Unlocked by Matt Landau

Latest Episodes:

The House Model Always Wins with Graham Donoghue of Sykes Cottages Mar 03, 2022

Show notes

Graham Donoghue is CEO of Sykes Cottages, arguably the largest profitable vacation rental management company in the world. He brings a unique perspective to our industry, having presided over some of the largest digital-led businesses across the UK. In this mega-episode Matt and Graham tackle how to build a team, how to wield data, how to buy and sell vacation rental companies and...nudgies.

This episode is brought you by PointCentral, the leaders in smart home automation, and Breezeway, the best in class property care and automations platform.

Join VRMB Communities: https://www.vrmb.com/membership/

The Maker Society with Michelle Ruber, Shift Vacation Rentals Feb 24, 2022

Show notes

Michelle Ruber of Shift Vacation Rentals has not only built a thriving vacation rental business with her own properties, she has turned passion for her community into a way to give back and enhance guest experience. The result is a kind of first-mover status that carves a deep moat around her business and earns social capital in the eyes of neighbors & employees.

This episode is brought you by Point Central, the leaders in smart home automation, and Breezeway, the best in class property care and automations platform.

Join VRMB Communities: https://www.vrmb.com/membership/

EP125: Season 8 Announcement & Moving Mountains Jan 29, 2022

Show notes

In this episode you'll get a taste of what's to come in the next season of Unlocked themed "First Mover Status" in which we'll interview owners and managers who are gaining HUGE advantages by being first to market with new innovations. But until then, enjoy this brief audio essay from Matt's visit to Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Where he visited Robin Craigen of www.movingmountains.com

Link's Mentioned in Episode:

Rustler's Lodge: https://www.movingmountains.com/vacation-rentals/rustlers-lodge
The Feeling of Premium: https://www.vrmb.com/vacation-rental-marketing/concepts/feeling-of-premium/
Stagecoach Ice Fishing: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g33657-d8321131-r826116130-Steamboat_Springs_Boat_Rentals-Steamboat_Springs_Colorado.html

EP124: How Airbnb Changed My Life: And Then The World Oct 12, 2021

Show notes

Evelyn Badia is a New York City based, five-star, Airbnb superhost. Through her online community and podcast she helps people become better hosts and use those hosting skills to build better financial futures.

Evelyn and Matt have a history of banter when it comes to professionalism and the vacation rental industry and in this final episode of season 7, they dive into a less dependent future and explore the motivations and realities of becoming a property manager.

This episode is brought you by Point Central, the leaders in smart home automation, and Breezeway, the best in class property care and automations platform.

Additional show notes can be found at www.vrmb.com/124/

EP123: The Long Game with Ryan Bailey, CEO of Track Hospitality Software Oct 06, 2021

Show notes

Travelnet Solutions Co-founder and CEO Ryan Bailey has been working since the early days of the internet to provide technology solutions for the hospitality industry. Their property management software Track has twice been named the software of the future by the VRMB Keystone awards.

In this episode, Matt sits down with Ryan to talk about building enterprise platforms, the rollups shaking the industry, and how technology powered hospitality can be harnessed for a better human experience.

This episode is brought you by Point Central, the leaders in smart home automation, and Breezeway, the best in class property care and automations platform.

Additional show notes can be found at www.vrmb.com/123/

EP122: I Sued the City and Won Sep 28, 2021

Show notes

Theo Kracke is a true vacation rental advocacy avenger. Fed up with unfair regulations in his home town of Santa Barbara, he sued the city and spent a great deal of his time and money to create precedent setting law that benefits owners and managers up and down the California coast. In Phoenix at the recent Streamline conference, Matt sat down with Theo to get his story.

This episode is brought you by Point Central, the leaders in smart home automation, and Breezeway, the best in class property care and automations platform.

Additional show notes can be found at www.vrmb.com/122

EP121: How Vacation Rental Hospitality Made My World Larger Sep 21, 2021

Show notes

Sallie Mitchell, formerly of Casa Mar Azul vacation rental in San Pancho, Mexico knows what it's like to plan for a dream, live with the realities of that dream, and ultimately exit the dream in a positive fashion. Onwards to the next chapter.

