Meet the team behind Paradoor

Paradoor is powered by a dedicated team with a shared vision to redefine holiday home ownership in Australia. Leading the company are co-founders Oliver and Tom, whose expertise and leadership drive our innovative approach, along with Sam, our investor and chair, who provides valuable strategic insight. Keep reading to learn more about the individuals behind Paradoor and the experience they bring to the company.

Oliver Howard, Co-Founder
Oliver’s background is in law and regulation at MinterEllison Lawyers and multinational Tesco PLC before transitioning into venture capital. He has led investment in over 30 early-stage companies and run an accelerator model to guide their market entry and growth. Oliver has served as General Counsel for a global hyper-growth technology business, founded and managed an active family investment office, co-founded and sold a previous business and chaired AFL Europe (the governing body of Australian Rules Football across 21 European member countries) for six years. 

At Paradoor, Oliver heads up the company, overseeing everything from operations and strategic management to financial oversight. His legal background has been instrumental in establishing the company’s infrastructure, ensuring Paradoor is built on a solid foundation for growth and success.

Tom Ormerod, Co-Founder
Tom has a 23-year career in property and tourism, beginning at Mirvac before establishing a joint venture with Knight Frank to sell off-the-plan apartments. In 2013, Tom co-founded Luxico, Australia’s leading short stay business, which has hosted over 50,000 guests and currently manages over $1 billion in premium real estate.

Tom's extensive involvement with his business, Luxico, has been integral in shaping Paradoor, particularly with its solid infrastructure and operational processes. Luxico’s proven systems in cleaning, maintenance, and concierge services now form the backbone of Paradoor, ensuring that every property is maintained to the highest standards.

In 2024, Tom and Oliver came together, united by their shared vision for the future of holiday home ownership. Both recognised that owning a holiday home solely no longer made sense, leading them to combine their experience and ideas to create Paradoor.

Sam McDonagh, Chair
Sam has over 25 years’ experience as a leader bringing and growing US businesses to Asia-Pacific, including scaling Airbnb, eBay, Cameo and Dollar Shave Club. Sam led Airbnb in Australia and New Zealand for over 5 years as Country Manager, giving him deep expertise in the holiday and tourism markets, identifying and managing holiday properties. Currently, serving as a Non-Executive Director at Tiimely, Chairman of rent.com.au and advisory board member across a variety of proptech, healthtech and fintech companies, Sam brings a wealth of governance and management experience to the team.

We are thrilled to have Sam on board, as his extensive experience in scaling businesses and his deep understanding of the holiday property market are invaluable assets to Paradoor’s growth and success.