Tech Nest: The Proptech Podcast

Max Brickman, founder of Heartland Ventures, discusses his unconventional approach to venture capital investing on Tech Nest. Brickman has an incredible background as an operator, and that experience has helped him rethink the approach to venture capital. All the way from the investors he partners with all the way to how his firm determines what companies to invest in.  More about Max and Heartland VenturesHeartland Ventures is an unconventional venture capital firm focused on connecting startups from traditional tech hubs to industrial corporations in America's heartland. Founded in 2016, Heartland has over $100 million under management and has invested in 14 high-performing portfolio companies.Max is the Managing Director of Heartland Ventures, which he founded in 2016.  He manages the fund’s relationships with other venture capital partners and oversees key investment decisions with the Heartland team. He was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2022.Follow Heartland Ventures on TwitterFollow Heartland Ventures on LinkedInCheck out Heartland Ventures

11 Tammi 202345min

Tech Nest Podcast brings you an interview with Lily Liu, CEO of Piñata, an innovative new app that rewards renters for their monthly payments. In this episode, Lily discusses the inspiration behind Piñata, how it works, and the benefits it offers to both renters and landlords. She also shares her insights on the future of the rental market and how renter amenities will take shape in the years to come. Tune in to hear more about this exciting new app that is changing the game for renters everywhere.More about Lily and PiñataPiñata is the nation’s largest rental membership program on a mission to make renting smarter and more rewarding for tenants and landlords alike. The company, founded in 2020 and led by women of color, offers renters a unique set of financial benefits including free rewards and credit-score-boosting opportunities, while also providing a unique amenity for landlords. Piñata has raised $20 million from leading investors including Wilshire Lane Capital.Lily Liu's career started out by straddling the lines of technology and government founding PublicStuff, which she sold to Accela that was then acquired by Berkshire Partners. As the CEO of Piñata, Lily has brought to life her vision of creating financial equality for renters. In 2017, she was recognized as Forbes’ 30 under 30 Top Entrepreneurs and Business Insiders’ People to Watch. Her entrepreneurial leadership allows Lily to address glaring systemic issues in the financial and real estate industries. Learn more at www.lily-liu.com. Lily is a first-generation Taiwanese American, raised in a blue-collar family. Her interest in building companies started at a young age stemming from her childhood experiences working at her father’s business. At 18, Lily started her first organization, providing free tutoring services to inner-city urban Pittsburgh students. From there, she became the youngest analyst under Mayor Bloomberg's Department of Education for special analytics and projects. In 2009, she founded her first tech start-up, PublicStuff. Connect with Lily on LinkedInCheck out Piñata

3 Tammi 202355min

More about Cherre and KevinCherre is the leader in real estate data and insight. We connect decision makers to accurate property and market information, and help them make faster, smarter decisions. By providing a unique “single source of truth,” Cherre empowers customers to evaluate opportunities and trends faster and more accurately, while saving millions of dollars in manual data collection and analytics costs.Kevin is recognized as one of the leading commercial real estate executives and currently the Global Head of Innovation at Cherre. Follow Kevin on TwitterFollow Cherre on TwitterFollow Cherre on LinkedInCheck out Cherre

27 Joulu 20221h 3min

More about Roofstock onChain and Sanjay Raghavan and Geoff ThompsonRoofstock onChain is the web3 subsidiary of Roofstock, the leading digital real estate investing platform for the $4 trillion single-family rental home sector. Using blockchain technology, Roofstock onChain provides investors the ability to purchase tokenized single family rental properties with one click, and to transact with crypto, cutting the time and cost incurred by legacy systems. Roofstock provides extensive resources for investors to actively participate in the SFR space, including data analytics, connections to property management companies and contractors, and other management tools. Founded in 2015, Roofstock has facilitated more than $5 billion in investment transactions to date.Sanjay is the Head of Web3 Initiatives of Roofstock onChain where he leads the real estate investing platform’s blockchain initiative. After being accepted into Cypher Accelerator, the first-of-its-kind Wharton-backed program for blockchain startups, Sanjay continues to build connections between real estate investing and blockchain. Sanjay is also an Advisor at Pudgy Penguins NFTs. With over 20 years of finance and product experience, Sanjay has an extensive background consulting, developing, and founding several financial companies. Prior to Sanjay’s current role at Roofstock, he was the Co-creator and GM of Roofstock One, an innovative, transparent rental investment platform that allows accredited investors to get targeted exposure to the economics of curated SFR properties. Before joining Roofstock, Sanjay served as a Product Manager at Renew Financial and Director of Carolina Financial Group LLC. He also co-founded LCAP Advisors which provides Wall Street caliber portfolio analysis and risk assessment solutions to small banks and credit unions for their on-balance sheet loans. Sanjay has a Masters in Business Administration from The Wharton School. Geoff is the Chief Blockchain Officer of Roofstock onChain where he leads the real estate investing platform’s foray into web3. After being accepted into Cypher Accelerator, the first-of-its-kind Wharton-backed program for blockchain startups, Geoff continues to push the blockchain ecosystem forward through real estate investing. Geoff built his career at top tier law firms practicing in the areas of capital markets, banking and credit, structured finance, private equity and cross-border transactions. Geoff’s prior role at Roofstock was as General Counsel where he advised on partnerships, product innovation, fundraising, deal structuring, real estate matters, securities law, international expansion, and all other legal and compliance matters. Before joining Roofstock, Geoff served as General Counsel at ApplePie Capital, where he was instrumental in helping the company originate over $500 million in small business loans in 3 years. He previously practiced law at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, White & Case and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe. Prior to attending law school, Geoff was an associate at McKinsey & Company. Geoff has an undergraduate degree from The American University of Paris and a Masters in International Economics from SDA Bocconi in Milan. He earned a JD and LLM from the Duke University School of Law. Follow Sanjay on TwitterFollow Geoff on TwitterFollow Roofstock onChain on TwitterConnect with Sanjay on LinkedInConnect with Geoff on LinkedInCheck out Roofstock onChain

20 Joulu 20221h 2min

What a time to be alive. It truly is and this episode is proof of that. I'm talking with Brent Hasse, CEO of Flat. Flat is a subscription service for homeowners. They're leveraging smart technology, combined with a network of vetted trade partners, to provide superior home maintenance and wellness checks to homeowners. Brent gives us all the dirt on the business, including how strategic channel partnerships have proven to be significant driver of growth versus other more costly channels like digital advertising. When building a startup in a category consumers don't know to search for, it can be a tough go. Listen in to hear how Brent is bringing Flat into homes today and what their expansion plans for the future looks like. More about Brent and FlatFlat is working to vastly improve the home ownership experience through data and technology. The company provides a subscription service that includes Wellness Checks (think Oil Change, but for your home), performs comprehensive maintenance and assessment of a home’s condition, and has the option to book repairs immediately with our network of vetted partners all through our platform. Flat offers homeowners peace of mind, reduced risk for major repairs through regularly inspecting a home, and frictionlessly performing timely minor maintenance.  Everything will be trackable and could be used as a Carfax report for your home.  Brent is the founder and CEO of Flat, a tech-enabled proactive home maintenance and management platform to help flatten the cost of homeownership. He noticed we take better care of our cars and pets than our largest asset - our homes - and decided to create a platform to capture potential home issues as they arise and make projects more efficient for local vendors. He has over 10 years of real estate services experience and a passion for all things Chicago, Purdue basketball, and real estate.Follow Flat on LinkedInCheck out Flat

