Michael Mandel | CompStak
Michael Mandel
Co-Founder and CEO of CompStak, a company that employs a crowdsourced model to gather commercial real estate information for investors, brokers, asset managers, and appraisers.
What Is CompStak? What Is The Mission And How Does The Business Model Work?
CompStak is a real estate data and analytics company leveraging crowdsourced commercial lease and sales transaction data and property information combined with AI driven analytics. CompStak's 30,000+ members provide data covering the entire US, and its paying customers include the world's largest real estate investors and lenders - Wells Fargo, Boston Properties, Tishman Speyer, Vornado, and many more. Additionally, CompStak has grown a strong data partnership business through data license and API integrations with firms like Moody's, Trepp, DBRS/Morningstar, EDR, and others.
What Is Your Background? What Led You To Starting Your Own Company? And How Did You Choose This Space?
Before starting CompStak I was a commercial real estate broker. I started CompStak to address a need I saw in the industry. We (brokers) were trading important deal information (comps) all of the time, but no-one was compiling this information in a comprehensive way for the benefit of the industry as a whole. I saw a way to take the offline process of trading comps, and move it online, in a more efficient way.
What Have Been Both Your Favorite And Least-Liked Parts Of Your Entrepreneurial Journey? What Have Been Your Most Challenging And Most Exciting Moments For You And The Company?
My favorite parts of the journey have always been the big milestones that mark the progress we’ve made along the way. When you’re in the thick of it, you don’t take the time to step back and recognize the accomplishments you’ve made, particularly when you’re fighting fires along the way. A major fundraise, or a record setting sale gives you a chance to reflect on the progress you made, and what it took to get there.
Certain exciting moments that stick out for me:
Getting into 500 Startups, and moving out to Silicon Valley to join the accelerator
Closing our Series A, and celebrating with our investors, team and families
Outgrowing our first office, and moving into a full floor in our building in NYC - a space formerly occupied by TechStars and FourSquare
Opening the CompHouse, our building in LA. Our own office, right on Abbot Kinney boulevard in Venice Beach
The most challenging moments have been when key team players left for new opportunities, a promising client or investor turned us down, or a product wasn’t as successful as we hoped.
What Was The Fundraising Process Like For You? Tell Us What You Can About The Money You’ve Raised.
We’ve raised around $30m. Each fundraise has been a little different. Getting your first check is a different challenge from raising a seed round, which is a different challenge from raising a Series A, a strategic round or a Series B. Raising money at the earliest stage is all about how well you tell the story, and what kind of traction you have. It took us a year to close our first check, and most of that time was spent learning how to “play the game.” Understanding how to pitch the company, and also get investors to understand the opportunity. As the company progressed, the importance of traction over vision was critical. We had to show that customers were buying what we were selling, and that there was clear product/market fit.
Who Are Your Cofounders Or People Who You Work Very Closely With? How Do Their Skills Supplement Yours?
My co-founder is Vadim Belobrovka, who’s our CTO. Vadim and I met an event back in 2011, when we were both looking for co-founders to start a company. We’ve grown to become great friends and partners. Our skills complement each other really well. I know nothing about tech, so I don’t step on his toes. He knows a lot about business, but he still doesn’t step on my toes :-). We make the big decisions together, and since we communicate a lot, we’re almost always on the same page.
Can You Walk Us Through A Work Day? What Does A Typical Day For You Look Like From When You Wake Up Till You Go To Sleep?
These days, a commute involves a walk from my bed to my desk, with a stop in the kitchen for a cold brew. Most days are jam packed with Zoom calls, both internal and external. Today, for instance included presenting on a Zoom call with one of our partner organizations, doing a Zoom interview, some one on ones with our leadership team, a client meeting, and a couple prospect strategy calls. For better or worse, my day is run around whatever meetings I have booked that day, with hopefully a bit of time in-between to work through some to-dos, and a massive backlog of emails. At the end of the day, I’ll generally jump on the Peloton bike for a half hour or so, take a shower, grab dinner with the family, and then plow through some more emails, jump on a call with my co-founder, Vadim, and watch a little bit of TV.
The Real Estate Industry Is Seen By Many As Antiquated In Terms Of Its Lack Of Modernized Processes And Technological Innovation. How Has The Industry Changed Since You Started Your Career, And What Are Some Ways You Think It Can Improve With The Use Of Technology?
When we started CompStak, the terms “CRE Tech” and “Proptech” did not exist. There were only a handful of real estate tech startups, and most of the innovation in real estate tech was limited to residential real estate, plus a few commercial real estate tech companies that were founded over 20 years earlier. Since that time, “Proptech” has become one of the hottest sectors in the technology space. Investors that questioned whether the real estate market was a large enough addressable market to target at all, have since started specific Proptech funds. Still, the number of Proptech startups is VERY high compared to the level of technology adoption in the industry. However, that clearly is changing. What we’re most passionate about at Compstak, is transparency in real estate information, which ultimately will result in more fair and efficient deal making for all market participants.
How Do You Think Your Industry Will Change Post-COVID?
COVID has rocked the real estate industry. That said, I ultimately believe that things will get back to normal once there’s a vaccine. However, the world will look a bit different - particularly retail. Retail was already changing in a big way, and COVID has expedited those changes.
What Are The Top Three Most Important Skills A Modern Day Entrepreneur Needs In Order To Be Successful? What Advice Do You Have For Entrepreneurs Who Are Just Starting Out?
Grit
Salesmanship/Vision
See #1
Grit: First and foremost, being an entrepreneur today or any day is hard. There will be a ton of rejection and lots of challenges. Not every challenge can be outsmarted. You Just need to grind it out and keep going. Often success comes from nothing else than staying power.
Salesmanship/Vision: As an entrepreneur, it’s your job to never lose sight of the vision for the company, and to sell that vision day in and day out. You sell it to investors, you sell it to prospective customers, and you sell it to you current and future team members. If you can’t get people excited about your vision, no-one else can.
If You Can Have A One-Hour Meeting With Someone Famous Who Is Alive, Who Would It Be And Why?
I’m not particularly starstruck. I’d probably rather have a meeting with the CEO of one of our top prospects to sell them on CompStak than meet with someone famous.
What Is Your Favorite Quote?
“Bite off more than you can chew, then chew it. Plan to do more than you can do, then do it. Hitch your wagon to a star, then keep your seat, and there you are!” - Unknown
What Do You Do In Your Free Time?
Peleton bike, gardening, and spending time with my kids
What Are Your Top Three Favorite Business Books?
The Hard thing about Hard Things, by Ben Horowitz
The Sales Acceleration Formula, by Mark Roberge
How to Win Friends & Influence People, by Dale Carnegie
What Does Success Mean To You?
Creating a company that makes a long lasting impact on our industry, and helps people do their jobs better
Personal happiness/fulfillment for myself, my family, and our team members and our investors that have helped us along the way.
