Fresh from a successful round of meetings with VC’s over on Sand Hill Road, Redfin just announced closing a successful fund-raising round of $12M, led by none other than Draper Fisher Jurvetson.
The coverage of this event has been predictable: Techcruch claims that Redfin’s goal is to “completely remove real estate agents and brokers from at least half of a home sale” (in which case they would immediately go bankrupt, since in most states you can only claim compensation for representing somebody in a real estate transaction if you’re a licensed agent.) The Bloodhound notes that this brings investors’ stake in the company to around $40,000 per transaction, while the indefatigable Kris Berg compares Glenn Kelman to those infamous Internet scammers (”419′ers” being the technical term) promising untold riches.
While both Kris and I have met Glenn Kelman, we clearly have different opinions about him. Say what you will about Redfin’s disruptions of our staid industry, but I’m thinking their business model may just have fins — er, legs — and that we castigate them to our own potential future peril. Besides, even if he tries, Glenn Kelman doesn’t have nearly the right accent to be a true 419′er. I, on the other hand…(ask me at Inman.)
But we digress. From an inside source at Redfin, I hear the team is busy divvying up the spoils as we speak.
- Sick of their current digs, they’re about to make an offer — using Redfin direct — on this swank place.
- Media & PR person Cynthia Pang’s is changing her title to “Lady Pang, Public Relations Mogul” and buying these guys.
- Each Redfin’er is getting one of these. Oh, wait a minute — Redfin’s site doesn’t work with Safari. Scrap that idea.
- Glenn is pursuing his love of Mustangs by getting one of these.
- Newsflash: Offer on 1) above was rejected “out of hand” so now they’re hiring none other than the Grand Dame of Seattle real estate to represent them. Rumor has it she’s agreed to refund Redfin $25 of her commission.
- They’re making 1.3M DVD copies of this show and have asked these guys for their mailing list.
Tags: Glenn Kelman, Real estate, Redfin
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