex ceo said he is confident that it will win approval. >> if you look at our situation in europe and tnt's there, it is highly complementary. marketshare numbers would appear to be problematic as they were in the case of the previous transaction. >> of -- a stronger dollar is helping, ups going to be spending more than what fedex will pay. a deal in the data software business.

going private, a private equity firm connecting to the investment bird dashboard are buying the company for $4.3 billion in larvae it -- largest leveraged buyout in years. elliott management pushed for the sale earlier this year. the canadian government is selling its remaining stake in general motors. goldman sachs is purchasing the shares which are worth about 2.7 billion dollars. the proceeds will help the prime minister, stephen harper balance the budget. canada is looking for new sources of revenue to make up for the drop in oil prices. last night in the men's basketball title game it was a ratings winner for cbs. they jew a 17.1 rating in major markets, the biggest rating in 18 years, 33% bigger than last year. now to today's lead, education

is perhaps the last area that has not yet been disrupted by technology. this week in scottsdale arizona, some of the brightest minds in technology and education are joining forces to think about ways to improve learning. our bloomberg west editor at large, cory johnson, is there now. cory: this event is huge. i was shocked when i got it last night, 2500 people here focused on the ideas of technology innovation, and the future of business for education. mark cuban is here entrepreneur, dallas mavericks owner, he wears a lot of hats in has a lot of interesting investments in ways he thinks he will change education and how it's done, particularly at the college level. mark cuban: a lot of universities will go out of business.

i'm not talking about the university of phoenix type for-profits, but schools themselves, we have seen some of that. you are starting to season changes, right. the seo school charges $40,000 per year for tuition. with a thousand students? that's $40 million per year. there are not a lot of education type companies that can adjust to a loss of $40 million. what's happening is i am looking for -- from an investment perspective for companies that support keeping kids in school. if they graduate in four years they help to track students in a way that's cost-effective helping to keep kids in school.

helping to reduce costs. those are the changes as kids don't go to school. cory: you are using big data to monitor. they currently have retention systems in which schools for together monitoring systems. what the kids are doing on their own schedules you want to be able to monitor them. if something isn't happening on time, you want to be able to send an alert not just of the students but to the school as well so that they can proactively take measure. cuban: we just use them. for those schools, when they look at this they have a whole new interaction with students because it's happening digitally. it's not the traditional way that we are used to where you go to class and the portion of it

is online and you want to know -- it's not just about taking a chance at the end. you want to know if the kit is tracking to make sure they are reaching their milestones. you know, it's harder to monitor the way that classes are today. brad: -- cory: i know that you have looked at the way the books work. cuban: it is back to back to back. i get it confused all the time. they are trying to reengineer the whole approach and are working with publishers now to try to analytically come up with the best approach to selling test scores. not just the physical textbooks but e-books.

kind of a paper view for books as well. you may be like me, i did not buy the books. >> trying to create something like the movie system so you can get your books the way you need them at the price you need them. >> publishers want that, their business is selling books it you can open three times. >> they are learning that they don't have a choice, right? as school gets more and more -- expensive -- it's one thing where books were a set amount but now it is just romantically expanding and growing so rapidly. >> three times the rate of inflation. >> the marginal cuts to the books appears to be enormous. kids are not always making the choice to buy them. or they are buying them used

without the regional revenue sources they are used to. we are going to analyze that for you to come up with the best solution. cory: are you making money on this advancement? mark: the other 30 some are doing well. cory: do you allocate a certain amount of capital? mark: i'm fortunate in that i don't have to use my capital allocation. cory: you have the strangest profit that i know of from anyone with money. mark: "shark tank" is one thing, but i invest in quality. companies that want to find new students and find the best outcome based on values for students. that is a different kind of investment. cory: we've got the snapshot of

