Lots of activity in the industry but I’m still thinking about CoreLogic’s acquisition of Clareity. Why? Because I think it was one of the shrewdest deals in a long while. Here’s why.
1. Talent. The talent at Clareity is both wide and deep in industry experience and contacts. In one fell swoop CoreLogic scooped up some of the most talented and well connected people in the industry.
2. That pesky “MLS Customer Satisfaction Survey”. You know the one, where Black Knight and flexMLS were beating them every year? Well its gone baby gone.
3. Speaking of the “MLS Customer Satisfaction Survey”. All that data on their competitors that was aggregated for the survey is now in the hands of Chris Bennett. I’m sure the other MLS vendors will downplay this, but I’m equally sure they would loved it if that data was in their hands.
4. The Clareity Dashboard. Notice that last on my list is the actual product of the company! It’s almost like a bonus. And having a product that is a gateway to all other products in the industry is a nice place to sit.
Other things I’m hearing…
Troy Rech is now head of MLS sales. And Lucie Fortier, is returning back to CoreLogic after a short stint at Remine. Nice moves.
“2. That pesky “MLS Customer Satisfaction Survey”. You know the one, where Black Knight and flexMLS were beating them every year? Well its gone baby gone.” Maybe. You can deep six the results of the survey like Jimmy Hoffa’s body, but the results of the survey are still valid in my opinion.
Matrix is rolling a “major” update on September 12th. I’m cautiously optimistic with a heavy emphasis on cautious. Matrix updates have mostly been a big snooze in the past. Why? Because they don’t really care about their product. I’ve said it before. There are still real estate tech vendors that are the BlackBerrys of the real estate.
That’s why frankly I look to outsiders to fill the void. Outsiders tend to actually give a crap about UX/UI. I guess you can call it my Jobsian search for perfection.
CoreLogic has not asked for any confidential information – they know better – you’re barking up the wrong tree there.
The survey may well have a future … I will be working to re-home it.
But at least you are right about the talent! 😉