Tech-Driven Wanderlust: Exploring Wallabing – Jason Carlson and Robert Kachmar, Wallabing

This is techstrong tv. Welcome to techstrong tv. I'm Bonnie Schneider.

Today we're going to explore the exciting intersection of technology and travel. Joining me now is our Jason Carlson, the founder and c e o and Robert Kachmar, C t o of Walla, Bing, the trailblazing peer-to-peer RV rental platform. Gentlemen, it's really great to have you both here.

Thanks, Bonnie. It's great to be here. Great to be here.

Jason, I'd like to start with you. Um, can you share the inspiration behind Wall Walla Bing and how it's transforming the RV rental industry? Yeah, absolutely.

Um, I think the easiest way to explain the inspiration is just, it's, it's my fondest memories of growing up my family and I started using my great-grandfather's kind of hand-me-down, little pop-up trailer. One of those old, you had to crank up this little tent in the middle. And from those, um, bare basic beginnings, it kind of expanded from there to every summer, all summer long, um, with my grandparents and, uh, and my family.

And, uh, I wanted to share it with my family once I got married and started having kids. And so from there, it just, it becomes one of those things that, that you hear about all the time. You know, um, if you're, if you're doing what you love, you never really work a day in your life.

And I wanted to find something like that. And so, um, that's where kind of the genesis of this came from. And then from there it was like, well, if we get an RV and my background is in finance, that's, that's what my, uh, educational degree is in.

And so when we went to look at an RV to kind of start the process of having that fun, um, I said, geez, those, those are an awful investment. They, they depreciate like a vehicle, but they're, they're, you know, a car, but they're a lot more expensive. Um, and so we started thinking about, well, how could we mitigate that?

Could we loan it out to others? Could the family share it? And, you know, it just from there was one step to another and, and finding out that, hey, maybe, maybe more people could share it.

Maybe not just my family, but but others down the way and, and around the country and the world. And, um, and that's kind of how we got here. That's fascinating.

Uh, Robert, can you kind of a, as the c t o of wellbeing, can you walk us through technically how it all works and also how you've leveraged your background in tech to build a robust user-friendly platform? Sure. Yeah.

So, I mean, when I, when I started Wellbeing, um, mean the first thing I did was, uh, I used the software, right? So, um, I started with the basics, trying to understand all the little intricate pieces of it. And, uh, cuz cuz what, when I came on board, uh, I basically inherited, uh, a platform that had been started put together by a couple of contracting agencies beforehand.

And so I had to come in and sort of understand everything that was happening, unravel all the bugs, and figure out all the backlog that, that that's involved. Um, with, with doing that process and then, then working with Jason and, and the, then the rest of the team to figure out how do we prioritize this stuff and, and what's, what's the, what's, what's urgent, what's the customer request, what are business priorities? And then take all that stuff and then just start working through each of the items in that backlog to try and knock 'em out.

Uh, and then it's, it's, you know, it's that, it's that development process of, of, uh, when you inherit something to, to try and unravel the mysteries involved in there, and then the adventure of trying to figure out how to, how to, how to solve that. And then, you know, testing, testing, testing, uh, and then rinse, repeat, go to production, do it again. Uh, you know, it's, it's basically it's about finding the pain points that people experience and then, and then going in there and, and, and improving them and making better, whether it's a new feature or fixing a bug.

Mm-hmm. And then, you know, in the end, you get what you, what you see a a robust, friendly pla platform, um, that is, you know, is not finished, right. You, you always have to keep on improving and changing.

And there's always, there's always something to do. So you, That makes sense. You know, it's really interesting, it seems like RVs are having a renaissance at Jason.

You know, you mentioned your childhood, I have memories of it too in my childhood, but now it seems like everyone, uh, very young people are, are interested in it. Uh, data from the RV Industry Association shows that the 18 to 34 year old age group now represents 22% of the current RV owners. And a whopping 84% of millennials and Gen Z RV owners are planning to upgrade to a new tech packed unit within the next five years.

Wow. That is, uh, interesting. Jason, is this something that you've noticed yourself and, and can you talk about some of the, uh, unique features that you're seeing, um, that are c coming in RV's, you know, uh, uh, really that are tech inspired and also the benefits, uh, that Walla Bank offers to RV owners and renters?

Yeah, absolutely. Um, I think that the, the really, for better or worse, the, the big push with the younger group and kind of that renaissance started with, with Covid, with the pandemic, um, when that hit, we all still wanted to, you know, go experience things vacation. No one wanted to be stuck inside, but how do you do that with what we had going on?

