114. Used AI to Build A Replacement for Turno & Breezeway

How do you scale a short-term rental management company without becoming another bloated, generic property manager?In this episode of The STR Growth Show, Alex Bykov shares how he and his wife, Natalie, grew their Lake Arrowhead short-term rental management business from just 5 properties to 37 units, with 50 in their sights.Alex breaks down how they’ve carved out a middle ground between self-management and the large national property management companies by going deep on what matters locally: operations, reliable vendors, guest experience, regulations, and technology.But where things get especially interesting is how Alex is using AI and custom-built software to run the business more efficiently.With a background in web development, Alex started using Claude AI, APIs, MCP integrations, and automation to build internal tools specifically around the problems his property management company faces.If you run a short-term rental management company, this episode is a practical look at where the industry is heading: smaller teams using AI, automation, and custom technology to operate like much larger companies.Connect with me....YouTube Channel: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@patrykswietekInstagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/patryk_swietek/Facebook Group: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/groups/strnation/Connect with Alex Bykov on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/bykovalex/