Proptechie Press: Navigating the Intersection of Property and Technology

Where Property and Technology intersect.

January 30th 2023

👋🏼Hi, I’m Kenneth and welcome to my weekly newsletter, Proptechie Press. Welcome to this week's edition of the Proptechie Press newsletter!

Every Monday I cover hands-on insights into Proptech and data-driven innovation in Property and technology industry connect the dots between the latest research, reviews of tech tools and datasets, deep dives into various proptech trends, Industry tech stacks, interviews with industry experts and the implications for all stakeholders. Follow along to understand how the Proptech and data-driven approaches change the game, why it matters, and what it means for you and the industry.

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I started this newsletter in December last year with a clear thesis in mind: Property Market is broken and technology can help fix it. Initially I shared a variety on monthly learnings from research, PhD researchers working along side us as well as my own PropTech journey at iPPi including an overview of different data-driven sourcing approaches, the “make versus buy question”, the most valuable commercial databases providers”, step by step guide to scrape alternative data sources, the different approaches for duplication and entity matching, the important of feature engineering for proper success scoring and a lot more more.

While diving deeper into this magic rabbit hole in the intersection of Property and data, I occasionally shared some technically rather high-level but still related experiments such as 10x productivity guide with ChatGPT or a process overview for augmented Businesses that attracted surprisingly much attention. Reading your diverse feedback DMs and comments (thank you so much!! always helps me to improve my content), I took a step back and tried to understand why these high-level posts resonated so well whereas some other valuable deep dives performed comparably bad.

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Human educating a Robot

OpenAI - "AI-LLM Property Efficiency Boost"

The potential impact of natural language programming on the property market is significant. With the ability to use natural language to design and build virtual properties, the possibilities are endless. This technology could also be used to analyze market trends and predict property values, which could be a valuable tool for both buyers and sellers.

For example, imagine being able to input natural language descriptions of a property, such as "a two-bedroom apartment in a trendy neighborhood with a balcony and a view of the city," and having the AI algorithm generate a virtual representation of the property. This could make it easier for buyers to visualize properties and make more informed decisions.

Similarly, natural language programming could be used to analyze vast amounts of property data and make predictions about property values. This could be a valuable tool for sellers and real estate agents, who could use the technology to price properties more accurately and provide more accurate information to buyers.

At which stage of the journey is your company at ?

1. Old School

2. Productivity

3. Data-Driven

4. I’m not working

However, it's also worth noting that this technology could have a significant impact on the workforce in the property market. With the ability to automate certain tasks and make the process more accessible to non-technical individuals, it's possible that some traditional roles in the property market could become obsolete. This is a concern that must be addressed, as job displacement is a real issue in the industry.

In conclusion, natural language programming has the potential to revolutionize the property market by making the process of designing and building virtual properties more intuitive and accessible. Additionally, the ability to analyze vast amounts of property data and predict property values could be a valuable tool for buyers and sellers. However, it's important to consider the potential impact on the workforce and develop strategies to mitigate negative effects while embracing the potential benefits. As the technology continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how it will shape the future of the property market.

Reference: "The Future of Property: How AI and Natural Language Processing are Changing the Game" - Swiss Cognitive

A few observations and questions as we enter month 3 CE (ChatGPT Era). There were a couple of AI winters and AI resurgences before, but this does feel like AI’s iPhone moment.

WHAT HAPPENED?

GPT-3 has been around for 2.5 years, and while it attracted lots of developers & enabled the spectacular success of companies like Jasper.ai, its speed of adoption was nothing compared to the never-seen-something-like-this-before ChatGPT explosion (5 days to 1 million users, you’ve seen the charts).

ChatGPT’s main innovation is the USER INTERFACE. Might seem strange b/c (a) there’s nothing innovative about an IM UI per se, and (b) chatbots don’t have a particularly good rep. But as we now know, the combination of a user interface that everyone is familiar with and the power of GPT-3/3.5 enabled ChatGPT’s meteoric rise.

Personal note: Great design & UX have been a huge part of my SaaS research for the last 6 years (starting with Pipedrive and @Hubspot, ActiveCampaign - Technology App in 2008/2009, later Typeform, Loom, Calendly Factorial and many more). I’m glad to see that users experience still matters. :)

WHAT'S NEXT?