companies with interests that you had for a long time. mark: now you are exceeding them accelerate revenue they have to i perform to get an ipo. you can't just increased 3% per quarter. you have to blow up your numbers. that is why these match out the things that they are doing, $150,000 for this or that. he gets bought because it doesn't have the revenue outlet. revenue has become far more important in the circle. back in the day you could do a $30 million ipo. i just read something yesterday, there were more $100 million financers then there were ipo's. now, over the last 10 years more i.t. companies have run through private investments than through ipo. it is only like 231 that have

grown to ipo over the last 10 years. because there is no ipo market because that has to be -- that has been screwed up dramatically , you have to change your strategies with how you deal with companies. cory: are we going to see another company like that and education again? mark: the cousin of prices gone up, outside of them you are not seeing the traditional growth path from the 90's. with dramatic growth and profitability, then you go to the public market in get capital to grow. now you have to keep on raising money privately or get that out. until that market reappears cory: -- cory: the small ipo market. mark: yes, you will see a shorter line.

you will see a unicorn, the question is -- what happens next? you will be seeing $1 billion unicorns going out of business. cory: you really get a sense here that there are some new and big ideas coming to education. from charter schools although after the purse graduate level real changes in a way that education is being offered. brad: ok, cory johnson, thank you. coming up, our guest host of the hour, the ceo of peace, talking about how technology is disrupting the travel industry. later in the hour, the next act of andrew mason.

brad: i'm brad stone, this is "bloomberg west." one companies hoping to make your next trip of local experience.

andrew mason joins us on his latest adventure. first, check on today's top headlines. sign say the job market remains strong despite a disappointing jobs report. the labor department says that more than 5 million positions were waiting to be filled in february, the highest number of job openings in 14 years. construction, retail, and food service had the biggest gain. samsung shown's -- is positive guidance -- positive signs. down 31% year-over-year but their strongest number in three quarters. demand for samsung chips and paddles is making higher efforts into smart phone sales. joining me now is our guest host for the hour, the founder and ceo of pete.com, allowing travelers to get insider trips. backers include eric schmidt and jack dorsey.

they have changed the way we travel. welcome back to "bloomberg west." >> thank you for having me. brad: last night i went on peek.com and created my perfect travel experience. why is this useful for users? >> our website is a one-stop shop for travelers with great act have it -- great activities. you are bringing together a host of different experiences that might be great for kids, say, so we picture -- we pick things for taste makers and give you ideas for the things they like to do in the cities they travel to. you did the same thing and were able to create your perfect look at san francisco. brad: one of the reasons i asked you to guest host today, there is so much consolidation and competition in online travel right now. the expedia acquisition of

orbit, travelocity in january the rise of the priceline group amazon and google getting in on travel -- how much room is there right now for startups? ruzwana: sure. i think that in our space, activities, it is both local and travel which has a $100 million global market. what you find is that because you are working with small businesses you have not had anyone come out and be able to do anything great in the space. a lot of it is online booking. 70% do not even have online looking. think about this space is being something like the restaurant space. brad: we have talked about the importance, now, of experiences over acquisitions. talk about that trend and why you think you are well positioned with peek. ruzwana: in the last years event

we have recognized and a lot of the science is shown that it is not things that i guess happy but experiences. there's a shift in society towards being able to buy experiences. yet there is no marketplace or economy around that. spent time in a way that can fulfill them and inspire them. brad: how are people doing this now? with a guidebook? their smart phones? ruzwana: people are looking really last-minute. 75% of people are looking within six hours. a very short window about being much more spontaneous. they want to say -- what can i do around me? i want to buy cool things to do. hotels and airfare as well, i think we are seeing a shift towards last-minute. brad: ok, thank you, ruzwana:. stay with us, ruzwana bashir.