And that was kind of that genesis, I believe. Um, and really the big spike of getting people out there and, you know, younger people, as much as it's great to be on your phone or play games or, or do all the, the high tech stuff that we've all grown accustomed to, when you are forced to only do that all day long, it becomes a whole nother thing. And so anyway, case, so we saw that big jump and, and leap of the younger group getting into it.

Um, but with that comes, like you said, that expectation of they want more, they want to bring the tech with them on the road, and you have the things like wifi and satellite and stuff that's been there for a while. Um, but now one of the bigger things I've noticed is the younger group, just like when they're investing they, um, in companies and looking to work with companies or use things, they also want more out of what the company is doing, not just tech, but environmentally interesting. And so we see that being kind of married now with, um, that big leap into, um, more renewables and electric powered vehicles.

So when you're talking about what we see coming, um, and, and you talk about the R V I A, it's got an email from them this week, a matter of fact where they're, they're starting to push and partner and talk to companies about adding more of those plug-in stations and support along the highways and off-road so that, um, the, the RV industry as a whole can also start moving forward that way with those, uh, the, the new big surge into electric vehicles, you know, electrifying the RVs themselves instead of using diesel and gas and all that. So that's really the biggest change in tech that I've seen. Um, a lot of the other fun stuff is, is just that it's the bells and whistles and fun things that you see the, um, the trip planning and, and all the things that you get with your, your different AppSec.

I didn't even, uh, think to ask you that about, uh, whether a lot of these vehicles are going electric now. Um, so is that you do see that as something that's growing in demand and, and what, what they're putting out there. You know, I think, um, I think the younger group is really pushing that honestly, more, more than anything.

And I think that the industry is responding to it in a really great way. Um, and I think that first step, I love that they're sort of doing it the right way, putting the cart before the horse saying, well, if we build hundreds of thousands of these electric vehicles, um, how do they get on these long haul trips? You know, having a 200 mile range isn't great for an rv.

So, um, they want to see, you know, how can we get from point to point? And the first step is making sure there's those stations to fill you up, right? Yes.

To, to plug in as you go. So, um, so I love seeing that with the R V I A and that big push there. And, and yeah, I think we'll see a lot more of that here shortly.

That's interesting. Uh, Robert, in developing Wang's platform and app, how has Agile development and the principles behind it played a role in delivering a seamless user experience? Well, I think, um, like one of the first things I did when I, when I came on board was, was getting, getting that backlog together and getting that visibility.

Um, I think what was happening was, was there wasn't as much visibility into the everything that was going on at, at any given time. It was always like, Hey, we need to do this, we need to do that, we need to do, it was constant. It was this constant, we need to do this and then like, what is actually happening?

And so, uh, I spent that time getting that, getting that stuff together and, and bringing that visibility up to, up to the surface that people could really understand like, this is actually what's happening. Like we, we have this huge thing of what we need to do and this is what, what's actually happening. Uh, and then is that really what we need to do?

And, you know, fig figure out the prioritization of that. Uh, and then just constantly shuffling things around as you do a natural, uh, also the, the standups that you do in Agile to kind of get things moving along, especially when you're coming clo close to a deadline, uh, sometimes multiple standups a day. Uh, so we can hit that, hit that milestone that we're trying to get to.

Uh, and then, then of course, you know, breaking things down, uh, you know, taking these huge concepts, these epics that people come up with, and then how can we break those down into smaller deliverables and, and actually get value, uh, rather than waiting, you know, two or three months for something to, to get delivered to production. So. And um, what about you, Jason, in terms of technolo technology and challenges?

I mean, it's one thing to have this nostalgic dream, you know, of your childhood and then trying to make a living at it. I'm, I'm wonder, I'm sure it wasn't perfectly seamless. Can you, can you talk about the, some of the challenges you faced from the idea to the execution to where you are now?

Absolutely. Um, it's a great question. I think about a lot.

It's like you said, the nostalgia and, and really the RV industry, it's been around for a really long time. Um, but what comes with that is sort of that, you know, it's, it's a lack of inertia. Almost nothing wants to move.

It's a very, um, a lot of the companies are, are privately held, there's not a lot of public stuff. And so to try to start pushing into the, the future, the next steps, the new tech marketplaces and all those things, um, it's kind of a big lift. And, and as you know, education is expensive.

And so that's one of the first challenges is trying to educate people on being able to share their vehicle or those next technology steps and things. Um, and, and that's a big challenge. Another one that I'd like to mention, um, Rob's talked a lot about how he came on board when we first started.

