In our latest real estate tech entrepreneur interview, we’re speaking with Demetri Themelis from Knock (Rentals/CRM).

Without further ado…

Who are you and what do you do?

Knock is a CRM for property managers. We give them all the tools in one place to stay organized and engaged with their prospects and residents. Improving their engagement improve the experience for renters and the performance of apartment communities. 

What problem does your product/service solve?

Depends on who you ask. For renters we’re enabling a much better experience as they move through the customer journey (on-demand appointment setting, text notifications, more engaged property managers). For leasing teams, who are tasked with managing hundreds of relationships with residents and prospects, we reduce the burden of mundane tasks freeing them to engage at a much higher level.  For owners, we provide a degree of transparency into the sales and marketing performance of their multifamily portfolios they’ve never had before, allowing them to make much smarter decisions around marketing spend and staffing.

What are you most excited about right now?

In order to really dismantle some of the longer term cost structures associated with leasing, data is key. We’ve built an incredible data engine that will only become more valuable over time for our clients. 

What’s next for you?

We can’t do what we do without great people, the bulk of the money we’ve raised in this series A will be used to grow our team in almost every department. Software development, sales, marketing, account management and support – we have a quickly growing client list that are banking on us to keep delivering value to them. It takes a village. 

What’s a cause you’re passionate about and why?

Mentorship for sure. I am always surprised by how willing people in positions of influence and power are to share their experience with youth. I am equally surprised at how few young people seek out their guidance. I enjoy opportunities where I can share any of my experience with students or new graduates entering the world of adults. If I can help them achieve their goals more quickly, or can help them avoid any of the mistakes we’ve made I think that’s a huge win and super fulfilling too. We’re planning on launching a formal mentorship program here at Knock, and if I had any spare time I would love spending it with students teaching them about the business world – because school doesn’t teach you everything. 

Meet The RE Tech EntrepreneurThanks to Demetri for sharing his story. If you’d like to connect, find him on LinkedIn here.

We’re constantly looking for great real estate tech entrepreneurs to feature. If that’s you, please read this post — then drop me a line (drew @ geekestatelabs dot com).