Recent content by Matt Landau

Over the 10 years as we have run our short-term rental business a key attitude that I have held is that this work is a calling. And along with that, has been a mindset that we are hosting friends, not customers. I like to say 'every guest is a potential new friend'. When I think of our...

From an industry colleague...

In chats with @vgangas I've been trying to put my finger a certain genre of leaders who -- opposite to commodity businesses -- operate from a deeper, more personal, more sacred reason for doing what they do. As Valerie put it, "higher vibes" like something special is happening here. Sacred...

Over the years I've watched the vacation rental industry become very corporate... From private equity in suits to property management companies scaling and going public to regulatory battles with lawmakers driven by billion dollar behemoths, to simple pursuits for standardization overriding the...

The single most valuable skill a vacation rental entrepreneur can develop is curating special experiences for guests. Done successfully the rest of the dominoes fall into place: special experience = 5-star reviews + repeat bookings / referrals / PR. Oppositely, if you don't do this (no matter...

Good spot Bob. I am mulling the idea of a environmentally friendly listing site. Kind of like the other niche sites in which you get vetted, pay an annual subscription, and enjoy the traffic/bookings that come.