MAKING WAVES 

HOLDING WATER 

“The way it works is you book a pool on our app [now available on iOS and Android.] Then you get an e-mail with the address, and entrance and exit instructions — how to enter the pool area, how to exit the pool area,” Laskin explains. “The hosts receive the request and can accept or decline. Once they accept, Swimply takes care of the rest of the process.” Safety is naturally a top priority of the company. Each pool is examined by a third-party franchise called PoolWerx. It’s a business that certifies the pool and makes sure all is up to code before the listing goes live on the site. Partnering with pool maintenance and contracting companies like Poolwerx also helps Swimply’s supply continually expand by facilitating cross marketing. Then, after the pools are on the app, they have a review system to keep the accountability going. Any pool that falls below a 3.5-star rating gets removed. In the future, the company plans to offer pop-up notifications to pool owners when their pools are in need of a tune-up, and instead of the pool owner having to pay out of pocket, the money will be deducted from what’s owed to them by Swimply. While potential hosts also might feel uncomfortable about strangers on their property, Laskin says that once they see how fluid and effortless it all is, they become more at ease. Plus, all users receive background checks before being able to book, so hosts can have that extra assurance. Users are also required to sign a liability waiver before arrival. At this point, the company has placed around 100,000 people in pools with zero incidents, not counting a damaged beach chair and a light fixture that was broken by an errant basketball. To compensate the owner, the swimmers were charged for the damage. And if pool owners are nervous about guests overstaying their welcome,  Swimply has a solution for that, too. Because of multiple bookings occurring one after another on any given day, guests know they have to clear out of the pool area in time for the next visitors. If a host or subsequent guest reports that a user overstayed their pool visit by more than 15 minutes, that visitor is charged an additional fee.

THE NEXT LAP 

The way you expand at a tech company, Laskin says, is by figuring out what your users are interested in and giving them more of what they want. He offered the example of Airbnb understanding that their users are travelers who want more than just a place to stay, so they started offering “Airbnb Experiences” with local hosts. As for Swimply, Laskin wants to expand into additional areas that users may be interested in. First off, he’s discovered that many of the pool owners also have tennis courts, basketball courts, grills, and hot tubs that they can rent out along with their pools. “Right now, Swimply is democratizing the luxury of the swimming pool,” he says. “We’re thinking that Swimply can evolve into democratizing any kind of luxury.” Of course, managing a start-up comes with all sorts of new daily challenges. Laskin’s biggest is one he calls “the chicken and egg”: “Every location needs to have the supply of pools, or swimmers will get frustrated at the lack of selection,” he explains. “But, at the same time, the supply needs to have swimmers who are in demand or pool owners get frustrated at the lack of activity. It’s a balancing act that takes a lot of data-driven testing and marketing to accomplish so it doesn’t become a circus.”

ABOVE WATER 

Laskin says his life changes by the day, but he makes sure to keep his own personal seder. He’ll wake up and head to Shacharis. Then, if he doesn’t have any special meetings, he’ll learn at the beis medrash until 10 a.m. General office hours at Swimply run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and they make a big effort to integrate Torah learning into the workday. “We begin every day with a thought on Pirkei Avos,” he says. During the day, Laskin is often in meetings with different Swimply teams. He’ll discuss their digital marketing strategies, public relations, creative ideas, and meet with the company’s CPA to talk about how the market is responding. He says that each day is also filled with innovation. “We’re constantly working on solving problems that are stunting our growth and coming up with fresh ideas to improve the Swimply experience,” he says. “Then, we delegate. As the oldest of 12, I’m good at that part.” After work, Laskin learns at a local night-seder program and goes to Maariv. Then, he’ll work out and end the day by responding to any additional e-mails that came in. “I deal with people in all diff erent time zones, so there’s always something to do,” he explains. At night, he’ll also get his thoughts together for the next day’s Pirkei Avos idea. Like many entrepreneurs, Laskin chose a path that can be lonely when other people in your circle are doing diff erent things — it’s a life that requires real tenacity and passion. “When 95 percent of your friends aren’t living lives that resemble yours at all, it can be diffi cult,” he shares. “There are days when I think Swimply will rise over the world, and then there are other days when it feels like it will all disappear. It’s an emotional ride if there ever was one.” He continues, “I live by the idea that ignorance is bliss. If I had known everything involved on day one, I never would have started. Now, I take it day by day and focus on knocking it out of the park — I know that’s what I’m going to do with Swimply.”

(Originally featured in 2.0, Issue 5)