Joe Fraiman and Andrew Kitchell, the Co-Founders of Lyric, While it is tempting to compare their startup business to Airbnb, it is actually quite different. Lyric is a highly curated, highly designed, professionally-operated version of rentals where they have total control over the supply, design, and experience of their guests.
The Connection:With a background in software and finance, Joe moved West and started Tastemaker, a company created to help people find the right interior designer. At this time, Andrew was managing Beyond Stays and reached out to Joe at Tastemaker to remodel their properties.
They had lunch and quickly realized they shared a passion for the possibilities at the intersection of technology, data, and real estate. They saw that people want to live and travel in a more flexible, experience-driven way and they decided to learn: what does this transition look like, what are the challenges, and how can they solve them?
Building Trust:Bridging the trust gap with apartments and short-term rentals was an immediate challenge. However, by identifying the underlying reasons for mistrust between apartments and short-term renters, Lyric was able to implement strategies that built trust, like background checks.
As the relationships blossomed, Lyric secured the high-quality product they wanted while providing apartments with new revenue streams for their portfolios, valuable amenities for their residents, and an additional conversion funnel.
“The most interesting thing is that we have the ability to serve all kinds of different types of customers and use cases… Everything from the two-day leisure trip, the five-day business trip, the 30-90 day relocation or home displacement, all the way to the much longer pattern,” said Andrew.
Growing the Company:From the beginning, Joe and Andrew knew the importance of securing investors – which include NEA, Fifth Wall Ventures, Barry Sternlicht, and Signal Fire – who would help them scale, build up their real estate expertise, grow their brand, double down on data, and accelerate growth.
“It’s about having the passion and the curiosity to say ‘Hey, I believe there is something behind that mountain and we’re going to hike in that direction, and we’re going to learn things along the way, and course correct,’ and I think that’s what investors are looking for,” said Joe.
Andrew and Joe are quick to admit that it would be challenging to run a company of Lyric’s scope by themselves. They credit their complementary skill sets and ability to discuss things with the other as vehicles for helping them move quickly, test things, and solve problems.
Jesse Stein | Global Head of Real Estate at Airbnb
Hamid Moghadam | Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of Prologis
Sharon Wilson Géno | President of the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC)
Alice Carr | CEO of April Housing
Francis Najafi | Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Pivotal Group
Doug Weill | Co-Founder and Co-Manager of Hodes Weill & Associates
Steve Kimmelman | Founder, CEO and Executive Chairman of Redwood Living
Gary Beasley | CEO and Co-Founder of Roofstock
Brad Inman | Founder of Inman
Michael Covarrubias, Chairman and Co-CEO of TMG Partners | Cyrus Sanandaji, CEO of Presidio Bay Ventures
Mark Zandi | Chief Economist at Moody’s Analytics
Daniel Radek | President of First Washington Realty
Deb Harmon, Co-Founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Artemis | Anar Chudgar, Co-President of Artemis
Amanda Fajak, President of Walking the Talk | Larry Krema, Managing Director of ZRG
Rick Caruso | Founder and Executive Chairman of Caruso
Stephanie Biernbaum, Chief People Officer of Hines and Doug Holte, CEO of EXP by Hines
Scott Rechler | Chairman and CEO of RXR
Colin Connolly | President and CEO of Cousins Properties
Caroline Johns | Director of Sustainability at Pembroke
Brad Dockser | CEO and Co-Founder of GreenGen
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