Founder Spotlight: Michael Yasieniuk, founder of Let’s Camp
Mike Yasieniuk is the founder of Let’s Camp, as well as the founder of YasTech Developments, a creative web design and software development firm in Saskatoon. We sat down to talk with him about the evolution of Let’s Camp and where they’re heading.
Tell us a little bit about how Let’s Camp got started:
We first built online booking software for campgrounds about 7 years ago. This is where a campground could add a Book Now button to their website and it would take a camper to their personal online booking site. A couple years ago though we wanted to build a platform where any camper could go to search for a campground and book in. That’s when our current booking platform at https://letscamp.ca came about.
Please share 3 important milestones you reached in the past year
In this past year we have:
Launched our new booking platform
Hit 100 campgrounds on our booking system
Took over $8M in campground bookings with our system
What excites you about the future of the business you are building?
Our company is now established in Canada, but I’m excited about expanding our platform across the world. It would be amazing to see the tools we build being used in other countries and helping people spend more time outdoors.
What are you working on right now that you would like to promote?
Let’s Camp is always evolving, and features are added monthly. Right now we are working on adding the ability to book at multiple campgrounds in one transaction. In the near future we’ll also be adding the ability for campgrounds, and event planners, to add event listings to our platform that have a camping component.
This spotlight will be shared across the TNT network, what would you like to tell them about Saskatchewan and what makes it a great place to grow a business?
Saskatoon, and Saskatchewan really, has become the tech hub of the prairies. With incubator and accelerator programs like Co.Labs and Cultivator, as well as the UP conference, it is easy to learn and grow from other tech companies right here in our province. Having a few larger tech companies here like Vendasta, 7 Shifts, and Coconut Software, has also helped attract some top talent to our province.
We would love to learn more about growing your company through Co Labs, what can you share with us about how that experience helped you grow?
The Co.Labs Co.Launch program, and now being a member of Co.Labs, has been pivotal in the growth of Let’s Camp. I also run a digital marketing agency, and there are many differences between running a service-based business and a start-up. Co.Labs has helped me learn how to think like a start-up founder, and provided mentorship from other established start ups from the community which has really helped us grow and plan for the future.