GE 249: How CompStak CEO Michael Mandel Used the Value of Information to Create a Real Estate Tech Company that Raised $16.5M! (podcast)

Download podcast transcript [PDF] here: How CompStack CEO Michael Mandel Used the Value of Information to Create a Real Estate Tech Company that Raised 16.5M! TRANSCRIPT

Time-Stamped Show Notes:

• [00:36] Before we jump into today’s interview, please leave a review and rating and subscribe to the Growth Everywhere Podcast!
• [01:25] Michael went to Babson and studied entrepreneurship.
• [01:44] After he graduated, he worked in commercial music production (the company that created the Yahoo yodel).
• [01:55] Then he got into Commercial Real Estate Brokerage in NYC.
• [02:18] He leveraged his experience to create a real estate tech company.
• [03:15] Brokers would trade comps with each other.
• [04:01] He would frantically call other brokers on Sunday night looking for comps to share during his Monday morning meeting.
• [04:32] The idea for CompStak came from this need for information and more specific information at that.
• [05:00] You earn credits for sharing information on CompStak and then can use those credits to get back information.
• [05:32] They sell subscription access to that database.
• [05:40] Their customers are major corporations.
• [06:10] They looked at how other real estate services were priced, which was per seat.
• [06:55] They ended up pricing at the higher end of data tools, because their data is proprietary.
• [07:15] They often tweak their pricing model so that it fits the value of their product.
• [07:59] CompStak’s contracts range from low 5 figures to high 6 figures on the enterprise side of business.
• [08:10] API Integration and partnership deals are 6 and 7 figure deals.
• [08:32] They use a calculator tool to determine their pricing, as well.
• [09:09] CompStak’s revenue tends to double each year.
• [10:00] All contracts are annual or multi-year.
• [10:54] The idea for CompStak came from the way Michael operated as a broker.
• [11:22] Members earn credits for submitting data.
• [11:30] The number of credits received is based on the uniqueness of the data, comprehensiveness, and the recency.
• [11:51] They then use those credits to get data back out.
• [12:45] They have raise $16.5 Million in equity and most of it has been spent.
• [13:04] Most of their operations are now covered by revenue.
• [14:14] CompStak got their first hundred customers by SDR’s fielding inbound interest and following up on outbound leads.

Resources from this Interview:

• CompStak
• Moody’s
• Insight Squared
• Periscope
• Must-read books:
  • Books by Michael Lewis
• Michael on Twitter
• Michael on LinkedIn
• Michael@compstack.com

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