VRWS Leadership Interview of the Day

How would you describe your career path and what brought you to Tedee?

“I have gained experience as an entrepreneur by co-founding and building Predica. Over the years, I have been acting as the CEO, and this period has been marked by rapid growth: opening new subsidiaries in various countries (Qatar, Egypt, UAE, Denmark, and the USA) nearly doubling the headcount year-to-year. As a result, in the last few years, Predica has been included in the Technology Fast 50 Central Europe 2019 and FT 1000: Europe’s Fastest-Growing Companies rankings.

The experience and business network developed in the last decade allowed me to establish another venture – Tedee. Tedee challenges the way we think about keys. When we reach our goal, European people will forget about keys the same way we forgot about the phone booth once the smartphone was introduced.

I have been lucky to find, or in some cases be found by, amazing individuals from various backgrounds: mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, software developers, supply chain, production, and marketing. After these few years since we started, we can say that we are ready to disturb the world. And by that we have one shared goal to put a “smart lock on every door”.”

How does the increasing presence of home voice assistants change the way people control their smart lock? 

“Our customers’ favorite way of controlling a smart lock with voice assistants is by asking aloud: “Is my door locked?”. Who has never felt that shock of uncertainty after lying in bed? 

It’s funny, but it illustrates how using a smart lock with voice assistants changes old habits. Instead of running to the door and pulling the handle, the lock control is now a seamless, lightning-fast experience. Of course, locking and unlocking are available, too.

The general insight into a smart lock is that the synergy of the digital and mechanical worlds changes hassle into effortless actions. And these cannot get easier than hands-free commands offered by voice assistants. “

Let’s say for the purpose of the interview that Tedee is exhibiting at an in-person event. A property manager approaches you to find out more. How would you describe the benefits Tedee provides?

“I would call Tedee a game changer for a short rental. The most important benefit is, of course, time savings: no more time-consuming key handovers and no more problems with handling last-minute bookings. And no need to worry if unexpected changes in the arrival time of your guests appear. Thanks to the integration of Tedee with channel managers, like Guesty or Smoobu, guests automatically receive access codes to the apartments, so they don’t even have to install any app on their smartphones, and they can check in whenever it is suitable for them.

For the property owner Tedee means not only less work but also money savings. It is estimated that such a keyless and contactless service can save up to 30 € per check-in/check-out.

What is more – duplication key for cleaning service and other service providers is no longer a case. Losing a key is also not a problem anymore.

And finally, it is also worth mentioning that Tedee smart lock meets the highest security standards. It has been officially certified by the Independent IT-Security Institute AV-Test.

To sum it up, a smart lock is a smart solution for a short rental.” 

VRWS 22 is about to land in Porto. What do you expect from the overall experience?

“We are excited to take a deep dive into the vacation rental community and meet our colleagues from all around the world. Our objective is to learn as much as possible from the hosting industry professionals: their routines, problems, wishes, and feedback on our offer. 

Tedee devices undergo constant development: from new product versions to software updates that enable new features even on already existing devices. VRWS is our next step in the area, which would be an invaluable way to inform our priorities. 

Launching Tedee smart keypad and integrating Tedee with channel management platforms enabled automating self-check-ins to hosts using various booking services.

We want to develop further to meet even more needs of the short-term rental industry and help it make it smart, just as we have done with thousands of home doors. “