10 years ago, as a former venture capitalist turned entrepreneur, Mike Peregrina was fueled by his mission to disrupt real estate during the rise of the gig economy. Along with his two co-founders, they launched Homie in March 2016 and 18 months later, it was the #1 broker in the state of Utah.

With Phoenix being a leader in the shared economy, as well as a well-known real estate town, Arizona seemed like the perfect market to pursue next. It was in Homie’s Phoenix office that I got a chance to sit down with Mike to learn more about their fast-growing company that is saving home buyers and sellers time and money as the next Lyft or Bird of real estate. He also shared valuable business lessons for entrepreneurs who are just starting out, raising capital or expanding into new markets.

8 Lessons for Entrepreneurs from Homie Co-Founder, Mike Peregrina

1. “Nail it before you scale it”

Scaling a business requires a strong foundation. “You have to nail down the playbook,” Mike said. “You have to go smooth to go fast, and to go smooth you have to go slow.” Going slowly means nailing down that one product which for Homie was the sales side of the business.

2. Hire mission-driven people to ensure a culture that scales

Make sure people are on the same page both at home and at work. “You have to have people who are intellectually curious, who are always learning,” Mike added. He likes to hire people who challenge the status quo and has instilled that in his teams.

3. Establish a Core Values Committee

To help their core values scale as the company grows, Homie has a committee dedicated to it which Mike has always been a part of until this past year. However, even in his absence, he was thrilled to see that the committee established core values that reflect his own. “At Homie we are a culture; we don’t have a culture,” Mike said.

4. Hiring ‘boots on the ground’ is super important

They initially thought they could scale without it, but the numbers don’t lie. Real estate is very localized, and you need to be invested in the community. You won’t win without it so hire people with domain expertise.

5. Raise capital when you need to move fast

Homie needed to move fast to gain market share so they decided to raise capital instead of bootstrapping and have found VC’s real estate expertise helpful. “VC’s are all about pattern-recognition,” Mike said. “They’re partners who help shorten the learning curve which is important when it comes to moving fast and needing market share.”

6. The 4 C’s of Entrepreneurship

Mike has four C’s that are important for any entrepreneur.

1. Creation story: Why are you important? Where does your origin story come from?
2. Collaboration: There’s no way to do it alone
3. Courage: Need more people to challenge the status quo
4. Cockroach: Don’t die. Have grit and perseverance.

7. Listen to your customers

“You have to obsess over your customer because sometimes your assumptions are wrong,” Mike said. Homie has found that to be successful it’s all about having a solid idea, executing it well and listening to your customers, including employees.

8. Find the right VC through who they’ve backed before

Do due diligence on them. Don’t think about valuation; think about value. “And don’t be afraid to go on LinkedIn and see who can vet them for you,” Mike said. “It’s important to see how they are personally.”

For more about Homie:
Website: Homie.com
Instagram: @tryhomie
Facebook: TryHomie

Show Notes

@1:08 In 2008 Mike lost everything. 10 years ago he woke up feeling it like it was his mission to disrupt the real estate economy.

@2:40 The rise of shared economies

@3:46 What is Homie and how is it different? What separates it from others who have failed in the same space?

@5:31 How to expand into new markets: “Nail it before you scale it”

@7:44 Make sure you nail down that one product, make that your beachhead. For them, it was the sales side.

@8:06 How do you keep that culture as you scale? Hire fast, fire faster. Be thoughtful in your hiring. Make sure people are on the same page both at home and at work. Give agents and ops people lots of freedom. You have to have people who are intellectually curious, who are always learning.

@10:00 “At Homie, we are a culture; we don’t have a culture.” Their core values reflect that

@10:50 Have a “Core Values Committee” to ensure that core values scale

@11:45 How do you keep people caring about more than money? Have to have courage to challenge the status quo Disrupt best practices Find people who are mission-driven

@13:20 How have different regions affected your business? Hiring boots on the ground is super important.

@17:00 When did you decide to invest in real estate/an office here? When the team went from 1 to 5, he decided they all have to be unified. There comes a time when you need to get everyone in one space.

@18:45 When do you raise vs. when do you bootstrap? When you need to move fast like they did to gain market share. VC’s are all about pattern-recognition. They’re partners who help shorten the learning curve which is important when it comes to moving fast and needing market share.

@21:00 Why “Homie” Stick to your core people and you’ll find a tribe, such as theirs who love: 1) saving money 2) building relationships with brand 3) the voice

@25:30 4 C’s of Entrepreneurship Creation story: Why are you important? Where does your origin story come from? Collaboration: There’s no way to do it alone Courage: Need more people to challenge the status quo Cockroach: Don’t die. Have grit and perseverance.

@29:05 Listen to your customer You have to obsess over your customer because sometimes your assumptions are wrong.

@31:50 How did you choose the right capital partner? Do due diligence on them. Don’t think about valuation; think about value. Get to know them through people they’ve backed before. Don’t be afraid to go on LinkedIn and see who can vet them for you. It’s important to see how they are personally.

