From Busy to Strategic: The Real Job of an STR CEO

👉 Get a Free Revenue Review → https://www.freewyldfoundry.com/report

Find out how much money your portfolio is leaving on the table. Risk-free.

What happens when STR CEOs stay busy all day but still feel like the business isn’t moving forward?

In this episode of Get Paid For Your Pad, Kaye Putnam (Head of Marketing at Freewyld and Freewyld Foundry) sits down with Eric Moeller, CEO of Freewyld and Freewyld Foundry, to break down one of the most important leadership questions in short-term rentals: where should a CEO actually spend their time as the business scales?

Citing research showing that CEOs waste 30 to 50 percent of their time on low-value activities, Eric explains why this problem becomes more dangerous as STR businesses grow. They unpack how decision fatigue pushes leaders toward reactive work, why action is often confused with momentum, and how solving the wrong problems stalls growth even when demand is strong.

Whether you manage 10 listings or 100+, this episode will help you rethink priorities, recognize patterns inside your business, and identify the true bottlenecks that require CEO-level attention instead of more activity.

You will discover:

• Why being busy does not mean your STR business is progressing

• How decision fatigue pulls CEOs into low-value tasks

• Why letting small fires burn can protect strategic focus

• How to identify the biggest bottleneck in your STR business

• Why bottlenecks shift as marketing, sales, and fulfillment scale

• How trying to fix everything at once slows growth

• Why ego often blocks CEOs from stepping into the right role

• What high-ROI CEO work looks like at different growth stages

Kaye and Eric also explore why pattern recognition is becoming one of the most important CEO skills, how success in one department creates pressure in another, and why focus must be sequential rather than simultaneous. They discuss AI adoption, not as a replacement for people, but as a way to remove repeatable work so leaders can spend time on reasoning, decision-making, and leadership.

💡 Topics Covered:

• CEO focus and time allocation in STR businesses

• Decision fatigue and low-value work

• Business bottlenecks in marketing, sales, and fulfillment

• Pattern recognition as a leadership skill

• Ego and role responsibility at scale

• Action versus momentum in growth

• AI as a tool to enhance teams, not replace them

• Strategic focus for scaling STR operators

🔗 Relevant Links:

Learn more about Freewyld Foundry → https://www.freewyldfoundry.com

Follow Eric Moeller → https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericdmoeller

Follow Kaye Putnam → https://www.linkedin.com/in/kayeputnam

Follow Freewyld Foundry → https://www.linkedin.com/company/freewyldfoundry

Keywords:

short-term rentals, STR CEO, STR leadership, business bottlenecks, decision fatigue, pattern recognition, CEO focus, scaling STR business, STR operations, AI in business, delegation, strategic leadership, Freewyld, Freewyld Foundry, Get Paid For Your Pad, Eric Moeller, Kaye Putnam, STR growth, business momentum, CEO mindset

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.