The Insider: Issue 046

Good morning, May! We’re already smelling sunscreen in the air. This season, it brings with it a bit of creative inspiration and deep thought around the future of AI and creative work. There’s also something about price reductions in the air… Dig in!

Last Week This Week

Radius, yet another new virtual brokerage with a subscription + transaction fee model, raised $6 million. The company is part of a new wave of office-less shops following the lead of more established players like EXP and Fathom. Radius started as an online community/referral network for agents — they claim 80,000 members have done 11,000 referrals to date — and it looks like they intend to recruit out of that user base. We think we’re going to see these virtual, low-cost plays keep coming.

Speaking of online agent communities... Courted.io also announced a $6 million dollar investment last week. The company uses transaction histories and AI to help agents connect with peers, direct outbound referrals and more. Keep an eye on them...

What we’re getting at here: There is no single app that most productive agents reach for the moment they open their eyes in the morning. It should be the MLS, but, well... that’s not exactly an elegant mobile experience, is it? Both Radius and Courted.io are dancing around this, but aren’t quite there. We think someone is going to hit on this big opportunity soon. Think something like agent Twitter.

What's Inside

Episode 3 of our Other Ways podcast drops this week, and we’re gonna learn how they do real estate in Dubai — how buyers buy, sellers sell, and agents get paid. Look into possible futures for the U.S. real estate industry by looking around!

Look out for our next Smart Guide where we’ll break down how to write a powerful “about us” statement for your company.

Inspiration Point

Make Mine ‘Leisure-Enhancing’
Sunscreen and vacation go hand in hand. This is why, when we first saw this new retro-vibed sunscreen product, aptly named Vacation, we immediately were smitten by its cleverness. (Why did a sunscreen named Vacation never exist before?) But wait… there’s more. This product is the brainchild of Poolside FM, and therefore comes with its own poolside radio station. You simply scan the QR code on the back to get instant access to your sunny afternoon tunes. This is one of the best product pages we’ve seen in a while and has lots of creative nuggets to glean and discuss. Like their copy, it “combines notes of coconut, banana, pool water, pool toy, and swimsuit lycra” or “leisure-enhancing and excessively good.” And the whole retro ‘80s vibe they achieved through photo quality, colorization, and typeface. If you’ve never heard of Poolsuite FM, get a bit of backstory and inside scoop on this brand that is building for fun.

 

Is the Future of Design Automated?
By now we all know that AI is a thing that’s already in our world and will continue to play a larger and larger role in our work and our society as a whole. Last week, we highlighted new developments in AI that writes marketing copy. This week, we’re diving into the impact and possibilities of AI in design with this article about historic “vibe” shifts in web design. The point is: AI will continue to make it easier to copy and paste and move major design vibes into the masses at faster and faster speeds… but the value of killer visual design is still worth it to brands that need to signal strength and viability to survive.

From the article:

“The primary function of visual aesthetics in corporate design, in my view, is to send a costly signal to prospective partners that the company is fit to survive. ‘We are strong, wealthy, and reliable,’ they say to your subconscious. Of course, besides visual aesthetics, a company’s marketing materials need to clearly articulate the product’s value proposition. But this essay is about how they do it. Cheap-looking design often signals a lack of resources and taste.”

From Real Estate Twitter

Rent control is being suggested with increasing frequency as a response to our housing affordability problem. Rental housing economist Jay Parsons clearly thinks this is a bad idea:

Quote of the week

“I think future generations are going to be ridiculously good at working with AI to create cool things. Just like anyone under 35 is considered to be ‘internet native,’ today’s kids will be considered ‘AI native.’”

— Nathan Baschez