our guest host today, founder of peek.com. next, how is google changing the business for startups and giants alike? we will also talk to groupon founder andrew mason about why he is entering the travel business. you can also watch a streaming on your tablet or phone on bloomberg.com, apple tv, or amazon fire tv. ♪

brad: i'm brad stone and this is "bloomberg west." today we are taking in in-depth look at how technology is changing the travel industry. there are dozens of ways to find hotels online, but only a handful of companies run these things. expedia and priceline dominate

the industry. tech giants like google startups like air b&b, posing new challenges. travis joins us now with more. thanks for joining us. we're talking more about the travel industry consolidating this year, expedia buying orbitz. is it good for consumers? travis: it tends to be great for bottom lines, not as good for consumers. more consumers like to have choices and options. the whole business is built around having the right prices for them. when consolidation happens, there are fewer options or competition for pricing. it tends to be worse for consumers. ruzwana: what is happening in terms of people having smartphones in their pocket and using them to do more? travis: the smart phone is

radically changing the behavior of people. not just in travel. they are getting used to having the information on the fingertips. people are getting ready for having a lot less and are spent any asleep finding things to do. they feel they don't need to book ahead of times and it is changing the behavior of a lot of people. the industry is pushing to catch up with what people are doing. brad: you recently secured a lot of funding from home away. what does that bring? travis: it is structured as a deal for there are lots special -- are not special preferences. home away is looking to expand beyond rentals in thinking about travel holistically. go go bot is a site that covers the whole cycle, from where two

feet sleep, where to play when looking for fun. there is a lot of natural synergy. in addition to the investments we will be powering a lot of that discovery on the home away properties ultimate mobile application on the web to help people when they are using the sites. not just look at -- where should i stay -- but understanding the whole context of the trip. where are the best beaches? we will bring that to their experience, and it will help more people discover it, making it a natural fit. i think we are looking for all the companies in the travel space. we are having a lot of interesting discussions about that. particularly because of mobile and this idea that if you don't build a habit around something or don't have a frequent his case, people forget about it. go-go bot's use not just for traveling, but for their

hometowns, for dinner tonight or what's going on this weekend. it is that kind of sticky behavior that can bring these applications to life. ruzwana: in terms of that, what do you think is happening in terms of priceline making that acquisition of opentable and online booking? travis: i think that the opentable moved by priceline was a really interesting one. that is a great example of people in the travel space inking -- it is not just about hotels where the biggest margins are. we have to think about where consumers are doing things more frequently and how do we create a relationship with consumers that last? the aim of that acquisition was really about covering the whole trip, having the habits that people can use to xl for other products. that is a space where we played very heavily and i think a lot of companies are looking for ways to get into that space. brad: we have got to leave it

there. travis katz, go-go bot ceo, and our guest host for the hour ruzwana bashir. coming up, andrew mason speaks about his next act. you can watch us on bloomberg.com, apple tv, and amazon fire tv. ♪

brad: this is "bloomberg west." i'm brad stone. let's check on some of bloomberg's top headlines. oil prices are rebounding again today, hitting their highest level in two months. u.s. crude output fell. the total u.s. recount was at its lowest level in five years. senator john mccain announced this morning that he will run for a sixth term in 2016.

the republican will be 80 years old by the time of election day but tells nbc news that critics it's a is too old are wrong. >> i say watch me. watch me. take a look at my 18 hour days. take a look at my legislative accomplishments. listen, i'm just getting started. >> he also cited the -- brad: mccain also cited the longevity of his robe or -- longevity of his mother, roberta, 103 years old. rahm emanuel has been leading over in the polls in chicago for mayor. whoever wins will be left to turn around chicago's credit ratings. a french media conglomerate is negotiating for a stake in the youtube rival. vivendi setting on a cash pile

of 21 million and is under pressure to grow its business. tiger woods says that his golf game has finally returned to a place where he is confident that he can win including this weekend at the masters. he has not played on the pga tour since he would through because of back pain. he is seeking his fifth green jacket, his first since 2005. we are back with our travel special and guest host, ruzwana bashir founder and ceo of peek. mobile and online reservations have consolidated the booking industry in joining us to discuss the industry is brad gerstner. thanks for joining us. i want to start where we started in the last segment. all of this consolidation in the industry, is a good for regular people?

