Ken Leeder is founder and CEO of RealTravel. Recently named "One of the Twelve Essential Travel Websites" and "Best of the Web" by Forbes, RealTravel is a travel blogging and information site that helps people plan trips through the insights and recommendations of like-minded travelers, while also enabling marketers to appeal to people who are in the process of researching and planning a trip. Prior to RealTravel, Ken founded Full Degree, a successful Product Information Management company that was acquired in 2004. Previous to Full Degree, Ken was head of business development at AdForce, a leading Internet ad serving company. Ken earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Western Ontario and an MBA from York University. Visit his member page here.

What are the main aspects of RealTravel that make it so appealing for people with wanderlust? Why might a traveler choose to document their trip on RealTravel instead of other blogging and hosting solutions?

Interestingly enough the vast majority of people that come to the site are interested in reading other people's blogs to get insights that will help them plan their own trip. We ensure that the best content is made available to these travel shoppers by destination, interest or a combination of both. We also have a free trip planner tool that helps people plan their trips. In terms of the travel bloggers that use RealTravel, they are choosing us because we provide the best looking travel blog with some of the nicest features (several different types of maps, unlimited photos, unlimited blogs, embedded reviews, address books, notification systems, etc.). Some of these features – particularly the mapping which is an integral part of travel – you cannot get in the traditional blogging services.

What is your philosophy in managing the financial aspect of the company? Do you plan on raising any additional venture capital on top of the $1 million in angel funding?

Two basic philosophies have enabled us to remain very capital efficient. First, we only hire strong and experienced people - people I would call 3x performers. We also partner where ever we can on both the technology and business side to avoid reinventing the wheel. These two philosophies have allowed us to achieve a lot with a small team and remain very capital efficient. We are in a very good position at the moment having established a strong foundation for the business and are currently considering a variety of options in terms of the future growth of the business.

What inspired you to start the company, and how exactly did it come together? How often do you personally travel, and what has been your most memorable trip so far?

A couple of years ago I was in the process of selling my last company. I decided that it would be a good time for a vacation and had booked tickets to travel around the world. As I started to research various places I was amazed at how difficult it was to find out what a place was really going to be like from people who had been there. I was looking for information from people who shared my tastes and that I could trust on the culture, the latest trends, the feel of a place, itineraries and the realities of traveling there now. I wasn't able to find the information I was after and ultimately ended up starting RealTravel to solve this problem.

I travel a little less now due to the realities of a startup but typically try to go on at least two trips a year. Guatemala is one of my most memorable trips so far. The culture, the history and the variety made it an amazing trip. You can see what it was like on my Guatemala travel blog if you are interested.