
Superhost (YC W14) Is Your Personal Assistant For Your Airbnb - amiadsoto
http://techcrunch.com/2014/02/25/superhost/
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pisarzp
It's cool, but there is another real problem with renting out flats on airbnb.

Many people want to rent a flat they live in, only when they are away.
However, they struggle to organize cleaning, keys, change of linens etc.

We are actually building a service to help them and launching soon in London.
Contact me if you want to hear more and potentially try it soon.

~~~
larrys
"However, they struggle to organize cleaning, keys, change of linens etc."

Sounds like something that YC backed homejoy could get involved in solving.
That's my keiretsu of the day. [1]

[https://www.homejoy.com/about](https://www.homejoy.com/about)

[1]
[http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1998/...](http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1998/10/26/250008/)

~~~
amiadsoto
We like Homejoy and we use their service with some of our customers. The
problem is that this isn't a complete solution and even though it is the sexy
part it's not even the most time consuming.

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callmeed
This sort of reminds me of the services that would help you sell your crap on
Ebay back in the day. Or even agencies that help manage your AdWords
campaigns.

On one hand, I think we'll see more of these "management layer" businesses on
top of other services (I have a couple friends who make good side money
building out sqaurespace sites for people).

On the other hand, it seems opposed to where the actual service will head.
AirBnB wants it to be _easy_ to rent your place out. They will keep making
their tools/calendar easier to update. They will keep looking for ways to
improve logistics (cleaning, key exchange). That's the risk, IMO.

If YC liked it enough to invest, there must be something to it. But, unless
it's an acquisition to AirBnB play, I'm not sold.

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drakaal
I am AirBNB host with multiple listings. I like the potential of this, but I'm
extremely worried about the service based on the number of spelling and
grammar errors on the site.

"We love innovations like bitcoin, But unfortunately our payment supplier
don’t process bitcoin yet."

Still, I am going to talk with them shortly. I like the idea, and 1% is low
enough that it would be well worth the headache since I currently am at about
75% occupancy on my listings, and just getting the cleanings and linens
scheduled is a PITA.

~~~
whbk
Agreed. This reminds me of PG's comments re: founders with accents. While the
spelling/grammar errors don't necessarily preclude understanding in this case,
they also don't exactly inspire confidence. You guys are clearly talented and
onto something here -- but this is a weakness. Luckily, it's one that's easily
addressed. Ask a friend or someone in your batch to proofread the copy, pay
someone the small amount it would take to have it read nicely for end users,
whatever.. just get it done. You'll see a good return on that money.

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amiadsoto
Hi, this is Amiad, one of the co-founders of Superhost. Feel free to ask me
questions about our service.

~~~
soneca
Hi Amiad! Congrats and good luck first of all!

I would like to know how do you feel creating a startup totally built upon
another company's service? How do you deal with and mitigate the risk of it?

My own startup is completely based on Facebook's check-in feature, and this
worries me a lot. I deal with knowing I am still under their radar, but it is
the first thing I want to create a plan b to after I get some market
validation.

I mean, don't you fear AriBnb pulls a twitter on you somehow? Do you plan to
expand your services further than AirBnb?

~~~
amiadsoto
Hi and great question. First we don't limit ourselves in the long run to just
one platform and our solution can work on all vacation rental platforms with
not much to change. The reason we are holding back is that there is a big
enough space for growth on Airbnb only at this tie and it's better to focus on
the user experience than on expansion at this stage.

Secondly we believe in Airbnb and we only encourage more people to join their
platform. To give some numbers - 30% of our users are new to Airbnb
completely. So we feel Airbnb will have warm approach to Superhost rather than
alienate us.

~~~
danoprey
Do you see being independent of Airbnb as a value add in that even if they did
"move up the stack" so to speak and copy you users would still prefer you as
they are posting to multiple rental platforms?

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robbiemitchell
How long until we see hotel-certified "indie" properties that act like
franchises, complete with branded toiletries and a loyalty program for the
network. "Four Seasons Oasis", "Marriott Anywhere".

Like how Trump just collects money by lending his name to other people's
buildings.

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taurussai
This is a nice service. Which cities are you currently operating in?

~~~
amiadsoto
Thanks. We are live in all USA!

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melvinmt
How is this different from Urban Bellhop?

~~~
amiadsoto
Hi - Urban Bellhop is a different service like others that were mentioned
here.

You should think of us as your personal assistant - we don't go and clean
ourselves but arrange a cleaner and coordinate everything. So we take care of
all the hassle for way less than other services cost - only 1%.

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BarretRafferty
This is exactly what airenvy does...they are a san francisco company to. Looks
like a loaded space, fun fun!

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nayefc
They operate in an occupying country. Shameful.

~~~
whbk
Bringing this kind of stuff to an HN post about a business is what's shameful.

~~~
nayefc
What's shameful is disregarding "this kind of stuff" on certain forums, making
it acceptable in public discourse. It's like asking the civil rights movement
or SA's AAM to shut up in certain places. Anyway, this is not the place to
have such a discussion. Just wanted to call them out for that.

