Paid-members only Weekly Radar #372: Zillow Pro's CRM power, Proptech Index down 1.04% WoW In this Weekly Radar, we cover: * Zillow Pro could become the most powerful CRM this industry has ever seen...but at a cost. * The GEM Proptech Index decreased 1.04% from the previous week. Geek Estate’s Proptech Getaway, an intimate (founders and C-suite) retreat for the brightest minds in
Paid-members only Weekly Radar Weekly Radar #371: fix Opendoor tweet, search inside OpenAI, keep thinking, stocks down 5.8% WoW In this Weekly Radar, we cover: * A tweet by Keith Rabois on August 13th (2025) about how they are fixing Opendoor makes a couple of things very clear. * A new campaign from Anthropic/Claude encourages us to Keep Thinking. * New AI search developments by OpenAI/Zillow and Realtor.com still
Weekly Radar Weekly Radar #370: Why are MLSs Building Consumer Portals?, Proptech Index Down 1.13% In this Weekly Radar, we cover: * Value propositions or features on MLS consumer portals (such as onehome) are not better, or different, than existing portals. Different is the only way to gain attention with consumers. * The GEM Proptech Index decreased 1.13% from the previous week. Geek Estate’s Proptech
Paid-members only Weekly Radar Weekly Radar #369: Bombshell Of All Bombshells, Proptech Index Down 3.34%, Pulsing With OpenAI In this Weekly Radar, we cover: * Compass’s $1.6B acquisition of Anywhere creates a 341,000-agent giant, driving consolidation, private listings, brand dilution, and portal challenges. * OpenAI’s rollout of ChatGPT Pulse sparks the idea of a specialized “real estate pulse” that could deliver AI-curated daily or weekly updates.
Paid-members only Weekly Transmission Proptech Highlight: Foyer (Transmission #332) It’s no secret—the real challenge to attaining homeownership isn’t the monthly payment. It’s the down payment. Countless would-be buyers could easily cover a mortgage, especially with rates where they have been the past decade. But when you ask if they’ve got $50,000 or $100,
Weekly Radar Weekly Radar #368: That's A Wrap, Blueprint 2025, Proptech Index Up 4.04%, Zirconium Peer Circle Update In this Weekly Radar, we cover: * At Blueprint 2025, proptech startups and experts emphasized AI’s growing role in homebuilding and more alongside community events co-hosted by GEM, PTAG, and FIRE. * We shifted our Zirconium Peer Circles offering to a paid facilitation model with Heather Harmon leading, bringing more structure
Weekly Radar Weekly Radar #367: $7 Billion In Value, The Opendoor Saga Continues, Legal Mumbo Jumbo, Proptech Index Up 1.57% In this Weekly Radar, we cover: * Figure’s $7B IPO and rising share price is seen as a rare liquidity win for proptech investors and a validation of blockchain’s role in real estate finance. * Opendoor’s leadership shakeup, AI-driven reset, and founder return are viewed skeptically as PR spin
Weekly Radar Weekly Radar #366: Don't Bury Your Startup Risks Lead, The Goat Of Company Updates, Proptech Index Up 1.87% In this Weekly Radar, we cover: * Atticus LeBlanc’s consistent weekly updates on Padsplit demonstrate growth, deep operational knowledge, and transparent communication, making him a model for founders seeking to attract investors. * F4 Fund’s David Kaye argues that the best founders win bigger checks by candidly sharing risks and
Paid-members only Weekly Transmission Attention is the Bottleneck that Breaks AI (Transmission #331) Every company’s marketing plan is predictable these days, something to the tune of Company X is going to use AI to... * Send more personalized messages. * Email more prospective home buyers. * Text more builders. * Send more LinkedIn mails. * Answer more customer questions. * Send more postcards. You get the point. All
Weekly Radar Weekly Radar #365: How To Be Hunted By VCs, Turning The Paper Napkin Into A 747... Enter Advisory Circles, Proptech Index Down 2.91% In this Weekly Radar, we cover: * As a startup, how do you shift from hunter to the hunted when it comes to fundraising? * Heather Harmon, who advises numerous real estate, mortgage, and construction tech startups, launched Peer Advisory Circles as group coaching program for early-stage proptech founders to avoid costly
Paid-members only Weekly Radar Weekly Radar #364: Violating Customer Trust, Equity To Bitcoin, Private Funding Report - Q2 2025, Proptech Index Up 4.95% In this Weekly Radar, we cover: * Proptech Angel Group released high level Q2’25 stats with Series B rounds leading in dollars and Seed rounds leading in volume, while construction and residential dominated funding activity and hospitality/retail/STR sectors saw steep investor pullback. * Buildium faces backlash for selling renters
Paid-members only Weekly Transmission Hotwiring My Brain: How AI Took Me From No Code to a Native App (Transmission #330 Part II) WRITTEN BY: JERED DENNIS [Adapted from From Zero Code to Swipe Home: How AI Rewired My Brain] Before May 5, 2025, I knew my computer basics—processors, storage, and screens—but I couldn’t tell you how they talked to each other. Writing code? Architecting a full-blown application? These were
