MyVR - About Us

Simplifying vacation rental management

Our history

There had to be a better way

In 2012, MyVR co-founders Jonathan Murray and Michael Stachowiak were lamenting how difficult it was to manage their vacation rental properties while working full-time jobs. While there appeared to be dozens of legacy software solutions for larger professional property managers, they saw nothing targeting the small property manager or individual owner — and among those legacy solutions, nothing that seemed modern or easy-to-use. Having just successfully sold their prior startup, Jon and Mike teamed up with Markus Nordvik and agreed to commit the next phase of their lives to solving this challenging problem.

A study around the same time (by Global Radius Market Research) showed that about half of all professional property managers in the U.S. fit into this category: Too big to operate well without software but too small to make the clunky legacy solutions geared toward large PMs work. In fact, the study showed that almost two-thirds of small property managers didn’t yet use software and almost half of them didn’t even have a bookable website! This was in addition to the 57 percent of the U.S. vacation rental market that was rented directly by owners — virtually none of whom used software to manage their business. Very few even had their own property websites!

The MyVR team saw this lack of technological tools to be a real problem, particularly for a $100 billion industry that seemed to be on the verge of explosive growth. It seemed then that the need for software was only going to increase: The days of activities like faxing contracts, depositing paper checks, sending emails manually to inquiries and renters (across multiple distribution channels) were over. As vacation rentals continued to go mainstream, competition increased, distribution channels expanded, and bookings and payments moved from almost entirely offline to almost entire online. Software would become a necessity.

In 2021, MyVR was acquired by Guesty and continues to operate independently.

Our approach

Solving a big problem takes fresh perspective

MyVR is on a mission to build the most robust and easy-to-use software available to vacation rental owners and property managers. More than that, our goal is to build a powerful open platform for the alternative accommodations industry.

We're focused on building robust and powerful software for owners and property managers. Our open platform approach also opens the platform to outside developers and service providers who can build on top of our platform.

This helps ensure our customers will always have access to best in class products and services, connected to the software they use to run their business.

This is a huge win for owners and property managers — they’re no longer stuck with archaic, legacy solutions with proprietary, vertically integrated systems that box people in, and hold their data hostage, and limit the choice of features and functionality.

As our developer community continues to grow, customers will increasingly have access to great technology solutions and services without ever needing to change software companies.

Our values

Our industry is built on respect. So is MyVR.

Your vacation rental business relies on the quality of your relationships — with guests, service providers, and the owners you work with. MyVR is focused on achieving results and getting things done for the owners, property managers, and third-party developers we work with. We’re committed to doing the right thing because it’s the right thing, putting people before personal agendas.

Our team



Jonathan Murray
CEO
Jonathan leads MyVR's product development, corporate strategy, and business development. Before starting MyVR, he co-founded Lift Media (acquired), an e-commerce advertising platform that worked with clients such as American Express, Netflix, and Fandango. He started MyVR after the frustration of setting up his own Sonoma cottage as a vacation rental. He studied engineering at Bucknell University and received his MBA from Stanford University.
Mike Stachowiak
CTO
Mike heads up engineering, setting MyVR's platform architecture and technology strategy. He's a serial technology entrepreneur and prior owner of a Lake Tahoe vacation rental. Before MyVR, he co-founded two other companies, Lift Media (acquired) and 4INFO ($70M+ raised). His lead generation and technology experience have helped him find innovative ways to make vacation rental marketing easier. He graduated summa cum laude from the University of Michigan with a degree in computer engineering. Mike resides in Washington state with his wife and two daughters.
Markus Nordvik
COO
Markus is responsible for engineering operations, technology integrations, and customer success. Formerly, Markus was the co-founder and VP of Engineering at 4INFO, leading a team of 35 engineers building a mobile advertising platform. He received his BS degree in Symbolic Systems from Stanford University.
Brett Newsome
Finance
Brett is responsible for the finance, accounting, and legal functions at MyVR. He is a Silicon Valley veteran who has spent the last 18 years building growth focused technology companies. Prior to MyVR, Brett led finance operations and strategy for SaaS and cyber security companies including UltraDNS, GoGrid, Joyent, and RiskSense. Brett is a native of Richmond, VA and a graduate of James Madison University.
Lindsay Barrett
Technical Support
As part of the support team, Lindsay is eager to help customers succeed by resolving their technical issues. Lindsay began her career in technology after enrolling in a web development boot camp which honed her problem-solving and programming skills. When not debugging issues, she is hiking Lake Tahoe, creating logos or learning to code. Lindsay graduated with a degree in Communications and Design from Carson-Newman University in east Tennessee.
Kevin Poglitsch
Technical Support
Kevin has built his career providing excellent technical support to customers at a wide range of companies (from startups to Fortune 500) – and is thrilled to now be helping customers of MyVR. Kevin is an alumnus of Johns Hopkins and is committed to continually honing his knowledge of various technical concepts. Kevin recently relocated to Reno and, when not troubleshooting problems, he can be found dabbling in photography, gaming, or listening to music.
Niamh Fitzsimon
Design / Engineering
Niamh is a designer and software engineer passionate about finding a balance between the two. She joined MyVR as a Priya Haji Fellow after graduating with degrees in Computer Science and Art from Pace University, where she focused on mobile development, design thinking and digital illustration. As a San Francisco native, Niamh loves visiting museums and trying out new restaurants.
Chang Kim
Account Manager
Chang is an account manager who knows what it’s like to be a MyVR customer. He used to be one while leading operations for Voyajoy! Prior to that, he was COO at RESI Housing. Other experience includes senior ops positions in private equity, real estate, telecommunications, and supply chain. Chang earned a BA in Economics from Stanford and can solve the Saturday NYT Crossword in under 15 minutes.
Stephane Schryburt
Sales
Stephane has worked in the leisure, travel & tourism industry as a Sales professional for over 10 years. In 2015 he co-founded property management company Personal Villas. As Managing Director, he chose MyVR as his property management software and was a happy customer before joining the MyVR sales team in 2019.
Keith Dechant
Software Engineer
Keith is a software engineer who has been working on the web practically since its inception, writing his first HTML in 1996 and his first PHP code in 1999. Recently, he has worked with Python, React, and Angular. Keith is a native of Illinois who moved to Portland in 2009. He has been to 49 US states, five continents, three former Soviet republics, and two countries that no longer exist. He likes hiking, mountain climbing, and classic video games.

Our investors

MyVR is thankful to have some of the best and most helpful investors out there. We couldn't do it without them. The long list include awesome folks like Y Combinator, True Ventures, SV Angel, Chris Dixon, Alex Rampell, Paul Buchheit, Clem Bason, and Ben Boyer.