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Hello Michael! Please introduce yourself.
I'm Michael Beckerman. I founded Beckerman Public Relations in 1989 and built the agency into the premier firm serving the commercial real estate industry for more than twenty-five years before exiting to focus on real estate technology several years ago.
My mission is to help the real estate industry future proof itself by adopting technology and innovation.
How did you get your start in retail real estate business?
In 2012, it became clear that the real estate industry was the last big industry that would eventually be impacted by technology. I began my journey in real estate tech at that time and set out to build a community of tech enthusiasts. I launched my first startup called TheNewsFunnel.com in 2012 which has become the largest trade news aggregator in the industry. Subsequently we acquired CREtech.com in 2017 which was the leading real estate tech conference platform, followed by the acquisition of RE:Tech, the leading venture and data research site. Most recently we also acquired a digital marketing agency focused on tech startups called Atypicalcompany.com and in late 2019 we purchased the leading European-focused real estate tech conference company called FUTURE:PropTech.
Collectively all of our platforms are focused on one core mission which is to help real estate professionals discover, invest and adopt technology solutions and innovation strategies which in turn enables them to become more efficient and address the changing needs of their customer base.
"In 2012, it became clear that the real estate industry was the last big industry that would eventually be impacted by technology."
What do you see as the most important factors shaping the market today and over the next several years?
The biggest trend over the past few years has been the extraordinary growth in the numbers of startups in real estate tech as well as the amount of funding in the sector overall ($35B in 2019). Virtually every aspect of the real estate industry is now being influenced by technology from construction to brokerage, asset management to leasing.
Over the next 12-24 months I anticipate there will be a wave of consolation in the sector as those with traction and significant funding will begin to build dominant market share and also several large companies will be very aggressive on the M&A front. Ultimately, I believe there will be several large tech companies that will dominate the services and solutions part of the sector but also the current stakeholders (brokerage, landlords, lenders, etc.) that embrace tech now will emerge with clear competitive advantages in the future.
"Virtually every aspect of the real estate industry is now being influenced by technology from construction to brokerage, asset management to leasing."
What’s your goal with your website CREtech?
Our core mission at CREtech is to build, connect and educate the largest global community of real estate tech stakeholders including startups, VC’s, CIO’s/CTO’s, tenants, brokers, landlords and services companies that are dedicated to technology.
What have you learned running CREtech.com that you could not have learned otherwise?
How technology can decimate companies that don’t embrace it!
Colin Belyea
Colin is ARetailSpace's Head of Growth, and write on real estate, PropTech, and travel.
