Minute by Minut: Stories From People In Property with Nils Mattisson

Minut
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Managing properties at scale comes with challenges that most people never see: unauthorized parties, smoking violations, noise complaints, water leaks, and the balancing act between guest privacy and property protection.Minute By Minut is the insider’s guide for property managers and hospitality leaders who oversee student housing, apartment-hotels, multifamily residences, and rental portfolios. Hosted by Nils Mattisson, CEO of Minut, each episode dives into real-world stories, operational insights, and strategies for scaling smarter without sacrificing privacy or community trust.Through candid interviews with property operators, industry innovators, and technology leaders, this podcast delivers actionable solutions you can apply directly to your operations. From crisis prevention to community relations, from scaling tech adoption to cutting operational costs, this is the resource built for leaders, whether you’re managing one or a hundred units.Subscribe now to learn how to protect your property, strengthen your operations, and lead the future of property management.

  1. Oct 22

    Your Airbnb Listing Is a Dating Profile, with Danielle & Culin Tate

    Your Airbnb listing works like an online dating profile, say Danielle and Culin Tate. No one is going to crawl out of bed, take a picture and post it, and your listing photos deserve the same effort, because they are what sells your nights day in and day out. Put a basket chair in one of your hero images, Danielle says, and you get a 3% boost on bookings. In this episode of Minute by MÎNUT, Nils Mattisson, CEO of Minut (the property monitoring platform), sits down with Danielle and Culin Tate, The Host Coaches: tech entrepreneurs, Airbnb hosts, coaches and authors of the book Host Coach. After exiting a company, and with a small child at home, they chose short-term rentals over another startup grind. A first property doing $4,000 to $5,000 a month in gross revenue has grown into a portfolio of around 14, and they once managed seven of them from Greece for a year, with a six-hour time difference and zero glitches. ▶ Listen on Apple, Spotify, or visit https://minut.com ★ WHAT YOU'LL LEARN ★ ▸ Why short-term rentals are not oversaturated: "the elevation of professionalism" ▸ Three ways into the industry without buying: co-hosting, house hacking and a partnership of time and capital ▸ How small price adjustments can move you onto page one of Airbnb search ▸ The Monday habit: going through all guest feedback every week and acting on it immediately ▸ The three disciplines of a professional host: real estate, hospitality and e-commerce ▸ How design sells your nights, from basket chairs to the online dating test for your photos ▸ Surprise and delight on a small budget, from showstopper lights to fuzzy socks ▸ Why a view is the amenity hosts overlook, and how to use outdoor space if you don't have one ▸ The "my house, my way" mentality, and why to think like the front desk manager of a boutique hotel ▸ How automation gives a host more time to be human, and what a robot is never going to replace ▸ Why Guest Favorite, not Superhost, is now the milestone ▸ What they would do differently today: prioritise views and start sooner ★ CHAPTERS ★ 00:00 Cold open: "I don't think it's oversaturated" 01:08 Welcome to Minute by MÎNUT 01:38 Meet Danielle and Culin Tate, The Host Coaches 02:21 Danielle and Culin join the show 03:40 From one property to 14, and a mountain cabin with no water 05:35 Three ways in without buying a property 07:03 Oversaturated, or just more professional? 08:21 Pricing, page one and the Airbnb algorithm 10:29 Lessons from tech: customer feedback is gold 11:51 The three disciplines: real estate, hospitality, e-commerce 12:46 How design sells your nights, and the basket chair boost 13:36 Why your Airbnb listing is like online dating 14:46 Surprise and delight: blankets, treats and fuzzy socks 16:09 You can't build a view, and the $35 hammock 17:32 The most common mistake: "my house, my way" 20:16 Automation that leaves more time to be human 21:11 Managing seven properties from Greece 24:38 The next few years: AI and automated messaging 26:32 The pistachio tree: what a robot will never replace 27:40 Why "guest favorite is everything right now" 30:34 Starting again today: buy the view, start sooner 32:24 Final question: the most outlandish guest story

