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Co-founders Drew Mitchell, Jordan Curnes and Mike Doyle (from left to right) in front of their billboard in South Bend.
Rent Like a Champion was founded in 2007 just as most startups were founded: to solve the founders’ own problems. The problem of partner Mike Doyle? “There were simply not enough hotel rooms in South Bend to accommodate fans coming to town for Notre Dame football games,” Doyle said. So began Rent Like a Champion.
“It really took off from there, as people began to discover that renting a home made for a better football weekend experience,” Doyle said. “With a house, people can walk to campus, cook out in the backyard and have large common areas to hang out.”
Then in 2011 they expanded the model to Penn State and committed to growing nationwide under the brand UniversityFootballRentals.com. Today, they are at five schools and have named five more that they are aiming to reach for the 2014 season. Built In Chicago chatted with Doyle to hear about these expansion plans and the office that is driving their growth: 1871.
Their stats: Bootstrapped. Team of four, expanding to six full-time positions shortly. Over 5,000 football fans have been hosted in homes over the past year. Notre Dame leads the pack in terms of number of local homeowners signed up with 300 homes registered.
Next on their plate: “The challenge now is to scale our business to as many college towns as quickly as possible. We have identified the next five towns that we would like to expand to, and the majority of our time this year will be spent breaking into those new markets.”
Why they love 1871: “One of my favorite aspects of 1871 is the assistance that you see companies giving one another. When we've had issues that we are dealing with, we simply post on the community board. Chances are several of the companies in here have recently gone through the same situations and are happy to help you through them. The most salient example I can think of is the hiring process that we are going through right now. We are making our first outside hires, and fellow 1871 members have been a huge help with advice and feedback about how to navigate that process. Being at 1871, there are literally dozens of neighboring startups - neighboring as in they sit across the table from me each day! We love being a part of 1871, and are really inspired by the successful companies that we've seen graduate from here.”
