Peopledelphia + Saxbys
If cafe culture has taught us anything, it’s that we live in a city of makers, dreamers, and self-starters who grind beyond the 9 to 5. So we teamed up with Philly’s most camera-savvy storyteller, Peopledelphia, to celebrate the side hustle that makes our city stand out.
Follow @peopledelphia & @saxbys_coffee on Instagram as we profile people who are making things happen in our city (and putting in the work at our cafes).
Ofo Ezeugwu wants you to be happy. As the cofounder and CEO of WhoseYourLandlord.com, Ezeugwu created a website dedicated to helping people find the best living situation. The site allows potential tenants to not only research properties but the landlords who own them. While attending Temple University’s Fox School of Business, Ezeugwu has made it his mission to bring people together in positive ways. Since graduating, he’s continued pushing that mission into a bigger spectrum. He recently stopped by Saxbys HQ to talk WhoseYourLandlord’s (WYL) future, hanging with smart people in Philly and trying to make the most of life. Check out the interview below.
How much has WYL grown in the last three years?
In the beginning, it was simply a review platform for landlords. We quickly learned that people were on the site because they were actively looking for housing. They didn’t care what the landlord reviews were unless they were looking for housing. So we wanted to expand the depth of what we did and holistically bring quality to rental experience.
The scope originally was reviews. But there was a bigger need for quality overall. We saw an opportunity to overhaul a market that’s been antiquated forever. It’s an arduous process but we’re seeing the effect.
What’s going on with the site at the moment? Give us an idea of what you’re working on.
We’ll be adding over a quarter million new listings over the next few weeks and that’s going to take us nationwide. We’ll become a nationwide company in the next three weeks, which is pretty awesome.
We also have a partnership that we can’t announce yet in the works. That partnership will help us do verification processes in real time: background checks, credit reports for tenants.
So that’s more of a feature for the landlord side of things.
Right. The idea of WYL is quality across the board. And, this helps the renter too because they can seamlessly submit their verified information to home providers they wish to rent from without having to fill out so many applications.
What drove you to start the website?
My senior year I was the VP of the student body. This was 2012/2013. One issue I kept hearing while in that position was that students couldn’t stand their landlords. So the initial premise was just to determine bad landlords. What was great was I was able to bring something positive to the Temple students.
I discovered this wasn’t something pertinent to just Temple students. It was relevant to students all over Philly, all over the country and abroad. Before I even graduated I knew I wanted to do this full time and really bring this to fruition for everyone. So that’s how it started.
Philadelphia has helped you with your business and so has New York. What would you say is advantageous about Philly?
Philly is a consumer city meaning that you can test a lot of things out for the business for not a lot of money. It enables you to be tactical in terms of roll out strategies in new cities. You learn how to establish yourself in any kind of market.
It’s the fifth largest city in America, that being said, it’s easier to get in contact with a government official or with a CEO here than in other places. If you learn how to navigate those channels early, you effectively know how to get to where you need to get to in a larger market. It’s an amazing place for learning and entrepreneurship.
And the mental capital here is on another level, similar to Boston. There are so many universities in the fabric of this city so you’re never at a loss for smart people. It’s the perfect testing ground for anything you want to develop.
Who, specifically, are those smart people for you?
First is Professor Dwight Carey from Temple’s Fox School of Business. He just tells things like they were. I have complete respect for him. He sees greatness and he’ll pull it out of you. He always demanded the most out of his students and always gave the most back to us. He would provide insight and check in to see how you were doing. He cared.
Second, as I’ve grown and entered the professional world, would be Saxbys’ CEO Nick Bayer (Ed. Note: we swear we didn’t ask Ofo to say this). I always aspire to show that you can be a regular person and that you can enjoy your life and worldly things, while still being effective and intentional with how you go about it. I think he does that so well. And I think he pushes that message to his team. There’s a swag to him, know what I mean? All of that coalesces into him being a great leader as I’ve watched him from afar.
And of course my team. We’ve really been hitting the ground running in Philadelphia to make it happen.
