Culture Over Features: Building a Human-First Tech Company with Frank Bosi of Hostfully

Alex Husner: 03:13
Welcome to Alex and Annie, the Ral Women of Vacation Rentals. I'm Alex and I'm Annie. And we are joined today, after a very long time of wanting to have this amazing gentleman on the show with Frank Bosey, who is the director of partnerships with Hostfully. Frank, it's so good to see you. Yes, thank you for having me.

Frank Bosi: 03:28
Like you said, it's it's it's been a while. Um I've been looking forward to being on here for the longest time. So I'm excited. Definitely still.

Annie Holcombe: 03:35
We're excited to have you. And before we get started, I like I say this about so many of our guests, but I feel like you're definitely one of those people that most everybody knows who Frank is, but maybe people don't know about Frank. So why don't you give us a little bit about your backstory and your journey to Host Fully?

Frank Bosi: 03:49
Yeah, well, if if you know me, uh I am a talker. So feel free to cut me off whenever.

Alex Husner: 03:55
Okay.

Frank Bosi: 03:56
Uh so yeah. So anyone, for any of you that are listening who don't know me, I'm Frank Bosey. Um the senior director of partner development, partnership development here at Hostfully. And I've been with the company for almost six years. I started back in early 2020, um, and that's where I started in sales. But my role today is really focused on uh helping Hostfully grow through strong relationships and partnerships and increasing our visibility across the short-term rental industry. So that's kind of my niche now uh with Host Fully. I spend a lot of time still demoing and meeting with property managers, thought leaders, industry experts, uh, as well as our integration partners. And the whole all of those meetings have the goal to understand what's really happening on the ground, but it also makes sure that hostfully fits naturally into the broader, you know, short-term rental ecosystem. Aside from like all that other stuff that I do, I also am very involved in education and thought leadership. Um so, like with the help of podcasts like yours, um, Host Fully also hosts uh live bi-weekly webinars. Uh, we made that a huge priority for us this year. Um also again for education, but also for visibility. I sit on conference panels. We're hoping to do more of those in 2026. As you know, I I attend many industry events. That's how I met the two of you in person throughout the year. Uh so 2026, they put me in charge of conferences. So uh more to come that. Uh, but all with again, all with the goal of supporting the continued success and the continued growth of hostfully and the industry in the in its whole, because it's this is we're just at the tip of the iceberg in the short-term rental industry.

Alex Husner: 05:46
Yeah, absolutely. And and yeah, I mean, I I remember first time we met you, it was probably two, three years ago now, I'd say, uh at one of the events, and you're always just such like a beam of light. You're always smiling, and you've really done an amazing job of translating, you know, not your not just your in-person persona and personality, but you've done a great job with those webinars and the content that you put out. And, you know, we talk about this all the time that it doesn't matter whether it's a vacation rental company or a technology company, you want people that are gonna wear the brand on their sleeve and that are gonna be the face of it and give some humanity to what's behind, especially on the technology side. Because it's like there's so many options out there for anything that you're looking for. And in a lot of cases, it comes down to you you choose a company or provider based on the people, because you know them, you like them, you trust them. And I think you've done a great job with that. But I'm curious to know a little bit more about Frank. I mean, before hostfully, like what got you into this industry or like what was your career before this?

Frank Bosi: 06:43
Yeah, well, so first off, thank you for confirming that I'm doing my job. Because this is a new role. Um, Margot and Governed were they created the role and they said we need, you know, more content, more visibility, uh, more partnership development. So thanks for that. But prior to hostfully, I used to be really strong and um present in the luxury hotel industry. Um yeah, I did um I started as like a guest service representative, I guess, in front desk for a brief moment and then uh became sales coordinator, group sales manager, sales manager, and then kind of continued that way. And really the big part of my personal mission is bringing hospitality back to the hospitality industry, especially as short-term rentals continue to professionalize and you know, guests continue to expect whole hotel-like services, hotel-like amenities. So when I started my career in luxury hotels, um, again, long story short, I did that, I want to say for like nine or 10 years. And then that's actually what brought us down here to Charlotte. I and this was luxury hotel in New York City. So it was all of those, those fancy hotels up there. Yeah, and that was that was great. Um and then uh I opened up the Times Square edition uh in Times Square, and that's when I met uh someone who was leading the rebranding and restructure of um the Valentine Hotel, which is a luxury hotel here in Charlotte. And they they brought us down, they housed my family and I, and then worked with them for about six months, uh already increased their corporate travel significantly, their luxury travel significantly. And then COVID happened. And obviously, needless to say, with COVID, business travel stopped, leisure travel halted, like there was a big stop. So there was no need for my position. So they furloughed me, and then we realized how big COVID was becoming, and then I got um laid off. And then within the that laid off period, it was about maybe a month, and I was I was looking for all the jobs and I came across Hostfully, and the I forget which way, I think it was like Angel.co, they give you the opportunity to reach out to the decision maker. And the decision maker was Margot, the CEO of Host Fully. I sent her a message, and then uh a few days later I got a response asking for an interview and got the job. Uh I was persistent, um, but you know, that hey, it was a sales job. So that that persistence was part of my interview, which I found out later from David Jacoby. So that's what got me to Host Fully. And then again, just started in in sales, became a uh sales manager. So I led a team, and that was five years into hostfully, maybe four and a half, and then got promoted to senior director of partner development.

