This entrepreneur experienced homophobia overseas. Now he’s making the world friendlier for LGBTQ+ travelers

About a decade ago, Matthieu Jost was traveling in Spain with his partner. They booked a room in a house; but when they arrived, it became clear that their host was not comfortable with a gay couple.



Jost and his partner immediately left, but the experience shook him. He wanted to ensure that other members of the LGBTQ+ population could travel safely. Jost, a French entrepreneur, raised $15 million to build Misterb&b, a travel platform that started for gay men and has now evolved to become the world’s largest LGBTQ+ travel community. Today, Misterb&b has more than a million users. Jost has been recognized by Out magazine as one of the top 100 most influential LGBTQ+ leaders.



Matthieu Jost [Photo: Courtesy of the subject]



Fast Company spoke with Jost about what it means to grow an international business for a marginalized community, as well as the opportunities and challenges that come with being a leader in the LGBTQ+ community.



What career experiences did you have that helped you start Misterb&b?



When I was seventeen, I was living in a very small town in France and sometimes was quite bored. I decided to build my own company, a website dedicated to TV shows—think a “French IMDB.” I sold it and then started a company like TripAdvisor, which is how I met François, my cofounder. We wanted to found a company that catered to the LGBTQ+ community. My experience with my partner traveling in Spain sparked the idea for Misterb&b—I wanted a way for my community to connect safely.



What was your biggest challenge with growing Misterb&b?



One of the biggest challenges was growing inventory. We were working in the LGBTQ+ market, which was very niche. Finding LGBTQ+ friendly rooms was challenging. We partnered with LGBTQ+ apps and worked with current hosts to find other hosts—they knew the products and were using them, and we offered a bonus for referring friends.



In terms of advertising, it was very challenging to target users by sexual orientation. We had to be very tactical and understand our audience. For example, on social media we targeted based on interest—for example, gay men tend to like certain types of singers, so we developed huge lists of interests.



What was the moment when you knew Misterb&b would take off?



We could see our turning point pretty early on. François’s previous company was in short-term rentals, so we had some comparison points. We could see our traction was incredible compared to the mainstream market.



Thanks to my past company, we had a lot of visitors on the platform. We integrated all the content and all the links to Misterb&b since we had a lot of LGBTQ+ content around travel.



What are the challenges of marketing to an international LGBTQ+ audience?



You really have to understand the local community. You need experts who really understand the market. The keywords are not the same in the U.S. and Europe—there’s a difference in terms of pricing and experiences. U.S. customers need to be treated differently—they expect better customer service, there’s a way they want to be welcomed on the phone, a way to have a conversation and to say goodbye. It’s very different than what we have in Europe. We’re bringing that level of customer service to Europe and customers are reacting well.



What do you see as your responsibilities to customers and hosts?



We want people to be able to connect within the community and have safe experiences. We verify all of our users. We also deliver and implement tools to help people connect who are not present on mainstream platforms. For example, you can find places to stay in the gay district of a city. We have a filter for moods. If you’re talkative, you can find a talkative host. If you prefer not to chat, you can find a more introverted host. There’s also a filter for sharing interests with the hosts. About 65% of our users are solo travelers—we’re really in the business of fighting loneliness. We’re building community. It can be isolating to be LGBTQ+.



We have a vetting process where we use machine learning to detect fraudulent activity. We make very clear in the listing process that you are hosting members from the LGBTQ+ community. Our trust and safety team works on reports to detect challenging listings and take them down.



You were ranked as a top leader by Out . What is it like to be a leader for a marginalized community?



We’re missing role models. When I was young, I didn’t have role models—it was hard to picture how I could be myself in a workplace. The only role models were in the fashion industry: Yves Saint Laurent and his partner. There was no one in the tech industry to talk to. Now, there are more and more role models.



We’re also advocating for the LGBTQ+ community. At Misterb&b, we’re collecting city taxes for guests who are traveling and remitting them to municipalities. We’re able to show municipalities that LGBTQ+ travelers are visiting them and showcase the economic strength of the community. Now, municipalities are starting to cater to this market because it translates into money for them. Before, they had no idea—they didn’t have the data until we provided it.



What’s most challenging about being a leader in the LGBTQ+ community?



We need to fight more. It’s harder for us. When we were first raising funds for Misterb&b, VCs didn’t understand the market and the power of the market. We were in a meeting in San Francisco and were told the firm can’t invest in gambling and sex. We were associated with a sex business! This happened three times in France, so we went to the U.S. Our first meeting in the Valley, we were told this. We were shocked. We had believed in the U.S.; but even in the U.S., in the minds of some people, they thought a business for an LGBTQ+ customer base was automatically a sex business.



It’s challenging and time-consuming, but if I’m not doing it, who is going to do it? I’m happy to pave the way for the future generation and there are some changes occurring.



What advice do you have for other LGBTQ+ leaders or aspiring leaders?



Never give up. It will be challenging, I believe. Our life has always been challenging compared to a “normal straight” life. You need to fight more, but never give up.



Anything else you’d like to add?



We do a lot for the community. For each booking, we give back to the community—we make a lot of donations to LGBTQ+ NGOs around the world. Giving back to the community is important for any marginalized business. It showcases that you’re taking care of your community. That’s very important.