14 May Boatsetter Aims to Bring Yachting to the Masses

“Boating is one of those experiences everyone should be able to have,” says Jaclyn Baumgarten, CEO and co-founder of the online marketplace Boatsetter. So, in an effort to share her passion, she founded a Fort Lauderdale-based company that “enables anyone, anywhere to book incredible experiences on the water, whether they are looking for a day of fishing, sailing or sand bar hopping—even a luxury vacation on a yacht,” she explains. “And you can do it across the globe, with a few clicks.” A third-generation entrepreneur from California, Baumgarten started out as a strategy consultant, then earned an MBA at Stanford, later joined Westfield Corp. In 2012, she took a huge leap of faith, going on a six-month sabbatical to figure out a venture. During that time two of her brothers were selling their boats because they weren’t using them enough to justify the costs. “It struck me that an Airbnb for boats was something that needed to be,” she says, “a company that would make access to boating easy for everyone, while enabling boat owners to earn money to offset the costs of ownership.” On average, she says, owners can make anywhere between $7,000 to $12,000 on Boatsetter. One of its highest earners has netted more than $150,000 annually renting out a small powerboat in Miami). Since its inception, Boatsetter has challenged the boating industry’s domestic demographics—just as Baumgarten intended: “Boat owners in the U.S. were predominantly men, 58 years and older with higher average net worth,” she says. “But on Boatsetter, 73 percent of our renters are under the age of 45, and 50 percent of our renters are millennials. Our fastest growing segment is Gen Z and fully 43 percent of our renters are female.”