Tom West, the central character in the Pulitzer Prize winning book “Soul of a New Machine” once said: “Not everything worth doing is worth doing well.” Back in the 70’s, Tom along with perhaps the finest company of computer engineers ever assembled sought to build…

One of the many lessons that social media has taught us is that you need to go to where the conversations are happening, then skillfully listen and engage. At the turn of the century, people would congregate down at the general store and swap stories…

After the latest attempt at publishing MLS sales statistics for real estate agents in a public forum went down in an inglorious blaze, many people inside and outside the industry are still interested in the possibility of a second try.  It may be an outside 3rd…

If you haven’t heard the Steve Jobs’ news, you’ve been under a rock today. It’s a sad day for the technology industry, and the world to see a true pioneer, innovator, and leader leave this world at the age of 56. Steve Jobs continually strove…

WOW. Redfin just pulled the plug on their VERY talked about Scouting Report feature just 5 days after releasing it to the world. Why did they take it down? According to their CEO Glenn Kelman: The basic problem is that the data wasn’t accurate, first…

Yup, it’s happened again. Outsiders have out innovated real estate industry insiders. This time it is Redfin’s Agent Scouting Report. Any agent’s entire sale history analyzed and overlaid out on a map. Brilliant. For an example, take a look at Kris Berg‘s scouting report. I picked…

I think we all understand the importance of innovation as the lifeblood of the economy as a whole. It’s pretty simple equation — if businesses don’t innovate and improve, they get beat by others who do. But innovation doesn’t just “happen”. Far from it actually….

Automated home valuations are a growing trend on real estate websites.  While Zillow’s Zestimates are clearly the standout leaders in this field, there are plenty of others. Eppraisal.  Cyberhomes. Trulia has a one-city beta product in the works, while First American has had its own automated valuation model for quite…

National real estate player Trulia began its foray into the home valuation space yesterday. Trulia Estimates, as they’re called, are currently in beta and available for sold properties in the San Francisco Bay Area. Brian Boero of 1000Watt Consulting provides a thorough break down of the…

Not another article about Social Objects!!  Who cares if you’re into music, golf or heaven forbid….MOJITOS!! The fact is that social objects are “the fuel of the social web” as Social Media Today puts it. They are the things that people like to share, like…