You may recognise the name of the latest residents to join The GridAKL Hub, Preno. They join us after going through the first Auckland Lightning Lab programme, so it is really nice to welcome them back to GridAKL as residents after hosting them for Lightning Lab! We grabbed a moment with the team to talk about what they do and what they’ve learned as a new startup.
Who is the Preno team?
It is Amelia Gain – our CEO, Max Podolian – our CTO, and Daley Maasz – our product designer. You will also see our chairman Bennett Medary visiting often, as well as our part-time designer Biran He.
Tell us about what you do, and what makes you different!
Preno is a management tool for small- to mid-sized accommodation providers. It automates tasks and streamlines procedures, saving an operator time, while also increasing the accuracy in reservations.
Most operators of boutique properties are very time poor. With small teams they run 24/7 operations in a rapidly changing tourism eco-system and are having to compete with much larger global competition.
We want to empower the smaller accommodation providers, so they can provide unparalleled experiences to all their guests.
The average Preno day is ….
Pretty full on! While Amelia is emailing and answering phone calls to bring on more customers and secure partnerships, Max and Daley are hammering away on their keyboards to get the best product possible.
We think the next four months are going to look ….
Very busy with our race to reach our first major milestone by mid-February.
We think the next year is going to look like…
An exciting one! We have a big opportunity ahead of us and a year of very hard work with great people. We love what we do!
Success to us looks like…
Having a global product that our customers love.
We really respect …
Those that are friendly, helpful and honest. We have met so many incredible people that have given up their time to be a sounding board and give advice. We are very thankful.
The one thing we would tell another startup to do is …
Talk to more potential customers in your target market. The insights that they provide are invaluable.
Oh and another… celebrate the small wins!
The one thing we wish someone had told us was …
[Before we went into Lightning Lab, it would have been good to know] that you do not need a full blown product to get customers and validate your ideas. There are much easier ways.
The best thing on the internet is (other than you – duh) …
Too hard to choose the best. But yesterday’s lol was this.
Other than this whole Preno thing we are also good at …
Consuming large quantities of caffeine!
Check out what Preno are doing online and don’t forget to follow them on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
