What I Learned This Past Week - 2.14.23
Happy Valentine's Day - You're Non-Fungible To Me!
I’m sharing with whoever’s interested in what I learn as I try to remain clear-eyed about the opportunities for real estate and web3/AI.
Did I miss important news or a great article this week? In the likely event I did, please shoot me an email (mark@hurstx.com) and let me know!
Thank you for taking the time to read REw3. If you like what you are reading consider subscribing to stay up to date on this quickly evolving space.
This Week’s Musings
The collision of Valentine’s Day and completing this week’s newsletter is weighing on me today. I thought I was in a good place entering the beginning of the week, but I don’t know what I was thinking. While I will pull this off, it will be at the expense of one or two sections below (I promise to make it up in the following weeks).
Informative Articles I Read
Generative AI is building the foundation of proptech’s next wave (TechCrunch+) - Amazing insights from leading early stage proptech VC Kunal Lunawat.
It’s the ‘single best time’ to invest in real estate startups, according to Trulia founder and VC Pete Flint (Fortune) - Another leading proptech VC putting out a great piece in the same week. Coincidence????
How Web3 And Decentralization Are Transforming The Real Estate Industry (Forbes) - Nothing new in this article, but a good starting piece for those new to the space.
Columbia University Opens Center for AI in Real Estate and Fintech (Globe St) - Finding new ways to apply advanced data science and artificial intelligence, including machine learning and deep learning, to real estate and finance.
Podcasts/Events/Webinars/etc. That I Listened To
Using Artificial Intelligence to Predict Sales Demand (Current & Critical) - Pleasant surprise to run across this podcast featuring my new friend Will Zhang who I met at IBS earlier this month. I ask everyone to take a listen.
Going to also do an early plug here for an upcoming episode of Proptech Espresso where I am talking with the founders of Blockchain Home Registry Zach Gorman and James Rogers.
Innovative Companies I Discovered
CityBldr - CityBldr uses AI to locate, analyze and optimize underutilized real estate (I admit I didn’t just find out about CityBldr, but I haven’t spotlighted them since I expanded coverage into AI).
People You Need To Follow On LinkedIn
Josh Panknin- Director, Real Estate AI Research & Innovation at Columbia University
Web3/AI Announcements From Proptech Companies
RESAAS Partners with ChatGPT to Revolutionize Real Estate Descriptions using Artificial Intelligence (PRNewswire) - This new feature will eliminate the need for RESAAS Agents to spend time crafting property descriptions from scratch.
RBC buys AI-powered real-estate company OJO Canada (Retail Banker International) - Congrats to all my friends at Ojo on this transaction!
Random But Important Things I Stumbled On
Bitcoin Cowboys: Will Wyoming Become the Next Crypto Capital? | Documentary (Motivo) - Awesome documentary by the Motivo team.
The Future of Financial Planning Lies in AI and Blockchain (CoinDesk) - Will financial advisors will still have a role to play, AI and blockchain will likely assist in decisions involving investments, taxes and insurance, and create new income opportunities.
Microsoft Kills Its Industrial Metaverse Team After 4 Months (TheInformation) - I was really excited when I read that Microsoft was investing in the industrial metaverse. Bummed to see this initiative is no more.
The ultimate apocalyptic truck (Insider) - I wouldn’t be surprised to see this truck at school pickup someday soon.
