Vanessa Martin asked to walk instead of run because it’ll be easier to have a conversation.
She kissed her husband Scott, who had to prep for another investor meeting, goodbye. Vanessa Martin told me that their marriage status had come up during meetings, as we left the Venetian and entered the blazing sun of the Mojave Desert, which was covered in concrete, as we departed. I met the Martins just a few weeks earlier at the NAR REACH Global Portfolio Summit. This annual event is backed by a well-known incubator. This year it was held in September in Nashville, only days before Blueprint Vegas, the Inman-owned commercial real estate conference with a proptech bent, essentially making the events back-to-back.And so, bleary-eyed and funding-hungry, the proverbial band of proptech minstrels migrated west, from Music City to Sin City to attend yet another industry gathering. Many didn’t bother to go home, opting for the hotel’s laundry services and pool recliners to recharge before another week of pitches and panels.
Inman’s influence on the newly acquired commercial industry event led to an infusion of residential technology upstarts, each hoping to justify their business models and uncover pathways to widespread industry adoption. There is no single path, just as there was not a singular hotel that inspired the event. The Strip is strewn with the evidence of events that had stopped only two hours earlier. The Strip was strewn with evidence of things that had stopped happening only a couple of hours before. Heaters and benders. We tried not to gawk, but the policeman’s presence opened a window for us to chat about what it was like to launch an agent safety app. The Martins, Vanessa and Scott, sold their home to fund Tether RE. This application helps real estate agents keep in contact with loved ones and first responders when they are showing houses. The Martins raised over $300,000. They sold custom off-road cars (an interest that sparked the ability of the app to track its users), rental property, and even an airplane. The Martins don’t wish to use someone’s trauma, whether or not they are aware of it, as a marketing tool. They wrestle with the industry’s overall negligence in promoting personal safety to its practitioners.
The risk agents face when meeting new leads, showing homes alone and working open houses is so overt that it defies discussion, a threat to which every agent who shows homes becomes subject. Yet, the Martins were advised by industry insiders not to “sell fear,” which subsequently takes away from how they make an argument for the problem they solve.
Potential financial partners want to see passionate owners and, yes, a lot of data. The Martins managed to secure a few meetings. However, they were not all fruitful. They’re seeking minimum investments of $5 to $20 million. We are looking for less than $3 million. They basically told us to come back when we need more money.”
To take funding or not to take funding?
Funding is always on the mind of folks like the Martins, but not every startup needs venture capital, according to four-time founder Heather Harmon, co-founder of RedDoor, which was sold to OpenDoor in 2021. Now an investor, she advises proptechs when to seek funding. It’s simply for me.”
Heather Harmon
Harmon’s expertise at the pottery wheel isn’t her industry draw; it’s her proven eye for proptech. It’s clear she enjoys helping other people make things.
Startups, like her wonky cup, have imperfections, evidence of being shaped by humans. Harmon believes that this is the most valuable asset for every business. She believes money will not come when the “who” of a company is a problem. They are realistic. Will they be willing to destroy their own ideas? “Are they ready to change direction?” Harmon asked. Is the ego of these people so large that they will be able to carry this project through because only their hubris? And if it’s that kind of mentality, it’s not investable.”
Even if the personality hurdle can be cleared, it doesn’t mean funding is the best route, according to Harmon. RedDoor received a seed funding of $5 million at first. As it grew, its founders were faced with a dilemma: should they entertain acquisition offers or accept a $25 million Series A? The founders chose to go with the $5 million seed round. It was $5 million. Scott was dropping off snacks to their son’s football team, and Vanessa was watching their infant grandson. Vanessa replied, “I’m the one who watches him every Thursday.
does not even need to ask,” Scott said. I asked them if they had any run-ins when getting Tether off to a good start. Scott acknowledged that his experience in starting multiple businesses and then exiting them gave him confidence. But only to the extent of knowing what he did not know. When you see the
stats, it’s hard to believe that everyone would sign up. We started going directly to associations, MLSs and brokerages. So we started going directly to associations, MLSs and brokerages.”
“Plus,” Vanessa said, “The app fatigue in real estate is real.”
It’s about compromise and listening to your users, Scott said. They added non-core features solely to drive adoption, for example.
The Martins’ biggest learning experience stemmed from not fully understanding how business goals overlap with software development.
“I was extremely naive,” he said.
“We spent a year on development and walked away with nothing,” Scott continued. Scott Martin continued, “We spent a year on development and walked away with nothing.” We finally received some good advice on hiring a CTO. It was important to keep control of the development process and to not have it outsourced to other companies who get paid for fixing the bugs that they cause. “If I could go back and do it again, it would cost so much less.”
Scott thinks their development mishap could have turned into a lawsuit. He said that the decision to throw away a whole year’s worth of work had been incredibly painful. It was a new, more clear starting point. Timing is everything, and it gave us a new, more clear starting point.”
The Martins said it was around then when they began connecting with like-minded resources in the real estate space through events like Inman Connect and organizations such as REACH and Geek Estate Mastermind (GEM), a networking and resources collective run by industry advocate Drew Meyers.