Navigating the world of commercial real estate can be tough. And even brokers with the best of intentions can misguide you in your final real estate decisions. I don’t want to get all Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson from A Few Good Men on you, but….do you think you can handle the truth?

If you can, here are the top three things your commercial real estate broker wants you to believe…that aren’t necessarily true:

1. “I’m free.”

This one may seem tricky to some. The reason? Because although we (as brokers) may not be an “additional cost,” our commissions are factored into your lease terms/rates no matter what people may tell you. It’s how we make our money. We are in a commission-based industry, plain and simple.

At Keyser, we tell you up front that we have a fee and that it is factored into the lease terms. But this means we fight harder to ensure we negotiate lease terms that are significantly lower or more favorable to the tenant than it would be without a broker (or with a different broker).

The cost is there with or without us; landlords will often tell you that the lease rates will be less without a tenant broker and much higher with us being hired. With Keyser, this is not true.

Tenants can be confident hiring us, knowing we come in and put together a real estate strategy that helps them maximize their “buying power” and create the leverage needed to ensure the most favorable deal terms.

2. “We keep things totally confidential.”

Ever wonder why you begin to get 1000x calls 12-24 months before your lease is set to expire? As in many other industries, brokers gossip and share info (no judgement–those are just the facts).  

Sharing information can mean anything from a tenant’s strategy, to their financial information.  All things that should be kept confidential unless otherwise discussed with the client (many times information does need to be shared but ONLY with the permission of the tenant/client).

Here at Keyser we often sign NDAs with our clients and don’t share transactions with other people. Confidentiality is very important to us. Like I said before, in the world of real estate word travels quickly and information spreads. How else would those cold calls start? *WINK*

3. “We have your best interest (as the tenant) at heart.”

Most brokers represent landlords AND tenants. And representing a landlord is much more lucrative than a one-off tenant. This means they could be less likely to fight hard for you if it means upsetting an owner who is either a current or prospective client.

Here at Keyser we represent the tenant only and we have a common saying that perfectly captures why this is:

Would you have a prosecuting attorney also represent a defendant in the same trial? No. Because there’s no telling whose best interest would be prioritized.

The same goes for real estate, and we always put our clients and their needs first above all else.

If you want to learn more about real estate and choosing the right space, feel free to reach out to me.

Find Noah:

Email: [email protected]
Facebook: Noah Barrasso
Instagram:@hashtagnoah
Twitter: @NoahBarrasso
Company:  Keyserco.com

Lately people have been asking me “I keep seeing all this content from you lately…what’s the deal with it all?”

So, I wanted to take the time to share my thoughts behind it all.

Unless you’re directly involved with real estate and like to geek out over it like I do, I think we can all agree that talking real estate (i.e. market vacancies, Cap Rates, renewal options, etc.) is not the sexiest thing. And, like insurance, accounting, or other service industries, it can sometimes come off as something your company doesn’t want to deal with but must.

Plain and simple– real estate is how I get paid. When I help negotiate a lease or purchase of a building on the behalf of my client, the landlord pays a percentage of that consideration to me/us.  And our company, Keyser, prides ourselves at being the best at representing tenants with any and all things related to commercial real estate.

But I know many folks don’t want to consistently hear about the latest market trends or lease rates in the way that I like to (although I’d be happy to dive into that if you’re curious).

So, keeping that in mind, I tried to take myself out of the situation and asked the following questions:

• What would I want to know about this topic?
• Who would I want to learn from?
• And how would I want it presented to me?

The answer: I’d want to know about the companies this person worked with, the people involved, and their stories.

I’m also a visual person–so hearing from the people themselves and taking a sneak peek into their spaces/lives would keep me interested. This is how Tour de Tech was born.  Instead of filming myself talk about the real estate process and how we helped these clients create badass spaces, I created this series to show how well company’s culture and space can align if the real estate piece is done right.

Martini Shot was a little different. It sprung from the desire to humanize successful people, so that less seasoned entrepreneurs (or people just starting out in their field) can learn more about what it takes to be successful.  AND, let’s not forget it was also meant to share these folk’s favorite watering holes/cocktails and hopefully share a funny story 😊.  

I showcase a variety of clients and people I just genuinely admire in terms of their talent, drive, and story.

I want to create the kind of content I would want to consume in a field I happen to know very well. Sharing the success of the people I work with in a way that’s more relatable, candid, and transparent is the end goal.

There is a time and place for real estate, but my hope is that even if I can’t guide you professionally just yet, maybe something will resonate with you on a personal level. If I can gain one positive from my content or make one-person smile…I’ll be happy.

Also, I want to show that what I am so fortunate to do can be more fun, because I choose to do it differently.

Find Noah:

Email: [email protected]
Facebook: Noah Barrasso
Instagram: @hashtagnoah
Twitter: @NoahBarrasso
Company:  Keyserco.com