Annie Holcombe: 09:41
It's so interesting. You and I have a very similar kind of upbringing. I think we talked about this before because I started out in hotels, not luxury, so I can't, I can't brag on the luxury side of things, but certainly the hotel. And I think what's interesting is we just um, you know, had the DARM conference recently. And one of the conversations that was kind of like um, I think on the periphery of a lot of the sessions was the return to hospitality, the return to customer service, the return to bringing hospitality back. And with all of the AI that's being embedded in the software and in operations, you know, there's a concern of that maybe we're gonna get too far away from it. But I feel like we landed on it's actually gonna give us the opportunity to really focus on hospitality because it's gonna take us out of the mundane that we're having to do and let that happen. So, kind of from your perspective, I mean, coming from hotel, you get the hospitality side of it. And now you're with a tech partner and you certainly can see the advancements of technology and what AI can do. What do you think is gonna happen? Like what does your crystal ball say for next year as related to AI and how we're actually embedding more hospitality in the business?

Frank Bosi: 10:43
Yeah, and I mean, again, with this industry, as it's very similar. I mean, it is the hospitality industry. And being in the hotel industry, it you learn the fundamentals of great hospitality, and that's transferable to the short-term rental industry. And that's consistency, attention to detail, taking care of guests before something goes wrong and just simply getting their needs, whether it's before or after the guest makes the reservation with you. And when I moved into the short-term rental world, like I said, my sales skills from the hotel world were completely transferable. And honestly, that's that was the best possible training that I could have had. And again, just spending my days talking directly with operators like small hosts, large managers, everyone in between, hearing the real stories, what's working, what's broken, what they need to do in in order to succeed. It's the sales experience played a huge role in my growth with hostfully and made that transition into partnerships so much more seamless. Um, but with those conversations, it's a lot, a lot of the property managers want to do everything fast. They want to get everything onboarded and and hooked up and connected immediately without realizing that, you know, especially with AI uh and the the trend. Well, I wouldn't even call it a trend. It's it's a necessity now. If you use it correctly, if you take the time with your branding, your verbiage, your communication, your your style, um, if you're more you, uh, your AI is going to capture that and remember that. And that's going to make your brand that much more competitive or that much more different than your competitors. So I think it's, you know, with AI, and I don't necessarily think it's going to negatively impact, especially if you leverage it correctly and you take the time to do so. Because there are a few partners of ours that I recommend for guest communication because they they've taken the time and they know what they're doing and they know what the property manager and what the client needs. Um, and then that's always important, is also finding the right AI and the right software provider, specifically to guest communications, but also, you know, with dynamic pricing and cleaning and turnover management. They make fun of me unhostfully. They call me a 70-year-old and a 40-year-old body because I'm old school. I want to find a cabin off the grid and just live off the land. Um, but AI is here, it's here to stay, and it's how we can leverage it and optimize it to benefit us as property managers.

Alex Husner: 13:25
Yeah, absolutely. And are you seeing in your conversations with managers going back a year ago versus now? Are they coming to you asking you about like what you offer and what they can do in AI? As the conversation shifted of you having to tell them like you need to be thinking about this to now they're asking.

Frank Bosi: 13:42
Um, on the demos, kind of sometimes if it comes up organically, um, we when we do our demos, we show our features and our capabilities, but we also um make a strong point to highlight our integrative partners. Um, and in that, usually when we go down our integrative partner list, they bring up the question. Uh, and if they bring it up, yeah, I think it's come up more than it has, for sure. The big one, I think, is like, you know, how can I get more listings or more visibility? Um that's that's a question that comes up a lot. And unfortunately, channels specific OTAs, they change their rules every single day. Um, so it's hard to keep up, it's hard to know what their limit, you know, what their rules are in order to gain visibility on their page. But when I do like podcasts and webinars, I think it's a great source of education for a property manager. And if the property manager is listening to these podcasts, they're becoming more and more knowledgeable about the industry and what's out there to be that much more successful. And then that's when questions will sometimes uh come up is when you have a demo and that property manager listens to Alex and Annie, and they've attended a few webinars and they know the opportunities that are out there. Um, those conversations are are really good because it takes away from the mundane demo. Um and that's another thing with hostfully is we don't just demo our software, we make sure that we're a good fit. So we like to ask all the questions prior, like, what are you looking for? And then we'll review according to that specific property manager.

Annie Holcombe: 15:15
Yeah. I think that one of the things I've always liked about hostfully, and and and Alex and I have had really wonderful conversations with Dave and obviously Margot over the years is that hostfully is almost like a feeling PMS. There's something about working with you and your team that that's like there's there's this emotional connection that I don't know that there's a there's a there's a couple others that I might put in that category, but I think there's something about hostfully, and you know, maybe it's the the sloth mascot. I don't know, maybe that's that's that's always done it for me. Um, and the disco jackets. But no, I think that you guys have done such a good job. You've done such a good job in just creating this like environment of, I don't want safety is kind of the word I feel is like the property manager feels safe with you and they know that if they're not gonna fail because you're gonna be there to help them and they're gonna be there to provide that information. And I think it's I think I I don't I just have always admired the way it's sort of been built. But I wanted to ask you about like the partnerships and kind of where you see things going. Cause I think that I I've talked to a lot of people, and you know, I think there's this, there's there's such a sense in vacation rentals that I don't believe exists on the hotel side as much of more collaborative in nature that we all want to help each other and we all want to make each other better. And so, like from your vantage point in doing partnerships, what are you seeing as possibilities to work and partner with other, you know, with other PMSs that you can learn from each other and and share?

