A home available through Noad. (Courtesy Noad)
Jonah Wolf believes working from home doesn’t have to mean your home.
This year, the Denver native co-founded Noad Exchange, a home-sharing site that aims to stand out from competitors such as Home Exchange and Kindred by being tailored for remote workers.
“We’re not betting on remote work being 100 percent,” Wolf said. “You live in Denver, love Denver, put the care in your home, but you also love to travel and have the flexibility to travel.”
Jonah Wolf
Wolf said he and co-founders Austin Laudenslager and Tom Waugh aren’t going to turn someone away based on a job title. But with remote work in mind, each home on Noad Exchange has to have a true dedicated work space and fast Wi-Fi. The founders vet each member, which Wolf said creates a “like-minded community.”
Noad members pay an annual fee to stay in other members’ homes and list their own. For every night someone else stays in your home, you get a credit. Every night you stay somewhere else, you spend a credit.
Wolf, 29, said the credit system creates a traveling domino effect.
“This is the difference we’ve seen compared to other platforms,” he said. “Since our members are flexible remote or capable hybrid workers, if I wasn’t planning on taking a trip but now that I have a request, I will go use my credits,” he said.
The first version of Noad was tested in May and officially launched in August. The company is looking to raise $300,000, $120,000 of which is already secured. Wolf said the money will go toward refining the company’s technology and making Noad a “well-oiled machine.”
Wolf, who spoke to BusinessDen while working from New Zealand, started the company after he and Austin Laudenslager, a longtime friend, had a “quarter life crisis” five years ago. The two were working as engineers for a general contractor and left their careers to travel together.
“The story of Noad is our story,” Wolf said. “We spent over 1,100 nights in AirBnbs, so we experienced the problem of trying to travel and work remotely, affordably and reliably.”
The pair decided to solve the issues they faced, and brought on Tom Waugh to help build out the technology.
Noad has 120 homes or apartments, two of which are in Denver, available in 30 countries. Wolf declined to give figures regarding the number of stays the company has facilitated. A standard membership, which comes with five credits, costs $195 a year. The pro membership, which comes with 15 credits and professional photos of your home, is $395.
Wolf said membership details will change soon, as the company is finalizing a third membership tier. In the long term, they see Noad not just being direct to consumers but also a part of employee benefit packages for companies.
A home available through Noad. (Courtesy Noad)
Jonah Wolf believes working from home doesn’t have to mean your home.
This year, the Denver native co-founded Noad Exchange, a home-sharing site that aims to stand out from competitors such as Home Exchange and Kindred by being tailored for remote workers.
“We’re not betting on remote work being 100 percent,” Wolf said. “You live in Denver, love Denver, put the care in your home, but you also love to travel and have the flexibility to travel.”
Jonah Wolf
Wolf said he and co-founders Austin Laudenslager and Tom Waugh aren’t going to turn someone away based on a job title. But with remote work in mind, each home on Noad Exchange has to have a true dedicated work space and fast Wi-Fi. The founders vet each member, which Wolf said creates a “like-minded community.”
Noad members pay an annual fee to stay in other members’ homes and list their own. For every night someone else stays in your home, you get a credit. Every night you stay somewhere else, you spend a credit.
Wolf, 29, said the credit system creates a traveling domino effect.
“This is the difference we’ve seen compared to other platforms,” he said. “Since our members are flexible remote or capable hybrid workers, if I wasn’t planning on taking a trip but now that I have a request, I will go use my credits,” he said.
The first version of Noad was tested in May and officially launched in August. The company is looking to raise $300,000, $120,000 of which is already secured. Wolf said the money will go toward refining the company’s technology and making Noad a “well-oiled machine.”
Wolf, who spoke to BusinessDen while working from New Zealand, started the company after he and Austin Laudenslager, a longtime friend, had a “quarter life crisis” five years ago. The two were working as engineers for a general contractor and left their careers to travel together.
“The story of Noad is our story,” Wolf said. “We spent over 1,100 nights in AirBnbs, so we experienced the problem of trying to travel and work remotely, affordably and reliably.”
The pair decided to solve the issues they faced, and brought on Tom Waugh to help build out the technology.
Noad has 120 homes or apartments, two of which are in Denver, available in 30 countries. Wolf declined to give figures regarding the number of stays the company has facilitated. A standard membership, which comes with five credits, costs $195 a year. The pro membership, which comes with 15 credits and professional photos of your home, is $395.
Wolf said membership details will change soon, as the company is finalizing a third membership tier. In the long term, they see Noad not just being direct to consumers but also a part of employee benefit packages for companies.
