Tech Nest: The Proptech Podcast

Have we all been ignoring opportunities to uncover inventory? Amanda Orson, Founder and CEO of Galleon, reveals the hidden potential in the real estate marketplace by exposing inventory not visible on the MLS. She shares insights on industry challenges and opportunities, and how technological advances are revolutionizing real estate transactions. Amanda discusses why the traditional 3% buyer's age...

I'm super excited for this episode's guest, Lior Abramovich, co-founder and CEO of Blanket. Blanket is a property retention platform, designed to help property managers reduce churn and better inform owners.  Discover how Blanket launched to immediate acclaim and rapidly assembled a team driven by a shared mission. Lior outlines the dual aspects of their service: an owner investment dashboard that...

He's back! Nima Wedlake, Managing Director at ThomVest Ventures, about the current state of Proptech and the themes he is tracking for 2024. We focused on an essay Nima penned, covering several topics including control point software, AI's impact on construction productivity, and the rise of home services businesses.  Nima discusses the challenges and opportunities in scaling tech-enabled service...

This episode is focused on tech providing the means to execute the basics, at a high level, for real estate agents, teams, and brokerages. Vijay Gopalswamy, founder and CEO of Traxy, a deal-tracking tool for real estate professionals, shares his story of why he started Trackxi due to a void in the market for a great transaction coordinating platform. Vijay got into real estate as an agent, so he's...

More about BrainBox AI and Jean-Simon Founded in 2017, BrainBox AI was created to address two critical issues currently facing the built environment: carbon emissions and energy consumption. As innovators in the decarbonization movement, BrainBox AI’s game-changing HVAC technology leverages AI to make buildings smarter, greener, and more efficient. Through strategic global relationships, BrainBox...

Mike Simonsen, President of Altos Research, joins Tech Nest today to discuss real estate data and some of the myths around mortgage rate lock-ins. Altos Research offers local and national real estate data to financial institutions, real estate pros, and investors. Simonsen reveals that the lock-in effect started in 2014, not 2022, due to falling mortgage rates making homeowners hesitant to sell. H...

Chet Kittleson, Co-founder and CEO of Far Homes, shares how the company is simplifying international home buying. Born from the pandemic's remote work trend, Far Homes helps people buy and sell homes abroad, starting with Mexico. They offer a thorough real estate search platform, connect buyers with local agents, and focus on high-demand markets like Cancun and the Riviera Maya.  Far Homes aims to...

This week's engaging interview is with Stephen "Capz" Capezza, President of Side. Stephen shares his journey in real estate and provides a deep dive into Side's unique brokerage-as-a-service model. Side is a true pioneer in the real estate brokerage space as the only brokerage-as-a-service platform. The success of this platform can be seen based on the industry recognition many of their agents hav...

In this conversation, I talk with Ned Murphy, the General Manager at Level M, about the state of the multifamily industry and the role of smart buildings.  We discuss the impact of new construction on the market, the competitive dynamics and concessions in the industry, and the challenges of hardware and software integration. Ned shares more about Level M as a next-generation platform, aimed at he...

In this episode of Tech Nest, we have a returning guest, David Sullivan, on the show. David was previously CEO of a company called Till, which was acquired by Best Egg. David's been working to bring flexible rent solutions to the renters market, and through the acquisition by Best Egg, is now better positioned to do so.  We get into the challenges of disrupting the property management industry and...

This is the type of conversation I should have had on the show a long time ago. Industry veteran, brand-builder, and all-around great guy, Brian Boero joins the show today. Brian is Co-founder at the branding and strategy agency, 1000WATT. They focus exclusively on working with brands in the real estate vertical including brokerages, lenders, and technology companies. One of the first topics I was...

This week's interview features Vincent Hodder, Co-founder and CEO of Local Logic. Local Logic is a location intelligence platform that focuses on digitizing the built world and providing predictive analytics for addresses in the US and Canada. They have a massive data set of 100 billion unique data points, which allows them to understand and quantify cities at a hyperlocal level. You'll hear us di...