Frank Bosi: 16:36
That's that's the tough part because, like you said, hostfully is, you know, we we welcome everyone. We're open, we're welcoming, where there's that sense of comfort with hostfully. Our culture is important to us. It's imperative. And I can I can say, like in the six years that we that I've been with Hostfully, on the sales side, no one quit. Not one account executive quit. And that says a lot about our culture. And Margot and David, they they do a phenomenal job with that and making sure that it's top priority, no matter how much we grow, no matter how many things, uh, features and capabilities that we add, they make sure that culture stays there. Um, that's hostfully. There are other property management softwares that are out there that are completely separate. And, you know, they they we are all competitors, but if we lean on each other, I think we can really make an impact. That's coming from me. Um, but like I said, there are different cultures and different um expectations and and wants. And and a lot of property managers don't want those relationships. Um I have, and even when I go to conferences, like I'm stopping by the hospitable booth. I know a bunch of them over there. Like I want to talk to them. Um, I stop by the well, I don't stop by the guestie booth because there's a lot of them and I get overwhelmed, but there are a few people from guesty that I like to connect with. So it's like, you know, the it's it's one big incestuous industry. And, you know, those those partnerships are relationships and they're going to help you. And I, you know, like the big thing with hotels was never say no, right? So, like when somebody doesn't find hostfully as a good fit for them, maybe because they only have one or two listings, I'm like, well, I know this property management software that could be really interesting. You know, maybe you grow with them and then you come back. Or they have too many listings and we don't have as many features as they need. I heard this property management software is really good. Let let me introduce you to my contact there, you know, and they can introduce you to whomever, you know, however their deployment is. But again, that's that's me speaking. Um, but the importance of partnerships and relationships in this industry is imperative. Um, and that's why I I'm always excited at conferences because we're a fully remote team and you can only be remote for so long. I I I my guilty pleasure is conferences.

Alex Husner: 19:04
Yeah, I think it is. Yeah.

Frank Bosi: 19:07
I mean, yeah, because like I this is the perfect example too. It's I don't think we would have this banter and this friendship that we have if we never met in person, you know, or if we never or if I was like, oh yeah, you know, that's Alex and Annie. They're they're podcasters, I'm not gonna talk to them. Which a lot of people, a lot of people at conferences do. They're like, oh no, I don't want to say hi. Yeah, hi. You know, if you click, you click. If you don't, it's all right. You go from the next time around. Yeah. Um, but yeah, and I I also think organically is what drew me to this opportunity with Host Flee, is I I just I I love relationships and partnerships and and conversation and education. And it just it was uh it was a seamless transition from sales for me at least.

Alex Husner: 19:52
Yeah, no, that that that makes a lot of sense. And you know, I think back to the first time that we met Marg, we were at VR May Spring in Chicago. And we had been trying to meet with her the whole conference. And finally, by the end of the conference, they're about to tear all the booths down. And there was nowhere to sit. And so the three of us just sat on the floor, Indian style and chatted for over an hour about like everything. And we were so excited to have her on the show. And we've had her a couple of times now. But um it's it's it's been fun to understand her leadership style, which I think is unique. And I think as a as a female leader, I think that brings something different into it as a technology company that, you know, I mean, guest Steve Were, obviously female as well, but most of the technology companies are male-driven. I don't think there's anything wrong with that, but I think she comes across as somebody that has a high value for empathy with her employees. And in the last episode she was on with us, she pulled up this uh this like map that she had of like how decisions are made and like you know, like emphasis on like making sure that people they really do block their calendars off so that they can take time for lunch and that they have their own personal time, you know, and I think that that's everything. But um I'm just curious from your perspective. I mean, like you obviously understand strong culture. I think you come from a place that has it, but like what are some examples of of what that culture actually looks like in the day-to-day as an employee with hostfully?

Frank Bosi: 21:17
It's the trust that they have in you. It's undeniable because they're like, oh yeah, you know, you have to bring your kid to Taekwondo at 3:30 in the afternoon, go for it. Yeah, if you have to, you know, if you're sick and you need three days and you, you know, and that kind of bleeds into the weekend and you end up having a five-day weekend. They trust you that you're actually sick and you want to get better so you can hit the ground running when you're back. There's just that honesty and transparency uh that makes culture great at hostfully. But then there is also the understanding that, hey, you need to make your numbers and you know, you have to show your loyalty in return. So it's a two-way street. Um, you know, I feel like, and that's in any relationship. If one person shows commitment and trust, it's gonna communicate to the next person. It's the flexibility for me personally with the culture and having two kids and a life. Um, it's really important. But even just like the all hands meetings that we have, like that's every other Wednesday. They're about an hour and a half. Sometimes they go up to two hours, um, but they make a concerted effort to make it fun. We uh every um, so we open up every all hands with music, and Margot shares her screen and it's a video. And it's not just like American music. She wants, she asked every employee if they have a favorite song and we're we're a global company. Yeah, tell us your song. What would you recommend? It doesn't have to be English. Like make sure that you want to put your culture and you want to put there's this um inclusivity uh that host will have as well. Um, so the culmination of inclusivity as well as a fun all hands meeting, which can sometimes go dry. Uh, we celebrate birthdays, we celebrate wins. Every time that there's uh a big change in your life, whether it's a child or a marriage or you get engaged, they make an effort to celebrate that. Um, we even have Slack channels, um, stuff like that. It's it's just it makes it, it makes you look forward to those two-hour meetings, you know. It's not all the time, of course. You know, it is a company and we have to have those boring meetings. Um, but even the boring meetings, you just you have this sense of comfort knowing that it's not just a meeting to have a meeting, it's there's execution afterwards, and it's only to grow the company. Um, and there's only good intent behind it as well. Um, and then there's the retreats. So um as it's Bali, didn't you?

