Episodes

Why is there so much bespoke design happening with real estate development projects? What is meant by design productization? Why have some companies championed vertically integrated construction? What was Katerra's business model and secret sauce? Why is innovating in construction tech so difficult? What are the challenges for VCs when considering non-software investments in construction tech? Why is the construction industry facing major challenges when manufacturers are investing in industrial...

Why can long tenures in industries stifle innovation? How did John and his wife end up in Mountain View, California? What were some of the memorable dates that John took his wife on? Why was it beneficial to write business plans on any idea that John researched? What prompted the research and launching of Sara Schools Music Program? Why was the concept of leasehold improvements so frustrating to John? What lessons and struggles came with running a service business? What divine inspiration did Jo...

Which emerging trend caused Skye not to pursue a degree in architecture? What was it like building a startup within Oracle? How did personal experience draw Skye into the proptech space? What realization around purchasing a home was the inspiration for starting Crib Equity? Why are third-party investors interested in helping unknown individuals purchase a home? What are the systemic structural issues that first-time homebuyers are faced with today? Why are homebuyers no longer putting 20% down a...

Despite many advances in proptech, has it also regressed in certain senses? Why has the technology adoption chasm been so big to cross in proptech? Can proptech solutions hope to introduce change management to companies that still solely rely on Excel to run their business? Why did Kyle see technology as an advantage over his potential commercial real estate broker colleagues? What has it been like launching a technology startup with no prior background in technology? What is an asset operating ...

Is the right way to think about proptech to frame it in terms of how humans live, work, and function in our communities? What is the proptech scene like in Romania? Why were real estate developers experiencing so many issues in their sales process and turning to tech solutions to solve these? What has led to Romania having such a high property ownership rate? Why are Romanian property valuations continuing to grow year over year? What impact is AI having on the real estate industry? Why was it i...

Why has proptech evolved from initially innovating and disrupting the four walls of a physical asset to now primarily encompassing secondary industries such as financing and servicing which are asset light? Does ESG fall under the big umbrella of proptech? What are the benefits of having job experience in an industry and getting the exposure necessary to be able to speak the language of an industry? How was the New York startup scene changed since the early 2010s? What are some of the most impor...

Why are many of the most successful real estate agents true entrepreneurs at heart? How is Redfin able to focus on solving the core issues of the real estate agent and in turn solve problems for the homebuying consumer? What has been the driver of more and more homebuyers looking to purchase real estate properties outside the US? Why is purchasing real estate internationally such a black box? What are the primary differences between purchasing a home in the US and purchasing a home in Mexico? Wh...

Why does coming to terms with the fact that you won't lose everything by becoming an entrepreneur help founders cross a mental threshold for diving into a new venture? How did the term 'burn it to the ground' directly apply to the entrepreneurial ventures of Brandon's family? Why is galvanizing a team and building a great culture central to entrepreneurial success? What was the importance of Geokey being hardware agnostic? Why is it important to use data to make better decisions and to then pivo...

Why is it important to include supply chain in the proptech tent? How do asset lifecycles contribute to the complexity of the real estate industry? In what ways did a class in entrepreneurial marketing at Harvard Business School cause a reset of notions around who can be an entrepreneur? How did a personal experience with a shipping oil spill in her backyard cause Kathleen to rethink how commerce and the environment need to interact? Why does the built environment provide such a large opportunit...

What macro factors motivated Eric's initial decision to enter the construction field right out of college? Why is it so difficult to drive change within the construction industry? Is technology adoption within the commercial construction sector finally starting to the hit the adoption hockey stick? What are the cost advantages of using technology in pre-construction to minimize in the field problem issues? Where is the bulk of cost in construction projects? Why are back-office construction tech...

How are many investors today differentiating proptech and construction tech? Is entrepreneurship genetic or learned? Why are the siloed dynamics typically involved in construction processes? What are the realities and challenges that residential homebuilding laborers face on the job site today? Why do we need a supply side solution to the housing crisis? How is BotBuilt's robotic system optimizing for cost efficiency? Why is velocity important in building momentum for a new startup brand and how...

How are smart cities and proptech-related terms? Which other investing domains typically fall under smart cities? What are all the different real estate asset classes that airports manage as part of their operations? How do the sizes of typical multifamily properties differ in North America compared to Europe? Does vertical transportation differ in European vs North American multifamily properties? How has the rise in interest rates provided a shock to startup tech entrepreneurs and reminded the...

