David Angotti, Lead Evangelist at Guesty |

David Angotti, a serial entrepreneur with a track record in both EdTech and travel technology, brings extensive experience to Guesty, a leading property management software platform for the short-term rental (STR) industry — and which earlier this year closed a staggering $130 million funding round. As an ambassador and leader for Guesty, Angotti has a front-row seat to the rapid evolution of this dynamic market. The STR industry, now valued at $277 billion, has seen demand grow, outpacing traditional hotels in recent years. That growth has been fueled by changing traveler preferences, increased investment and the emergence of new technologies that are changing the way property managers operate and interact with guests.

In this Spotlight interview, Angotti delves into the challenges property managers face in today’s STR landscape, highlighting the critical role technology plays in navigating a market characterized by explosive growth, increased competition, and ever-changing guest expectations. discusses the drastic changes he has witnessed since entering the industry almost fifteen years ago, noting the shift from a niche market dominated by small businesses to a mainstream accommodation industry fueled by platforms like Airbnb and spurred by rapid technological advances.

The STR market has exploded in recent years. What are the biggest changes you’ve witnessed and how have they impacted property managers?

In short, the industry has experienced explosive growth, additional inventory, increased capital expenditure, increasing consolidation, and technology driving innovation at a breakneck pace.

When I entered the industry in 2010, the industry was mostly small businesses, and most travelers had never stayed in a short-term rental—it was a niche accommodation option. A few years later, Airbnb and online bookings helped the sector quickly gain market share and mainstream attention.

With increased attention and revenue, investors were pouring into the space, and new technologies were developing at breakneck speed. Most property managers agreed that solid property management software was an absolute must, but there was a heated debate about online bookings, dynamic pricing, connected home software, task management solutions, and high-tech property distribution to drive bookings. Ultimately, each was needed to compete in a redefined market.

Small businesses struggled with the decision to sell or adapt to rapidly changing market dynamics. Technology was no longer an option – it was required to compete. To complicate matters further, Covid-19 drove the demand curve to new heights and presented new challenges for property managers.

How does the Guesty platform specifically address the challenges property managers face in today’s dynamic STR market?

The rapid evolution of the short-term rental market requires a technology partner with the right vision, funding, and team. With over a decade of experience and the most talented team in the property management software industry, we can leverage our internal resources of hundreds of skilled engineers, developers, and product managers to deliver real results for property managers.

Practically speaking, the proof of the above statement is acquisitions, team additions, best-of-breed marketing combinations, and rapid product iterations. Whether you want more bookings with Airbnb or need a better contactless check-in solution, we have a solution for you.

The Guesty Marketplace is another way we deliver results in a practical way. Much like an iPhone user can access an app store to access a multitude of solutions, a Guesty user can leverage our Marketplace to quickly implement new technology solutions without the usual hurdles. We have over 100 reputable companies in our marketplace and even include competing products to ensure our users’ needs are fully met! Ultimately, it’s about completely solving the challenges that property managers face in their day-to-day operations, and we’re not sure who benefits from these solutions..

Guesty highlights its AI-powered capabilities, particularly with ReplyAI and PriceOptimizer. Can you explain how these tools leverage AI to benefit property managers?

AI is a force multiplier for our property managers. This solution meets the property manager at the intersection of two major challenges – profitability and guest experience.

Imagine if you and your team could now effortlessly respond to a guest or potential guest in a personalized and professional way that matches the tone of your company. That’s exactly what ReplyAI can do 98% of the time. This scalable solution analyzes sentiment and creates the perfect response for your staff to approve. Because it’s natively embedded in Guesty Inbox, your team will see efficiency and won’t need additional training.

As a property manager, one of the most important and time-consuming tasks is pricing – the bar is perfection or lost revenue. Price a unit a little too high and occupancy will plummet. Price too aggressively and you will lose revenue and lose homeowners’ trust. Using a combination of proprietary and publicly available data, PriceOptimizer provides complete visibility into the market and creates an actionable and implementable pricing plan that generates maximum revenue for our stakeholders.

How does Guesty’s technology adapt to the unique needs of different property types and rental scales, from individual hosts to large management companies?

While the needs of an individual property owner, a small business, and a large enterprise may overlap to some extent, they are fundamentally different. Unfortunately, too many property management software companies try to become a one-size-fits-all solution and do not have the scale to properly serve every type of client.

Guesty, through a combination of responsible growth and select acquisitions, has achieved a unique position by offering products that are as unique as our customers.

Guesty Lite, which is aimed at hosts and homeowners with 1-3 properties, uniquely leverages Guesty’s technology, but in a way that a less sophisticated user with fewer properties can maximize. Guesty Pro is ideal for most businesses – this platform is specifically designed to scale up to 200 listings and deliver significant results for the majority of today’s market. Finally, Guesty Enterprise is software that is laser-focused on the 200+ audience segment that may need a fully customizable solution.

With a team of nearly 1,000 employees, we are able to fully support and develop all three product lines in parallel. That equates to winning solutions for the homeowner with one property, the enterprise responsible for 20,000 properties, and everything in between.

Which emerging technologies do you think will have the greatest impact on the STR industry in the next 3-5 years?

AI will change the technology landscape as a whole in the next few years, and travel technology is poised to be an early adopter. We will see hyper-focused, AI-powered booking experiences that answer questions and help travelers find the perfect property, flight, and experiences. Once a group of travelers arrive at their destination, there will be tech-enabled solutions that help with check-in, maintenance issues, reservations, and even complaints. These solutions will not necessarily replace human workers, but they will provide better experiences and efficiencies for both staff and guests.

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