Annie Holcombe: 23:50
Isn't that where they went? Bali.

Frank Bosi: 23:53
It forced you. That's the subject. Um, no, I yeah, the company had the opportunity to go to Bali.

Annie Holcombe: 23:60
But you didn't go?

Frank Bosi: 24:01
I didn't go. It was that a little boomer. It was a little too far for me to be away from the family for that one. It took like three days to get there for something. It was a long way for the time. I know personally I wouldn't have been mentally there. Um complaining. We had Tulum uh last, like the our first retreat was in Tulum. Um, the second one was Bali, and now we have an upcoming one in the uh Dominican Republic, which we're really excited about. And it's stuff like that. It's just thank you. You know, but it's not, it's also again, not just fun in games. Like there's there are fun in games. There, there's work, there's education sessions, there's and but the thing is, it's not just the C level that's doing this. She wants a full environment, she wants everyone contributing. Uh, we have a Google Doc, and like I'm gonna be uh me and two of the guys from marketing are gonna do like morning workouts. So we're gonna be there and we're each of us are gonna take a day and we're gonna do morning workouts. And then a few others are gonna do uh like team development games. Uh so there's there's a lot of fun things that happen, but at the same time, it's beneficial to you, but also beneficial to the company because everyone's gonna get along. Everyone, you know, just wants this success for hostfully. And I think that that's what really makes us a strong company is that we're all like-minded in that aspect, where it's not just let me come to work so I can get the paycheck at the end of the day, at the end of the day. It's really like I I want to come to Host Fully, I want to see it grow. And um, even hearing it from the two of you that that's like our reputation, um, what we're known for, just proves that we're doing it and we're doing it correctly and right, you know.

Annie Holcombe: 25:41
So the culture that's been built on top of the phenomenal technology attracted a very large investment um earlier this year. So that's gonna enable you guys to do some really great things. So why don't you kind of give us a little bit of that? Like tell us how that evolved or what you know of it and like where that's gonna lead for the company going into 26.

Frank Bosi: 26:00
Yeah, I mean, I'm I'm stoked. Um with the the funding that came in, it's they they have an understanding of investments, obviously, that's their job, but they have the knowledge and expectation specific to the short-term rental world. So they have a bottom line number, but they're not like, all right, we have to get to that by tomorrow. They understand that it's a new industry, there's different markets, there's different needs, there's not a right property, there's not one property management software that's right for every single property manager. Like they have a really good understanding. Um, I don't work with them, but I hear from Margot and the team, like what their meetings entail and what they talk about and what they have uh planned and what they, you know, what they want to work on. And it's just, it's just been, it was, it was just a very organic, easy decision to move forward with them. Um, and I say move forward with them because again, knowing Margot, there there were a lot of opportunities and a lot of money. And she she didn't want certain investors because that would impact the culture. Um, so that was a big decision on on her end was, you know, yes, money's great, but like you have here's your expectations, but here are mine. Um, and again, Margot just just crushed that entire process. And it's it's it's heavy. There's a lot of numbers, there's there's a lot of things to consider. But even after the fact, you know, we had a meeting, because of course there were questions from the team, like, what's gonna happen? Is this gonna happen? Marg was fully transparent and she explained the process and she's like, there, this is what they expect. And this is this is their previous, this is their experience with the short-term rental industry. And she even gave, um, and I was driving home from New York City. So I was on a 12-hour road trip with my family. So I just tuned in, but she pulled up, um, she like made a slideshow about it, and she gave us faces of who they work with and names. And if you ever have any questions, come to me and I'll talk to Josh. I think that's the thing. Um, but you know, it's a lot of that conversation happens on the sea level. But like we said earlier, it trickles down. And the only trickling that we've seen has only been beneficial to us and to host fleet. And the big thing with us is we're not like we have funding and we're gonna be Sonic the Hedgehog and we're just gonna go straight. Because again, just like a property manager, if if you put the cart before the horse, it's gonna be very difficult to keep up. Um, so even with, you know, with the funding and uh the the relationship that we have with Blue Star now is it feels right. Um, but even with the features and capabilities that we currently have, they realize like slow and steady wins of the race. So right now, uh a huge, a huge push is perfecting what we're currently doing, fixing the bugs. Uh, we have something called user voice for our property management software. So all of our users have access to user voice and they say what they need. And they're like, hey, it'll be great if hosts we did XYZ. The more requests that we get, and this is kind of cool, again, leveraging AI, the more requests that come in, the higher it becomes on our priority list. Um, and normally we would have to sell more in order to do it. So, like in order to get a certain feature, we it would take some time. Now, you know, we're blessed to have funding. So it's gonna make it a little bit, a little bit faster. You know, it's gonna we're and but the thing is, it's they're not deciding what it should be, we're not deciding what it should be. We're taking the information that we received on user voice from our users and making that the decision of what should be next. Um, of course, it'll be great to have all you know built-in dynamic pricing. That'll be cool, but that's not something that we're looking for right now, you know. So uh just kind of perfecting what we currently have. And then I'm sure, I'm sure they have again C level, but I'm sure they have a lot of plans. Like big things are happening in 2026. And although we can't like divulge everything just yet, um, but like looking ahead in 2026, it's a really exciting time for hosts fully in the short-term rental industry. But even like as we continue to grow, uh, not just in size, but in maturity as a company, I mean we've we've been around for 10 years, and I've seen the growth myself over the past six years, and it's mind-blown to see where we've come as one of the top property management softwares in the industry.

