00019. How Andrew McConnell Created a Full-Service Vacation Rental Revenue Management Platform
Comments on:
English - September 23, 2019 03:00 - 38 minutes - 26 MB - ★★★★★ - 26 ratingsCareers Business gritty founder entrepreneur business business podcast capitalism founder startup venture capital income Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
On today's episode of Gritty Founder, Kreig Kent talks with Andrew McConnell about how he built Rented.com and what he focused on in the early days that allowed the company to succeed. Andrew also shares strategies for hiring and raising money.
Andrew McConnell is the Co-Founder and CEO of Rented.com, the first online marketplace that helps second homeowners find, compare, and choose the best professional property managers. Andrew holds degrees from Harvard College, Harvard Law School, and Cambridge University, and has worked with some of the world's largest public and private entities as a management consultant at McKinsey & Co., and as a Director, Solutions Design at Axiom Global, Inc.
Some Questions Kreig Asks Andrew:
- What were the first few steps you took to get Rented.com off the ground? (11:46)
- What do you think is the most important ingredient a founder needs to be successful? (16:00)
- What has your experience been transitioning from being a founder to now the CEO of the company? (19:04)
- What was your strategy for raising money? (23:08)
- How did you grow the team, and what roles did you focus on initially? (26:35)
- What's one thing that you find to be true that most people would disagree with? (32:22)
- What is some advice you can give to founders who are in the early stages of starting their companies? (33:37)
In This Episode, You Will Learn:
- The story behind Rented.com (4:32)
- About Andrew's childhood and how he became an entrepreneur (9:20)
- What's actually important in the beginning stages of starting a business (11:54)
- There's no room for ego (16:22)
- Difficulties of balancing managing and hiring when you take on a CEO role (19:23)
- Run lean and hire slow (23:50)
- The story behind how Andrew found and hired his CTO (27:26)
- You need to put yourself out there so you can be in the right place at the right time (30:20)
- Why Andrew doesn't believe in peer-to-peer (32:27)
- Focus on delivering value to customers (33:52)
Connect with Andrew McConnell:
Also Mentioned on This Show...
Andrew's favorite quote:
"Don't confuse ignorance with malice."
Andrew's book recommendation:
Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust