The Hard Part with Evan McCann Dan Belostotsky from HonestDoor
Dan Belostotsky is the Founder of HonestDoor.
HonestDoor is an Edmonton-based, VC-backed company that combines real estate data with data science to produce estimated values of houses and condos. In addition to the estimated HonestDoor price, it contains property taxes, transaction data, permit data, and neighbourhood growth rates for over 16M properties in Canada. By creating the most comprehensive source of commercial and residential real estate information in Canada, it empowers existing and potential homeowners to make more informed decisions.
Takeaways
Founding his first business in the digital sign space.
Seeking advice is important, but it's crucial to filter advice and trust your own knowledge and instincts.
Interesting ways Dan made money in the real estate space.
Transparency is essential in the real estate market, and platforms like HonestDoor aim to provide consumers with access to information.
Raising VC money for a B2C PropTech company can be challenging, but with the right product and market fit, success is possible.
Consider alternative options in real estate transactions.
Explore new possibilities and challenge traditional practices.
New product launches for HonestDoor.
Chapters
00:00 Starting Bellonet Media and the Inspiration from Jim Pattison
01:14 The Journey of Bellonet Media and the Acquisition Process
04:25 Lessons Learned in Entrepreneurship in Early 20s
06:41 Seeking Advice and Sticking to Your Guns
07:44 Finding Mentors and Filtering Advice
09:16 Venture Partnerships and Angel Investing
13:10 Investing in Real Estate and Creative Ways to Make Money
17:44 The Opaque Nature of Real Estate and the Birth of Honest Door
19:18 The Data Play and the Addition of Listings on Honest Door
21:10 Copying Successful Models and Adapting to the Canadian Market
23:00 Adding Listings and Challenging the Traditional Commission Structure
26:40 Raising VC Money for a PropTech Company
38:10 Expanding into B2B Products and Services
43:40 The Challenges of Raising VC Money for B2C PropTech
43:43 Favorite Books and Reading Habits
45:02 Looking Forward to 2024
46:14 Dealing with Hard Times
47:20 Final Message from Dan
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