The Insider: Issue 012
We’re sending all the positivity we’ve got to our friends in California and Louisiana this Monday morning 🙏💛
Last Week This Week
Some pretty interesting things went down last week if you cared to look a bit beyond the usual industry noise, to wit...
- Firemaps, a startup that’s built a marketplace around hardening homes against wildfires, was funded by top-shelf VC a16z.
- ICON, a company that uses 3D printing to build homes, raised $205 million.
- California’s legislature passed a law permitting 2-unit housing (think townhomes, duplexes) in neighborhoods that have, until now, been zoned as single-family-only, a move expected to create 700,000 new housing units.
- Pacaso, the white-hot second home startup founded by Spencer Rascoff and Austin Allison, continues to attract the ire of folks who live in some of the neighborhoods in which the company buys homes. It seems that affluent people don’t want other affluent people to share homes.
In other words, housing is super interesting right now.
Have You Heard About This?
I Wanna Live There
Remote working was just the beginning. Now, it’s all about remote living. In fact, the trend has gained so much steam that the online community, Nomad List, is thriving with people seeking to live anywhere and everywhere. The site collects insights about livability in cities around the world — cost, fun, safety, Internet quality. As we navigate the new normal of mobility, it’ll be interesting to see what kind of impact it may have on ownership appetite.
What's Inside
The September calendar is full of good stuff.
A Master Session from 1000watt’s Creative Director, Patrick Sanders, in which he’ll share a behind the scenes look at the content, strategy, and design work that goes into a successful website redesign.
A new From the Source focus group, in which we’ll ask top-producing, tech savvy agents a simple yet challenging question: What’s the next digital signature - the tech that would change your working life forever?
As always, ping us with the topics you’d love to see us cover — [email protected].
Inspiration Point
When Times Get Tough, the Tough Get Incredibly Creative
We love this recent campaign for Iceland, which lured travelers in with the promise of a unique gift: sweatpant boots. The idea was to offer visitors in July the chance to trade in their favorite pair of sweatpants (i.e., COVID uniform) and have them created into a pair of custom boots (i.e., adventure awaits). So clever. Unique. And decidedly Icelandic.
Magic Moments & Popsicles
Often, one little touch can seriously make or break how your market perceives your brand. It may seem trivial, but check this out: A hotel in Los Angeles, which could be described as “average” by most standards, is rated #2 on TripAdvisor… not because of its rooms, location, pool or even service, but because it has a Popsicle Hotline set up in the lobby where guests can pick up the phone and order a popsicle at any time for any reason. That little moment makes a lasting impression for a lot of reasons: It’s different, unexpected, and makes you feel like a kid again.
Quote of the Week
“A solid vision statement won’t describe what you do, but rather the result of what you do.”
— Tom Flick
