Lawrence Hutson

OG internet engineer whose code once moved millions of flight tickets—and now keeps our infra panic-proof.

---

Follow Lawrence → LinkedIn

---

The short version

(Or TL;DR here)

Lawrence wrote code for the first global TCP/IP network, built Travelocity into a $280 M exit, and has spent the years since stress-testing blockchains for fun. He’s our technical godfather on speed-dial, the one we call when “mission-critical” actually means critical.

• Strength: Built tech before most of us had email—knows how to scale anything without sweating.

• Weakness: Thinks 3 a.m. server pings are a perfectly polite way to say “hi.”

Quick stats

• $280 M exit (Travelocity → Expedia)

• 30+ yrs building mission-critical software & infra

• 8 venture-backed CTO seats (Travelocity, PAID, Master Ventures, and more…)

---

Why pay attention

• Architected online travel site Travelocity.com, the e-commerce whale that proved the internet could actually sell stuff.

• Built the first global Internet NOC for Verizon (then GTE).

• Led builds adopted by British Airways, Citibank, FIFA World Cup travel booking.

• CTO’d launchpad PAID Network and $1B AUM Master Ventures VC.

• Holds patents, a PhD track in AI/ML, and enough war stories to fill a GitBook (don’t tempt him).

---

A (very) compressed timeline

Year
Early ’90s	Builds Verizon’s TCP/IP network operations centre; proves the internet can keep planes on radar and coffee in the pot.
1995–2000	Co-founds & CTOs Travelocity; invents server-side travel programming language.
2004–12	Founds NexGen Travel Distribution; secures FIFA World Cup booking rights; raises Series B in Munich.
2018–20	CTO for Master Ventures, PAID Network, etc.; dives head-first into DeFi liquidations and cross-chain bridges.
2021-Now	Co-founds AdLunam.

---