6 Joulu 202247min

Alex Czarnecki is leading the charge at Cottage, focused on modernizing the way in which homeowners can build ADUs. The popularity of ADUs only seems to grow as housing becomes tougher to afford while legacy zoning laws have made it very difficult to build new, infill housing units. With legislation changes to zoning laws and increased focused on units such as ADUs, it's no wonder the opportunity to revolutionize this segment of real estate is only accelerating. Even though Cottage has only been in business for a little more than two years, the've completed projects in over 100 California cities, with a focus on the San Francisco and Los Angeles areas. Alex breaks the opportunity down, mentioning this is not a winner take all game, but rather, there will be many winners (ideally that also means homeowners and renters win in all of this, as well). Listen in as Alex breaks down the hubbub around ADUs.More about Alex and CottageCottage is an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) design-build firm committed to providing homeowners with the easiest process to build additional housing. As its primary focus, Cottage delivers ADUs, enabling homeowners to earn rental income or provide greatly needed housing to their family or local community by adding an extra unit to their home. Made up of architects, builders, and technologists, Cottage leverages their expertise in every step of the design and build process to build ADUs faster, with transparent pricing from the start, while simultaneously maintaining the highest standards for customization and quality. Meanwhile, contractors on the platform get a pipeline of projects and time-saving tools, so they can focus on providing quality work and client service.Alex Czarnecki, CEO of Cottage, wants to help homeowners and contractors build more and build better. After forging a career launching new business units for Uber around the world, Alex took on the challenge of building his own ADU, but after confronting delays through an overly complex process, he knew there had to be a better way. Since its founding in 2020, Cottage has expanded to more than 100 California cities – and growing – to help homeowners get more out of their home with an ADU.Follow Alex on TwitterFollow Cottage on TwitterConnect with Alex on LinkedInCheck out Cotta.ge

23 Marras 202244min

Easily one of my favorite startup founding stories. Andrew Farah, CEO and Co-founder of Density, wanted to create an API he could call to find out how many people were in line at his favorite coffee shop. Once Andrew figured this out, he quickly discovered this sort of technology was something many real estate operations teams and workplace teams across the country would want. Shortly after announcing what he'd created and that he intended to build it out more, thousands signed up for a waitlist to learn more.Density is both a software and hardware company, but as you'll hear Andrew describe, they're a reluctant hardware company that's really great at creating software solutions. By bringing in some of the best talent in creating physical products and leaning on his experience leading a dev shop, Andrew has created the perfect balance that is driving the success of Density today. Whether or not you care about office space utilization, you'll be hard pressed to listen to Andrew and not be inspired by what he's building and dream up other use cases throughout this episode. Jump on in!More about Density and AndrewDensity builds technology that helps companies understand how people use their workspaces. Its software unlocks comprehensive insights into how workspace is used through its privacy-first sensors. These insights inform workplace decisions at companies ranging from Fortune 1000 to high growth tech, including Uber, Pinterest, Shopify, Okta and other household names in financial services, e-commerce and social networking. Today, Density partners with companies that occupy more than 1.25 billion square feet across 32 countries.Andrew is the co-founder and CEO of Density, driving the team toward its mission to help companies measure and improve their footprint on the world. Today, Density partners with companies that occupy more than 1.25 billion square feet across 32 countries. Prior to Density, Andrew spent five years as a Partner and Strategic Lead at Rounded, a product-focused software development agency. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Writing and a Master’s in Information Management, both from Syracuse University. Follow Andrew on TwitterFollow Density on TwitterFollow Density on LinkedInCheck out Density

15 Marras 20221h

Over the last few years there's been a few startups that have tried to focus on the first-time home buyer as their market segment by courting renters through rewards programs. You can even see the evidence of this in how the listings marketplace websites like Zillow and Realtor.com want to build relationships with renters today—who in their minds are the homebuyers tomorrow. Will Dunn, Co-founder and CGO of Gravy (Chief Growth Officer, though I recommended the G should be Gravy), breaks down why creating a unique rewards program for renters is a powerful tool to helping unlock homeownership. What's unique about Gravy is there is no fee up front for renters and landlords don't have to sign-up for anything nor change anything about how they collect rent. Listen in as Will gives us all the details and more.More about Gravy and WillGravy is a mobile app that helps renters become homebuyers. Buying a home is a confusing and complicated process––especially if you don't have a network of friends/family who have done it––including knowing where to start.Gravy is designed to be both the first-step toward homeownership for renters and each step following to getting the keys to a new home.Will Dunn is the co-founder and CGO of Gravy, where he oversees the company’s marketing, customer acquisition, and B2B partner operations.Prior to Gravy, Will was Business Manager of Resident Services at leading property management software company, Buildium. Teaming up with Buildium alumni Jimmy Lien and Jeff Dinter, the three launched Gravy in April 2022 to become the destination where all 100M+ renters in the U.S. save money to buy their first home and learn how to successfully navigate the homebuying process.Connect with Will on LinkedInCheck out Gravy

1 Marras 202256min