How a small-ship operator turned Antarctica, the Galapagos and the Arctic into a $771-million business - and why it puts a naturalist on the bridge instead of a lounge singer.
Matador Network is a San Francisco-based travel media company founded in 2006 that publishes original stories, videos, and city guides for modern, adventure-minded travelers. Bootstrapped from an $11,000 start into one of the world's largest independent travel brands, its content reaches well over 100 million people a month across web and social. In 2023 it launched GuideGeek, a free OpenAI-powered travel assistant that answers questions inside Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger, and now licenses white-label versions of that AI to tourism boards and destination marketing organizations worldwide.