THE Airbnb bug can bite some people hard. Such was the case with Nakul Sharma and his wife Deepti, who became hooked on the service during their travels in Europe and India during 2012.
The couple was smitten, and decided to have a go when they bought their own home in London, but as they discovered, to be an Airbnb superhost takes a lot of work. The idea for Nakul’s Startup Hostmaker was born.
A hospitality management firm offering packages of hotelier-standard services to time-pressed Airbnb hosts, Nakul and his team support upwards of 500 hosts across Europe, with more than 40 percent of this clientele utilising the firm’s complete management solution.
Since launching in December 2013, Hostmaker has grown steadily, and now has a core crew of 21 personnel, and more than 30 members serving its bases in London, Rome, Paris and Barcelona. With plans to expand to other cities, and with interest in Airbnb on the rise across the globe, the future looks bright indeed for Hostmaker.
Nakul recently freed up some time to climb into the AGENT Startup Hotseat to answer questions about his career to date.
1. Very simply, what does your company do?
Hostmaker takes the hassle out of managing short term rentals for homeowners. It provides hotel-style cleaning services, linen rental and welcome packs for arriving guests as well as pricing optimisation, guest communication and even design services or maintenance for Airbnb hosts. It’s a hands-off solution for people who want to optimise their renting revenues without lifting a finger.
We have two type of services: Hands-off homes and Pay as you go.
With Hands-off homes, we deal with everything on behalf of the host, including design of the flat when needed. We also handle photography, writing the listing, pricing, reservations, guest communication, housekeeping, linen rental, check-in and maintenance. The host gives their availability and we manage it accordingly. We take a percentage based on the monthly revenues (starting from 12%).
With Pay as you go, guests can book our services online whenever they need them. These services include housekeeping and linen in an Airbnb-ready package and check-ins.
2. What was the ‘Eureka!’ moment?
A couple of years ago, I was really impressed by the experience I had with Airbnb during my travels across Europe and Northern India. This led me to become a host myself. However, I soon realised being a great host is really hard work! That’s when the seeds of Hostmaker were sown and Hostmaker was founded in 2013. When the Airbnb travel and hosting bug hit me in 2012, I decided to celebrate the Airbnb travel experience and build a team of hospitality professionals who would make the homestay experience memorable and hassle-free.
3. What were you doing before starting?
I grew up in Mumbai and ended up studying at hotel school at The Shannon College of Hotel Management in Ireland. After a year’s internship in a Dublin hotel, I decided I wanted to pursue the business side of the hotel industry and went on to study for an MBA.
It was at INSEAD, where the seeds of inspiration were planted. I became Director of Commercial Strategy and Planning for the Intercontinental Hotels Group, but soon found that my big idea was leading me on a different path. I co-authored a paper on Airbnb’s impact on the hotel industry, realising that Airbnb was making homestays a true alternative travel accommodation category that threatened to disrupt the hotel industry.
It was in December 2013 that I set up Hostmaker and quit my day job in January 2014.
4. How are you funded?
Personal funding from friends and family to launch; a seed round of $2m led by DN Capital in November 2015 to scale—the same VC that backed music streaming app Shazam. Other investors include Avala Capital, DSG Consumer Partners, Delivery Hero cofounder Nikita Fahrenholz, and former managing director of Airbnb India and Middle East, Mohit Srivastava.
5. What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs starting their own company?
Stay focused, focused focused. Also, while dreaming big is great and a real driving force for startup founders, it is the flawless execution of your amazing idea that will make the biggest difference. Genius is 1% talent and 99% percent hard work, Einstein said, and he was notoriously right.
6. What item would you never leave the house without?
My phone battery charger. I’m out and about all day, and the phone dying on me is the last thing I want.
Image Source: Hostmaker
