10 Things You Didn’t Know About Vacasa CEO Eric Breon

Eric Breon is the co-founder and CEO of Vacasa, one of the major providers of vacation home rentals in the United States. We wanted to learn more about him because he has achieved a great deal of success in his business endeavors. There is a lot that we can learn from him about starting up a successful business and expansion. Who is the man behind the title? When checking into his career and history, we made some interesting discoveries. Here are 10 things that you probably didn’t know about Eric Breon, that you might find intriguing and even inspirational.

1. Eric has a unique startup story

Breon accepted a request by his wife’s family to manage their vacation home in the Pacific Northwest. He looked for a property manager that had the capability of giving the home the proper care and generating a financial return for the family. This wasn’t as easy as he thought it would be. What he discovered was a real lack of available help. Although it was frustrating, it gave him an idea for starting his very own business. He saw an opportunity to fill a gap in a growing industry where there was obviously a deficit, and this is how his unique startup story began.

2. Breon narrowed his focus to 2 major elements

Immediately, Eric identified two major problems within the vacation home rental industry. He saw that it was difficult to find a property manager that he could trust to maintain the home to retain its value. The second issue is that there didn’t appear to be anyone who would ensure that the guests received the proper amount of attention. With these two issues in mind, he began to develop the outline for a plan to address the problems. If he was frustrated with the situation there were likely many others who felt the same way. If he could develop a company that would meet these two requirements, it would likely become a success. It’s common sense thinking. The fact that he added the third requirement for maximizing the generation of the revenue made his concept for Vacasa a winning proposition.

3. He attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Eric Breon began his educational pursuits in 1996. He attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He spent four years at the institution, preparing for a career that would involve entrepreneurship and analytics, and he graduated in 2000.

4. Breon started out in the financial sector

Throughout his career, Eric Breon has built his knowledge base and experience, sharpening his skills with each new job along with way. After college, he started out as an associate with Highway 12 Ventures in Boise, Idaho. He started work in May of 2001 and stayed until August of 2003. When an opportunity to move up the career ladder came, he took the option and left Highway 12 Ventures to join the team at Capital One as a business analyst. He stayed at this position from August of 2003 until February of 2006. Another opportunity came his way for a job in Beaverton, Oregon at Genesis Financial Solutions as a manager of strategy and analysis. We can see the clear progression of responsibility in his career choices. He remained in the position until June of 2008.

5. He co-founded his first company in June of 2008

Breon left his job at Genesis Financial Solutions to establish a business of his own. He and a partner founded Oregon Green Solutions in June of 2008 in Portland, Oregon. The company focused its efforts on energy savings that took houses off the grid without incurring a cost to its customers. Within a year, they had served 200 homeowners and the company had grown in size to a staff of 33 workers within just 6 months. He sold his share of the company to his partner and turned his attention towards Vacasa in December of 2009.

6. Eric put his energy into the development of Vacasa

After selling his interest in the business he co-founded, Eric Breon turned his full attention to Vacasa. The company was founded in November of 2009, just a month before he made the decision to sell his half of the other business. He realized that if his new venture was to be a success he had to free his time and devote it solely to getting Vacasa up and running. The company officially launched for business in December. He was made CEO and currently serves in this capacity and he has just reached the decade mark as its leader. Breon and his partner have grown the company into the largest vacation rental company in the US.

7. He went international

Breon’s company manages approximately 24,000 vacation homes that are spread throughout the United States, and other countries. He expanded the services to cover Europe, South Africa, and Latin America. Vacasa currently employs 5,000 workers throughout the world. It has experienced a 60% growth in year-over revenue.

8. Breon brought the fragments together

The vacation rental home industry was seriously fragmented when Eric first started his Vacasa venture. He showed the world, and more importantly, the professionals working within the industry what the problems were and he modeled how to fix them through his company. In a recent interview, he shared that the industry is no longer fragmented because the proper solutions have been applied. As for his competition, they either had to step up to the plate and improve the quality of their services, or take a knee to Vacasa.

9. His analytical mind is keen

Eric Breon is an analyst. Whether this skill is applied in the financial sector or any other industry, he is trained to identify problems and he’s good at it. One of the issues that he noticed in the vacation rental industry is that there is a strong demand for online services among clientele. People insist on the simplicity and ease of booking online. This is something that he took care of right away. He linked with technology to make the process as easy as possible for everyone involved and this is appealing for last-minute clients who decide to rent a vacation home. When Vacasa has vacancies that are not filled, it is a great way to capture the procrastinators as clients and maximize revenues. Most bookings are completed online.

10. Eric Breon is a revolutionary

It is fair to say that thanks to Eric Breon’s efforts, the vacation rental industry has experienced revolutionary changes. Vacation homeowners have a solid and reliable resource with a trusted and established vacation home rental company that they can turn to for highly rated results. His contributions to this industry are significant and they have been instrumental in transforming this sector of the market.