Another such group that’s in it for the people of proptech is Equity Angels, a business incubator that advocates for fair access to business resources. It’s run by Kenya Burrell-VanWormer and Katherine Winston, who brought their latest cohort of innovators to Blueprint, as well, including Terrence Nickelson, founder of Goby Homes.
Knowing what you don’t know
Nickelson’s company exists in that awkward growth stage between bona fide traction and the founder’s realization that suddenly, they’re a CEO.
“Business is a different language, right? “Business is a different language,” said Nickelson. For those who do not know the terminology of business, it can be a daunting task. “And you talk about cap tables and churn and burn and all these different things that you’re like, ‘What does that mean?’ ICP and all these different acronyms that you have to kind of get and familiarize yourself with.”[our daughter]Terrence Nickelson
He’s clearly a fast learner, as NAR named him a 2025 iOi Innovator of the Year, an accolade many proptech founders would love, but something he’s not mentioned once to me over several meetings. Nickelson knows the road ahead won’t clear itself of obstacles because of a few accolades.
“So I went through these programs and, you know, connected with a lot of different mentors to just understand business, understand how to approach and build a scalable business,” he said. All these challenges are simply a part of the journey. It takes time to adapt yourself to the new lifestyle as a founder, and break away from the 9-to-5. “It’s a big risk.”[crime]Malte Krmer, the founder and CEO at Luxury Presence Software, wanted to attract venture capitalists right from the start. In the first years of his company, Malte Kramer bootstrapped it by building lead generation tools and websites for high-end real estate agents. Kramer explained that he focused on the smaller part of the agent eco-system because it is what his business plan demanded: customers who would not be affected by the volatile nature of the marketplace. “I figured that if I focused on the first 5 percent and probably 25 percent of the agents who are full-timers, they would be the ones to stick around for a long time. A seed round of 2,13 million dollars was raised in 2018. Two years later, Luxury Presence closed a Series A for $5.4 million and in 2021, a Series B of $25.9 million.
“Sometimes I look with some envy at the startups that are raising at these crazy multiples of like a 200x revenue, and we never did that. He said that they always went for what he felt was a good multiple, not outrageous. We didn’t even raise rounds that were outrageously high. We raised enough to keep building and keep growing.”
Luxury Presence now builds advanced marketing and business automation products that power the complete sales funnel. The company has released AI agents this year to help with lead nurturing, SEO, blogging, and display advertising. Malte Kramer
Kramer added that funding is also a factor in attracting talent. “It’s hard to compete against venture-backed firms because they are able to attract top talent. The best product managers, engineers and designers will go to work for companies that have tier one investors.” Sheila Reddy, a healthcare professional who entered proptech before founding Mosaik, isn’t afraid to follow her gut. Sheila Reddy has experienced the frustration of selling and buying. It’s not that I didn’t try, but I did take a different approach, like I was solving my own issues. “I kind of validated myself just by years of experience.”
Sheila reddy
Mosaik can be described as an innovative client-experience solution. The system is designed to replace the concept of “past clients” with a portfolio, which agents can service in time. Mosaik doesn’t sell easily in a market where leads are king and transaction times are shrinking. Reddy admits that her product may not be for everyone. She said, “We’ve got build the foundation first and we will iterate on the details later.” We’ll build it more out of belief than from market research. Reddy’s team uses agent feedback instead of creating the final product, and never lets the market or industry demands sway their decision. It’s not an easy task for a new founder. But Reddy isn’t going to let the pressure of market demand and industry trends sway her. She believes that a majority of the business a real-estate agent does should come from clients they have already worked with. I didn’t know how much the technology, the training and the coaching focused on leads. She remained true to the core values of her company, believing that agents can be better equipped with technology in order to meet consumer demands. I don’t want to sound like a snob, but it was always clear that this product would work and that we were solving the right problems. The execution was the only thing that changed. How do you tweak things in order to increase adoption rates? How can you make the process more efficient? How do you tinker with things to balance that value between the client and the agent?”
Founders still have to be prepared to evolve, according to Reddy, echoing Harmon’s take that true success comes from confidence and flexibility. As the company tilts and sways, so should its leadership.
“I think as a founder, what I have found through this journey is almost every couple of months I have to be a different CEO,” Reddy said. The company’s needs have changed over the past few months. The Martins moved into their new home just before Halloween. They sent a video showing a home-office with company signs as the backdrop and a resting dog on a rug. It’s ironic that being a founder of a proptech company can be the least stressful experience of one’s lifetime. It’s ironic that this is the issue that so many of the founders that I have met want to fix. Nothing is certain, but it’s momentum, personally and professionally.
“You know, we sold our dream home. Twin Falls is in the high desert of Idaho. Scott stated that we owned a property of three acres, which was completely secluded and unique. We’re in because we all believe it. Inman will dive into the proptech world and discuss the current state of startups who are creating the future. In addition, our coveted set of awards, Proptech All-Stars — celebrating the entrepreneurs, VCs and visionaries in the world of proptech — returns.
Email Craig Rowe