Alex Husner: 30:24
Yeah, no, that it's super exciting. And, you know, it's just since COVID, I feel like there's been so much interest from these investment groups that they just want to get in on short-term rentals. But I think there's also a very big difference between a lot of the private equity that wants to come in because they just see it as an opportunity. And they might be, you know, they're in many other different types of industries, but the ones that have experience within this in one way or another, you know, typically like that's it's a a good relationship goes both ways, right? I mean, there's got to be value that obviously they're investing in you because they believe in you, but you want to choose them as your investment partner because they're gonna bring a different level of experience, you know, across other industries, but also if they understand ours, it makes it a heck of a lot easier. And that's that's that's the hard part. I mean, it's it's hard to say no to money, but like you definitely want to wait for the right ones. And I remember um Margot in one of our first episode, she was telling us, and I can't remember if hostfully had raised money at this point or not, but she was talking about these meetings that she goes on, and she said, I don't sugarcoat or try and tell them anything differently than who I am and what this company is. Like you you could end up hearing a baby crying in the background, like I'm a mom and I'm a CEO. And like it is what it is. And I think, you know, she comes across um and she is just just very authentic in who she is. And I think that's what, you know, if you can wait long enough to find the right one, that's that's the ideal situation because it makes the whole situation whole environment better for your employees, for the future of the company, everything. So very, very exciting on that side.

Frank Bosi: 31:56
Yeah, yeah. And it's you know, it's not just about like adding headcounts or features, it's about adding value for our for our users. So yeah. Yeah.

Alex Husner: 32:03
And I mean, where do you, from your lens, like where do you see the future of technology in our industry? I know that's a a broad question, but it's like, you know, we when we went to Verma post-COVID, uh, there was, you know, 50 more vendors than typically had been there in the past. And it's like some come, some go. I mean, like, do you are you what do you think about like, is it going to be more consolidation as we move forward? Or is it going to still be more, you know, best best in best in class and like specialty products coming out that PMSs like yours want to add into the integration network?

Frank Bosi: 32:40
Yeah. And I I I'm not too sure. I can see consolidation happening. I wouldn't say this year, but like in the future, it kind of makes sense to do that. But with all the partners that we have, they have a specific niche to their software that others don't. Um, it's nice to have that variety. And because there's different, like I said, there's not one software that's right for every single property manager. So it's nice to have that variety. Um, and I'm curious to see, like in the future, if there is consolidation or if people, you know, if there's some software that go out of business, which we've seen over the past couple of years. Curious to see if that's gonna negatively impact. Because then there's gonna be some property managers that are like, well, I don't want that software. That has too many bells and whistles and it's too expensive. I wish there was another alternative. And that's kind of what led us to where we are now, is all those alternatives are kind of, you know, there's always the big guy. There's always the like the top three in each tier or or need, but it's the smaller ones that that do pretty well as well, because they leave the bigger ones because sometimes they're too expensive or they have too many bells and whistles. But I think consolidation in the future will will happen. But I think one of the biggest things that I've seen, especially in my um my conversations, especially in the short-term rental space, is like professionalism. Um more independent hosts are turning into real operators. They want they want to quit their W-2 and they want to do this full time. And we kind of thought during COVID that that was the peak and we were just gonna plummet there. But it's peaked and it's kind of plateaued and it's slowly continuing to raise. You know, those independent hosts are now managing more properties. You know, they're pitching to owners, they're working with owners, they're being held to higher standards uh by guests. So, you know, gone are the days where you could have a property listed on Airbnb and wish for the best because there's a lot of other properties in your comp set, and people are going to book those because those individuals are taking more on more professional with their approach. And the challenge, I think, is that professional operators require professional systems. So, like a modern property management software becomes the foundation because what we do is we centralize reservations, uh, we automate workflow flows, we create consistency across every uh every property on every platform, no matter how fast you grow. Um, so I would say, you know, yes, in terms of what the future has in terms of consolidation, but it's really what the independent hosts are doing and how they're growing and how we as softwares need to be there for them and uh and change according to their scalability. Because again, going back to the hotel, is a lot of guests are expecting hotel amenities, hotel service, hotel standards, and the guest expectations with short-term rentals, and it's just it's how it's just organically happening is guests now expect that. And they want the fast responses, they want the clear instructions, they want the personalized communication, they don't want any friction during the booking or checkout or um or rival like industry data. Um, I forget where I saw it from, but I remember there was like the response time and the clarity of information are like two of the biggest drivers for guest satisfaction and reviews. Um, so you know, having a property management software like hostfully just helps all of that happen. And, you know, we also have guidebooks and now we have hostfully devices. So kind of seeing what's happening in the short-term rental world and and improving and um making our software that much more strong for our clients and and other short-term rental property managers.

Annie Holcombe: 36:29
Now, what is what is the sweet spot for hostfully in terms of like the size of a manager? Is it someone who has gotten to the point where they know they're going to be growing? Or are you starting with people that maybe have two properties and they're like just trying to figure it out? Like what where where do you fit into the kind of the, I guess it was like the tiers that you mentioned?

Frank Bosi: 36:47
Yeah, it's it's hard to say um because we have a lot of clients that have one listing, and we have a lot that have hundreds and thousands, not hundreds, thousands, hundreds more. One one day. Um but even you know, it we kind of we kind of, I don't know if there's a number really, because the way that hostfully is set up is we do we want to perfect what we're doing, and we offer these different features that would help a property manager that has one or a hundred properties. Um, so the way that our software is built, and even with our onboarding, like no matter what, you're getting a personalized one-on-one onboarding session with a real life onboarding manager. Now, the number of that changes based on the amount of properties you have. And I say properties, not the revenue that you're generating. A lot of other property management software is they're like, you know, you have one listing, you can watch this recording. Not really, because the ones that have the handful of listings are the ones that need more hand holding. Yeah, they have more questions.

Annie Holcombe: 37:50
And you want them to have the right information to start, because that's where I think we we realize as an industry we run into problems is we've let that kind of segment out there in the wild and not given them access to information. And then all of a sudden they become a problem, and not because they meant to, they just didn't know they didn't know.

Alex Husner: 38:07
They didn't have the right information to get started in the first place.

Frank Bosi: 38:10
Yeah, exactly. Um, and then even I would say, yes, the ones that sign up with one or two listings, they have a want to grow. Little do they know what they got themselves into, but they want to scale, they want to grow, they want to be successful in the short-term rental industry. If we have people that come in with 60 listings, chances are they are because of the way that the industry is. They already have a property management software. They move over and they demo our property and sign up for our property management software because of rate or price issues or guest service issues, or, you know, they're just not happy with the quality of the software. So normally when when we get inquiries from the higher-ups, uh, the bigger property managers, they're normally coming from another property management software that either doesn't have what they need, they're too expensive, or the customer service isn't there. Or sometimes what we've also seen, which is it's interesting because we used to be the software that people grew out of. Um, but now there are some other property management softwares that those individuals grow out of and they need something with a little bit more features. So a little bit of everything, I say. I don't know if we have a sweet spot, but yeah, that's that's good.

Annie Holcombe: 39:22
That's good. You're kind of like in the in the middle, and that you can kind of help everybody no matter what side of the coin that they're on, I guess.

Frank Bosi: 39:28
Yeah, and I could even speak on behalf of all the account executives. I mean, if we get a demo for one listing, we're happy. If we get a demo for a hundred listings, we're happy. But still, like it's not like, oh, here's one listing. Two levels of happy. Yeah.

Annie Holcombe: 39:43
There's no misery involved.

Frank Bosi: 39:45
No, none whatsoever. No. Yeah. Because we also, yeah, we have a we have also a ton of case studies where you know property managers start and they we scale with them. We've had clients that have been with us for longer than I've been with the company, and now they have. 50, 60, 70 listings, but they only had a handful when they first started. So it's really cool to see when you scale with your users. And that we have a lot of those. And that says a lot about our software and our company as well. Yeah.

Alex Husner: 40:14
Oh, that's great. And I mean, like, what would you say is the biggest thing that you hear right now? I mean, like heading into 2020, like what are managers most focused on or most like what's the pain point that they're trying to solve? Like, why do they come to you? Accounting. Accounting, yeah.

Frank Bosi: 40:30
Accounting is always the issue. But the thing is, like, yeah, we we have integrations that help with accounting. Um yeah, accounting is always, it's always been, it's always been a thing. I would say they just they just want to streamline their operations. They want to automate, they want to get on more channels, they want more visibility. You know, a lot of them, I mean all of them, and I confidently say all of them are on Airbnb. With all the changes that are transpiring, they're realizing, like, hey, overnight they can change a rule that I don't vibe with, and that's impacting my visibility. Maybe I need a direct booking site that possibly offers that. Uh, and we have partners. We're very um, our API is one of the strongest in the industry. So if you have your own website, uh, we're an easier choice because we easily uh connect with you know your website seamlessly and and the bookings come in seamlessly and they push out to all the other channels seamlessly. Um so there's a there's that there's that level of um expectation now with automation, like we brought up earlier. And I and I said accounting like jokingly, but like maybe overall numbers. They want to make sure that the data that's coming in is presented on their property management software. This way they can easily run a report, present it to their owners, not have to cross-reference. That's one of the bigger things as well, is just you know, having having that that data across the channels communicate to your property management software seamlessly and immediately. So uh I would say that that's that's probably one that I've heard the most about recently.

Alex Husner: 42:08
Yeah. I mean, I I I would echo that too. I think everybody has issues with accounting in one way or another, and some have figured out, you know, kind of band-aid ways to do it within the system that they're in. But it's it's definitely an issue. And even the ones I haven't really figured out, it's still very manual in a lot of cases that you still have a controller or CFO, and it's still a lot between the owners and making sure things are right. But um, yeah, we uh accounting is not Annie and I's strong suit. So was gonna say maybe we should do a segment on accounting in 2026, but we're gonna be able to do that. Hey, we've got some great partners. I can do that. I gotta we can have you come back and be uh the guest host for that one.

Frank Bosi: 42:47
But yeah, and I mean it's it's also because you bring up like, you know, some teams have CFOs. Like that's also another thing that I've also noticed um is like uh the property manager is doing more with leaner teams just because labor costs are up. Um it's harder to hire and it's even harder to retain staff. So many, many operators are are really trying to manage double three times more properties with the same size team. Um again, this only works if technology and the property management software is doing the heavy lifting. Um, and with hostsfully, you know, like we reduce the manual work through the automation, the test management, the integrations, our reporting functionality. Um, so teams this way can spend less time reacting and more time just optimizing their business. So I would say that's actually been something that came up a lot lately.

Annie Holcombe: 43:41
I think also goes along with um uh regulatory stuff that changes constantly. And that affects accounting and affects how you report taxes and those types of things. So it's a it's a it's a whack-a-mole game that people are playing all the time.

Frank Bosi: 43:53
Yeah, yeah, regulations. I don't know how I forgot about regulations, but it's probably that because I'll sometimes be yeah, I'll sometimes be having conversations and they're like, Yeah, I have a property in Nashville. I'm like, oh, how are the regulations there? Like, oh uh, I think I think they're okay. I don't know. I'm like, you might want to look into that first. Or, you know, and then uh that also just brings us into the part like the partnerships we have, but like right to rent and all the, you know, all of them that are out there on, you know, um, I love what the guys in Arizona are doing. They're just like they're making it obvious. Like, this is a huge issue in the short-term rental world. Um, that's something personally, New Year's resolution. You heard it here. Um, I want to learn more about like regulations and the restrictions that are happening and be maybe a little bit more proactive in my stance there. Uh, and again, that's where the hotels come in. It's the hotel's fault. It's those cities that have huge hotel trends that are impacting property managers from having properties in certain cities. Uh, so of the hotels, but you know, it it is it is something, something to consider. Yeah.

Annie Holcombe: 44:57
I've always wanted to get like behind the curtain to really see within some of these hotel companies like what they're doing to to fight the the short-term rentals because so many of them are now in the short-term rental space. You know, it's like they're talking out of both sides of their mouth, you know. So it's super interesting to me to see what it is. And I was reading several articles this morning about the different regulatory things that are happening. And like Maui just passed a really big one that's gonna like cut, they're gonna cut their inventory in half by 2029. They have to like, they're gonna deregulate some of the areas for inventory. And that's happening in multiple areas. And they just, and it's so funny because it's almost like um one of those cases where it's like you can take a, you can take research and take numbers and make it say whatever you want it to depending on what your outcome or your solution is. And it's like that, you know, that you have one group that's saying it's absolutely impacting, you know, the ability for people to get affordable housing. And the other side, there's like all these reports that say absolutely not. I think Maui is an isolated case because they absolutely lost a lot of inventory due to the fire. I mean, we know that there's no denying that. Um, but I think that it's just happening, all these other things. And it's, I think from a technology standpoint, it's it's hard to stay ahead of it because every time you think you've stalled for one, something else comes up and you need to completely reconfigure how you're doing reporting, but it's only for specific states or cities or you know, entities. And so it that's just something I think that while accounting is absolutely, you know, super important. And I know I hear it too. I just think everybody's still like the regulatory piece is like just trying to get your head around what's coming. And I think um at DARM they did a really good job of sort of introducing like what's coming down the pike. And I know that um Tiffany Edwards is really, you know, involved in in trying to keep everybody kind of up to date on that as through VRMA and stuff, but it's definitely something for 2026. Like, we can't keep our eye off the ball. We have to really stay involved in the conversation and be a voice for the industry. But I think you're doing a tremendous job of that, Frank. And I uh before we wrap up, I actually wanted to ask you like, what's next for Frank? Like, what do you see is your next big step with hostfully?

Frank Bosi: 47:02
I'm just living day by day here, ladies. Uh I I get I yeah, I've been uh, you know, director of partnerships for a year and I'm finally catching my breath on like what my role entails. Um, I love what I'm doing, so I'll be content doing this forever. Margo cover yours, but you know, promotion will be nice or something along the lines. I don't I don't know. I didn't look that far ahead. I'm like, let me just figure out how to host an awesome webinar, an interactive conversation. And you know, the past year we we were able to do that. So small goals along the way, but ultimately it's just you know, not making work consume my life personally. Um I it's easy for me to do that. I mean, I have a three-second commute up the stairs.

Alex Husner: 47:46
Yes, I really as do we, yeah. So I don't understand.

Frank Bosi: 47:50
It's hard sometimes just to turn it off. Yeah. But personally, kind of, and I, you know, hostfully offers that opportunity. Um, but you know, again, just not putting again, not putting the cart before the horse and just taking it day by day and seeing what opportunities come my way. Um I'm I'm here for it. But yeah, no, it's it's it's been a great year, and I'm looking for for many, many more with hosting. Oh, yeah. I mean, yeah, that's a bit I didn't even know that this was in the cards for me last year.

