Maricarmen Herrerías, Casai | Crowded Markets, Running Operations, and the Future of Hospitality [Ep. 17]

The audio and video are in Spanish. These notes are a translation.

Tourism and hospitality are some of the most important economic activities in Latin America, and they were precisely two of the ones most affected by the pandemic. Paradoxically, during this time, a Mexican startup called Casai grew and raised capital beyond what anyone would have expected. Today, we have its COO and cofounder, Maricarmen Herrerías.

In this conversation, we go deep into how she thinks strategically about operations management in an industry where even the tiniest detail has a significant impact on the user experience.

Today, Casai is in Mexico and Brazil and, to date, has raised more than 50 million dollars from investors like Andreeseen Horowitz, Kaszek, and Monashees.

What You Can Learn Today

• Opportunities in the hospitality market in Latin America
• Challenges in managing decentralized operations
• The outlook for the future of tourism and hospitality

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Origin and Business Idea of Casai

• [0:57] - How did Maricarmen arrive at the world of startups?
• [2:17] - What does Casai do and what problem does it solve?
  • Experience and comfort
  • Average stay at Casai
• [6:28] - What opportunities did they find in the hospitality market that Airbnb and Booking are not covering?
  • Going one step further
  • Guaranteeing an experience
• [9:57] - Why did they decide to focus on managing the entire user experience instead of creating a SaaS to digitize the industry?
  • Combining the hotel business and apartment rentals
  • Constant experimentation
  • The importance of controlling the whole process end to end
• [16:10] - What was their experience raising capital like?
  • Understanding the customer
  • Having conviction and clarity about what you want to achieve

Operations Management

• [22:23] - How did COVID-19 affect Casai’s operations?
  • Implementation of more rigorous safety processes
  • A decrease in occupancy at Casai
  • Taking advantage of the uncertainty to raise standards
• [28:14] - How do you evaluate what to outsource and what to do in-house?
  • Always controlling the entire process
  • Keeping standards high regardless of who carries out the execution
• [34:17] - What operational challenges have they faced in their growth process?
  • The complexity of logistics and inventory when operations are decentralized

The Future of Hospitality

• [38:02] - How do you see the future of tourism and hospitality in Latin America?
  • The need to travel and to explore
  • Reinventing the way experiences are delivered
• [42:05] - How has the current digital transformation affected their product?
  • Adapting to the needs of digital nomads by incorporating technology into the apartments
  • Offering a consistent and novel service
• [46:04] - Have they thought of offering monthly or annual memberships? What are their product plans?
  • Development of a loyalty program for repeat guests

Tweet Round

• [48:33] -
  • Recommended books: What You Do Is Who You Are by Andreeseen Horowitz
  • Changes in the Latin American startup ecosystem: More participation by women. For people to know more about the world of startups.
  • Entrepreneurs to interview: Loreanne Garcia (Kavak)

Episode Mentions

You can find Maricarmen on LinkedIn

Recommended books: What You Do Is Who You Are by Andreeseen Horowitz

Entrepreneurs: Loreanne Garcia of Kavak

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