# Susannah Vila

> Susannah Vila co-founded Flip, later renamed Caretaker, to make rental housing more flexible and automate the work around leasing and property management. Her earlier career included content and outreach at Movements.org and co-founding The Engine Room, where she was community lead until 2013. Her documented work connects digital advocacy, writing and the practical systems that help people use technology.

- **Role:** Co-founder and CEO at Caretaker (historically documented)
- **Organizations:** Caretaker (formerly Flip), The Engine Room, Movements.org, The Nation
- **Education:** Columbia Business School, Master’s in Political Science, Columbia University, New York University, George Washington University
- **Known for:** Co-founded The Engine Room, a civic technology support organization., Built Flip from a tenant-focused marketplace into the broader rental operations business Caretaker., Flip participated in Techstars NYC and MetaProp NYC and was a Columbia Startup Lab alumnus.

## Career timeline

- **2008** — Covered internet politics during the US presidential campaign at The Nation, according to a historical biography.
- **2011** — Director of Content and Outreach at Movements.org; co-founded The Engine Room following advocacy work and interviews in Cairo.
- **2013** — Her period as community lead at The Engine Room ended.
- **2014** — Authored User Engagement Strategies for Open Data, a TechPresident and The Engine Room report.
- **2015** — Columbia Business School alumna; Flip launched in December after development through Techstars NYC.
- **2016** — Flip joined MetaProp NYC’s accelerator as its anchor startup; reported over 1,500 listings and 300 transferred leases by May.
- **2017** — Columbia documented $2.2 million in new investment after $1.2 million in earlier angel financing.
- **2019** — Fred Wilson highlighted her Gotham Gal podcast appearance and identified Flip as a Union Square Ventures portfolio company.
- **2021** — A July 11 Caretaker post by Vila explained the company’s evolution from Flip and the reasons for its rebrand; this is the article date, not a verified rebrand date.
- **2024** — Caretaker’s blog lists her April 9 article on historical property records.

## Achievements

- Co-founded The Engine Room, a civic technology support organization.
- Built Flip from a tenant-focused marketplace into the broader rental operations business Caretaker.
- Flip participated in Techstars NYC and MetaProp NYC and was a Columbia Startup Lab alumnus.
- Flip reported over 300 lease transfers by May 2016.
- Authored the March 2014 report User Engagement Strategies for Open Data.

## Latest updates

- **2024-04** — Caretaker’s blog lists Why You Should Get the Property Records for Your House, dated April 9 and attributed to Susannah Vila.

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susannahvila
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/szvila

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/susannah-vila
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-23