Weekly Radar - GEM Crystal

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Weekly Radar #360: Proptech Index Up 3.63% + Proptech Getaway

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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

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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 "

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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

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Weekly Radar #356: Flowing In An Interview, Proptech Index Down 1.08%

In this Weekly Radar, we cover: * Flow faces skepticism for its vague community vision, but may thrive abroad where tenant screening is less restricted. * The GEM Proptech Index decreased 1.08% from the previous week. As always, links surrounded by the ❇️ emoji indicate exclusive GEM Diamond content. If you would

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Weekly Radar #355: Building In An AI World, Flying Motorbike Debuts, Proptech Index Down 0.49%

In this Weekly Radar, we cover: * Stackpoint Ventures argues AI should enhance workflows across roles. * Volonaut revealed a jet-powered Airbike, pushing personal air mobility toward a high-speed, lightweight future. * The GEM Proptech Index decreased 0.49% from the previous week. As always, links surrounded by the ❇️ emoji indicate exclusive GEM

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Weekly Radar #354: 52,000 Residences Strong, At the Buyer Demand Table, Regulation For Landlords = Adoption For Rental Tech, Proptech Index Increased 4.54%

In this Weekly Radar, we cover: * Compass’ Buyer Demand Tool is neither novel nor innovative compared to longstanding tools from the likes of RealScout and Percy. * New landlord regulations in California are accelerating adoption of compliance and screening tech like Rely, RentSpree, Rental Beast, and Verifast. * Alfred’s merger with

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Weekly Radar #353: Wandering to $50M, Challenges Abound in Fractions, New Jersey's Blockchain Bet, Proptech Index Up 0.68%

In this Weekly Radar, we cover: * Success as a startup founder boils down to consistently embracing the unglamorous, persistent work of sales, regardless of company stage. * Wander's shift to an asset-light short-term rental model is smart, but building a branded rental brand faces steep, steep executional challenges. * Fractional

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Weekly Radar #352: GEM Walks the Camino, Proptech Index Down 5.59%

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Weekly Radar #351: The Curve Of Agent Productivity, Proptech Index Up 6.44%, Lower Jumps Into Real Estate, Beyond The Network

In this Weekly Radar, we cover: * Tech vendors all target the top 20% of agents doing 65% of the business, but standing out is tough as AI floods the market with new tools. * Lower bought Movoto to rival Rocket + Redfin with an "end-to-end" platform. But what does that

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Weekly Radar #350: Proptech Index Down 1.68%, Rocket Q1 - 2025 Earnings

In this Weekly Radar, we cover: * It's earnings season...we published seven summaries last week and a full recap is coming later this week. * The GEM Proptech Index decreased 1.68% from the previous week. As always, links surrounded by the ❇️ emoji indicate exclusive GEM Diamond content. If

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Weekly Radar #349: Peer Accelerator for Experienced Founders, Unlocking The Power Of Open Ideas, Proptech Index Increased 0.08%

In this Weekly Radar, we cover: * We launched Aventurine: a new peer accelerator launched to help experienced proptech founders like those from GEM’s community collaborate confidentially on their next venture, emphasizing creativity, support, and focused action over casual idea-swapping. * Organizations thrive when leaders like those in startups foster a

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Weekly Radar #348: Life In Flow For $2.5B, Compass vs The World, Scoring Proptech's Consumer Brands, Proptech Index Increased 5.12%

In this Weekly Radar, we cover: * Flow raised funding at a $2.5 billion valuation with participation from a16z and plans to eventually go public, but concerns persist that branded apartments may struggle to deliver true community at scale. * Zillow, Redfin, NextHome, and West USA Realty are aligning around banning

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Weekly Radar #347: The 95% Low Code Reality, Boosting Techstars, Zirconium: Gem's First Peer Circle, Proptech Index Up 1.08%

In this Weekly Radar, we cover: * Garry Tan from Y Combinator highlights how a quarter of the Winter 2025 startups are building with 95% LLM-generated code, signaling a future where AI replaces much of junior engineering and makes distribution the primary startup challenge. * TechStars has increased its investment offer to

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Weekly Radar #346: Strengthening The Fortress, Grab Your Popcorn For The Costar-Zillow Showdown, Proptech Index Down 0.01%

In this Weekly Radar, we cover: * Zillow blocking exclusives to boost listing exposure with eXp in support is a massive flex of its traffic dominance--and the right thing to do for consumers. * CoStar attacks Zillow’s policy as anti-agent, pushing Homes.com as a fairer alternative, but Zillow’s unmatched

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Weekly Radar #345: All You Got Is Lawsuits, Proptech Index Down 5.76%

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Weekly Radar #344: Hatching a Legislative Proptech Success, The 21-5 Model, Proptech Index Down 2.68%, The Straw That Breaks The Camels Back

In this Weekly Radar, we cover: * Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty and Realtie see House Bill 1110 as a marketing and product validation opportunity, though skepticism remains about whether Realtie is a true proptech or a brokerage marketing program—especially compared to peers like CityBldr and Prophetic. * Investor David Cummings

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Weekly Radar #343: Unpacking The Rocket & Redfin, Largest Institution SFR Buyers, My Journey Through The Uncanny Valley With Sesame’s Conversational Voice, Proptech Index increased 1.51%

In this Weekly Radar, we cover: * PadSplit Founder and CEO, Atticus LeBlanc, argues that cities should incentivize homeowners with cash to rent out spare bedrooms to address affordable housing needs more efficiently than new construction. * SFR Analytics identifies the top institutional single-family home buyers of 2024, highlighting a mix of

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Weekly Radar #342: Removing Participation From Civic Participation, Rocket Goes All In On Real Estate, Proptech Index decreased 4.73%

In this Weekly Radar, we cover: * Hamlet provides AI-driven summaries of municipal meetings to help real estate developers track policy discussions, but its success depends on whether developers value summarized dialogue over direct policy shifts. * Rocket Companies' acquisition of Redfin for $1.75 billion positions it as a dominant