YachtWay is a leading platform for discovering yachts tailored to desired experiences, which CEO Heigo Paartalu founded. Under Paartalu’s leadership, YachtWay sets industry benchmarks with innovative SaaS solutions, offering a modern MLS+ platform for dealers, brokers, and shipyards. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Paartalu to learn more about the company.
Heigo Paartalu’s Background
What is Paartalu’s background? Paartalu said:
“I started my creative career as a news reporter in Estonia and moved to the States about 13 years ago with $700 in my pocket, thinking I’d become the next Anderson Cooper. It didn’t go as planned. I moved to San Francisco (SF) and started one of the most successful corporate housing companies.”
“In 2018, I moved to Florida from SF and got into the world of yachting. I led a sales and marketing department for a well-known yacht brand, increasing their revenue by $150 million, and then decided to create the industry’s most advanced yacht listing platform.”
Formation Of YachtWay
How did the idea for YachtWay come together? Paartalu shared:
“The idea came in 2018 when I bought my first boat. The buying process was so archaic that I thought every listing online was a scam. You’d never expect to have an experience from the 90s when buying a yacht that costs millions of dollars. Not to mention sharing your contact information with outdated platforms.”
Favorite Memory
What has been Paartalu’s favorite memory working for the company so far? Paartalu reflected:
“I’m creating my favorite memories every single day. I can’t wait to wake up in the mornings and get to work with an incredibly talented global team, building tools for the industry.”
Core Products
What are the company’s core products and features? Paartalu explained:
“YachtWay’s main product is the listing platform, where yacht dealers and brokers pay to advertise their inventory and reach the next generation of yacht buyers. Our second service is YachtWay Studios, where users can book photo shoots and videography services to make their listings stand out from the competition and increase customer engagement.”
Challenges Faced
What challenges has Paartalu and the team face in building the company? Paartalu noted:
“Like in every sector, when you come to market with a new product or service, it takes time to convince users to choose your product over others. While it can be challenging, the digital landscape in the yachting world hasn’t changed since the last century, and people have developed habits that may be hard to break. At the same time, this is our best advantage: our prices are often 10-20x lower than other platforms, and YachtWay is a super modern website, making the pitch itself easier.”
Evolution Of YachtWay’s Technology
How has the company’s technology evolved since launching? Paartalu noted:
“Our technical sprints last two weeks, meaning we update our platform twice a month, each update having 70+ new features and improvements. These are no random updates; we listen to our users a lot. In fact, we have mandatory customer feedback calls for our sales team every week to learn what users like, dislike, and what features they need to enhance their business further. We are building the platform not for us, but for our users, so getting their input is crucial for us, and we are eager to learn from their experience.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of the company’s most significant milestones? Paartalu cited:
“Opening YachtWay Studios was a great addition, as it immediately distinguished us from any other platform. There’s no listing platform that comes out and takes photos for the dealers. Also, the addition of 3D tours to the listings has been a great enhancement. We are seeing listings with 3D tours get 300% greater engagement than those without. And, of course, YachtWay is the only platform where you can discover your perfect yacht by searching based on activities you’d like to have on the water. That alone has increased our user engagement by over 400%.”
Customer Success Stories
After asking Paartalu about customer success stories, he highlighted:
“We’ve had dealers who have sold their yachts on our platform within a few hours after listing. These are all multi-million-dollar ‘toys.’ Helping them find buyers and helping yacht buyers find their perfect yacht is a great privilege.”
Funding/Revenue
When asking Paartalu about the company’s funding and revenue information, he revealed:
“We haven’t raised a single round. I like to run my companies lean, concentrating on expenses and understanding what value each team member brings. Based on our current growth pattern, I expect YachtWay to become profitable by the end of this year.”
Total Addressable Market
What total addressable market (TAM) size is the company pursuing? Paartalu assessed:
“The global yacht market size in 2023 was approximately $10 billion and is showing a global growth of 5% year over year. We believe that with modern technology and YachtWay’s technological advancements, we can grow the market even further and faster while adding more value to users on both sides of the industry at a lower cost.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates the company from its competition? Paartalu affirmed:
“We consider how people are searching for boats in recent years and understand that for the industry to keep evolving and growing, we need to educate the next generation of buyers. Our goal is to make yacht finding as easy as possible.”
“Integrating features like 3D tours and having the fastest-growing YouTube channel compared to any other listing platform are just a few things that set us apart. Not to mention, YachtWay is an award-winning platform—we won three Red Dot Design Awards, one of the most desirable design awards in the world. This puts us on the same wavelength in design as Apple and Ferrari, who are some of the other recent award winners.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of the company’s future goals? Paartalu concluded:
“We keep our heads down and focus on our customers while building future products to add additional services for industry professionals and yacht buyers globally. AI and machine learning, alongside helping financial institutions determine the accurate vessel value before they give out loans, are just a few of the things we are currently working on.”
“Today’s YachtWay is merely 3% of the product we intend to have and the services we offer to our users. Ultimately, YachtWay will become the one-stop shop for all things related to yachts and yacht finding online.”
