Ed and Simon are joined by Rubrikk Group CEO, Adil Osmani to talk about the future of real estate classified aggregators. These businesses sit above portals and pass them traffic but they have been in the news for the wrong reasons recently. Is time up for the aggregator-to-portal CPC business model?

On this week’s podcast, Harvey Hancock and Simon Baker speak to Stefan Gunnarsson, CEO at PropTexx.From which photos get the most attention, to the importance of flexible pricing—and chewing glass—enjoy!

0:00 Intros and Proptexx in context

3:20 Proptexx’s widget and functionality

7:00 What can Proptexx do and not do?

11:00 Data collection and usage

14:10 Challenges, and minimising lag times

18:20 Building in a high-growth space—what did you do right/wrong?

23:30 Where does user engagement evolve to next?

29:00 AI, Search and co-piloting

34:45 Pricing

40:00 Goodbyes

Edmund Keith interviews Simon Baker about running a real estate portal. They discuss the first steps a CEO should take, the importance of defending and extending market leadership, and the focus on pricing and adding new products and services. They also explore the role of operational expenses and the need to free up resources rather than just cutting costs. The conversation touches on the significance of traffic and leads for a portal's success, the challenge of measuring lead quality, and the importance of building relationships with agents. The conversation explores various levers that a real estate portal CEO can pull to drive success. These levers include staying connected to the audience, understanding unit economics and price increases, diversifying revenue streams, and navigating market dynamics. The key takeaway is the importance of clarity in strategy and execution, focusing on the core business, and avoiding distractions.

Ed and Simon are joined by Pietro Pellizzari, CEO of Wikicasa, to talk about the unique challenges and opportunities in the Italian real estate market.

Discussion points include

• The state of the Italian market and the challenges and opportunities.
• The state of real estate portal competition.
• What makes Wikicasa different from its competitors Idealista and Immobiliare.
• The challenges of being an agent-backed portal business.
• FSBO listings

In part two of our interview with Dhruv Agarwala, we discuss a much-needed topic: health and wellbeing. Dhruv is the ideal interviewee—his personal and professional journey involved losing over 70 kilos in just two years, without any surgery, supplements or coaching; he did it all organically, by himself. How did he do it? How has it impacted his work? Find out all this, and more, on this episode of the Property Portal Watch Podcast. 0:00 Dhruv's Journey 09:20 Mindfulness and Prioritising Self 30:36 The Key to Successful Acquisitions 40:53 Longevity: A Focus on Quality of Life

Dhruv Agarwala, CEO at REA India, joins Simon and Harvey for an in-depth conversation about the opportunities and challenges of operating a "not quite" market leader in one of the most hotly contested markets in the world. From the structure of sales teams to real-time strategizing about the future of the company (and the Indian market as a whole), this is an unmissable episode that acts as a fascinating follow-up to Dhruv's well-received presentation at the Property Portal Watch conference in Bangkok earlier in 2024. 0:00 intros and Quarterly Results 5:50 History of REA India 8:10 PropTiger in context 14:00 Building a sales team 18:30 Focusing energy on specific markets 20:30 Building meaningful synergies between brands in REA India 32:00 "What challenges keep you up at night?" 41:00 Is consolidation the future of the Indian market? 52:15 Goodbyes

Simon and Harvey get together to go through the early days of a PropTech startup. 0:00 intros and PropTech Startup Day 3:50 Takeaways from the first PropTech Startup Day 6:15 Who is invited? 7:33 What makes a valid Startup? 11:00 What's makes a valid Entrepreneur? 16:00 The Assumption of Perfection 19:40 Strategic Priorities in the early days 22:00 My first investment 24:15 Valuing my business 26:30 My exit plans 30:00 How to signup for the Startup Day event in Barcelona

Greg Bader, CEO at Rent.com.au, Australia's leading rentals platform, joins Simon and Harvey for a wide-ranging conversation including the housing shortage in Australia, building a market-leading product, the challenge of being a small fish in a big pond, and his vision for the future of the company.

00:00 Introduction and Overview of rent.com.au

02:19 Changing Perceptions of Renting in Australia

06:57 Challenges in the Australian Rental Market

14:32 Rent Pay: A Dual-Sided Product for Tenants and Agencies

23:56 Exploring Partnerships and M&A in the Real Estate Market

27:53 The Future of rent.com.au as a Consumer-Focused Business

32:10 AI: Assisting Renters in Becoming Homeowners

38:44 Building Customer Relationships in the Real Estate Market

42:26 Balancing Commercial Growth and Values in a Publicly Listed Company