Jordan Bem: The Mobile Real Estate Strategy That Restructures Traditional Hospitality

Startups have such a glamorous reputation. Companies like Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Uber, and Airbnb once started as scrappy startups with huge dreams and huge obstacles.

Yet we of course know that most startups don’t end up as success stories. What does a founder or a founding team need to know to create a highly successful startup?

In this series, called “Five Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Startup” we are talking to experienced and successful founders and business leaders who can share stories from their experience about what it takes to create a highly successful startup.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Jordan Bem.

Jordan Bem is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Moliving Inc., a developer’s solution conceived to disrupt the modular living and hospitality industries. Having spent most of his career at the intersection of real estate and private equity with Arizona Investissements SA, Jordan became familiar with the financial and investment challenges faced by hotel and real estate development inspiring him to found Moliving, Inc. Born in Paris, Jordan has tapped his international network to develop the Moliving model from a creative and operational perspective.

While at Arizona Investissements SA, Jordan grew the business vertically, contributing to the growth of its portfolio of prime international assets by over 2 million square feet. Jordan also worked for AXA, Cofinance Inc. and Carlton Strategic Ventures. He has acquired, developed, managed and syndicated billions in deals across various markets. Jordan holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business and Economics from Brandeis University.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?

I am Franco-American and lived in Paris, France for 19 years prior to attending Brandeis University near Boston, Massachusetts. I spent a large part of my life in the Real Estate and Private Equity realm where I developed traditional Real Estate. Having been around the block — as one would say — I quickly realized how repetitive and impersonal building another asset has become. About four years ago, I was sitting on the beach with my sister near New York and having a conversation about all these seasonal hotels that are inaccessible to many and, frankly, are not that nice. We worked through the reasons why these hotels had to charge insane premiums such as seasonally, their fixed inventory, operational costs and so on. We then joked about the idea of creating a hotel that could “move” and always be in the right markets at the right times, hence creating the best-case use of real estate. Behold, now a couple years down the road we are here!

What was the “Aha Moment” that led to the idea for your current company? Can you share that story with us?

When you are building a company from scratch there are many moments that need to be “Aha Moments”. We are living in a constant world of change. Even though the traditional hotel model we all know has been a success since its inception, we are rapidly seeing new trends in traveling. Our most significant moment was around the start of the pandemic. We originally started this company thinking we would create hotels that would fully move (both rooms and F&B) dependent upon the seasons, and with Covid we quickly realized that these seasonal markets are year-round markets with various demand levels. We therefore adapted our business model to create hotels with fluctuating inventory versus fully moving all components of them. This allows us to create a more upscale product to complement our ultra-luxury units.

Was there somebody in your life who inspired or helped you to start your journey with your business? Can you share a story with us?

My family has truly been an incredible inspiration to me. My parents have learned to adapt themselves to the changing times by moving from owning a private label in Paris to now being real estate developers (Arizona Investissements SA) in Luxembourg. The most valuable lessons they ever taught me were to learn from any situation, learn from the ground up, and be able to do it all, need be. They have been extremely helpful and supporting in creating Moliving.

My sister, Hanna Bem, is our CMO at Moliving. She has been invaluable help in getting this off the ground, and she’s the one person that I can always rely on. She always knows what my crazy mind is thinking and how we can translate these ideas to reality.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

Moliving is uniquely positioned between the glamping and luxury spaces, and to this day, no one has managed to provide an upscale product and experience while proving true flexibility and a sustainable result. The Moliving units are not only mobile, but also feature a system that protects the land by allowing them to be removed with no impact or damage to the ground below. This is what truly sets Moliving apart.

Our five-star hotels will contract and expand its inventories dependent on traveler demand. We are democratizing the hospitality development space by giving landowners and future hoteliers the ability to build out their hotels in months versus years and at a fraction of the cost of a traditional hotel. Not to mention, the units provide minimal disruption to the environments they are placed in and can operate 100% off the grid.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

A world with Moliving is a world where everyone can explore untouched nature while also enjoying a true luxury experience. Extraordinary destinations are democratized, and everyone can enjoy them without impacting the natural beauty surrounding them. With Moliving, hoteliers can perform at peak capacity while operating in a sustainable manner and hotels are inspiring, luxurious, tailor-made and enhance the surrounding environment, rather than consume its resources.

You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

Determination, perseverance and passion all are very instrumental in achieving success. It took us years to get this concept off of the ground, but we’ve now creates a quick, easy and replicable process to open hotels.

