Modern Multifamily

It's an exciting time to be in Multifamily, and I'm especially excited about what is happening in the PropTech space.

Yesterday A16z announced that they cut their biggest single check ever: $350 which they've invested into Flow, Adam Neumann's newest startup.

He's acquired 3,000 apartment units and plans to operate them using the Flow model. Which, is largely speculative - but seems to be here to create flexible living options for remote workers and those that want to live on the go.

To learn more - here are some great places to start:

- This week in Startups: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvGmgXPrrzk
- Fast Company: https://www.fastcompany.com/90768208/california-is-going-to-make-its-own-insulin-to-fight-high-prices-heres-how-it-might-work
- NY Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/15/business/dealbook/adam-neumann-flow-new-company-wework-real-estate.html

Brett Frank is a Community leader at Centerspace.

He recently won 20 in their 20's and I was lucky to meet him at NAA Apartmentalize in June.

In addition to his role, he's passionate about DEI - he serves on the committee at Centerspace, who recently was awarded a massive recognition for their role in this space.

Centerspace was awarded the 2022 NAA Excellence Award: Leading Organization in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

I had a blast digging into this topic as well as customer experience with Brett.

Find Brett on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-frank-711229209/

Centerspace: https://www.centerspacehomes.com/

Meet the NAA 20 in their 20's: https://www.naahq.org/awards-programs/20-their-twenties

See the NAA Excellence Award winners: https://www.naahq.org/2022-excellence-winners

I was lucky to have Zach Sloan, the co-founder and head of sales from Rentgrata on the show this week.

He is a positive figure in the industry and we covered two fun topics in this show.

Zach shared the founders story behind how Rentgrata was born as well as some of the exciting things that the team is building.

After that - we jumped into RETCON. I was really excited to get Zach's take on this conference as it's been one of the newer, but definitely popular conferences on the circuit.

Zach recently attended the event in New York so it was great to get his take on what his experience was like, if he plans to attend in the future, and if he'd recommend it to others considering how many there are to choose from.

To get in touch with Zach - he's easy to find on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachsloan/

To learn more about Rentgrata check out their website: https://www.rentgrata.com/

And finally, if you want to explore RETCON - you can learn more here: https://retconference.com/

Travis Block and Katie Kane have quickly become two of my favorite leaders in the Multifamily Industry.

Quick backgrounds on both of them:

Travis Block is the VP of Marketing and Brand at Golub out of Chicago. He's one of the most known voices on LinkedIn and has a deep passion and experience for branding, marketing, and all things technology.

Find him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/travis-block-716b1178/

Katie Kane is the Manager of CX and Training at Hills out of Ohio. I've been fortunate to spend quite a bit of time with her this year and her experience leans heavily on customer experience, training, and she's constantly looking for ways to improve her business and the relationships they have with their partners.

Find her on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/-katiekane-/

Ryan Funt is the Director of Marketing over Fitzrovia's entire Toronto Portfolio. 

Fitzrovia is a very cool development and management company that is working hard to redefine the Class-A rental market in Toronto.

I had an awesome time getting to know Ryan on this episode and really enjoyed his perspective on what purpose-built living means and why he's so excited about Toronto.

The resort-style living they are creating is incredible and after this episode finished, I immediately started to look at airplane tickets to visit!

Thanks again, Ryan! To get in touch with Ryan or to learn more about Fitzrovia, please follow the links below:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-funt-22118820/
https://fitzrovia.ca/

I had an absolute blast meeting Mark Zikra in person for the first time at NAA Apartmentalize 2022 in San Diego.

After a stellar run with CA Ventures building out quite the technology organization, Mark recently decided to step into August Hill to help build out their consulting org.

Mark has an impressive background in our industry with experience at almost every level in Multifamily.

In this episode, we talked about some of the things Mark is most excited about in the technology landscape. Additionally, how August Hill is bringing value to both operators and technology partners in the space.

To get in touch, he's easy to find on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markzikra/

To learn more about August Hill, I highly encourage you to check out their website: https://www.augusthill.co/

One of my favorite episodes is talking with CEOs to hear the origin story of a company.

I was lucky to have Elik Jaeger on the podcast to talk all things SuiteSpot Technology.

In this episode you'll learn about Elik's background, some of the great things that SuiteSpot is doing for the maintenance sector of our industry, as well as some of the upcoming technology that Elik and the team are most excited about.

To learn more about SuiteSpot - head to their website: https://www.suitespottechnology.com/

To learn more about Elik - he's easy to find on LinkedIn! 
https://www.suitespottechnology.com/

If you don't know Katie Kane - you need to!

Katie has been with Hills Properties for 10+ years and is the Manager of Customer Experience and Training.

She's got a huge passion for our industry and I've been lucky to spend quality time with her at 3 of the best conferences in our industry this year: Social Media Summit, AIM, and NAA Apartmentalize.

In this episode we did a review of NAA as this was her 3rd Apartmentalize and we talked brass tax on what's working and what's not in the conference space. 

There is lot of value in this episode if you are on the vendor side as well.

Thanks for joining me, Katie!

Chris is a perfect example of turning a LinkedIn DM into a friend.

I was lucky to connect with Chris several weeks back and after many exchanges on LinkedIn was excited to invite him to join the podcast.

Chris is the co-founder of Authentic, a real estate-focused agency that spans creative and technology and he also hosts the Transforming Cities Podcast.

In this conversation, we covered many fun topics but most notably we discussed:

- the WHY behind going vertical-specific on the real estate industry
- the power of brand: both for residents and for property owners
- the founders story for how Authentic was born

I really enjoyed this conversation with Chris - to learn more about his agency, podcast, or to get in touch with him... links are below:

- Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/transforming-cities/id1441335989
- Authentic: https://authenticff.com/
Chris Arnold LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisfarnold/ 

We are in the thick of conference season in Multifamily.

Rent Dynamics is participating in 26 conferences in Q2 alone - so how to maximize these opportunities has certainly been on our mind.

Trevor Park joined to briefly talk through some of the ideas we have for ways that the conference experience could be elevated. Truthfully, both for suppliers who sponsor and for operators/clients who attend.

We'd love your take on this one and I hope you enjoy this quick listen.

Thanks for tuning in!