In this episode Sallie and Matt explore the idea of finding your guest type and catering to them, action items to build an exit strategy and dip into Sallie's fears of an arms race in guest expectations.

We have come to think of Sallie's business savvy as the quintessential rent by owner. With the scope of responsibilities and demands of the job greater today than it's ever been, listen carefully for both the compass that Sallie used to make hard decisions and the framing or presentation of her choice that landed clearly and comfortably in the hands of her guests, employees, and even friends.

More than anything, Sallie champions the idea that if vacation rentals FEELS like something you want to do, would be good at, would mean something…that you should take that leap even though it may seem terrifying. At least in Sallie's case, hospitality has made her world larger, her life richer, and her stories hilarious to boot!

This episode is brought you by Point Central, the leaders in smart home automation, and Breezeway, the best in class property care and automations platform.

Additional show notes can be found at www.vrmb.com/121

EP120: Matt Roberts, CEO of Vacasa Sep 14, 2021

Show notes

Matt Roberts is the CEO of Vacasa, one of the largest vacation rental companies in the world. Matt was previously the CEO at Open Table -- the app that allows you to reserve tables at your favorite restaurants -- but he's not entirely new to vacation rentals as he was previously on Vacasa's board: granted a very different vantage point than being CEO.

But as a disclaimer and a testament to the theme of this season "unglamorous" we've chosen to include Matt because Vacasa, whether you like them or not, is a huge player in the vacation rental eco-system and knowing what their CEO is thinking can be simultaneously awkward and useful. You won't hear a Bob Woodward style inquisition because Matt (Landau) is not an investigative journalist. What you will hear are questions that other managers are wondering and call-outs that we believe can strengthen our positioning. Plus references to new terms like "share shift," "Domain expertise," and black silk sheets.

This episode is brought you by Point Central, the leaders in smart home automation, and Breezeway, the best in class property care and automations platform. Both companies' leadership are featured in the middle of the episode talking about the other fondly.

Additional show notes can be found at www.vrmb.com/120

EP119: How Closing Communication Gaps Produce Happier Guests & Homeowners Sep 07, 2021

Show notes

Ashley Kubiszyn is CEO of River Ridge Rentals in Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, and Keystone Colorado.

The company has been around for 20 years but Ashley took it over form her mother: conducting a full re-haul on systems and technology, while buttressing the aspects that make them market leaders like specialization, localization, and community involvement.

Most of the questions in this interview are framed -- "Knowing what you now know, how would you do it when starting from scratch?" -- giving newcomers a powerful roadmap to follow and veterans that nudge to address weaknesses that need an update. And pay extra attention to Ashley's emphasis on communication: both the techniques and the technologies that close the understanding gap, producing happier, more calibrated, guests, homeowners, and teammates.

This episode is brought you by Point Central, the leaders in smart home automation, and Breezeway, the best in class property care and automations platform.

Links Mentioned in Show:

Additional show notes can be found at www.vrmb.com/119

EP118: Counter-Viewpoint: I Don't Want Short Term Rentals in My Neighborhood Aug 31, 2021

Show notes

In this episode, Matt sits down with Jessica Sheedy Black -- a neighborhood advocate and regional leader of the Texas Neighborhood Coalition -- for a sobering look at the other side of the vacation rental advocacy debate.

As a warning Jessica is not a short term rental advocate. So you may be wondering what's she doing on this podcast? Our big mission of Unlocked is to challenge vacation rental pros to think differently. And you can only learn so much when hearing the same kinds of profiles all the time, right? At this pivotal point in our industry's growth, we NEED people like Jessica with level heads in order to avoid crazies and reach fair conclusions for us all.

This episode is brought you by Point Central, the leaders in smart home automation, and Breezeway, the best in class property care and automations platform.

Links Mentioned in Show:

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