Annie Holcombe: 48:23
She has a gift, she's got a gift for recognizing things.

Frank Bosi: 48:26
So yeah, for sure. And even um David Jacoby, um, we were at VRMA and he's like, so what are your thoughts on uh doing this, this, and this? I'm like, that sounds fun. He's like, all right, let's touch space in uh in November.

Alex Husner: 48:38
I'm like, okay. Okay, here we are.

Frank Bosi: 48:42
Here we go. Yeah, um, but and again, it's you know, it it promotions promotions happen, and then they're just especially with the team that we have, they find the perfect fit for it. Um, but they also set you up to be succeed in it, yeah. Yeah, yeah. And there are hurdles, you know, there are forecasts and budgets, and you know, but open conversation, transparency, and what they tell me, I I do not hold anything back. And I I tell our partners like, hey, you know, can't do it this year, but maybe next, or we can't do it this quarter, maybe next quarter. But yeah, it's essentially just live day by day, figure out how to perfect my role. Um, and then whenever I get bored, I know I can just slack Pedro and I could slack Margo and be like, hey, I've been doing this, I'm kind of bored. Like, they'll throw something at me. They throw conferences at me, and I'm I'm not bored. And I'm like, yeah, now I'm in charge of conferences. Yeah.

Alex Husner: 49:39
Yeah, that's that's it's a whole role in itself. I'm learning that uh very quickly. But uh yeah, it's fun.

Frank Bosi: 49:46
There's a lot of rules. Yeah, I mean, the biggest challenge is finding out which ones to go to first because there's so many. And who's gonna go? That part I kind of like. I like the toughest part for me was finding which conferences there are and then getting the budget together and like finding out how much and how many people and how much your ticket and like that boring number stuff, like I said, not a number stuff. Um with the team, I like I like I like I like playing Tetris with that.

Alex Husner: 50:14
Yeah, no, it's it's I I agree with you. It is fun. Um, and you also totally unrelated, you shared an interesting health tip before we got started that you mentioned you were you were sick. And tell us what you what you did that made you feel so much better, because I think this time of year everybody's getting sick.

Frank Bosi: 50:30
Oh, yeah. Well, uh gosh. So yeah, so my family and I had the the stomach bug um and grape juice. So my wife and I, our family take a very holistic approach to when we're sick. So we try all the natural stuff. Like if it's like go outside, rip a bark off your tree and chew it, and it's gonna make you feel better, we're gonna try it. Um, but the biggest I'm gonna do it. Please do. I see you.

Annie Holcombe: 50:55
If I see you eating nuts off the ground, I'm really gonna have to I don't know.

Frank Bosi: 50:59
My team will they will not be surprised. They will not be surprised. Okay. No, no, huge hippie here. But um I we we had grape juice, and that's something that we've always done when our kids were had a bellyache or something. Um, and it's not like the Welch's grape juice with all the sugar and the additives, it's like real grape juice, and you could find it at any uh supermarket. Um, and that that helped our stomach a ton. Uh, we also drank uh ginger root. Um it's like it's like ginger rail, but not like I take ginger a lot. That's yeah, that was that was a that was a huge help. And then my wife also makes elderberry syrup, uh, but we give that to the kids every single day because elderberry has a ton of antioxidants. So she makes a spray syrup with honey and cinnamon and all this stuff, and we give it to them every single day before school. Um make sure not to get it on their clothes because it it stains. But elderberry forgot forgot about that. That's a that's that's a game changer as well.

Annie Holcombe: 51:54
Interesting.

Alex Husner: 51:54
Yeah, yeah.

Frank Bosi: 51:55
Oh, we'll send you all of our stuff.

Alex Husner: 51:56
Yeah, yeah, I think every once in a while you should mix up some of what you post with some of these things. I mean, it sounds like you and your wife are very passionate about it. And you know, it's it's uh it's interesting to when you find somebody that you're interested in hearing anything they have to say. Sometimes when they're talking about things that are completely unrelated, you're gonna end up bringing in people to the conversation that maybe weren't even thinking about a property management system. It's like, okay, what else can this guy solve?

Frank Bosi: 52:24
Elderberry. I'll get elderberry. We'll put that in the show notes for everybody going into the wife's recipe. You come with it.

Alex Husner: 52:35
I love it. I love it. Well, thank you, Frank, for coming on. And we're super excited to have Hostfully as our premier brand sponsor for the first quarter in 2026 and excited to do some fun other content things with you and just be able to share the story of Hostfully. So um appreciate you and the team and uh wish you the best of luck in 2026. And if anybody wants to get in touch with you, what's the best way for them to reach out?

Frank Bosi: 52:59
The easiest way is Frank at hostfully.com. If you have any questions, if you want a demo, if you want to learn more about hostfully, we have hostfully property management software. We have the digital guidebooks, we have hostfully devices, even if you just want some help tips, Frank at hostfully.com. Um, but I did uh I did send you my calendar link. You have my calendar link. Uh, I think that's usually the easiest way. Um just just email. I'm always I'm super responsive. Like I said, I'm on my phone all the time. I'm trying to make an effort to be a little bit more work-life balance, but uh I see an email, expect a response. Yeah, yeah. Really fast.

Alex Husner: 53:34
Awesome. Well, if anybody wants to get in touch with Annie and I, you can go to alexandanniepodcast.com. And until next time, thanks everybody.