Actionable Data – Streeteasy’s Michael Smith

New York City is one of the only cities in the United States that has never had a comprehensive one-stop-shop for listing data (current or historic). For years, the major power brokers tried to “get together” to create an MLS , but we all know how that turned out. Michael Smith is the CEO and Founder of Streeteasy. He has confronted this monumental task head on and has revolutionized how people search for available listings on the web, and research historical data. I sat down with him recently and discussed his company.

Shaun: How old is the company?

Michael: The company is almost 3 years old.

Shaun: And your title is?

Michael: CEO

Shaun: How many people is the company comprised of?

Michael: Ten. A big group of ten.

Shaun: Must be ten very efficient people.  What hours do you work? (Laughing)  Is there some advantage to owning a web based company, where your hours are not traditional?

Michael: I think so. We have an employee in California.  Today we’ve been able to do a lot with very few people. Ten for us is actually quit a big number.  For the first two years it was much smaller than that.

Shaun: Why did you start the company?

Michael: In a very basic sense, we started the company because we felt there was a real lack of actionable data for consumers, when it came to residential real estate. (more…)