What was it like to work at WeWork during its hypergrowth phase? Which businesses outside of the WeWork mothership were Aleks involved with? What did Aleks learn about the right cost of capital for different business models while at WeWork? Why are boutique hotels generally not profitable? What serendipitous introduction led to the Cuby Technologies co-founders meeting? How do the start-up costs for an industrialized construction company differ from that of most other proptech companies? Why has...

How do investors in businesses fundamentally differ from operators of businesses? What is intellectually compelling about building and running a business that has not been done before? Are there unique challenges for high-growth proptech businesses? Why do proptechs need to fundamentally understand how humans value where they live? What are the ripple effects within society of having a massive lack of housing supply? Why are smaller entry homes not being built by production homebuilders? What ar...

Are we in the early days of proptech or have we moved into a period of real estate technology maturity? Why has it taken so long for deeper technology solutions to be introduced into proptech? What are the parallels between automobile manufacturing advancements and building automation advancements? Why have mentorships become a cultural tenant at PassiveLogic? When designing solutions, why is it important to allow yourself to be a novice again and design the right solution for the problem at han...

Does it make sense to be thinking about proptech as the technology that real estate companies should be building but can't? How is the digital transformation of media companies relevant to real estate owners and operators? Have we already entered a transition point where we are moving from the flat two-dimensional web (screen) to the spatial web (location)? Is the real world becoming the canvas for the digital world, and if so, isn't real estate a huge player in this transformation and the lynch...

Do investors or customers drive the naming of tech sectors? Will co-buying be rebranded as mommunes or boommates as shared housing continues to explode? Why leave the Bay Area to experience winters and explore self growth? Which traditional routes of homeownership are now showing up as alternative modern options? What does the phrase act with urgency and maintain patience mean and how does it apply to start-ups? How can homeownership be hacked? Why might people buy their second home first? What ...

Is the correct definition of proptech the application of all things technology to real estate in order to achieve improved business results in the 21st century? What are the benefits of working on large built world infrastructure projects on multiple continents? Why did Arunabh switch from working for multinational firms to starting his own company? What are the supply chain challenges of hyper-local residential renovation? Why switch from real estate development into real estate investment? How...

Why did the pace of social impact work cause a career pivot to technology and data analysis? What makes culture so important in company building? What were some of the technical hurdles that needed to be solved in order to stream audio from satellites? Did the lack of challenges while working at the DoD set the stage for a professional move into entrepreneurship? How did a lack of female technology mentors also contribute to Masha's desire to start her own company? What was the opportunity in co...

What is the definition of industrialized construction and how does this fit within proptech? Which benefits to construction should be realized with the adoption and ongoing innovation of industrialized processes? How does American foreign policy on energy relate to housing? How did a student group at MIT help shift leadership from traditional energy to sustainable energy? What is building science and how does it relate to energy? Who famously said "building energy efficiency isn't the low hangin...

What challenges does the range of real estate asset classes present to technology innovators? Does an interdisciplinary approach to the challenges faced by the built world provide a beneficial approach? How did the concepts of ecosystem revival intersect with real estate during graduate studies at Stanford? Why has curiosity to improve the impact humans have had on the planet been a driving force for pursuing a career in the built environment? How did a diversity of educational backgrounds and e...

Where do proptech and construction tech intersect and where do they diverge? What was life like growing up in a family homebuilder business in Finland? What entrepreneurial ventures did Harri get involved with as a kid to enable him to buy Christmas presents for his family? Did Harri's initial foray into software coding lead to a lucrative early professional career? What pulled an independent entrepreneur back into the family homebuilding business? How do you build credibility with the workforce...

Are WeWork and Airbnb proptech companies? How did attending SXSW influence and create a desire to participate in the startup technology sector? What large data problem was Wines.com facing and how was this similar to data problems the MLS is resolving? How do you get a product management job without even knowing what product management is? Why do great technology companies fail if they cannot create a monetization strategy? How do unsuccessful startup experiences create a fire to do the startup ...

Does proptech have a fixed definition or is it in a constant state of evolution? What makes Los Angeles a particularly challenging real estate market to have success in? How did a customer focused approach of relentlessly seeking opportunities for clients create success despite a limited track record in the luxury home market? Why is building relationships the cornerstone of success, whether as a real estate agent or as a tech entrepreneur? How do the sales cycles of luxury real estate differ fr...