>> at the end of the day i think that being able to spread the costs, priceline will do 300 million this year. it enables them to reinvest the profits in more innovative services for consumers. i happen to be in the camp that this is a positive thing, not a negative thing for consumers. ruzwana: can you talk a little the about what you think of last-minute bookings? >> we have a massive platform disruption going on. mobile is the most significant thing for apps since the invention of the internet itself. seeing and servicing servicers -- consumers who want the last minute booking. they have grown incredibly fast. the giants, like expedia and priceline, i imagine that that will continue as more and more people have these supercomputers in the profits. -- pockets. brad: mighty google has been

eyeing this quite seriously since the acquisition a few years ago integrating hotel booking features into their search engine. how disruptive can google be to this market? brad: the first 15 years of the internet were defined by searches. today we start on our smart phones. i think that in a post-google world it becomes less relevant, not more relevant in the way that we shop and buy our travel. it gives an opportunity for vertical travel apps that can get on the phone or the home screen of the phone for consumers and an opportunity to compete effectively with google. they will continue to be relevant, but i think that mobile apps today will be much more significant than search in terms of driving consumer bookings. brad: how closely is the industry watching the activity from google? brad: of course, everything that

they do is scrutinized. baidu they in fact own the vertical search integration for travel i think that would be much more difficult for google in the u.s.. ruzwana: tell me a little about the activities base. a forgotten area something we have not seen much activity and until more recently. what you think? brad: as we moved to on-demand mobile purchases were weekend optimize in the location, i think it will really start to gain a lot of momentum for the activities space. we are seen people who want to find those special services special restaurants. they want to find the phone in their pocket in the can do that. companies like this that enable the transaction will become increasing role -- increasingly relevant to consumers who want an on-demand expectation.

brad: one moment. i want to bring in the lonely planet ceo, daniel. people look -- people know you guys historically and primarily as a guidebook publisher, talk about how you are adjusting to this new environment. daniel: we have kind of been into it for a long time in different ways. look as the industry has changed, obviously much more importance is been placed on the digital side of the business. we do not even look at ourselves as a book publisher. you can see 500 titles that we published in nine languages behind me, selling and about 150 countries, but we really look at ourselves as a brand and content business. so, it has always been important for us but it has been important also that our business

constantly shift to adapt to those new environments. this is the same size as one of our pocket guides with 19 satellites at its command. what an amazing tool for the traveler. ruzwana: what do you think about the air b&b in this space? it is obviously impacting your business. perhaps brad can chime in as well? >> air b&b is an amazing thing that has come to prominence over the last several years. it is interesting to us, we are trying to guide people through unique experiences. the candor of survey the earth on the behalf of those who travel and air b&b, it is their whole ethos to provide that local experience, so we are big fans. brad: how disruptive are they to the travel market? brad: ubers, taxis, air b&b,

hotels continue to grow quickly priceline and expedia continue to grow quickly. notwithstanding the fact that air b&b is on a rocket ship. brad: one company we have not mentioned much as amazon. they have started to integrate travel bookings. is that a model that fits? brad: at the end of the day they have to provide something unique. just getting into the travel business without leveraging something outside i don't think it's going to work. amazon tried to get into travel 15 years ago and ultimately decided to get out of their partnership with expedia after they failed to gain consumer traction. but in other parts of the world like japan and korea, in china we are seeing those horizontal marketplaces get into travel successfully, so if they tailor it, it can work. ruzwana: do you think that the

mixed-use approach to these markets will bring more success? in travel, being able to be just a place like that. brad: it's a great question. we went through a few portals in 1997, and then we went to specialty stools as we found everything through google. in the post-search world where we have only room for a few apps on our phone we will see the re-portalization, where people expect you to connect that trip. they are doing everything from booking tickets at movie theaters to booking your taxi ride to the airport to booking your air and your hotel. brad: daniel, is this an opportunity for you guys? talk much or progress in getting a nap on an iphone or android phone.

