Zestimate to get earned media

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The creation of Zestimate by leveraging AI technology revolutionized the real estate industry by providing home price estimates based on recent sales and licensed data. Initially met with controversy due to homeowners' belief in higher property values, Zestimate eventually attracted users to claim and engage with the platform. By blending provocative elements with practicality, Zestimate achieved a perfect balance in consumer product development, resonating emotionally with customers while serving a pragmatic purpose, resulting in significant earned media attention.

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Today’s show:

Rich Barton joins Jason to give a masterclass on his thought process behind creating evocative top-tier brands like Zillow, Expedia, and Glassdoor. (22:02) Rich also discusses the lessons he learned from Bill Gates during his time at Microsoft (49:22), how tech management has evolved (57:04), and more!

Rich's blog on branding: https://www.hopperanddropper.com/syllables-scrabble-letters-and-picking-brand-names

Time stamps:

(0:00) Zillow CEO Rich Barton joins Jason

(1:58) The creation of Zillow’s Zestimate

(7:03) “Tension and Importance” and empowering people in the workplace

(13:24) Crowdbotics - Get a free scoping session for your next big app idea at crowdbotics.com/twist

(14:53) Branding and creating iconic company names

(16:53) Navigating major layoffs

(22:02) Back to building top-tier brands, “What got us here, won’t get us there”

(27:54) OpenPhone - Get 20% off your first six months at https://openphone.com/twist

(29:25) Steering the complex dynamics of startup-attorney interactions

(33:22) Defying convention to create stellar products and the effects digital currency