The Portland Incubator Experiment (PIE) is off to a rockin’ start. Over 300 companies have applied to be part of this program, which is hosted by Portland-based advertising shop Wieden+Kennedy.
The idea is simple. Take the incubator environment – patterned after the success of YCombinator, or Dave McClure’s 500 Startups – and pair it with some of W+K’s blue chip clients (Coke, Target and Nike) and technology partners like Google.
Budding entrepreneurs get $18,000 of starting capital and 3 months of office space at W+K’s eclectic Pearl District offices to build their idea. But perhaps more importantly, they get access to some of the world’s top brands to help them craft their products and a potential real-world customer base post-launch.
I’d love to see something like PIE in real estate
NAR’s investment arm, Second Century Ventures, has laid some groundwork here – but to the small entrepreneur, I would hazard, SCV’s application process appears mighty long and overwhelming. And the companies receiving funding to date – Docusign, ePropertyData, and ifbyphone – are all mature ventures.
Last year, MRIS launched its Real Estate Innovation Contest, where companies were invited to submit apps and compete for a $25,000 cash prize. It was a meaningful effort to be sure.
But…
Cash alone can’t cut it
The PIE model brings connections to the table. And I think that’s what budding companies need most.
Day in, day out, I speak with smart entrepreneurs trying to bring new ideas to the real estate market. Their biggest challenge? Figuring out how to enter this space efficiently.
On the other hand, I also speak with brokers every week who are desperate for technology solutions to their challenges.
If we’re ever really going to find our way out of the wasteland, finding a way to bridge this gap meaningfully is what we really need.
So like Coke, Nike or Target did, I’d love to see any of the big brands in real estate, the franchise networks, the MLS’s or the independent brokers come to the table and fund something like this.
On the other side, I’d love to see the big technology players in the space participate too – to share their wisdom and help the next generation of entrepreneurs.
Who’s with me?
[Disclosure: 1000watt Consulting has provided consulting services to ifbyphone and MRIS in the past]
Local, Mobile, Social and the future of real estate
20 Tools to Bring your Real Estate Business to the Cloud
15 Ways to Make Your Marketing Mobile
Turn [these startups] On 1000Watt!!
We are in – WAV Group would contribute cash and RE Technology would support the companies with marketing and business development support.
I’ve been thinking a bit about this recently as well. The challenge is getting enough of the right people together in person to build real trust and connection between participants, partners, and investors. And “in person” requires either everyone traveling to one central location (hard to coordinate schedules and really expensive for participants) or it involves taking this concept to each local market.
However, the challenge with taking the model to each local market is that there isn’t enough money in a given market to make it worth it to the entrepreneurs. At most, there are only a few brokers doing well enough to think about investing in such an initiative. Worst case, there are none. Further, there aren’t enough local technology partners that TRULY know real estate to make it work. You’ve got to really understand the real estate industry to build a product that can make a dent.
Part of the blame has to be with the brokers. They need to make themselves available and known if they are actively looking for a technology product — otherwise they just end up with the same “crap” that their “friends” have been selling them for 20 years.
Entrepreneurs are out there trying to find key people to talk to, but getting into the “brokerage” world takes a lot of time, money, and connections (none of which most entrepreneurs have). It’s not an easy process – I saw Zillow from inside as the company navigated those waters (and they are still navigating those waters) and the amount of resources and money it took to gain a significant foothold in the industry was far beyond what most entrepreneurs could possibly throw at it. This industry has been sold crap for so long that everyone is weary of new companies “pitching” them. From my experience, personal relationships, which requires actually meeting and spending time together in real life (not just over the phone), are the only way to break through.
I’m certainly keen to help facilitate something if there is some way I can help. I agree with you…we need better ways to facilitate connections.
Most VC money will look at real estate industry opportunities in terms of software and cloud based service business models (all three examples given). Neither are a domain in which most real estate service brokerages and franchisors excel. Much more business model innovation will filter into the industry from other industries than will filter out. I’d vote for Zillow to host a RE business innovation forum in Seattle.
[...] Where is Real Estate’s PIE? – I’m working on a separate post with more of my thoughts on this topic [...]
Great idea Joel. Let me know how we can help.
gr
There is another interesting model to consider: StartUp Weekend.
All props to you and this great idea!!!
[...] I 100% agree with Joel that the real estate vertical should be supporting innovative new businesses a heck of a lot more than the industry is today. I think it’s beyond safe to say the industry would benefit from an incubator program (like PIE in Portland, yCombinator, Tech All Stars, etc) to unite the industry with the entrepreneurial community. [...]
[...] I 100% agree with Joel that the real estate vertical should be supporting innovative new businesses a heck of a lot more than the industry is today. I think it’s beyond safe to say the industry would benefit from an incubator program (like PIE in Portland, yCombinator, Tech All Stars, etc) to unite the industry with the entrepreneurial community. [...]