In our latest real estate tech entrepreneur interview, we’re speaking with Scott Lockhart from Showcase IDX. We’re thrilled to have him as a member of Geek Estate Mastermind.
Without further ado…
What do you do?
I’m the CEO of Showcase IDX… which means I wear a lot of hats, probably too many right now. We have a small team and that means I have to fill in gaps when and where they are needed as we continue to grow fast. In addition to doing typical CEO’y things running a company, I’m also the main product/UX designer and evangelist for Showcase IDX. Which means I’m constantly talking to agents, team leaders, brokers, owners and other tech companies about what they need for their business to succeed and in particular what they struggle with… then I try and distill that into a product that our customers and consumers get real value out of. So far, so good.
What problem does your product/service solve?
Showcase IDX solves the widespread problem of having mediocre search experiences on agent and team websites. It’s our belief that by giving consumers a better search experience, that is more like the experience they get on large portals, we can be more successful in adding value (and business) to agents through their own website.
“Meh” search and consumer experiences are such a widespread problem for agent and team sites that some folks in the industry have, for a while now, gone on about how agent and broker websites are a waste of time and money… but I couldn’t disagree more. I mean, bad websites ARE a waste of time and money, but don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. Not all agent and team websites or search experiences have to be bad.
In fact, with the rise of diversified online and offline marketing, and social advertising, the need for a home on the internet (website) that the agent owns and has full control over, that they can point all their marketing to, where they can reinforce their brand and value proposition, has never been more essential and will only continue to be for professional agents well into the future.
What are you most excited about right now?
The future of the industry… and how technology will impact helping people finding and selling homes. Not that you asked, but the thing I’m least excited about is the upcoming Atlanta Hawks season. It’s going to be utterly miserable. But I digress…
What’s next for you?
Right now we’re growing fast organically, mainly by word or mouth… So I’m very excited to be adding a sales team and really getting after it on the sales side of things, now that our product is in a really good place. There’s some other exciting stuff on the horizon that I can’t really talk about just yet, but are the realization of us trying to solve big glaring problems/opportunities in the industry. We’re probably going to surprise a few people.
What’s a cause you’re passionate about and why?
I’m really passionate about equal rights and opportunities for all… I think a lot of what’s wrong with this world comes from inequality and lack of understanding in terms of so many things, whether it’s prejudice based on gender, race, sexuality, religion, education, or age.
Equal rights for all doesn’t mean rights for some at the expense of others, or that everyone needs handouts to gain equality… It means that we all should have the opportunity to choose how we want to live our lives without things about us that are out of our control (like where we grew up, who our parents are, or what we believe) impeding our opportunities. The struggle is real out there for people who want to make more out of their lives to “succeed” enough without stuff that you can’t do anything about getting in the way.
Thanks to Scott for sharing her story. If you’d like to connect, find him on LinkedIn here.
We’re constantly looking for great real estate tech entrepreneurs to feature. If that’s you, please read this post — then drop me a line (drew @ geekestatelabs dot com).
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