1. There are 30-40+ writing assistants similar to Jasper.ai. My guess:

• Many of them are small money-printing machines right ATM.

• When the market cools off and pricing comes down, only a few will survive and thrive (driven by critical mass and economies of scale).

1. IMO there are some really interesting opportunities for writing assistants in highly specialized areas (e.g. accounting) or verticals (e.g. legal or healthcare).

It’s unclear to me (and way beyond my technical understanding to predict) if:

• specialization in a certain domain will give startups a sustainable advantage based on better model performance; OR

• future versions of GPT and its competitors will be so good that they’ll excel across all domains

BUT, back to the point above, UX is key! Vertical SaaS startups win by:

• having a deeper understanding of the customers in their industry

• solving their specific problems in the absolute best way

• marketing/selling exclusively to a narrowly defined segment of companies

• adding more layers of functionality over time, increasing ACV and stickiness

A lawyer could run their practice using generic project management and CRM software. That doesn’t mean they should. And it didn’t prevent Clio from getting to 100M+ ARR.

Similarly, SaaS startups will be able to win in (large) segments against the big foundational model providers if they leverage unique insights, data, workflow integrations, and design talent to solve the biggest customer problems and deliver the best UX.

1. Every SaaS company right now is thinking about how to add a conversational interface (if not, they should). Chat won’t be the best UI for ALL use cases or ALL users. But it will be for many use cases and many users.

Are you ready for the future of programming? OpenAI is leading the charge with their cutting-edge Codex technology, which uses natural language to explain lines of code.

By hiring an army of contractors to label data and provide explanations, OpenAI is creating a dataset that will allow their LLM to better imitate human thought processes. This technology is already being used in Microsoft's GitHub to power the "Copilot" feature, which autocompletes lines of code for programmers.

With this revolutionary technology, some industry experts predict that traditional coding jobs will become obsolete as creative individuals with little to no coding experience will be able to build anything they can imagine simply by describing their vision to an AI algorithm. As Andrej Karpathy the former head of AI for Tesla, tweeted, "The hottest new programming language is English.

This kind of technology has the potential to revolutionize not just the tech industry, but also other industries that rely heavily on coding and programming, such as the property market. Imagine being able to design and build virtual properties using natural language, or using AI to analyze market trends and predict property values. The possibilities are endless.

However, it's important to note that this kind of technology also brings up important ethical considerations and questions about job displacement. It's important for companies and individuals in the industry to consider the impact of this technology on the workforce and develop strategies to mitigate negative effects while embracing the potential benefits.

Overall, the work that OpenAI and their contractors are doing is truly groundbreaking and will likely have a significant impact on the future of programming and technology as a whole. It's exciting to see how this technology will continue to evolve and shape the way we work and live in the future.

The world of technology is constantly evolving, and one of the most exciting developments in recent years is the use of natural language in programming. OpenAI, a leading AI research lab, is at the forefront of this movement, with their Codex technology using natural language to explain lines of code. By hiring an army of contractors to label data and provide explanations, OpenAI is creating a dataset that will allow their Language Model to better imitate human thought processes.

The implications of this technology are far-reaching, and it has the potential to revolutionize not just the tech industry, but also other industries that rely heavily on coding and programming, such as the property market. Imagine being able to design and build virtual properties using natural language, or using AI to analyze market trends and predict property values. The possibilities are endless.

This kind of technology could also have a significant impact on the way we work. With the ability to automate certain coding tasks and make programming more accessible to non-technical individuals, it's possible that some traditional coding jobs will become obsolete. This is a concern that must be addressed, as job displacement is a real issue in the industry.

It's important for companies and individuals in the industry to consider the impact of this technology on the workforce and develop strategies to mitigate negative effects while embracing the potential benefits. This might include reskilling programs for workers whose jobs may be impacted, or investing in research to develop new roles that take advantage of the technology.

The work that OpenAI and their contractors are doing is truly groundbreaking and will likely have a significant impact on the future of programming and technology as a whole. As the industry continues to evolve, it's important to consider the potential impact on the workforce, and to develop strategies to make the most of this exciting technology. As Andrej Karpathy, the former head of AI for Tesla, tweeted, "The hottest new programming language is English." It's exciting to see how this technology will continue to evolve and shape the way we work and live in the future.