Often leaders are asked to share the best advice they received. But let’s reverse the question. Can you share a story about advice you’ve received that you now wish you never followed?

We’ve received a lot of advice — both good and bad — but the silver lining is that all of it has brought us here to where we exactly need to be today, giving us the opportunity to revolutionize the hospitality industry.

Can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey? Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard? What strategies or techniques did you use to help overcome those challenges?

The beginning of any journey can be a bit tedious, but the hard times are what get us through it. As mentioned, it is important to surround yourself with positive, smart people who support and encourage you along the way.

The journey of an entrepreneur is never easy, and is filled with challenges, failures, setbacks, as well as joys, thrills and celebrations. Can you share a few ideas or stories from your experience about how to successfully ride the emotional highs & lows of being a founder”?

It’s important to celebrate your successes, but not let them distract you. Each day, we have the opportunity to accomplish new things and learn from them. If times get a bit tough, it’s crucial to keep your head and up and keep moving forward.

Let’s imagine that a young founder comes to you and asks for your advice about whether venture capital or bootstrapping is best for them? What would you advise them? Can you kindly share a few things a founder should look at to determine if fundraising or bootstrapping is the right choice?

If you are able to bootstrap without driving yourself crazy, then absolutely go for it. You are better off maintaining control of your business by doing this. Keep in mind, there is a thin line between being a genius and being clinically crazy. You need to be able to play with the line and know who you should surround yourself with, how much it’s going to cost and how you can manage your time and stress efficiently. Best case scenario, you are able to handle it, but if not, you can raise the money and enlist the help. That being said, VCs will come and boost you, but might also control you along the way.

Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. Many startups are not successful, and some are very successful. From your experience or perspective, what are the main factors that distinguish successful startups from unsuccessful ones? What are your “Five Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Startup”? If you can, please share a story or an example for each.

1. Surround yourself with the right people. This not only goes for the team you work with, but also who you surround yourself with on a day-to-day basis. We have an unbelievable team of developers, land partners, hoteliers, all with the common mission to create a better hospitality experience for our guests.
2. You must be able to adapt. Times are ever-changing, and we may be on business plan P or S by now, but we know how to adapt ourselves to the times in order to create the best product and experience possible.
3. Be focused and determined. If something doesn’t seem to work at first, keep trying until you find the right solution.
4. Learn from every situation. We all have bad days from time to time, but it’s important to identify the silver linings and figure out how you can turn a negative into a positive learning lesson, which is the biggest success of all.
5. Perform at your peak. Employ the traits of an athlete — dedication, skill, and fitness — to win and achieve extraordinary results. You should constantly compete with yourself every day in order to grow. Take care of yourself physically and mentally so that you can achieve peak performance.

What are the most common mistakes you have seen CEOs & founders make when they start a business? What can be done to avoid those errors?

A common mistake is thinking the road to success is easy. Even if you have a great idea, it will never come to fruition without hard work and determination. It is important to learn from your mistakes, focus and create clear goals for both yourself and your business.

Startup founders often work extremely long hours and it’s easy to burn the candle at both ends. What would you recommend to founders about how to best take care of their physical and mental wellness when starting a company?

Whether you are a founder or an asset to a company, the biggest key to success is self-care. A lot of people will tell you to keep work at work, but truth be told, Moliving is my life. My loved ones and friends have all supported me throughout this venture, and it can be very difficult to ‘turn off’ when you get home. However, when you love what you do, it doesn’t feel much like what we define as ‘work’ at all. I’ve found that scheduling and staying organized keeps me sane. I make sure to set aside time to exercise, which is paramount to my wellbeing, in addition to stepping outside to get as much air as possible during the day. If you are properly organized you will quickly realize that you are getting your office work done at appropriate times while also being able to actually enjoy some well-deserved “time off” when you are home. Organization is the first step to reducing that “week of work” anxiety many people face.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

If I could start a movement, I would start a movement encouraging young entrepreneurs push forward with their ideas. If you have the resources and team necessary to support your idea or concept, go do it! You never know who will be interested your idea. I created Moliving based on the idea of increasing traveler demands, resulting in what is considered the first nomadic hospitality solution in the world. One simple idea turned into an incredible innovative opportunity and I can’t wait to see where this takes us next.

We are blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

I would love to sit down with Elon Musk, who is an absolute machine. He is always thinking ahead and knows how to play with people.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

Readers can follow all Moliving updates on our website at moliving.com or follow us on Instagram @moliving.co for all social media updates. Readers can also find out more information about Moliving on LinkedIn as well.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent with this. We wish you continued success and good health!