David Friedman and the Evolution of the Industry
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Aloha and welcome to the inaugural episode of Listing Bits! Greg comes to you from Ko Olina, Hawaii, where he is attending Hawaii Life’s Worthshop 6, and chatting with real estate tech leader David Friedman.
Friedman describes himself as a Jewish kid from New York who went to engineering school during the dot-com boom. Interested in startups, he discovered that the real estate brokerage space lagged behind the curve in tech and set out to build a platform during the recession. That idea grew into the formation of
Boston Logic Technology Partners, Inc., an information technology firm whose mission is to help real estate brokerages grow faster by implementing their software and companion services.
As president of Boston Logic, Friedman leads the team in developing the company’s strategic vision. Working with investors, managers and clients, he is involved in the daily operations of the business including hiring, sales and fundraising. He is a metrics oriented sales manager, internet marketing strategist and coach with proven experience as an entrepreneur, growing a company from idea to profitability.
On this first episode of the podcast, Friedman talks about the rapid pace of innovation and growth in the real estate technology vertical, the future of Boston Logic and industry trends in big data and AI.
What’s Discussed:
Why chaos causes innovation
-The success of a business over time has no correlation to broader economic trends
-During a recession, many become entrepreneurs by necessity
Why the real estate industry has been behind the curve in technology
-When times are good (i.e.: during a boom), people don’t feel the need to innovate
The exponential growth of the real estate software realm
-From 2013-2014, funding for the formation of new companies went up 4X
How advancements in technology have dramatically increased the pace of innovation
-Hosting space on the cloud is cheap
-Building on top of open source architecture allows for the development of a working prototype in weeks (not months)
Why tech tools working together via data connectivity will be the next wave in the industry
The big investment Boston Logic secured from Providence Equity
How Boston Logic will employ the funds from Providence Equity’s backing
-Invest in the core business
-Look at acquisitions for growth
The traits of Boston Logic’s ideal client
-Small or large brokerages
-More tech forward than the average brokerage
-Current platform isn’t keeping up, isn’t integrated, or lacks a data sharing component
Trends in real estate tech
-Utilizing big data in a new way – making dormant data an asset
-AI – using bots to replace call center employees
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