by G. Sax, Head of Communications, RESO
Welcome to “Three Questions,” an interview series that introduces you to real estate industry professionals, their businesses and how they interact with real estate standards. The goal of the series is to humanize the tech side of the industry, fun included.
This week’s interview is with Spencer Rascoff, the former CEO of Zillow, Cofounder and Chair at Pacaso, and a giant among today’s tech entrepreneurs. His firm, 75 & Sunny, is regularly invested in and incubating dozens of startup companies.
As of this writing, he is the chair/cofounder of six startups, teaches entrepreneurship at Harvard University, serves as a mentor/coach to countless founders and built a career upon industries poised for disruption (see Hotwire, Zillow, Pacaso).
Whether it is real estate, human resources, digital media, space, robotics or AI, Spencer is engaged. And we were happy to know that he counts data standards among his many interests. Enjoy!
Q1: RESO extends a free one-year invitation to companies associated with the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) REACH program and attends events like Inman Connect, Blueprint and NAR’s iOi Summit in order to introduce young companies to the idea of technology standards in the real estate industry.
Tech startups, as you know, operate at high speed all the time, and standards are not really top of mind vs. things like funding, burn rate and profitability.
At what point do you think it makes sense for a company to consider data standards and have you yourself ever thought about data standards in any of your startups?
Spencer: Young tech companies need to be thinking about standards early, and yes, I personally have thought about standards a great deal.
Startups prioritize product innovation and speed, no doubt. They are in a race to find product market fit before they run out of cash.
During that chase, many things tend to fall by the wayside, but I do think it’s valuable to consider standards as early as possible. These companies need to understand how their product must evolve in order to fit into whatever industry they are entering.
They may not comply right away, but there is no replacement for needing to understand.
I invest in a couple dozen startups per year, and I make sure that all of the startups I invest in understand standards.
I’m in a proptech startup now, in fact, and it’s building a real estate software suite. We’re very cognizant of standards, and we’re thinking about them all the time.
Queue, a streaming discovery service that I’m involved in absolutely needs to understand the data standards around films and TV shows. The data structure of things like where they are viewable, who the cast and crew are, and the length of programs is critically important.
Film and TV is actually very similar to real estate listings in terms of there being a standard way to display information, and industry participants must be compliant with those standards.
Q2: You have never really left the real estate industry after an unquestionably successful run at Zillow. You are most notably tied to Pacaso, the co-ownership company you founded with Austin Allison, formerly of DotLoop.
What is it about this space that keeps your interest, and why is it the people more than the financial opportunity?
Spencer: You are obviously leading the witness with that question, but it’s funny because it’s true.
The people who choose to spend their career in the real estate, travel and hospitality industries are generally people who are kind, welcoming and, well, hospitable.
They often love design, understand the value of a sense of place, are gregarious and are naturally communicative. Not all industries are like that.
In addition to the personalities of people who choose to be in the real estate and hospitality industries, the product itself is incredibly important to people’s lives.
If you look around at the photos in a living room, bedroom or office, you often see people posing in and around their homes or traveling somewhere exciting.
Whether or not it is a cliché at this point, the expression “home is where the heart is” absolutely rings true. For those of us in the real estate industry who are lucky enough to help people find their happy place, it makes it fun, interesting and rewarding.
Q3: You are so intertwined with the history of Zillow and the city of Seattle in real estate conversations, but one of the first newsworthy investments you made after Zillow was dot.LA, a news site for the tech and startup scene in the city you now live in.
You also have a pretty strong connection to Cambridge, Massachusetts, for your role as a visiting professor at Harvard.
And with your background with Hotwire, a travel company, and now Pacaso, is it safe to say that you have a fascination or curiosity with wanderlust, travel or destinations?
Spencer: Life is short, and people should choose to spend their careers on the things that they are passionate about. Yes, I enjoy travel and am thankful for the many opportunities I have had in a variety of destinations.
But what I am most passionate about is helping people democratize access to things that they might not otherwise have access to.
Zillow, Pacaso and most of my other companies are involved in helping people be happy. One of the things that I’m most happy about is that people seem to have loved their time at Zillow when I was there.
My other passion is coaching and mentorship. What I’m doing in my career now is mentoring other people and teams and helping others be the best versions of themselves.
I’m trying my best to pay it forward by helping people achieve success as best they can, no matter where they are in the world.
Note: Registration Open for 2024 RESO Fall Conference
Become acquainted with the standards that Spencer Rascoff finds so important for new entrants into the real estate tech space to understand.
Our beautiful venue is the Omni Frisco at the Star, October 22–24 and there will be an opening reception during the evening of October 21. | EVENT SITE
Rates increase on August 3, so register today!