    Your Airbnb Listing Is a Dating Profile, with Danielle & Culin Tate

  2. Oct 8

    Safety is not an amenity, with Justin Ford

    👉 Discover Minut: https://www.minut.com 📱 Book a demo: https://www.minut.com/contact/book-a-demo Justin Ford has built a career on the incidents nobody plans for, and his argument is blunt: it's not *if* something happens in your rental, it's *when*. In this episode of Minute by MÎNUT, Nils Mattisson, CEO of Minut, sits down with Justin Ford, Director of Safety & Certification at Breezeway. A former firefighter and US Coast Guard veteran, he co-founded one of New England's highest grossing vacation rental agencies, nearly lost it to a single preventable incident, and went on to build the short-term rental industry's first safety inspection programme after discovering that none of the major safety bodies had a checklist to give him.  He has been featured on ABC's Good Morning America and NBC's Today, and in 2025 he received the Pioneer Award for introducing safety to short-term rentals at a global level. They get into why carbon monoxide is an ongoing issue when the fix costs almost nothing, what the hotel industry solved decades ago that vacation rentals still have not, why he thinks the OTAs are half right about their own liability, the question he asked property managers on LinkedIn that most of them could not answer, and the discovery that genuinely surprised him after 20 years in safety: operators who put safety first end up with better guests. ★ WHAT YOU'LL LEARN ★ ▸ Why "when, not if" is the only useful mindset for a rental property ▸ What carbon monoxide actually does in a room, and why the common myths about it get people killed ▸ The appliances and heating setups most likely to produce it, and the questions a guest should ask a host before booking ▸ Why slips, trips and falls are the most common incident, and what "vacation brain" has to do with it ▸ What the hotel bath mat lesson teaches about designing for how people actually behave rather than how they should ▸ Why smoke alarms and CO alarms on the market were never designed for short-term rentals, and what tampering looks like in practice ▸ How four fatalities in one year traced back to missing batteries, and the criminal charges that followed ▸ Why pool drownings are the number one killer globally, and the problems with life rings ▸ Where placement, not installation, is the real compliance gap ▸ Why the UK's fire code for professional lets is readable, sensible, and effectively unenforced ▸ What the OTAs could reasonably do, and why Airbnb listing safety as an amenity is the wrong frame ▸ The thought experiment that reframes the whole conversation for guests ▸ Why "safety over ADR" is the one thing he would change overnight ▸ The surprise nobody predicted: safety-first operators get better guests ★ CHAPTERS ★ 00:00 Cold open: "We've had four fatalities from smoke alarms missing batteries" 01:06 Welcome to Minute by MÎNUT 01:35 Meet Justin Ford, Breezeway's safety lead 03:19 The incident that almost cost him his business 04:14 Vacation brain, and the risks hosts stop seeing 05:03 How common serious failures are, and 9,000 grill incidents 06:10 Carbon monoxide: the myths, and the appliances behind it 08:50 What to ask a host before you book 09:57 Designing for how people behave, and the hotel bath mat 11:30 Guests tampering with alarms, and four fatalities 14:15 Remote testing and tamper detection 15:08 Placement, compliance, and whether the rules are followable 16:58 The UK fire code, and zero enforcement 17:58 The fire in Indio, and why one incident hits everyone 19:36 Why he built the safety programme 21:08 "When, not if" 22:12 Pool drownings: the number one killer 23:24 The barriers that are left 25:20 What the OTAs owe guests 26:36 "Safety is not an amenity" 27:49 The tech he wants next 28:57 Why so few managers publish their safety standards 30:05 You can't have hospitality without safety 31:07 The Al Jazeera thought experiment 32:36 One thing to change: safety over ADR 33:44 The biggest surprise: safety attracts better guests 34:51 The hot tub, and the tree about to fall 36:35 Closing thoughts

    Safety is not an amenity, with Justin Ford

  3. Sep 22

    If Airbnb Suspended Your Account Tomorrow, Would You Survive? with Humphrey Bowles

    👉 Discover Minut: https://www.minut.com 📱 Book a demo: https://www.minut.com/contact/book-a-demo If Airbnb suspended your account tomorrow, would your business survive? Humphrey Bowles has watched operators with 50-property portfolios, teams on the payroll and hundreds of thousands invested find out the answer is no, because 90% of their bookings came through one platform they don't control. He calls it digital sharecropping: you build the inventory, run the operations and carry the risk, and the platform owns the customer. In this episode of Minute by MÎNUT, Nils Mattisson, CEO of Minut, sits down with Humphrey Bowles, Founder and CEO of Truvi, the guest screening and damage protection platform. A former PwC risk consultant, he joined One Fine Stay to onboard owners and found an industry that had answered "how much money can I make?" and had nothing to say to "what happens when something goes wrong?". He has spent the decade since building GuardHog, Superhog and now Truvi around that second question. They get into the three steps that reduce single points of failure, why platform screening and host screening answer different questions, the 70/85/95 test for how dependent you really are, why real entrepreneurs are not defined by their tools (you don't call Jeffrey Archer a "Microsoft Word author"), what the platforms genuinely got right about trust, how tying reviews to visibility turned them into "weapons of mass distraction," the Truvisionaries list, and the night 12 police cars and two helicopters descended on his own rental. ▶ Listen on Apple, Spotify, or visit https://minut.com ★ WHAT YOU'LL LEARN ★ ▸ Why platform dependency, not damage or noise, is the existential risk to a rental business ▸ The three steps that reduce single points of failure: direct booking capability, diversified distribution and proper screening ▸ Why 20% of bookings coming direct is 20% that no policy change can touch ▸ Why platform screening exists to protect the platform, and what a host actually needs to know about a guest ▸ Why short-term rentals are exposed to crimes like sex trafficking that automated checks will not catch ▸ Where "digital sharecropping" came from, and what a generation of would-be influencers has to do with it ▸ The 70/85/95 test: the booking share at which you are dependent, and the one at which you are a policy change from catastrophe ▸ The question to ask tonight: if the platform suspended my account tomorrow, would my business survive? ▸ Why calling yourself an Airbnb host instead of a hospitality entrepreneur is a trap ▸ What the platforms got right: bilateral reviews, lower transaction costs and payment intermediation ▸ How tying reviews to visibility created review coaching, extortion and guest fraud ▸ Why platforms build trust just well enough to transact, but never enough for guests to leave ▸ What Humphrey would do differently if he launched Truvi again today ★ CHAPTERS ★ 00:00 Cold open: "That's not risk management. That's a single point of failure" 01:03 Welcome to Minute by MÎNUT 01:33 Meet Humphrey Bowles, Founder and CEO of Truvi 02:16 Humphrey joins the show 02:38 From PwC risk consulting to One Fine Stay 03:23 The question nobody could answer: what happens when something goes wrong? 04:14 The biggest blind spot: platform dependency risk 05:35 Three steps to reduce single points of failure 07:57 Platform screening versus host screening 10:06 Sex trafficking, and what broad screening misses 10:58 Digital sharecropping: where the idea came from 15:16 The 70/85/95 dependency test 16:28 If the platform suspended your account tomorrow 17:26 Is there real competition between the platforms? 18:59 You don't call Jeffrey Archer a Microsoft Word author 20:55 What the platforms got right about trust 23:07 Reviews as weapons of mass distraction 26:39 Guest fraud and "the customer is always right" 28:26 The Truvisionaries list 33:02 Launching Truvi again: what he would do differently 35:24 The crazy story: a wanted drug kingpin upstairs

    If Airbnb Suspended Your Account Tomorrow, Would You Survive? with Humphrey Bowles

  4. Aug 20

    "Software Can't Fix the Wrong Team" with Tom Fisher

    DESCRIPTION Tom Fisher runs Bloqq, which takes the voids in PBSA and build-to-rent buildings and turns them into managed short stays, and he can have a site live and taking guests in about 13 days. In this episode of Minute by MÎNUT, Nils Mattisson, CEO of Minut, sits down with Tom Fisher, co-founder of Bloqq, the short-stay operator working across purpose built student accommodation and build-to-rent in the UK and Ireland. Before Bloqq he ran operations at Lavanda across 600 London properties. They get into why maturing asset classes are suddenly interested in nightly bookings, what genuinely has to change inside a building designed for 12-month tenants, why he congratulates clients when they take floors back off him, and the argument he makes that no amount of software will save a team that is set up wrong. ▶ Listen on Apple, Spotify, or visit https://minut.com ★ WHAT YOU'LL LEARN ★ ▸ Why build-to-rent and PBSA owners are turning to short stays, and what the   oversupply of buildings has to do with it ▸ How shrinking student contracts (49 weeks down to 44) leave a gap somebody has   to fill ▸ What has to change in a building designed for long-term tenants, and   what does not ▸ Why a guest staying two nights with a business meeting in the morning is a completely   different operation from a tenant staying a year ▸ How Bloqq gets a site live in around 13 days, and why the gap between contract   and first guest is the one to protect ▸ The case for a "niche within a niche" when everyone else is chasing scale ▸ What managing 600 properties at Lavanda taught him about people over process ▸ Why "we're only as good as our last clean" is an operating principle, not a   slogan ▸ The break-in that showed him what a well-run operations team is actually for ▸ Why the right people and processes beat the best software stack, every time ▸ Where AI genuinely helps in guest communications, and where it should stay out ▸ Why booking lead times are collapsing, and how that turns into an advantage ▸ The September window in student accommodation that most operators leave on the   table ▸ What he would do differently if he started Bloqq again today ★ CHAPTERS ★ 00:00 Cold open 00:52 Welcome to Minute by MÎNUT 02:01 The villa in Greece that started it 03:22 Where the idea for Bloqq came from 05:01 Why build-to-rent and PBSA owners want short stays 06:48 What has to change in the buildings 08:04 A two-night business guest vs a 12-month tenant 11:45 Live in 13 days: why time to first guest matters 14:03 Lessons from managing 600 properties at Lavanda 15:44 The break-in, and what a good ops team does 17:24 Software can't fix the wrong people or processes 19:13 AI, and why hospitality is still a people business 23:47 Booking lead times are shortening 26:51 Five years out: from plan B to another arrow in the quiver 28:57 What he'd do differently starting Bloqq again 31:07 Final question: the Ireland scramble

    "Software Can't Fix the Wrong Team" with Tom Fisher

  5. Aug 6

    "The Future of Hospitality Is Hospitality" — What 38 Leaders Told Jessica Gillingham

    👉 Discover Minut: https://www.minut.com 📱 Book a demo: https://www.minut.com/contact/book-a-demo The short-term rental industry keeps fighting the same two battles: regulation and reputation. Jessica Gillingham thinks both are symptoms of the same underlying failure: the industry has never learned to tell its own story. The headlines write themselves about housing shortages and bad guests, while the small business owner behind almost every stay goes completely unmentioned. In this episode of Minute by MÎNUT, Nils Mattisson, CEO of Minut, sits down with Jessica Gillingham, founder and CEO of Abode Worldwide — the strategic communications firm working at the intersection of real estate and hospitality — and author of Tech-Enabled Hospitality, built on interviews with 38 senior leaders across 13 countries. Together they get into what surprised her most in that research, why the technology answer everyone gave her turned out to be a human one, the hotelization of real estate she's writing about next, what the suits at the Short Stay Summit really signal, and the shift that should worry anyone selling anything: when search stops giving you a list of links and starts giving you a single answer, being unclear about what you are is the same as being invisible. ▶ Listen on Apple, Spotify, or visit https://minut.com ★ WHAT YOU'LL LEARN ★ ▸ Why the regulation and reputation problems are really one communications problem ▸ The "vanillaization of value proposition" — why hospitality tech companies all sound identical, and what it costs them ▸ How Portugal's ALEP changed the argument by putting real people, not platforms, at the centre of it ▸ What 38 senior leaders across 13 countries actually said when asked about technology (hint: they talked about humans) ▸ Why "the future of hospitality is hospitality" and what that means for AI agents and autonomous properties ▸ How democratization lets a three-unit rental in India buy the same stack as a Marriott in New York ▸ Where short-term rentals genuinely lead hotels on innovation — and where hotels are still ahead on personalization and loyalty ▸ The hotelization of real estate: student housing, build-to-rent, co-living and branded residences converging on a hospitality operating model ▸ Why LLM search replaces choice with an answer, and how operators and tech companies become invisible in it ▸ Nils's own first-party data: why visitors who arrive from ChatGPT convert better and stay longer ▸ How to build culture in a fully remote team, and what a decade of solo-founder leadership taught her ★ CHAPTERS ★ 00:00 Cold open: "The future of hospitality is hospitality" 01:04 Welcome to Minute by MÎNUT 01:35 Meet Jessica Gillingham, founder and CEO of Abode Worldwide 02:30 From Canadian cottage rentals to deep-tech PR 04:59 A communications problem as much as a reputation problem 06:45 Who's getting it right: Bob W, VRMA, STAA and PASC 09:35 Portugal's ALEP — and the small business behind every stay 10:35 Inside the book: what 38 leaders actually said 14:03 Democratisation: three units in India vs. Marriott in New York 15:08 Where short-term rentals lead — and where hotels are ahead 18:01 Loyalty, brand and the hotel advantage 19:17 The next book: the hotelization of real estate 20:45 Convergence: opportunity or threat for operators? 24:05 The suits at the Short Stay Summit 25:43 What "flexible living" actually means 28:30 LLM search and the risk of becoming invisible 31:32 Shrinking attention — and why ChatGPT visitors convert better 35:04 Where hospitality tech capital is concentrating 36:46 Consolidation and the third layer of platforms 38:09 Building culture in a fully remote team 39:49 What remote leadership taught her 41:24 What she'd do differently in the first 12 months 42:40 On being alone at the start 43:29 Final question: the book she never expected to write 44:19 Wrap-up

    "The Future of Hospitality Is Hospitality" — What 38 Leaders Told Jessica Gillingham

  6. Jul 23

    Why Building a Brand Beats Chasing the Algorithm, with Alex Husner

    👉 Discover Minut: https://www.minut.com 📱 Book a demo: https://www.minut.com/contact/book-a-demo Everybody wants more direct bookings right now. Alex Husner's take, after 15 years and $25M a year in direct revenue, is the line every operator needs to hear: a direct booking is not free. There's technology, there are people to run it, and the moment you add paid media it all adds up. The real question isn't direct vs. OTA — it's what kind of business you're actually trying to build. In this episode of Minute by MÎNUT, Nils Mattisson, CEO of Minut, sits down with Alex Husner, one of the most recognized marketing leaders in vacation rentals. Alex spent 13 years as CMO of Condo-World in North Myrtle Beach — growing it from a few hundred condos to a $25M business with 95% of revenue coming through direct marketing — then served as CMO of national franchise brand Casago. Today she runs her own consultancy, Directly Alex, is fractional CMO at AI-native PMS Boom, and co-hosts the top-ranked podcast Alex & Annie: The Real Women of Vacation Rentals with Annie Holcombe. Together they get into the real cost of direct bookings and why an OTA-only strategy might actually win, the 65–70% direct "sweet spot," why AI only works when it can see all your data, the contradictory guest messages that siloed systems quietly send, why email and even direct mail still work, and how "growth" means something completely different to every operator. It's a clear-eyed look at marketing a rental business that lasts. ▶ Listen on Apple, Spotify, or visit https://minut.com ★ WHAT YOU'LL LEARN ★ ▸ Why "a direct booking is not free" — and how to weigh the real cost of technology, people, and paid media ▸ How Condo-World built a hybrid-OTA "marketing powerhouse" by partnering with a 5,000-property competitor ▸ Why 95% direct is too much, 95% OTA is too much, and where the real sweet spot sits ▸ What early Google dominance teaches us about winning ChatGPT and AI-driven search today ▸ How to build a brand when every PMS looks identical from the outside  ▸ Why AI only delivers a seamless guest experience when it can see all your data ▸ How siloed systems send guests contradictory messages — and why you should audit your guest journey once a year ▸ The channels operators still under-use: email marketing and, yes, direct mail ▸ Why "growth" means something different to every operator  ▸ How collaboration (even with the competitor down the street) elevates a whole destination ★ CHAPTERS ★ 00:00 Cold open: "A direct booking is not free" 01:10 Welcome to Minute by MÎNUT 01:37 Meet Alex Husner: 15+ years as a vacation rental CMO 02:38 Falling into vacation rentals — and the "they own the properties" lightbulb 04:35 Condo-World's direct-booking engine: building a hybrid OTA 07:22 Early Google then, ChatGPT now: what AI search means for SEO 09:08 Leaving after 13 years — becoming CMO at Casago 11:11 Why she joined Boom, and the jump to B2B marketing 13:11 Building a brand when every PMS looks the same ("No more PMS drama") 15:46 The shifting OTA/PMS balance and the CRM opportunity 16:31 Why AI needs all the data to deliver a seamless guest experience 18:33 How much should managers chase direct? The 65–70% rule 20:36 The biggest shift in rental marketing: the guest experience 22:01 Siloed systems and contradictory guest messages 23:10 VAs, AI, and speed to lead 24:14 The under-used channels: email — and yes, direct mail 26:38 Five years of Alex & Annie: what "growth" really means 28:53 Women in vacation rentals and the rise of mentorship 30:40 Why collaboration beats competition in a destination 32:16 Advice for a manager with 20–30 units: start with the end game 34:47 What she'd do differently (start the podcast earlier) 36:35 The craziest story: two families, one condo, 4th of July 39:15 Wrap-up

    Why Building a Brand Beats Chasing the Algorithm, with Alex Husner

  7. Jul 9

    How a $50 Microphone Became a Media Company, with Wil Slickers

    A $50 microphone off Amazon was never supposed to become a business. It was supposed to scratch an itch. Instead it turned into 450+ episodes, a 47-show podcast network, and an acquisition by the biggest name in travel media. Wil Slickers didn't set out to build a media company — he stumbled into one, and then had to decide what to do when it took over his life. In this episode of Minute by MÎNUT, Nils Mattisson, CEO of Minut, sits down with Wil Slickers, founder of Hospitality.FM — the hospitality-and-travel podcast network acquired by Skift in 2025, where Wil now serves as Director of Audio & Video Strategy. Before all that, Wil was a hotel manager who co-founded a boutique vacation rental management company in Seattle and started a show called Slick Talk with a cheap mic and a lot of curiosity. Together they get into why quality beats quantity in B2B content, how creators became "slaves to the algorithm," the "Red Bull" media model that every company is chasing, and the burnout, camping trip, and single LinkedIn DM that led to Wil's exit. It's an honest look at building an audience, knowing when to let go, and what actually lasts when AI floods every feed. ▶ Listen on Apple, Spotify, or visit https://minut.com ★ WHAT YOU'LL LEARN ★ ▸ How a $50 Amazon microphone accidentally turned into a real media business ▸ Why sponsorship money — not a business plan — was the true "light bulb moment" ▸ How the media side quietly became the main business while property management became the side project ▸ Why quality beats quantity in B2B content (and why 300 people in a room can be worth more than 300,000 views) ▸ The danger of becoming a "slave to the algorithm" and creating for platforms instead of your audience ▸ Why you should stop siloing content and build an ecosystem — a "content machine" instead of one channel ▸ The "Red Bull" media model, and when founder-led content is the wrong call ▸ How Minut moved into guest-safety content — and why some stories need more than a paid ad ▸ The real story behind the Skift acquisition: a LinkedIn DM, a year of "dating," and a camping trip ▸ What Wil would do differently if he started again (hint: slow down) ★ CHAPTERS ★ 00:00 Cold open: a $50 mic and an accidental media company 01:01 Welcome to Minute by MÎNUT 01:28 Meet Wil Slickers: from hotel manager to podcast network 02:23 The $50 Amazon microphone that started it all 04:35 When sponsorship money became the wake-up call 06:31 Quitting the hotel job in December 2019 07:16 Falling into short-term rentals — and starting a PM company 09:06 When the media quietly became the real business 10:06 Good Morning Hospitality and building a 47-show network 11:52 The unexpected surprise: everyone stumbled in 14:05 Lowering the barriers to entrepreneurship 17:34 How media changed: from Skype audio to video-first 19:32 B2B content and becoming a slave to the algorithm 22:04 Quality over quantity: the 300-person room 25:18 Don't silo your content — build an ecosystem 26:45 Founder-led content and the "Red Bull" media model 29:02 Why Minut moved into guest-safety content 32:45 Building trust through people, not brands 34:00 The exited-founder club and the next five years of media 34:24 Why the future of media is in-person 37:10 How the Skift acquisition actually happened 39:14 Burnout, a camping trip, and deciding to sell 41:59 What he'd do differently: slow down 44:41 No more startups — enjoying corporate life for now 44:52 The craziest story: running two companies at Christmas 46:23 Wrap-up

    How a $50 Microphone Became a Media Company, with Wil Slickers

  8. Jun 25

    Why Software Alone Won't Win the Next Chapter of STR, with Margot Schmorak

    There was a stretch around 2018 when dozens of property management systems were crowding every trade show, and Margot Schmorak kept asking herself one question: is this even a worthy problem to be working on? A decade later, Hostfully is one of the leaders in its category, and Margot's answer to what comes next isn't more software. It's the physical space, the guest experience, and the operators willing to do the work that automation can't. In this episode of Minute by MÎNUT, Nils Mattisson, CEO of Minut, sits down with Margot Schmorak, CEO and Co-Founder of Hostfully, the vacation rental management platform built around property management and digital guidebooks. Before Hostfully, Margot launched the iPhone Developer Program at Apple and led marketing and strategy for a $200M business unit at ServiceSource. Margot and Nils get into why the industry is entering a more demanding chapter, where automation genuinely improves the guest experience and where it risks losing the human touch, the real cost of underestimating direct-booking marketing, and why both believe AI now scores higher on customer satisfaction than their own support teams. Plus: vibe-coding gamified travel itineraries for her kids, and what she'd do differently if she were starting over today. ▶ Listen on Apple, Spotify, or visit https://minut.com ★ WHAT YOU'LL LEARN ★ ▸ Why Margot left a successful SaaS career to build for small businesses she could see herself impacting day to day ▸ How the collision of vertical SaaS, OTA APIs, and modern software architecture created the opening that became Hostfully ▸ Why surviving "50 PMS at every trade show" came down to caring about customers and running a good business ▸ What "a more demanding chapter" really means, and why hotel-level guest expectations now define the category ▸ Where automation genuinely improves the guest experience, and where the human touch still has to win ▸ Why an AI support agent can outscore your best human reps, and what that means for support teams ▸ How to think about the balance between OTA distribution and brand-independent direct bookings ▸ The most common mistake operators make when setting up a direct-booking strategy ▸ The areas property managers are under-preparing for: the physical space, energy, and the guest experience beyond the four walls ▸ What Margot would do differently if she were starting Hostfully again today ★ CHAPTERS ★ 00:00 Cold open: "There were 50 different PMS at every trade show — how are we possibly going to make it through?" 01:01 Welcome to Minute by MÎNUT 01:29 Meet Margot Schmorak, CEO & Co-Founder of Hostfully 01:36 From Apple and enterprise strategy to building SaaS for STR 03:12 Did the industry need a whole new infrastructure? 04:55 The confluence: vertical SaaS meets a professionalizing STR industry 07:03 Why the industry is entering a more demanding chapter 09:10 Platform dependence vs. brand independence: OTAs and direct booking 10:49 The most common mistakes in a distribution strategy 12:05 Automation: where it helps the guest experience, where it loses the human touch 14:18 When customers ask to talk to the AI — and why CSAT keeps climbing 16:17 Looking five years ahead: the physical space, energy, and what gets overlooked 18:11 AI, itinerary building, and vibe-coding travel with her kids 20:25 What she'd do differently starting over 21:45 The most unexpected story from building Hostfully 22:22 Wrap-up

    Why Software Alone Won't Win the Next Chapter of STR, with Margot Schmorak
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About

Managing properties at scale comes with challenges that most people never see: unauthorized parties, smoking violations, noise complaints, water leaks, and the balancing act between guest privacy and property protection.Minute By Minut is the insider’s guide for property managers and hospitality leaders who oversee student housing, apartment-hotels, multifamily residences, and rental portfolios. Hosted by Nils Mattisson, CEO of Minut, each episode dives into real-world stories, operational insights, and strategies for scaling smarter without sacrificing privacy or community trust.Through candid interviews with property operators, industry innovators, and technology leaders, this podcast delivers actionable solutions you can apply directly to your operations. From crisis prevention to community relations, from scaling tech adoption to cutting operational costs, this is the resource built for leaders, whether you’re managing one or a hundred units.Subscribe now to learn how to protect your property, strengthen your operations, and lead the future of property management.

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