Ep 50 Crafting a new travel experience with the founder of Onda, Bill Graf

Bill Graf, founder of Onda, shares his remarkable journey from investment banking to establishing a hospitality brand in Costa Rica. In this conversation, Bill discusses how his transformative travels and the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic led to the creation of Onda. He highlights the brand’s innovative, tech-enabled approach that caters to digital nomads and slow travelers, while emphasizing its strong focus on community. Gain insight into the challenges, successes, and future ambitions for Onda as it continues to expand on a global scale.

Onda website https://stayonda.com/

Onda Instagram https://www.instagram.com/findyouronda/

Onda LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/findyouronda/

Show Notes:

01:29 Bill's Personal Journey

06:44 The Birth of Onda

14:46 Concept and Vision of Onda

25:01 Challenges and Competition

28:25 Building the First Property

30:33 Initial Fundraising and First Property Acquisition

31:21 Renovation Challenges and Opening Day Crisis

46:51 Exploring Whole Hotel Buyouts

49:26 Corporate Retreats and Custom Experiences

The Great Pursuit is a podcast that dives into the art and science of finding product market fit. Through in-depth conversations with founders, entrepreneurs and investors, we uncover actionable insights to help you go from 0 to 1.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thegreatpursuit.substack.com