Ep 81 - What It Really Takes to Build And Scale A Business with Hostaway's Marcus Rader

GUEST'S BIO Marcus Rader has been in tech startups since 2006. Six years ago, he saw an opportunity to get involved in an industry he is passionate about - vacation rentals. Existing solutions in this space were built by real estate and travel professionals, rather than technology professionals. In co-founding Hostaway, the all-in-one vacation rental management software, Marcus' team had an immediate competitive advantage. He also dedicated himself to learning about the vacation rental ecosystem and creating a network of valuable relationships in the industry. Today, Marcus is the CEO of Hostaway which is the fastest-growing solution on the market. They are the preferred partners of big OTAs including Airbnb, Booking.com, and VRBO, and have the largest marketplace in the sector with more than 100 integrated software partners. HIGHLIGHTS OF THE EPISODE 03:46 Marcus Rader's introduction and background 06:50 What made Marcus co-founded Hostaway 09:12 Global megatrends 11:20 Marcus talks about putting himself in the shoes of Airbnb hosts to experience property management 14:13 What sets Hostaway apart from other PMS 16:32 Why your PMS support is important 18:59 E shares his experience with his previous PMS that made his listings went down 21:43 Key things that Hostaway focused on their system 25:15 Hostaway's focus area for 2022 27:43 What Marcus and his customer success team did with their customers when the pandemic first hit 30:33 How the STR industry in the US recovered from the pandemic 34:22 Marcus talks about where the STR industry is going 36:55 Multiples in property management companies 38:34 Reasons why people would not invest in companies 41:03 Why growth matters to SaaS 42:07 AirDNA's US forecast for 2022 43:23 Acknowledgments to Marcus 44:07 Where can people connect with Marcus and find out more about Hostaway 44:44 What is Marcus's #1 secret to success with STR NOTABLE QUOTES "Speed kills." - Mike Sjogren "There's a great value in combining smaller things to make them into something bigger." - Emanuele Pani "As you grow your business, you're going to notice that whatever worked yesterday does not work anymore." - Marcus Rader "Every business is built on people."  - Marcus Rader CONNECT WITH THE GUEST Marcus Rader: Linkedin Hostaway CONNECT WITH THE HOSTS  Michael Sjogren: Short Term Rental Secrets Facebook Group | Clubhouse | Instagram | Youtube | Facebook Page | Linkedin https://linktr.ee/the_airbnbguy Emanuele Pani: Clubhouse | Instagram | Facebook | Linkedin FREE MASTERCLASS TRAINING - https://www.strsecrets.com/masterclass Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices