EP60: Another One Bites the Dust

The Short Term Rental Authority Podcast

Case study of 3 major short-term rental start ups and their battle against the Covid. 2 losers and 1 winner. We discuss what the losers did wrong and what the winner did right.

Lyric, once a powerhouse with over 400 units in 13 major cities, closes its doors. This article in Forbes, found here:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidjeans/2020/07/02/rental-startup-lyric-shuts-most-locations-in-pivot/#6c15258840c8,

sheds light on its 2 major reasons for its downfall: its reliance on a platform (Airbnb) and its service of only 1 customer type.

Once a $100 million company, Stay Alfred has closed all of its 2500 locations. In this article, found here:

https://www.spokanejournal.com/local-news/stay-alfred-closes-its-doors-permanently/

the owner of the company says that there was a "fundamental crack" in the business model. But is that true? We think not.

Because the winner, Sonder, has proved that the it's not the business model that's the problem. Sonder also leases property so how were they able to stay afloat? Read about it here:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2020/06/24/hospitality-startup-sonder-raises-170-million-at-a-13-billion-valuation-during-covid-travel-collapse/#673574c048aa