Paid-members only Proptech Earnings Radar Proptech Earnings Radar Pt. 2 - Q2 2025 (Series V, Part IX) Q2 results are in for many of proptech’s public companies. Below are the earnings summaries and links to the full articles for each of the the ten companies we deem as the most important players in the broader category. Beyond that is the wrap-up that includes a table covering
Paid-members only Weekly Radar Weekly Radar #363: Opendoor Upheaval, Drone Infrastructure FTW, Proptech Index Up 1.75% In this Weekly Radar, we cover: * Hear from past participants on why you should walk the Camino with GEM in 2026. * Opendoor's CEO, Carrie Wheeler, exited with a paid advisory role amongst Opendoor’s strategy shift toward a standard lead-generation portal. * A new built world startup, Zipline, is
Paid-members only Proptech Earnings Radar Proptech Earnings Radar Pt. 1 - Q2 2025 (Series V, Part IX) Q2 results are in for many of proptech’s public companies. Below is Part 1 for Q2 2025, where we share the earnings summaries for the ten companies we deem as the most important players in the broader category. Coming next week, Part 2 will be the wrap-up that includes
Paid-members only Weekly Transmission AI Tools Takes (Transmission #330 Part I) WRITTEN BY: SETH SIEGLER As a follow up to the recent State of AI group discussion, here’s my promised follow-up: a list of the AI tools myself and the eXp team have been using recently, and a quick take on what the pros and cons are (from my experience)
Paid-members only Weekly Radar Weekly Radar #362: Pitching The Sharks, Proptech Index Down 1.67%, Piloting Mass Timber In Data Centers, Spacing Boxabl In this Weekly Radar, we cover: * The feedback from Alex Montalenti’s pitch to Robert Herjavec and Kevin Harrington at the Domination Conference underscores that startups fail more from lack of focus than capital. * Meta is using mass timber in data centers with key partners to cut embodied carbon by
Paid-members only Weekly Transmission The Skeleton Keys to Alternative Investments (Transmission #328) The prospect of democratizing access to real estate investments—once the exclusive domain of wealthy individuals, accredited investors, and family offices—has fueled a wave of fractional investment platforms. But challenges abound. Reaching everyday investors requires expensive marketing, and building trust remains a major challenge to converting interest into actual
Paid-members only Weekly Radar Weekly Radar #361: Legalities For The Loss, Proptech Index Down 2.69%, Pricing Psychology In this Weekly Radar, we cover: * CoStar sued Zillow and others over photo use, continuing a pattern of lawsuits seen as unproductive and anti-innovation. * DocSend’s journey to product-market fit involved embracing counterintuitive pricing strategies and product-led growth, lessons now central to GEM Aventurine’s accelerator philosophy. * The GEM Proptech
Paid-members only Weekly Radar Weekly Radar #359: The Seasonal Product Release, Tedx Talks On Real Estate Wealth Creation, Proptech Index Up 2.38% In this Weekly Radar, we cover: * Frank Rohde and Michael Barnes use TEDx talks to advocate for tackling barriers to homeownership and closing the wealth equity gap through innovative housing solutions. * Zillow’s summer product release reflects a strategic shift toward major, Airbnb-style product announcements to stand out in a
Paid-members only Weekly Radar Weekly Radar #358: State of AI event, laughing at latest portal wars, company tracking with AI, slinking referrals In this Weekly Radar, we cover: * Newspaper publisher Gannett formed a multi-year agreement with AddressUSA to power an online real estate portal across the USA TODAY Network including USA TODAY and over 200 local publications nationwide. Really? * A new Referral Disclosure form from Northwest MLS is a move toward "
Weekly Transmission Wellness: A New Paradigm for How We Build (Transmission #326) WRITTEN BY: HEATHER HARMON The built environment is undergoing a profound transformation. No longer is real estate simply about shelter or square footage; today, a growing movement recognizes that buildings play a critical role in human health, productivity, and well-being. This shift is embodied in the rise of wellness real
Paid-members only Weekly Radar Weekly Radar #357: Compass Goes Legal (again), Opendoor pivots to lead gen, metaprop pitches, Proptech Index Up 2.19% In this Weekly Radar, we cover: * Compass is up to its not fun legal antics once again, suing Zillow "over new rules that ban privately marketed listings from the platform. * Opendoor launched a Key Connections program to connects partner real estate agents with high-intent sellers...the agent disruptor graveyard
Weekly Transmission The Fantasied Beginnings of a Secret Real Estate Tech Society (Transmission #324) [Editor’s note: This Camino-inspired transmission blends both humans and machines (ChatGPT) to imagine how GEM might have begun had this “secret real estate tech society” (as some call it) been hatched hundreds of years ago, rather than in 2017. This is fiction.] Audio file: Want to listen to this,