Tech Nest: The Proptech Podcast

Alex Czarnecki is leading the charge at Cottage, focused on modernizing the way in which homeowners can build ADUs. The popularity of ADUs only seems to grow as housing becomes tougher to afford while legacy zoning laws have made it very difficult to build new, infill housing units. With legislation changes to zoning laws and increased focused on units such as ADUs, it's no wonder the opportunity to revolutionize this segment of real estate is only accelerating.

Even though Cottage has only been in business for a little more than two years, the've completed projects in over 100 California cities, with a focus on the San Francisco and Los Angeles areas. Alex breaks the opportunity down, mentioning this is not a winner take all game, but rather, there will be many winners (ideally that also means homeowners and renters win in all of this, as well).

Listen in as Alex breaks down the hubbub around ADUs.

More about Alex and Cottage
Cottage is an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) design-build firm committed to providing homeowners with the easiest process to build additional housing. As its primary focus, Cottage delivers ADUs, enabling homeowners to earn rental income or provide greatly needed housing to their family or local community by adding an extra unit to their home. Made up of architects, builders, and technologists, Cottage leverages their expertise in every step of the design and build process to build ADUs faster, with transparent pricing from the start, while simultaneously maintaining the highest standards for customization and quality. Meanwhile, contractors on the platform get a pipeline of projects and time-saving tools, so they can focus on providing quality work and client service.

Alex Czarnecki, CEO of Cottage, wants to help homeowners and contractors build more and build better. After forging a career launching new business units for Uber around the world, Alex took on the challenge of building his own ADU, but after confronting delays through an overly complex process, he knew there had to be a better way. Since its founding in 2020, Cottage has expanded to more than 100 California cities – and growing – to help homeowners get more out of their home with an ADU.

• Follow Alex on Twitter
• Follow Cottage on Twitter
• Connect with Alex on LinkedIn
• Check out Cotta.ge

Easily one of my favorite startup founding stories. Andrew Farah, CEO and Co-founder of Density, wanted to create an API he could call to find out how many people were in line at his favorite coffee shop. Once Andrew figured this out, he quickly discovered this sort of technology was something many real estate operations teams and workplace teams across the country would want. Shortly after announcing what he'd created and that he intended to build it out more, thousands signed up for a waitlist to learn more.

Density is both a software and hardware company, but as you'll hear Andrew describe, they're a reluctant hardware company that's really great at creating software solutions. By bringing in some of the best talent in creating physical products and leaning on his experience leading a dev shop, Andrew has created the perfect balance that is driving the success of Density today.

Whether or not you care about office space utilization, you'll be hard pressed to listen to Andrew and not be inspired by what he's building and dream up other use cases throughout this episode. Jump on in!

More about Density and Andrew
Density builds technology that helps companies understand how people use their workspaces. Its software unlocks comprehensive insights into how workspace is used through its privacy-first sensors. These insights inform workplace decisions at companies ranging from Fortune 1000 to high growth tech, including Uber, Pinterest, Shopify, Okta and other household names in financial services, e-commerce and social networking. Today, Density partners with companies that occupy more than 1.25 billion square feet across 32 countries.

Andrew is the co-founder and CEO of Density, driving the team toward its mission to help companies measure and improve their footprint on the world. Today, Density partners with companies that occupy more than 1.25 billion square feet across 32 countries. Prior to Density, Andrew spent five years as a Partner and Strategic Lead at Rounded, a product-focused software development agency. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Writing and a Master’s in Information Management, both from Syracuse University. 

• Follow Andrew on Twitter
• Follow Density on Twitter
• Follow Density on LinkedIn
• Check out Density

Over the last few years there's been a few startups that have tried to focus on the first-time home buyer as their market segment by courting renters through rewards programs. You can even see the evidence of this in how the listings marketplace websites like Zillow and Realtor.com want to build relationships with renters today—who in their minds are the homebuyers tomorrow.

Will Dunn, Co-founder and CGO of Gravy (Chief Growth Officer, though I recommended the G should be Gravy), breaks down why creating a unique rewards program for renters is a powerful tool to helping unlock homeownership. What's unique about Gravy is there is no fee up front for renters and landlords don't have to sign-up for anything nor change anything about how they collect rent.

Listen in as Will gives us all the details and more.

More about Gravy and Will
Gravy is a mobile app that helps renters become homebuyers. 

Buying a home is a confusing and complicated process––especially if you don't have a network of friends/family who have done it––including knowing where to start.

Gravy is designed to be both the first-step toward homeownership for renters and each step following to getting the keys to a new home.

Will Dunn is the co-founder and CGO of Gravy, where he oversees the company’s marketing, customer acquisition, and B2B partner operations.

Prior to Gravy, Will was Business Manager of Resident Services at leading property management software company, Buildium. Teaming up with Buildium alumni Jimmy Lien and Jeff Dinter, the three launched Gravy in April 2022 to become the destination where all 100M+ renters in the U.S. save money to buy their first home and learn how to successfully navigate the homebuying process.

• Connect with Will on LinkedIn
• Check out Gravy

Marcus Moufarrige, CEO of ility, joins Tech Nest to discuss all things no-code, frameworks, and building tools for those who run complex real estate businesses. Marcus' experience in the office flex-space gives him a unique advantage in understanding the needs for a flexible platform that is able to be molded to meet the unique needs of each operator's needs. ility is that platform. Being that ility is a no-code platform, built in a way to meet a large array of use cases, it may be one of the most versatile middle-wares on the market. 

More about ility and Marcus
ility is a no-code platform for operators to streamline their now complex business.

Connecting new and legacy digital systems, ility’s middleware gives companies like RXR, Legal & General and EQ complete control over their technology, operations and offer. ility also has a strategic partnership with Microsoft.

By using physical rights management, operators have a simple framework for digitising their property, to increase NOI, improve efficiency and decrease operating expenses.

Marcus is effectively leading property into the world of 'composability'. He's also the ex-COO of Australian property giant, ServCorp, alongside fighting with Justin Bieber (Google it!).

• Connect with Marcus on LinkedIn
• Check out ility

As the story goes with many products, someone got tired of dealing with the same problems, they searched the market for what they believed should be a product to solve the problem, only to discover there was not an adequate solution. So instead of allowing the problem to persist, they built the product themself. That's sort of the story here with Landlord Studio.

Today I'm joined by Co-founder, Logan Ransley. He's breaking down some of the common problems residential landlords face every day when it comes to managing their finances.

It can be simple keeping track of one rental, but when you start building your portfolio, problems multiple and this can cost an investor lots of time and money. Landlord Studio is unique in that they're not just focused on the US market. With a presence in Europe and Australia, as well as the US, Landlord Studio has focused on building a platform that can meet the investor where they're at. Equally as unique, the company has had a mobile-first mentality from the start—making Landlord Studio one of the few options available that give residential investors the accounting tools they need on the go.

More about Landlord Studio and Logan
Landlord studio is designed specifically for residential landlords with between 1 and 25 rental properties. It simplifies and automates the process of collecting and reconciling rental income and expense transactions. With automated bank feeds, an intelligent receipt scanner, and expense categories that align perfectly with the IRS tax forms, Landlord Studio radically improves the quality and the timeliness of the bookkeeping process, making it infinitely easier at tax time.

In addition to providing accountancy support, Landlord Studio helps landlords maximize the ROI on their property investments with a suite of management features such as online rent collection, tenant screening, listings, document storage, reporting, and maintenance tracking. All features are available on both desktop and mobile and are easy to use, making adoption simple for anyone with a smartphone.

Logan Ransley is the Co-Founder of Landlord Studio. He is also an official member of the Forbes Real Estate Council.

• Connect with Logan on LinkedIn
• Follow Landlord Studio on Twitter
• Check out Landlord Studio

Pat McLoughlin was the first person to agree to grab coffee with me when I moved to Chicago that was not a coworker of mine. We met up in a Foxtrot Cafe in mid 2019. It was there he shared with me what Digs was working on and what they hoped to achieve—ultimately helping more people realize their dreams of homeownership. Fast-forward to late 2020 and Digs was acquired by OJO, a well-funded and well-respected real estate tech company that hosts a vast network of agent partners and operates its own listings marketplace.

