It took just one meeting with Tanner McGraw, founder of Apto, for me to know that this company had a tiger by the tail. And I wanted to be a part of it.
I’d been in the CRM business since the early 90’s, and have led a number of public and private software companies in a variety of industries since. I’d founded two venture-backed technology companies that had successful exits. I was looking for the next big opportunity—and I’d clearly found it.
Apto had amassed a “who’s who” list of customers, both small broker teams and some of the biggest brokerages in the country. Marquee-worthy venture capitalists had already invested Series A & B capital, and the employees I met were high-potential individuals eager to make their mark in the startup world.
When I started we were making great progress. We just needed to find the breakout moves that could put us well ahead of the competition.
The first move was to follow a principle about as simple as what you’d learn watching Sesame Street. We would develop tools that brokers love to use.
No other CRE tech company has anything like this. Our competitors are focusing on CRM, and we’re busy turning data into action.
We had a big head start: the product team had just launched Prospect & Nurture, a tool that greatly simplifies and streamlines the prospecting and relationship-building process for brokers. It was what Tanner had been envisioning since he was a broker at Marcus & Millichap years before: churning through calls, calculating his conversion rates, doing his best with Excel but still pulling his hair out over the lack of technology available to solve this seemingly simple need.
No other CRE tech company has anything like this. Our competitors are focusing on CRM, and we’re busy turning data into action.
But there was more to do. I’d seen too many software companies fall into the trap of making products for process, not products for people. No one likes to be managed, especially sales people, or in our case, brokers. I’ve never met a sales person who isn't looking to cultivate relationships and find the shortest path to making money. We’d started to focus on that, but now we have our work truly cut out for us.
New integration partners, enhancements to the product, new workflows entirely...the name of the game is simplicity.
This year is all about capitalizing on our advantages and scaling our proven successes. Apto is a special company, and I’m thrilled to be leading the way along with Tanner and our broader leadership team.
