I'm Thomas, founder and CEO of Prevu, AMA šŸ”„

Thomas Kutzman
6 replies
My name is Thomas Kutzman. I am Co-CEO and Co-founder of Prevu, a real estate technology company on a mission to save homebuyers money. I am responsible for the marketing and finance functions for the firm. Prior to starting Prevu, I spent over a decade in financial markets focused on investing in public technology companies at asset management firms and top-tier investment banks. I believe real estate is in the early innings of disruption, and there is a great deal of parallels to technological changes Iā€™ve witnessed in other sectors over my career. AMA about proptech, bootstrapping until you're ready for venture, disrupting traditional industries, operating as a co-CEO or anything else! I will answer all questions on Friday, 21st, 13.00 EST.

Replies

Abadesi
Hi Thomas - how did you make your first hires? Did you use job boards, tap into your network, get referrals from other founder friends? Thanks!
Thomas Kutzman
@abadesi In the very early days, we leveraged our personal networks to find candidates that had specific skill sets we were looking for. As we have grown, job boards have become increasingly useful as well as referrals from investors and current employees.
Shantanu Johri
Hi Thomas. My question is - If you've had to start Prevu from scratch and given that you had no connection in this space (means no supply and demand). How would you build and mould Prevu? Would you focus on generating supply first or the demand?
Thomas Kutzman
@shanhanigun Marketplace creation is a fascinating topic. I would recommend a great book I read on this topic called ā€œPlatform Revolutionā€ by Geoffrey G. Parker. It offered a lot of helpful insights when we were building Prevu.
Nate Astrup
Hey Thomas - what are some of hints you see pointing towards the disruption curve in proptech? What's holding further innovation back?
Thomas Kutzman
@chiefzenofficer In commercial real estate, proptech is reliant on adoption from incumbent owner, operators. Luckily, you are seeing more strategic corporate venture investment in startups and as LPs in proptech VC firms which will help to incentivize adoption. In residential real estate, proptech firms building for the consumer rather than agents will allow for further innovation.