Vacasa co-founder Cliff Johnson has resigned from his role as head of the company’s international division to join Rented.com as vice president of sales.
“Cliff’s contributions to Vacasa over the past nine years have been immense,” said Vacasa CEO Eric Breon. “He works harder — and has more integrity — than anyone else I’ve ever known. He’s had the Midas touch here at Vacasa, and I expect the same to continue moving forward.”
“It has been an honor to build Vacasa with Eric, Kimberly and the team over the past eight plus years,” Johnson said. “I’m really excited about the possibilities ahead for me and my family, but I will always have a special place in my heart for Vacasa and the team.”
Johnson and Breon started Vacasa in 2009. Based in Portland, Oregon, Vacasa was initially launched as a booking service. The pair quickly realized that the booking service model, without exclusivity over the management of the properties, would not be able to deliver the quality experience that their guests were seeking. Even though they had scaled up very quickly on the booking service model, in 2010 they made the decision to pivot and scale back down to focus on a full-service property management model
Since then, Breon and Johnson grew the company into the second largest vacation rental management company behind Wyndham, with 1,800 employees and 7,000 vacation homes under contract. The duo also raised over $143 million to capitalize on the fast-growing short-term rental industry.
Johnson added, “I especially want to recognize all of our tremendous housekeepers who make this industry great including Rogene McIntyre, Chris Brown, Jules Huber, Donna Rudd and so many more that have had the opportunity to further their careers with Vacasa as we’ve grown.”
Johnson will be based in Atlanta.
Read Johnson’s heartfelt letter to the Vacasa family.
Cliff Johnson is one of the finest men I have ever known and I have been with this company for nearly five years.
Peoples priorities and lives can change many times which can bring the need and desire to do something different, live somewhere else or in Cliffs case, watch your children grow up and be there for them.
Eric Breon has a different style but is a great man also.
These two brilliant minds have made Vacasa what it is today and I sincerely hope that an old disgruntled employee who possibly did not do their job very well, does not have any bearing on anyones’ thoughts of our company.
I should probably clarify…Cliff has a great reputation compared to the other co-founder, it’s night and day. Didn’t mean to say there was any type of ‘something stinks’ on Cliff’s part. But to leave the company, I’m guessing it had plenty to do with having a conscience, some ethics, and simply not being able to take the drama anymore. The very fact that a commitment to family can’t co-exist with an executive career at Vacasa says it all.
As a sidenote, there were suddenly as many as 100 glowing employee reviews on Glass Door in the last couple weeks–from under 200 reviews total on the site, to nearly 300 all of a sudden. Obviously a directive from management to employees telling them to post these reviews, probably with a c-note or some other bonus for doing so. In an effort to counteract and overwhelm the continual flow of negative current and former employee reviews. That says something about ethics as well.
i used to work with cliff at vacasa and can vouch for his integrity and professionalism. he was the ONLY one of the founders who had integrity and i believe him when he says it was for family reasons why he left. vacasa will sorely miss him.
if this was about the breons, it would be another story.
I agree with Angel
I started as a customer with Cliff when they were new.
I have not been able to reach him to talk about my rental home
Have financial questions needing answers with the rental I know there is a pending lawsuit in the works also out there
They do take good care of the house
Hi Cathy,
I’m sorry to hear that you haven’t been able to reach me. You can reach me directly at cmj515@gmail.com. I’ll give you my cell there, I just don’t want to post it on a public forum. You may have been trying an old number that gets routed to someone else now. I’m happy to help you resolve any questions you have but I haven’t been directly involved with the domestic business the past two years as I’ve been focused on international expansion.
I don’t believe I know Angel but a founder’s pay day was never my motivation for starting Vacasa with Eric. My optimism is my greatest strength and weakness but I truly believe that if run the right way, businesses can make an extraordinary positive impact in the world. I believe I was able to help do that at Vacasa and I’m excited to continue down that path with Andrew and the Rented team. There is nothing stinky here as Angel suggested. I have two young kids (which is why I’m awake at 2 am) and my wife and I just made the decision that was best for our family. Sometimes it is not about the money and I encourage others to make decisions by prioritizing something other than money because you can’t take it with you when you go!
Best,
Cliff
Something stinks here. Why would a co-founder leave when the company is coming off two years of massive growth and outside investment, and miss the payday that the founders have built the company for when it gets bought?
Loving tributes and fuzzy letters aside, there is definitely more to this story.
Whoa! Big news Cliff! I can’t to see what he is cooking up in the kitchen for his next adventure!