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Austin Abney wanted to take his father trout fishing in Georgia about three years ago. After a lot of legwork to find and book a guide, he came to a simple conclusion: “I was like, 'There's got to be an easier way to do this,'” he recalls.
Many industries have embraced the on-demand economy, thought Abney. That includes tech giants such as Airbnb and Uber, which capitalize on technology to connect products and services with consumers. Abney saw an opportunity to bring that concept to fishing and hunting.
“The technology exists,” he says. “Now how could I apply it to something that I love?”
His solution: DESTND, a smartphone app that links fishing and hunting guides with customers. It's on track to launch in mid-March after the design and testing process.
Abney, 34, of Sarasota, has worked on the app in earnest for about a year and a half. First, he had to exit the disaster restoration, remediation and commercial carpet cleaning company he and a partner had built in Atlanta. (That partner is an investor in DESTND.) Abney declined to say how much he and his partners have invested in the company so far, only to say it's been at least 2,000 hours to get to launch.
While he originally approached the app from the consumer side of the equation, Abney has since realized guides could benefit from it even more. “They're constantly on the go, out in the woods or on the water,” he says. “They have very little time to sit in front of the computer. So I wanted to build it as a tool for the guide.”
The third-generation Floridian tapped his local network to get things started. His first job as a teenager was at CB's Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key; the guides there provided valuable insight during DESTND's development. When the app launches, about a dozen Sarasota-area guides will be among the listings. CB's owner, Mason Tush, is another DESTND investor.
Abney also has five Key West guides on board. To land those, he hung out at the Hurricane Hole in Key West, a bar frequented by local fishermen. “Trying to communicate with guides by cold calling them wasn't the best scenario,” he says. “So I literally sat there. And I knew who these guys were from watching fishing shows my whole life.”
He bought them a beer and showed them his app, persuading some well-known Keys-based guides to create listings. While their popularity keeps them pretty well booked on their own, Abney can help them fill in scheduling holes, especially during slower seasons. And he's hoping they'll help influence newer, less-established guides to give the app a go.
Working in Abney's favor is DESTND's ease of use. “You can have a listing in 15 minutes through your phone,” he says. It's a simple process for guides to create a description of their business, set their availability, schedule and prices and upload photos from mobile devices.
Customers pay guides directly through the app, which is set up to automatically deduct DESTND's 10% commission and 3% for transactional fees before sending the rest of the payment to the guides.
“This entire year of building this product has been built around how can I make it easier for the guides,” says Abney. “I want a light to go off and have a guide say, 'This makes my life a whole heck of a lot easier.'”
Abney worked with Orlando-based TEEPS to develop the app, offering plenty of his own fishing and hunting expertise. “None of the guys there had any experience hunting or fishing,” he says. “My biggest job was to bridge those two worlds, to bridge technology and the nuances of being a guide.”
Once DESTND is up and running, Abney plans to hit the road over the summer to meet face-to-face with guides in places like Colorado, Montana and Texas to show them what the app can do. “These guys are entrusting you with their reputation and their business,” he says. “Accomplishing that connection with someone over the phone or email isn't the way I like to do things.”
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