Carl Shepherd is the Co-Founder of HomeAway, the marketplace that helped define the modern short-term rental industry. Before Airbnb became a household name, Carl and his co-founder Brian Sharples built HomeAway into a global platform that changed how people rent and manage vacation homes. The company went public in 2011 and was later acquired by Expedia for $3.9 billion.If you want to understand how today’s OTA landscape was built, and where it’s breaking, this episode is essential listening. Carl shares how HomeAway scaled through acquisitions, why the industry lost its uniqueness, and what professional property managers must do to stay relevant in a platform-dominated market.In this conversation, we discuss:How Carl and Brian turned an information business into a $3.9B global marketplaceWhy HomeAway’s original model changed the future of short-term rentalsWhat Expedia got wrong after acquiring HomeAway and how it reshaped the OTA modelCarl’s view on Airbnb’s fee structure shift and its long-term effects on hosts and managersWhy professional property management must evolve toward a franchise modelWhat tech-enabled PMs often misunderstand about software, service, and brand consistencyWhy the next phase of STR growth depends on quality control and trustExplore more:Connect with Carl Shepherd on LinkedIn [linkedin.com/in/carl-shepherd-1152924/]. Resources AJL Atelier – Global STR Consulting [https://www.ajlatelier.com]. Led by our host Simon Lehmann, AJL Atelier is a boutique advisory firm helping professional hosts, property managers, and investors succeed in the short-term rental industry. Connect with Simon Lehmann on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/simon-lehmann-8375753b/] Stay connected: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/str-global-unlocked-with-simon-lehmann-unfiltered/id1842946960 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3kke4wOx0tNv0duq9MMWtO Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWVkmUOkmhSHcFjzi28AhaQNR98vaG65O Website: https://www.ajlatelier.com/podcasts Newsletter: https://str-global-unlocked.beehiiv.com/

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