daniel: we are specifically in the activity space, not the hotel space. we have a lot to do with a lot of those things and we partnered with a lot of the companies that you guys have been talking about here in this segment. for us it is about -- we have got people on our platform when they are just dreaming about somewhere to go and we are helping to inspire them and curate that experience. we want to be a part of that entire travel process, as we have been for 40 years. obviously it's a huge opportunity. we have several things in our portfolio and a working on several more so come and join us if you are in that space, but we have a lot of great things happening there and it is an amazing opportunity. like i said, a great way to reach those people. you guys were talking about china and our books are flying off the shelves there. the opportunity there in the digital space is massive.

whether it is china or india or some of these other -- the effect that mobile booking and the cure ration of travel information has on places like that? especially in companies the kind of skipped the desktop computer phase that we all went through it is just an amazing opportunity. brad: ok, we have to leave it there. daniel, brad, thank you very much. we want to head to washington for some breaking news. there are widespread power outages in the city hitting government buildings including the white house and state department. craig gordon joins us now. craig? craig: around 45 minutes ago it started at the white house. they called in to save a lost power. the power at the white house came on quickly with generators, within the state department went down capitol capital buildings went down, parts of the capital it down we're hearing about

outages as far as college park, maryland. at the state department the spokesperson had to do the briefing using her iphone to light her note as the reporters used their phones to take notes. it has not sort of tremendously effective government operations but it has definitely put up pinch in things today. we just heard the power has been restored to all the different capital buildings around the capital. the white house is back but it sort of seems like rolling outages through the city, often on. so far no reports of foul play or anything suspicious. the local power company is on the scene trying to get power restored. brad: ok, thank you very much. coming up next, no bigger than a hockey puck but it could help you to spot health problems early on. and later, andrew mason talks about his new startup. ♪

brad: this is bloom -- this is

bloomberg west, i am brad stone. you can transmit your health problems to your doctor without living home. a pocky -- hockey puck sized gadget to scan is in development. we have a report on the silicon valley company creating the device. >> star trek fans, you know what this is. the tri-quarter that measures -- measures your vital signs from the original series. 49 years ago this black box was science fiction. today this little white wonder is science fact. it measures your vital signs at the touch of your four head. walter is the cofounder and ceo of scanadu. show me how it works. walter: you click on the app you put your finger here. put it on your head.

>> he asks that we keep his vitals secret. but i was fine with sharing mine. blood pressure is good over 63. my heart rate is it normal. 48 reads per minute. i run pretty much every day. wait a minute, you can run, too. [laughter] joking aside, walter said that this kind of health awareness can lead to course corrections, like for patrick schuyler, one of 8000 beta testers. he discovered a problem. >> i have a trend of high blood pressure. something is happening to me every day. it's high and i've taken action gotten it checked out and gotten on a treatment plan for it. >> it is in the process of fda trials. further down the roads personal liquids are the focus. his wife sam, tests for 12

different problems with scanadu urine. today i am the guinea pig. ok, i will be right back. i will spare you the details, but the process involves paddles would test squares and an app. in about one minute, my result. quite you are very healthy, my friend. there is no blue popping up. >> clear is good. >> it's very good. >> thank you. that knowledge of self is coming as we build up our self history day by day. >> in one year you have to make over 1000 decisions that amount to something very big. >> readings indicate a life form in the vicinity apparently human. >> star trek tri-quarter debuted in the 23rd century. your very own is now 200 years at of schedule. brad: rainey joins us from new

york. tell us about this qualcomm x prize competition. >> this prize basically has about one year left to go. the winner of it is going to get several million dollars. in total there are about $10 million to be one. this includes companies from around the world from the united states to canada, india, slovenia, and ireland. a lot of people are trying to make the tri-quarter of the future the tri-quarter now. this is definitely something fun to go take a look at. brad: thank you, randy. cannot wait for the tri-c order. mark crumpton joins us from new york with a preview. market: rand paul makes it official, he's running for president. he made -- wasted little time criticizing the establishment and both parties for the frustration felt by voters.