Pat walks us through the journey of his original idea, getting started, going through the acquisition process, and finally rebranding Digs into what is now known as OJO Homeowner. This episode is absolutely jam-packed with insights. Check it out.

More about Pat McLoughlin and OJO
Pat McLoughlin is the Product Lead for OJO Homeowner. Prior to that, he was the founder and CEO of Digs, a fintech company that was acquired by OJO Labs in 2020. In addition to his role at OJO, Pat is a multifamily real estate investor and licensed real estate agent. He has a degree in Architecture from Miami University.

OJO acquired Digs in late 2020 to expand fintech offerings to their consumers. Digs provides homeowners with tools to help manage their biggest asset including home valuations, mortgage tracking, and an FDIC insured savings account. 

• Follow Pat on Twitter
• Connect with Pat on LinkedIn
• Follow OJO on Twitter
• Check out OJO

If you've never heard of lease compliance monitoring, then you and I can join the same club. When Christine and I met at Blueprint, she shared with me what Pronto Housing was doing in the affordable housing space and I knew we had to have her on the show. Did you know there's 80 pages of paperwork when proceeding through lease compliance verification? What a nightmare! There's a good need to make affordable housing more accessible and to improve the experience—that's what Pronto Housing is working towards.

More about Pronto Housing and Christine Wendell
Pronto makes affordable housing leasing and compliance efficient and easy - helping property owners reduce costs, and improving the renter experience.

Christine Wendell is the founder and CEO of Pronto Housing.  Prior to Pronto, she worked in real estate investing and development with RXR Realty and Megalith Capital. She has a MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a BA from Kenyon College.

• Connect with Christine on LinkedIn
• Checkout Pronto Housing

This is a crosspost episode from the Housing News Podcast, hosted by Clayton Collins.

This week,  Clayton is coming to your feed live from the Blueprint proptech and real estate conference in sunny Las Vegas, Nevada. He had the opportunity to sit down in person and talk to Rick Sharga, the Executive Vice President at ATTOM, and Nate Smoyer, the Head of Marketing at Obie as well as the host of the Tech Nest Podcast.

The three of them talk about what they learned and took away from the Blueprint conference, and how the market is impacting the decisions being made by prop-tech, mortgage tech, and real estate companies.

The Housing News podcast explores the most important topics happening in mortgage, real estate, and fintech. Each week a new mortgage or real estate executive joins the show to add perspective to the top stories crossing HousingWire’s news desk. Hosted by Clayton Collins and produced by the HW Media team.

Check out the Housing News podcast at https://www.housingwire.com/podcast

Follow and connect with this week's guests:

• Follow Housing Wire on Twitter
• Follow Housing Wire on LinkedIn
• Follow Clayton on Twitter
• Connect with Clayton on LinkedIn

• Follow ATTOM on Twitter
• Follow ATTOM on LinkedIn
• Follow Rick on Twitter
• Connect with Rick on LinkedIn

Links and details mentioned in this episode

• Proptech is finally turning a corner where the best of ideas are catching—the next few years we'll see many more ideas, but consolidation of companies impacting real estate will continue
• Check out housingwireannual.com to register for the Oct 3-5 event
• New interviews coming up with Reasonai, Morgan Properties, and Landlord Studio
• Search Tech Nest episodes to find and listen to interviews with Lydia Winkler, Fatima Dicko, and Michael Lucarelli
• Look up Poplar Homes, PURE Property Management, and Great Jones to dig in more about how venture-backed property management is a trend to watch

Nate Smoyer is the host of Tech Nest. When not podcasting, he's head of marketing at Obie, an insurtech that partners with proptech and fintech companies to provide real estate investors insurance. Obie differentiates by way of its propriety instantly-bindable quote engine—the only insurtech capable of doing so as embedded insurance for real estate investors. Nate was previously head of marketing at Avail, where he helped see the company through its Series A, and then exit to Realtor.com in just 18 months. 

Connect with Nate Smoyer

• Follow Nate on Twitter
• Connect with Nate on LinkedIn
• Follow Tech Nest on Twitter
• Follow Tech Nest on LinkedIn