Today's Entrepreneur is David Jacoby, Founder of Hostfully. Hostfully is a platform that helps hosts in the alternative lodging industry (e.g. Airbnb, HomeAway) create guidebooks that contain essential hospitality information for their guests - a "virtual concierge". Hosts share key home-sharing information, as well as local recommendations for food, shopping, entertainment and more - on mobile, web, and in print.
Jacoby is a seasoned executive; grew a startup as EVP of Biz Dev, and then COO, overseeing successful exit. He is a world traveler, having stayed in 37 homes in 27 countries. We are also home sharing hosts here in San Francisco and now the space well. Jacoby graduated from Wharton School, University of Pennsylvannia with a degree in Economics last 2001.
Hostfully self-categorizes in these areas: Tourism, Travel, and Travel guide.
Here's a little about Jacoby:
| WellCall , BenefitsPro |
Oversaw sales and account management strategy for WellCall, a corporate wellness startup. Promoted to COO. Architect of Salesforce CRM and grew it from 2 users to over 50 users.
We love seeing changes to our product on a daily basis. As a resource-limited early stage startup, we move slower than we oftentimes want; however, we are testing and iterating much faster than most impartial outside observers would think. We have big plans and are excited to keep plugging away at our roadmap!
Don't let "perfect" be the enemy of "good". Don't spend too much time perfecting and fine tuning everything. Work as hard as you can to get a product out there, so you can test and iterate.
1) There will be many "down" days in the early stages. Try not to get too down on yourself if you go a few weeks without a "big win" (which can mean many things)
2) Everyone is rooting for you. Don't be afraid to ask for help and introductions.
3) Everything takes longer than you expect (whether it's product development or fundraising), so make sure to plan for that!
David Jacoby is a seasoned entrepreneur and business executive. Having graduated Wharton, Mr. Jacoby joined WellCall, a healthcare startup. He grew to EVP of Business Development, overseeing sales, account management, and marketing. He then became Chief Operating Officer, overseeing all aspects of operations and finances. WellCall was sold to HealthAdvocate, and Mr. Jacoby stayed on board to integrate services and scale the WellCall division among a larger client base.
Mr. Jacoby is also an active home-sharing / short term rental host, having hosted over 80 guests in the past two years. He has also traveled the world staying in people's homes in 27 countries, including Peru, Israel, Egypt, Rwanda, and Thailand.
Hostfully is competing in the Splash Spring. The top eight of the competition will compete live on stage at Splash Spring on May 12 at Scottish Rite Center, Oakland. Register here.
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Hostfully is a platform that helps hosts in the alternative lodging industry (e.g. Airbnb, HomeAway) create guidebooks that contain essential hospitality information for their guests - a "virtual concierge". Hosts share key home-sharing information, as well as local recommendations for food, shopping, entertainment and more - on mobile, web, and in print.
Hostfully opens up new sales and marketing channels for local businesses to reach tourists who are staying outside of hotels, a $100B market expected to grow 10% YOY through 2025. The host is "the last mile" to the alternative lodging tourist while they're on vacation, with enormous influence on the buying decisions of their guests. Hostfully is tapping into this opportunity.
The San Francisco-based team comes from Apple, Google, and other successful startups. Our advisory board includes travel experts from Expedia, Vegas.com, SF.Travel, and Where (in-room travel magazine). We have traveled in home shares around the world, have hosted countless guests in our homes, and know the market well.
You can watch a 2-minute explainer video here: www.hostfully.com/video
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Seasoned executive; grew a startup as EVP of Biz Dev, and then COO, overseeing successful exit. I'm a world traveler, having staying in 37 homes in 27 countries. We are also home sharing hosts here in San Francisco and now the space well.