john hyland will join me with analysis. the summer of the americas gets underway this week in panama city. at the top of the u.s. agenda a meeting between president obama and growl castro. the two countries laid the groundwork in december to reestablish diplomatic relations after 50 years of hostilities. carlos gutierrez discusses what is at stake for washington and havana and the region. back to you in san francisco. brad: thank you. the former group on ceo, andrew mason, is next. ♪

brad: this is "bloomberg west." i'm brad stone. andrew mason's trading coupons to become a tour guide of sort.

providing tours of cities based on your location. thank you for joining us. we were getting assaulted from above by seagulls last time we saw each other. andrew: i knew you would bring that up. nothing funnier. brad: that was what, four months ago. where are we right now? andrew colma -- andrew: we launched two months ago in the app store. it helps to see the city through someone else's eyes. these are immersive and high quality walks. brad: and you have got -- andrew -- brad: and you have got great

tour guides? andrew: we tried to find people who were real tour guides. we had a fisherman who took you behind the facade. cory: -- brad: are you just in san francisco right now? andrew: we did one in conjunction with radio lab, but other now we are just in san francisco. ruzwana: what are the tours? brad: they are all different -- andrew: they are all different. we did one recently the tasty you to the bayview area of san francisco, where a lot of the trash processing happens and it talks about the city's goals to be neutral by the end of the decade. it is an amazing experience, where you really learn a lot and are entertained. it gives you an example of the

ways we are trying to push the medium. cory: -- brad: how big of a market do you think this is? brad: -- andrew: i don't think about things that way. i just think about it as something that people want something that i want. this is an idea that i had when i would travel feeling like there just has to be a better way than being in a tour group with a bunch of people that you do not really know trapped in this three-hour experience that is kind of hit or miss. there has to be a better way to learn about these places to allow people to explore. i think that technology is finally reached a tipping point where you can use the phone in your pocket to provide that kind of experience. ruzwana: what's one of the biggest lessons you have learned from your groupon experience that you are bringing to bear here?

daniel: i have learned how to dress better. it's all like monday and stuff. let me think of something pithy and awesome to say. that the value of building a pristine consumer experience and not compromising on that at all is something that we saw proven out again and again at groupon and it is something we are really trying to stage or two. this is a space where a lot of people out tried to build something and none of it has been any good. we just said -- we are not going to do that. we are going to make sure it's good no matter how hard it is. and it has been hard. we are working to create content in this media it's almost like we are building to startups at once with a team that is creating the context so it's

like three at once and it has made it a real challenge and a lot of work but i am really proud of the experience of beef created and we think people will be surprised. brad: just a follow-up, you had a heartbreaking experience in your final years at groupon. has building something more intimate that you control -- has that been a healthier experience? helping you to recover from the battle scars that you received at groupon? daniel: you might be surprised to hear that i feel pretty happy and good about the groupon experience. we had enormous ups and downs but that's just part of the territory. i would say that everything about that experience -- i mean i did discover one thing and now this is the next thing and i feel really grateful to have had the opportunity to work on it, this is a lot of fun. ruzwana: you talked a bit about

how technology is impacting the experience in the off-line world, are there other things that you think will happen? what else can we expect? daniel: i am not much of a prognosticator or industry expert. brad: the point was made earlier that there is always technology consolidation around travel, but people are hungry for experiences that are unique. you are doing that here. is that a sort of thesis that you believe in? we can buy all the things that we want, but that what people want when you travel is something unique? daniel: i personally feel a great shame every day when i go to sleep after spending 10 to 16 hours staring at a screen and sometimes months will go by and that you have been my life and i feel like i am missing something

and i feel like so much of the technology we are building today is where success can be measured by its ability to get us to look at the screen even more. and so much that is interesting about life is when you encounter the rough edges out there in the world. trying to make the real world interesting, faster than oculus rift makes the fake world interesting. brad: thank you, andrew mason. ruzwana bashir thank you. thank you for joining us for this conversation. you can get the latest headlines on your phone tablet bloomberg.com and bloomberg radio. we will see you tomorrow. ♪ ♪ mark: from bloomberg world headquarters in new york, this is "bottom line, the intersection of business and econ