October 29, 2019

Listing Bits Episode 53: Radical Transparency & the Remine Pivot – with Mark Schacknies

42 minutes

When you move fast, you break things. Mark and the rest of Remine's co-founders are definitely shaking things up in the MLS space. This conversation was recorded at the CMLS Conference in Salt Lake City on October 17th before their recent attempt to launch a new listing portal and Zillow's decision to cut off access to their Zestimate API As Mark says, in this wide ranging conversation, Remine's attitude is to "go big or go home."

In February 2019, Remine raised $30M in private equity to grow its real estate data and analytics platform. A month later, the company announced a painful reduction in force as they shifted focus from upselling agents to partnering with the MLS. So, what prompted Remine's pivot to an enterprise model? And how are they making the transition from predictive analytics to a next-level MLS system?

Mark Schacknies is the Cofounder and CEO of Remine, a software company that delivers real estate intelligence to more than 825,000 realtors in 40-plus MLS markets. On this episode of Listing Bits, Mark shares the Remine origin story, discussing how the founders started out as competing agents but came together around a shared fondness for data-driven strategies.

Mark speaks to Remine's pivot from predictive analytics tool to full MLS system, describing what inspired their transition to an enterprise model and how they are addressing their lack of experience in the realm of MLS conversion. Listen in for insight around how Remine's philosophy differs from legacy incumbents like CoreLogic and learn what success looks like for Mark's team on their journey to an IPO.

What's Discussed:

How the founders of Remine started out as competitors

Leveraging tech to transform real estate from within

How the MLS governs the world's most important asset class

Why Redfin is at the top of Mark's list of consumer portals

Balancing privacy with data to empower decision-making

What inspired Remine's pivot to a full MLS platform

What a day-in-the-life of Mark Schacknies looks like

How Remine is addressing a lack of experience in MLS conversion

The difference in philosophy between Remine and CoreLogic

How Remine's UI gives control to MLSs re: business rules

What success looks like for Remine + the IPO timeline