We did what a lot of companies do. We hired outside, had them kind of build the basic framework. And what we soon realized, and they realized was that it sounds simple, a marketplace, you know, Airbnb for RVs, you know, just here's your rv, we rent it, whatever.

Um, but there ends up being a lot of complications. And the one of the largest challenges we found that, that Rob has really excelled at is taking things that are extraordinarily, they look extraordinarily simple, but, or they look very simple, but are extraordinarily complicated. Um, and the backend and getting all those pieces to work together.

I think at any given time when someone does a transaction, um, we have anywhere from nine to 12 different AppSec and activities that have to go hand in hand, um, from insurance to background checks, I mean, just multiple steps in checks all seamlessly, right? When someone hits enter. And, and that can be, can be a pretty big head and heavy lift.

And, um, not a lot of companies were prepared when, when, when they saw that. And, and Rob has been able to come in and, and take the complicated and make it simple. And, and I think that's not just a testament to him, but you know, to, to some of the challenges we face that you don't think are gonna be there when you start, right.

When you just try to get going. Yeah. That's, that's true.

And as now we look towards the future, uh, Rob, can you talk about, um, the RV te rental industry as a whole and, and where you see, uh, while being playing in the evolving landscape in terms of all the technical, uh, changes that are coming out. And we talked a little bit about renewable energy and, um, the younger people wanting to have more tech within their RVs. Is there anything that you're working on tech-wise that you think is sort of, um, part of the, the general landscape of the RV rental industry?

Uh, well, I think looking to the future, uh, I know Ja uh, Jason's mentioned this before when I, when I first came on, and it's something we're definitely, uh, looking to do. Um, we're right now it's not currently being worked on, but, you know, coming up with, with something, uh, related to ai, um, you know, if, if there was some kind of situation where you could go in there and say like, I want to go, you know, on a trip to, you know, Disney World and I, you know, I like hot dogs. And then, you know, and along the ways, whatever it, it, it tells you the different places you can go if you're gonna do like a road trip down there and the different RV spots you can stop at and you know, we're at Nathan's or whatever, a place that you can get, uh, your favorite fast food or along the way.

Uh, but, but having that kind of suggestion engine to help you along the way to, to basically plan your trip like a, like an like an old school, uh, you know, Travel agent Trip planner, right? Yeah. Yeah.

Try to do it for you with, with AI and Help. That makes sense. And that's a good incorporation of ai.

And, and Jason, uh, one last question for you. If you could give some entrepreneurs advice, a lot of people are watching, um, are work in tech and they maybe have a great idea. Um, and it could be a passion for adventure like you, you had, and then wanting to combine that with cutting edge technology.

So based on your experience, what advice would you give to entrepreneurs? Well, I think the biggest thing, like I I had mentioned before is, is if you, you, you find that thing that you love and do what you love, you're never gonna work a day in your life. And so, um, I love that you bring that up because if there's someone out there, I'm sure there's many people out there that have those passions and if they can marry that knowledge and, and tech, uh, and everything they're learning and just like what Rob brought up, I've talked about it constantly.

Ai, we're at the forefront of this massive AI thing and one of the things that we've been missing is that old that touch, that old travel agent touch of, oh, here's these little things you can do on your way. And I think that's where AI could excel. So along those lines, as, as the, the younger generation, you have people that have been in it a long time, um, start to think about ways they can use their expertise in tech and marry that with something they love, whether it's adventure or not.

Um, I think one is keep it simple, don't overcomplicate things. Um, find out cuz that's really what people strive for, whether it's using the AppSec, um, or on the website or whatever you're doing. Keep it simple.

Give it, distill it down to the most simple form it can be. Um, and then number two, enjoy the trip. Just like if you're out in an rv.

And that's one of the wonderful things about being in an rv, it's the same in life and the same in that career. As you launch forward to try something new to, to try to start your new business or your new venture, enjoy the ride, enjoy the journey. Um, that way whether you succeed or you fail, you're gonna learn something, you're gonna take something from it and then you can move on to your next big adventure and make that a success.

Great advice. Jason Carlson, founder and c e o and Rob Kmar, c t o of Walla. Bang, we really appreciate having you on Techstrong tv.

Thank you for the great advice and, uh, looking forward, it's perfect timing. You know, in the summer everyone's looking to take their big trip, so it was really nice to have you both on. Thank you.

Thanks Bonnie, I appreciate it. Thanks for having us. Great.

Alright, well stay with us on Techstrong tv. We're going to have a lot more coming up.