How did the complexity of the protech industry spark Diane's interest in taking on the challenges of building a company in this space? What was it like building an adtech startup during the Internet 2.0 heyday? How is the current AI boom similar to the Internet 1.0 era? Why did Diane jump from adtech to fintech? What has contributed to the technology in the mortgage space being so outdated? Why are the mortgage files created during the origination process unclean and riddled with incorrect information? How have the interest rate cycles and associated hiring/firing sprees contributed to many of the technology challenges that the mortgage industry is facing today? Why have industry regulations obsoleted certain mortgage industry technologies? Why was it important for TidalWave to be an AI-first mortgage technology company? What is the difference between an AI solution and an AI wrapper? Why is a mindset of AI support instead of AI replacement important for CIOs to have today?

Diane Yu - CEO and co-founder of TidalWave, joins Proptech Espresso to answer these questions and discuss how her first interaction with a computer as a child was so magical and set her on a lifetime journey of working with computers.

Are there industries outside of real estate where the asset has as many lifecycles? What were some of the problems that Vikas dealt with at Amazon Robotics while working with AEC professionals when building new logistics warehouses? How did growing up in a family-owned manufacturing business influence Vikas' later career pursuits? Where did Vikas' early interest in robotics come from? Why is system design as important as the underlying R&D in robotics? What is a mobile electronics company? Why was Kiva SYstems fundamentally different from other robotics companies of its time? What realization did Amazon have that led it to the conclusion that it was a strategic imperative to purchase Kiva Systems? How was Amazon able to finally achieve same-day shipping with the integration of Kiva Systems? What insights are needed to change problems that appear to be qualitative to actually be quantitative? Why did it take Vikas 5 years to earn his master's degree from MIT? What event led to Vikas' deep introspection and the desire to work on problems reducing carbon emissions? Why did Vikas not focus on farming as an industry where he could work on decarbonization? What was Operation Breakthrough? Why is solving the missing housing issue not a mass production problem but rather requires a mass customization approach? What is different about Reframe's business model from other off-site construction companies? How is air tightness related to wildfire resiliency?

Vikas Enti - CEO and co-founder of Reframe Systems, joins Proptech Espresso to answer these questions and discuss how his interest in space and space exploration drove his belief that in the future the most interesting work would be in automation and robotics.

In major real estate downturns, who has all the real estate business? What do real estate agents need to do differently in a real estate recession? What was the innovation that Trulia and Zillow brought to the home buying industry? Why has Zillow been detrimental to so many real estate agents? What middlemen artificially add costs to the home purchase transaction? How did Rob transition from being a vendor of Chad's to being an investor and co-founder in his technology solution? Why has professional honesty been an important cornerstone of Swyvvl's success? How was personal sacrifice necessary for Chad to be successful with its brokerage business? Why are consistent client leads so hard to come by for real estate agents? What has traditionally caused real estate agents to shy away from brokerage CRM solutions in the past? How has Swyvvl flipped the business model for real estate agents in order to create more economically beneficial outcomes?

Chad Link and Rob Brower - co-founders of Swyvvl, join Proptech Espresso to answer these questions and discuss how an early development /design oversight demonstrated the personal integrity and commitment that laid the foundation for a future co-founder relationship.

Should proptech be defined as a technology that solves a problem in the real estate industry? What made programming easier for Eleni than learning to read and write English? Why is computer science considered a creative science? What were the challenges of often being the sole female student in computer science classes? How did Eleni convince her father to switch from investing in commercial real estate to residential real estate? What was so attractive about the opportunity to join Wise Agent? Why was starting a mentorship program for young developers at Wise Agent so fulfilling for Eleni? Why is understanding the economic incentives of stakeholders so important for developers and product managers? How does Eleni differentiate between programmers and software developers? Why is there so much churn in the real estate agent industry and how might better training reduce this? Why hadn't a platform for real estate creators been created before OnTrack Agent? What are the challenges with rebuilding a platform from the original technology it was built on? Why are service businesses so difficult to scale? What makes digital rights management a huge challenge for real estate creators? Why is solving the demand aggregation side of the real estate creator marketplace part of OnTrack Agent's magic sauce? What makes video content so powerful for real estate creators? Why do real estate agent entrepreneurs need to learn such a diverse skill set to successfully run their business? What can be done to further promote women entrepreneurs and leaders in proptech?

