What I Learned This Past Week - 3.7.23
Interest rate increases on the horizon
This Week’s Musings
Speed up interest rate hikes? The Fed delivered a gut shot with today’s testimony before lawmakers about what it might need to do to tame inflation. Despite a slew of high-tech layoffs, the economy remains strong meaning that it is going to be a while before we experience any pricing relief. This news does not bode well for the broader proptech space which will need to further batten down the hatches to ride out this prolonged downturn.
Informative Articles I Read
AI will not remedy all our real estate woes (FT) - I agree that realtors who embrace AI will benefit and be positioned for success in the future. It’s no easy button and isn’t going to guarantee success, you’ll just be armed to compete with everyone else who has similarly adopted the technology.
Revolutionizing Real Estate: The Potential of Blockchain-Based Property Management (Blockster) - I agree with the premise that smart contracts could benefit property management, not convinced this is going to revolutionize the industry and resolve the fundamental challenges of this space.
Podcasts/Events/Webinars/etc. That I Listened To
Zach Gorman and James Rogers - Organizing & Improving Residential Real Estate Data (Proptech Espresso) - I had an awesome time interviewing the founder team from BHR. Make sure to download the episode and enjoy it on your next hike, run, drive, etc.
Innovative Companies I Discovered
Meta Estate Empire - NFT-based real estate investment platform.
People You Need To Follow On LinkedIn
Diego Varela Prada - CEO & co-founder of Ambana
Web3/AI Announcements From Proptech Companies
Sun West Mortgage deploys "ChatGPT for realtors" (MPAmag) - Sun West Morgan launches MORGAN, an AI platform that helps real estate professionals automate their lead follow-up and marketing tasks.
Propy 2023-2024 Roadmap: Closings, Community to Participate… (Propy) - A ton of detail in this roadmap. A lot to look forward to from Propy if they are able to execute this.
Random But (un)Important Things I Stumbled On
This AI-Powered Helmet Can Help Firefighters ‘See’ Through Smoke To Find Victims (TCD) - An awesome application of AI tech. Since it can help save people in their homes, it deserves mention in REw3.
Crypto Bros Bought an English Football Team. It Isn't Going Well (Vice) - More reasons for me to hate foreign ownership of football clubs.
The Misalignment Museum art installation in San Francisco aims to increase awareness about artificial intelligence's power both for good and for destruction.
