The Insider: Issue 039
It’s Women’s History month. This week, we’re taking a moment to think about women’s impact on real estate. Then, bear with us as we round out this issue with a bit of bathroom humor that has a creative, world-changing twist.
Something Different
We ventured outward last week — Marc attended Propy's Crypto and Real Estate Summit in Miami, and Brian headed to the Leading Real Estate Companies of the World Annual Conference in Las Vegas.
Both were outstanding, and, being out on opposite extremities of the real estate space right now, made for some interesting post show note comparing.
Marc came back saying that the Crypto event had the kind of energy he hadn’t felt since the late-1990’s Inman Connect events, when everyone had that electric feeling of being out on the edge of an exciting new frontier. No one was complaining too much that a 30-year fixed was at about 7% because, hey, they were all reinventing real estate from the ground up anyway.
Whatever does and does not happen with crypto in real estate in the next few years, it’s always good to absorb that vibe, stay open to possibilities outside the conventional wisdom, and channel at least some of that transformational energy into our own businesses.
The mood at Leading RE was more complicated. The anxiety about vanishingly scarce inventory enveloped attendees like the smoke over the Wynn’s casino floor. There are simply not enough homes to sell, and, worse, few could articulate a path out of that situation. The underlying opportunity is one of consolidation and positioning-building. Leading RE companies are among the strongest brokerages in America (and the world) and are moving on acquisitions like crazy, scooping up weaker competitors unable to make it through this long, lean Winter of Little Inventory.
Also: There was lots of talk about the bloom being off the Compass rose. Sure, the bonuses are still flying and the tech and marketing machine is still humming, but more companies were more comfortable standing up to the schoolyard bully than at any time in the past few years. False hope or new hope?
Like everything, time will tell.
Have You Heard About This?
When You Can’t Join Them, You Beat Them
It’s Women’s History Month, a time when we hold up women in the workplace and on the world stage, honor their contributions, and, in some cases, vow to do a better job at inviting them to the leadership table. You may have heard about the tweet by a partner at venture fund Bain Capital last week, in which he announced a new all-male crypto fund leadership team on International Women’s Day, then proceeded to get skewered on social media for the lack of diversity.
Diversity is a hot and touchy topic. We’ve had the pleasure of working with a number of fierce women business leaders over the years — Michael Saunders, Sherry Chris, Pam O’Connor, Lacey Conway, Renee Grubb, Carol Bulman, Amy Bayer, Carol Bayer, and Vanessa Bergmark, to name just a very few. (Seriously, there are many.) But the residential real estate industry, whose rank and file are predominantly female, still lags on female leadership at the top. (The lack of non-white leadership is a whole different conversation.) What’s perhaps most interesting about women’s impact on our big little industry, is how, throughout the decades when women couldn’t find what they were looking for in leadership, they went and built their own empires instead. Legendary empires, too. Ones that stand as powerhouses to this day.
And as for that all-male crypto fund? Maybe someone needs to introduce them to Natalia Karayaneva, Founder and CEO of Propy, a company leading the way in cryptocurrency in real estate and doing so with a predominantly female leadership team. (Disclosure: Propy is a 1000watt client.)
So, to the empire builders, the tech titans, the working warriors, the parental pioneers, negotiation ninjas, and all-around hustlers…
We see you.
We know there’s so much more coming.
What's Inside
Coming this week: and all-new Original Research report on what real estate advertising consumers are drawn to, what they call B.S. on, and what we think this means for your brand building going forward.
Agent Pulse
There are too many agents, too few homes to sell, and a ton of new brokerage competitors. Recruiting has never been more frenzied.
We wanted to know: how many agents are actively looking for a new brokerage? Sure, they’re all getting the robo calls and “meet for coffee” emails, but to what degree are agents shopping right now?
The results from nationwide our panel of agents across the country surprised us:
88.8% said, no, I am not actively looking.
11.2% said, yes, I am actively looking.
Inspiration Point
Give A Crap
By now, you may have noticed that a constant theme here is the notion that no business is too serious, too banal, or too important to avoid being approached creatively. This falls under that category. Introducing: “Who Gives a Crap” toilet paper, a cheeky UK-based impact-driven company that donates 50% of its profits to help build toilets and improve sanitation in the developing world. This copywriter has fun at their job. Yes, it’s for back sides. Take a moment to enjoy their website. That is all.
Quote of the week
“Writing about something, even something you know well, usually shows you that you didn't know it as well as you thought.”
— Paul Graham (Excerpt from “Putting Ideas Into Words”)