One of the most significant benefits of this technology is the ability to make programming more accessible to non-technical individuals. With the use of natural language, the coding process becomes more intuitive, and the barrier to entry is lowered. This opens up new opportunities for people who may not have considered a career in programming before, and could also lead to more diverse perspectives in the field.

Another benefit of natural language programming is the ability to collaborate more effectively. With the ability to explain code in a way that is easy for non-technical team members to understand, communication and teamwork become much more efficient. This can lead to better products and faster development times.

It's also worth noting that this technology is already being used in the real world. OpenAI's Codex technology is already being used in Microsoft's GitHub to power a feature called "Copilot," which essentially autocompletes lines of code for programmers. This is just the beginning, and we can expect to see more and more companies adopt this technology in the future.

In conclusion, the use of natural language in programming is an exciting development that has the potential to revolutionize the way we work and live. It brings new opportunities for non-technical individuals, improves collaboration and teamwork, and makes coding more accessible. As the industry continues to evolve, it's important to consider the potential impact on the workforce, and to develop strategies to make the most of this exciting technology. As we move forward, it will be interesting to see how natural language programming will shape the future of our world.

OpenAI - "AI-LLM Property Efficiency Boost"

The potential impact of natural language programming on the property market is significant. With the ability to use natural language to design and build virtual properties, the possibilities are endless. This technology could also be used to analyze market trends and predict property values, which could be a valuable tool for both buyers and sellers.

For example, imagine being able to input natural language descriptions of a property, such as "a two-bedroom apartment in a trendy neighborhood with a balcony and a view of the city," and having the AI algorithm generate a virtual representation of the property. This could make it easier for buyers to visualize properties and make more informed decisions.

Similarly, natural language programming could be used to analyze vast amounts of property data and make predictions about property values. This could be a valuable tool for sellers and real estate agents, who could use the technology to price properties more accurately and provide more accurate information to buyers.

At which stage of the journey is your company at ?

1. Old School

2. Productivity

3. Data-Driven

4. I’m not working

However, it's also worth noting that this technology could have a significant impact on the workforce in the property market. With the ability to automate certain tasks and make the process more accessible to non-technical individuals, it's possible that some traditional roles in the property market could become obsolete. This is a concern that must be addressed, as job displacement is a real issue in the industry.

I believe natural language programming has the potential to revolutionize the property market by making the process of designing and building virtual properties more intuitive and accessible. Additionally, the ability to analyze vast amounts of property data and predict property values could be a valuable tool for buyers and sellers. However, it's important to consider the potential impact on the workforce and develop strategies to mitigate negative effects while embracing the potential benefits. As the technology continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how it will shape the future of the property market.

Reference: "The Future of Property: How AI and Natural Language Processing are Changing the Game" - Swiss Cognitive

Meeting you where you are

Wondering why I bored you with the above thoughts? Because it led me to think if I should focus more posts on the “Old-school” and “Productivity People” who want to become more efficient versus going super deep and narrow on rather techie/nerdy and more sophisticated “Data-driven professional ”. Said differently, I’m considering writing about topics even earlier in the digitization journey to build a bridge and help the “Old-school” and “Productivity Professionals ” catch up. I’m thinking about hands-on workflow automation guides, productivity tool reviews, Notion templates, prompt databases for ChatGPT and a lot more.

Overall, the content performance data reconfirms one major learning: The transition from an “Old-school Businesses” to a “Productivity Businesses” and eventually a “Data-driven Companies” is a journey. It’s not binary but takes time and effort. It requires us to zoom out, continuously rethink the “how” behind our business and sharpen the saw to gradually become more efficient, effective and inclusive. As many of you have asked me about my digitization journey at Earlybird, here is our story of transforming a 25-year-old VC firm into a “Data-driven VC”. Next email will include Our “digitisation journey” at Proptechie

Hopefully, you can find yourself somewhere on this journey (or even ahead?!). We all share the same challenges and hopefully, this newsletter gives some guidance and inspiration. Please participate in the feedback form above, so that I can tailor future episodes even better to your current phase of the journey and meet you where you are.

Stay Techie,

Kenneth

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