This week's guest is Everett Lynn, Founder and CEO of Amenify, a plug and play platform for amenity services in the multifamily space. We  discuss Amenify's recent growth trajectory (hint: they've been on fire!).  Everett shares his insights on different types of fundraising and the challenges of disruption in the real estate industry—a topic that is frequently discussed, but Everett offers some u...

It's my second time interviewing Joseph Woodbury, co-founder and CEO of Neighbor.com. In case you missed, Joseph previously joined Tyler Cauble and I for a l ive stream on Tyler's CRE YouTube channel . This time for Tech Nest, we switched up the topics. We get into how his company is disrupting the self-storage industry by leveraging the peer-to-peer model. Neighbor allows individuals and business...

I promise you, discussing security deposits isn't as boring as it may seem. This week, I'm joined by Conor Brennan, Co-founder of Rentable, a security deposit management platform for residential real estate. He shares about the pain points of security deposits, including the legal challenges and outdated processes. We dig into the importance of integrations and Rentable's focus on cash deposits. C...

This week, I'm fortunate to be joined by fellow South Dakotan, Ray Hespen. Ray is CEO and co-founder of Property Meld, a maintenance automation software company. based in Rapid City, South Dakota. Let's start with some performance metrics from Property Meld's 2023: $723,997,461 in repairs completed 8,467,099 maintenance phone calls eliminated 378,082 maintenance issues prevented 4.40 average resid...

In this episode, I interview Zach Gorman, co-founder and COO of RealReports, an AI-powered real estate data platform that consolidates multiple data sources and provides agents with comprehensive reports. The platform offers agents the ability to generate new business, win deals, and conduct research and diligence more efficiently. We discuss the challenges of fragmented and inaccessible data in t...

For episode 200 of Tech Nest, I wanted to share some thoughts on the journey of the podcast, as well as some general life and work updates. Of course I owe so much to so many in the industry—so I spend some time discussing past guests and what this show means to me. You'll hear a brief bit of the success stories of startups featured on the show and highlights the challenges faced by proptech compa...

Pat Kinsel is back for his second appearance on Tech Nest. Pat is the Founder and CEO of Proof, an intelligent platform that combines auditable verification with cryptographic evidence to securely execute legally binding agreements. We waste no time getting into why Proof rebranded from being known as Notarize and how the new brand more accurately reflects the full vision of the company.  Some of...

Today's guest is Matt Service, COO of Apartment List. In this episode, Matt discusses the unique user experience and value proposition of Apartment List's matchmaking rental marketplace and announces the company's latest innovation: Lea Pro. As they describe it, Lea Pro is "a groundbreaking AI-powered leasing assistant designed to work hand-in-hand with property management companies and leasing ag...

This week's featured guest is Gavin Myers, Managing Partner at Prudence, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on investing in technology companies in the real estate sector. We dig into Gavin's background and transition to proptech, as well as Prudence's investment strategy of backing differentiated and defensible companies. Gavin shares the importance of understanding the sector and the pe...

Yves Perez, CEO of WorkBnB, discusses the significance of workforce housing and the challenges faced by workers in the construction industry. He highlights the importance of mental health and the need for comfortable accommodations for workers who have to travel for their jobs. Perez explains the practical differences of workforce housing compared to traditional options like Airbnb and hotels and...

Brandon Peterson, the founder and CEO of GeoKey, discusses the benefits of mobile access control and property management solutions. He shares his background as a serial entrepreneur and the inspiration behind starting GeoKey. Brandon explains the importance of partnerships and integrations in the proptech industry and how GeoKey is leveraging AI to streamline operations and enhance the customer ex...

In this episode we have Clayton Collins , the Founder and CEO of HW Media . Clayton discusses the growth and vision of HW Media, the challenges of building a media powerhouse, predictions for the real estate market in 2024, and their upcoming annual event, The Gathering . Clayton shares insights on interest rates, inventory, and consumer psychology in the housing industry. He also highlights the i...

Tim Ray, CEO of VeriFast, discusses the importance of identity verification in the real estate industry and the challenges of tenant fraud. He explains how VeriFast's single-source verification platform helps verify individuals' identities and financial details, providing a more secure and flexible screening process for renters—especially for those with a non-traditional income. Tim also highlight...