The Dyrt: Difference between revisions
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Smith and Long left Portland in July 2021 and headed east, stopping and working at campgrounds and [[RV park|RV parks]] along the way. Smith and Long were able to continue running the company from their van by using an antenna to pull in nearby cellular service with SIM cards in the van acting as mobile hotspots.<ref name=":4" /> |
Smith and Long left Portland in July 2021 and headed east, stopping and working at campgrounds and [[RV park|RV parks]] along the way. Smith and Long were able to continue running the company from their van by using an antenna to pull in nearby cellular service with SIM cards in the van acting as mobile hotspots.<ref name=":4" /> |
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==References== |
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{{reflist|30em}} |
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==External links== |
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* [http://www.thedyrt.com The Dyrt] |
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[[Category:Companies based in Portland, Oregon]] |
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Revision as of 01:19, 16 March 2022
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Type of site | Outdoor/travel service |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Founded | 2013 |
| Headquarters | Portland, Oregon, United States |
| Founder(s) | Sarah Smith and Kevin Long |
| Industry | Travel, Outdoors |
| Employees | 50[1] |
| URL | www |
| Commercial | Yes |
Overview
The Dyrt is consumer subscription software for camping, and the largest source of information for campgrounds throughout the United States, via a website and mobile app.[2] It’s the top-rated app for camping in the two major app stores.[3] The content on The Dyrt is user-generated as campers post photos, videos and reviews about campgrounds in the US. This content draws in 30 million visits per year.[4] Campers can also book campsites on The Dyrt, which is commission-free for campground owners.[5] The Dyrt PRO, a premium service that costs $36 annually, allows campers to access PRO maps that show free camping on public lands, download maps for offline use and plan camping road trips.[6] The mission of The Dyrt is to make it easier for everyone in the US to go camping.[7]
History
Sarah Smith first had the idea for The Dyrt in 2013. She and her husband, The Dyrt co-founder and CEO Kevin Long, were both avid campers who went camping every weekend, but finding information on campgrounds was always a source of frustration and they would end up fighting every week about where to go.[8] Smith had spent two decades working in international education but decided to focus full time on building The Dyrt. The first iteration of The Dyrt was a simple WordPress site.[9] The vision was to make the Yelp for camping.[6]
In 2015, Smith earned a coveted spot and spent six months at the Telluride Venture Accelerator.[4] Not long after, Long quit a secure position at a publicly traded company to join Smith and fully commit to The Dyrt.[10]
One of the strategies employed to populate the website with photos, videos and reviews was to gamify the experience for users. The Dyrt partnered with 27 outdoor brands and held competitions in every state and offered prizes to the top-ranking users for submitting content.[3] Campers who are regular visitors to The Dyrt post reviews and photos and climb the ranks. Members of The Dyrt community become “Rangers,” “Guides” and “Legends” on the site.[11]
When the Covid pandemic hit in March 2020, The Dyrt employees began to work remotely. This ended up becoming a permanent situation in 2021 when the lease on the office space was allowed to expire. The Dyrt employees can work from anywhere in US timezones if they have strong internet service for a video call.[4] They can also be paid bonuses for using The Dyrt to find camping and documenting the experience.[12]
The Dyrt PRO
The Dyrt PRO is a premium service that costs $36 annually and provides additional features to The Dyrt’s free app. The Dyrt PRO members can access PRO Maps that show free dispersed camping on public lands, download maps for offline use and plan camping road trips. PRO members can also book campsites on The Dyrt without paying any extra bookings fees.[13] The Dyrt partners with more than 1,000 campgrounds across the US at which PRO subscribers get a 40 percent discount.[3]
Due to increased traffic to National Park destinations and tourist areas, The Dyrt focuses on relieving pressure on the country’s most popular camping sites and being committed to the Leave No Trace set of outdoor ethics.[14]
Commission-free bookings and Instant Book
In 2021, The Dyrt launched its Instant Book feature in which campers can reserve campsites on The Dyrt, which does not charge a commission to campground owners. Sarah Smith explained the new program in an interview with Glamping Business Americas Magazine.
As we began opening up our marketplace to campgrounds, we saw an entirely different segment of campground owners from non-traditional campgrounds. These were individuals with private land looking for ways to generate passive or active income by hosting campers. They don’t have a built-in base for demand and they were actively looking for ways to market their properties. We designed our campground product to be inclusive for all hosts.[15]
Cross-country vanlife trip
In 2021, Smith and Long embarked on a cross-country vanlife trip in their camper van during which they managed The Dyrt and fundraised remotely.[16] During this trip, The Dyrt secured $11 million in Series B funding to support a new round of hiring.[7]
Smith and Long left Portland in July 2021 and headed east, stopping and working at campgrounds and RV parks along the way. Smith and Long were able to continue running the company from their van by using an antenna to pull in nearby cellular service with SIM cards in the van acting as mobile hotspots.[16]
References
- ^ "Hipcampcompany profile". Craft. 18 October 2019.
- ^ "The Dyrt - Crunchbase Company Profile & Funding". Crunchbase. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
- ^ a b c "On The Dyrt road: Co-founders of camping app gain valuable startup insight while living remote vanlife". GeekWire. 2021-08-24. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
- ^ a b c "Camping app born out of Telluride accelerator raises $11 million". The Denver Post. 2021-12-11. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
- ^ "The Dyrt Offers Commission-Free Bookings for Parks". Woodallscm.com. 2021-11-01. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
- ^ a b "Hipcamp, Tentrr and the Dyrt: Trying out camping's newest start-ups". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
- ^ a b Anderson, Sam (2021-10-20). "Millions in Funding, Dozens of Job Openings at Camping App". GearJunkie. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
- ^ podcasters, Omny Studio is the complete audio management solution for; Stations, Radio. "The Dyrt That Cleans Up Your Campsite Search - Jearlyn Steele - Omny.fm". omny.fm. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
- ^ "The Dyrt is the Yelp of campground reviews". Men's Journal. 2015-04-28. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
- ^ Magazine, Authority (2021-10-18). "Sarah Smith of The Dyrt: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Became A Founder". Authority Magazine. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
- ^ "Northland native heads nation's top camping app". Duluth News Tribune. 2021-10-15. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
- ^ Smith, Sarah. "I pay my own employees a $400 bonus to use and review our product — here's why it's worth every penny". Business Insider. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
- ^ Jankowski, Paul. "Apps Like The Dyrt Make Getting Outdoors Even Easier—Brands Are Taking Notice". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
- ^ TechBuzz. "The Dyrt Hires Digital Nomads to Grow Camping App". www.techbuzz.news. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
- ^ "The Dyrt: A Fresh Look at Booking Systems". issuu. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
- ^ a b Oregonian/OregonLive, Ardeshir Tabrizian | The (2021-08-28). "Portland-based camping app founders working remotely from U.S. campgrounds for a year". oregonlive. Retrieved 2022-03-16.