I eliminated the judges’ choice for the winner early in my consideration. Was I too quick? Do I misunderstand VC investing?
The winner’s short profile on the contest page is as follows
Andes STR helps people invest in turnkey short-term rental properties. We empower investors to achieve superior returns without any of the hassle of finding the deals, furnishing the properties, or managing them.
I heard this and what I thought was Timeshares. Perhaps they could be described as a kinder, gentler, timeshare. Their customer wants to buy a vacation property to lease for weekly or daily rentals, but they don’t want to manage anything. Plus, the ‘customer’ is not capable enough to pick a good property or pay the right price or charge the correct rent. So, they hire these guys to do it all for them and they take a loan to buy the property. In return they give this company management fees and a percentage of the rent. They might take a vacation in their own property occasionally. They sell it whenever they want. I think so far this is accurate.
Furthermore, Andes STR has an in with Air BNB for their data. Maybe that’s why they are attractive to VC investors? I admit I’m impressed that they obtained this. They have some tech, but my buzzer went off at least once during a comment that they are working on machine learning with natural language processing to field calls for repairs and cleaning and stuff of that nature. With their Air BNB data, they use proprietary algorithms to pick properties. Speaking of sensors, I think they said something about screening out troublemaker renters with noise detectors. I don’t follow how they accomplish screening bad renters when this is after the fact.
Maybe I misunderstood something or maybe I just don’t see things outside of my own world, which this is because I wouldn’t be a customer. AirBNB has been hot. Now they’re monetizing their data to this company. Maybe to a few others. These guys help you maximize your rent x occupancy, and they clean your place for a fee. Sounds very convenient.
