Wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur | Start and Grow Your Own Business 1273: The #1 Reason Traditional Industries are Ripe for AI Disruption w/ Zachary Farkas
Army veteran and nation-leading mortgage lender Zachary Farkas saw firsthand the chaos of real estate transactions and decided to do something about it. In this episode, he shares the journey behind founding Relos, an AI-powered platform that automates and simplifies the home-buying process for agents and clients. Zach breaks down how he leveraged his deep industry expertise to identify a massive problem hiding in plain sight and is now building the solution. This conversation is a masterclass in turning insider knowledge into a scalable tech company, navigating fundraising with a sales mindset, and why taking imperfect action is the most critical step for any entrepreneur.
💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business
- 🚀 How to leverage deep industry experience to identify and solve a multi-billion dollar problem that others overlook.
- 💰 A masterclass in fundraising: Why treating investors like a sales pipeline is the key to handling rejection and securing checks.
- 🤝 The power of relationships: How to use your existing network to test your MVP, get critical feedback, and land your first users.
- 🧠 Why simplicity is king: How a minimalist approach to your tech stack (like a simple CRM) can keep you focused on what truly matters—doing the work.
- 🤖 The secret to innovating in a traditional, relationship-driven industry without alienating the key players.
- 📈 How to identify the true power dynamics in your market (like the 1% of agents driving 40% of transactions) to create a laser-focused go-to-market strategy.
📝 About Zachary Farkas
Zachary Farkas is an entrepreneur whose journey began with building and selling duck hunting boats at just 16 years old. After serving in the Army, he became a nationally recognized mortgage lender, funding over $100 million in two years by focusing on veteran financial literacy. This experience gave him an insider's view of the chaos in real estate transactions, leading him to found Relos. Now, as the founder of an AI company shaking up a traditional industry, Zach brings a unique perspective on leveraging deep domain expertise to build innovative, problem-solving technology.
🎯 Zach’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs
"Action is always better than inaction, and it's a lot of times better than perfect action."
📢 Memorable Quotes
- “Every no you get... you're just one step closer to a yes. I think that's just a way to handle rejection... I don't think rejection's a bad thing. And I think you learn a lot from rejection.” – Zachary Farkas
- “When you look at an industry that's built off of relationships, I would say mostly that's positive. I think that's why it's very hard to innovate technologically because a lot of the value proposition by real estate professionals is their relationships and their knowledge of their local market.” – Zachary Farkas
- "If you spend too much time maintaining systems, then you're not doing the actual work and like what you need to do. So I just use Pipedrive in its most simple form." – Zachary Farkas
🔗 Links & Resources