Elenis Sommerschield - CEO of OnTrack Agent, joins Proptech Espresso to answer these questions and discuss how her mother's encouragement convinced her to pursue a degree in computer science instead of dropping out of university and going to culinary school

What inspired Karly and Alena to found Hardline and how did their professional journeys shape the company’s mission? What are the biggest operational pain points Karly saw construction teams face that technology failed to address effectively? How does Hardline define “on-site tech enablement” and why is this an overlooked opportunity in the broader contech space? What were the early customer signals that validated the need for Hardline’s solution? How did time in the field influence Hardline's product design decisions and what constraints did they deliberately build around? Why does Hardline emphasize frontline usability over back-office integrations? How does Hardline think about trust-building with trade partners and GCs in an industry often slow to adopt change? What role did bootstrapping play in refining Hardline’s go-to-market strategy and product-market fit? How has the team navigated fundraising and investor education for a company rooted in field operations rather than data analytics? Why do Karly and Alena believe the next wave of construction technology will be shaped by founders with firsthand experience in the trades?

Karly Heffernan and Alena Tuttle - co-founders of Hardline, join Proptech Espresso to answer these questions and discuss the decisions to pursue passion at work with tech startups over lucrative established professional careers.

Why is creating real value for the end customer critical for startups to ensure a going concern? How has construction become responsible for such a large portion of global pollution? What did Jennifer observe about the construction space that she identified as a process opportunity for differentiating her firm from competitors? Why is there so much mistrust within construction? What about the tangibility of construction was so compelling to Jennifer? Why was starting a construction business during a recession an unexpected blessing? Why was the adoption of BuilderTrends instrumental in Jennifer scaling Scala Construction? What drew Jennifer back to entrepreneurship despite the success of her construction company? Why has the European adoption of construction innovation exceeded the pace of what is happening in the US? What about the Netherlands' historical business culture has contributed to its adoption of innovative construction technology? What factors have driven the circular economy adoption within Europe? Why is performance replacing sustainability in the construction technology vernacular? How has WerkWell established itself as a trusted bridge between European building materials and technologies and the US market? Why is building with resiliency the next frontier for construction in the US?

Jennifer Koster - CEO and founder of WerkWell Holdings, joins Proptech Espresso to answer these questions and discuss how an off-the-cuff comment from her father led her to leave the technology startup world and jump into real estate construction.

What are the similarities between the terms 'proptech' and 'I love you'? Why was learning to speak English so important for Oscar? What lessons on entrepreneurship did Oscar learn from being a real estate agent? Why is it important to break out of your comfort zone and put yourself in uncomfortable situations? What did Oscar learn about himself after working as an accountant for several months? Why is making mistakes so critical for entrepreneurs? How did the decision to build an international relocation consultancy come about? Why was the COVID pandemic so devastating for Oscar's original business? What insight caused Oscar to rethink the business strategy around international mobility and transform the business into a software technology platform for all key stakeholders? Which issues were international students and professionals facing regarding their residencies post move-in that pointed to the need for a holistic real estate management solution? Why are professionals increasingly seeking international work experiences?

Oscar Rubio - CEO and co-founder of Lodgerin, joins Proptech Espresso to answer these questions and discuss how attending university internationally helped him develop the necessary expertise to reinvent himself as a relocation expert for students and professionals.

How are Norway and the Upper East Side related in Joachim's mind? Why did Joachim decide to pursue a corporate job after initially starting as an entrepreneur? What makes 40 year old entrepreneurs more likely to succeed than some of their younger counterparts? What sparked the entrepreneurial desire within Joachim? How did Joachim and his team turn a customer's bankruptcy into a spinout opportunity for a new product company? Why have shared spaces in multifamily buildings been largely ignored by technology device vendors? What is Defigo doing with AI to help solve building accessibility issues that handicapped residents face? Why is the ease of Defigo installation a major point of pride for Joachim? What is Defigo's integration strategy with other solution providers? Why is Defigo exploring a white label strategy for its access device solution?

Joachim Stray - CEO and founder of Defigo joins Proptech Espresso to answer these questions and discuss the differences between selling and GTM strategies in the US and Europe, including the relative importance of security between the different regions.