Marina del Rey-based Commercial Real Estate Exchange Inc., known as Crexi, is a proptech company that provides data-product tools for investors and brokers that lay out proprietary data such as market-level statistics, market trends and rental rate information. Chief Eecutive Mike Degiorgio has been helping scale the company since he founded it in 2015.
How long have you worked in the tech industry, and what did you do before Crexi?
I’ve always been interested in technology and the opportunities it unlocks for people. I started Crexi in 2015. Previously, I helped establish Auction.com, now known as Ten-X. I earned a business degree from Northern Illinois University, where I serve as a visiting lecturer on tech entrepreneurship.
Tell me about your role at Crexi, and what are your main responsibilities?
As chief executive, I spend significant time articulating my vision of the company to the outside investment community. In addition, hiring top talent is a huge part of my role. I’m extremely proud of our executive team, and all the employees that work at Crexi. My goal is to ensure our company is focused on our core product. We have so many ideas for where Crexi can go, but we have been able to grow by building one product first until it is great, and then scaling from there. I’m committed to serving Crexi’s shareholders, investors, employees, advisors and the commercial real estate industry at large.
In what ways has having Los Angeles as your landscape affected how you run the company?
Los Angeles is a city of such diverse talent. Our employees come from all industries and backgrounds, and that strengthens our company. Additionally, the great weather means we can hold team bonding activities outside in the winter. We do beach cleanups, blood drives, team barbecues. And it’s certainly hard to beat our office’s ocean views – you can’t get that in every city.
As more areas become digitized, many analysts have said that the real estate industry has been the slowest to adopt technology in its business practices; why do you think that is? What is driving the change?
Historically, commercial real estate has been slow to adopt new technology, which I think has much to do with the age of the industry itself and the long-term commitment property demands as an investment. Our clients are looking for products that can advance their businesses, not replace them. We at Crexi understand that human connection is the fulcrum of the sector. Commercial real estate is a specialized industry; any company building commercial real estate technology must understand the nuances of the business. Through an innovative use of data and insights, paired with our dedicated customer service team, Crexi is able to bring our customers the optimized toolkit tailored for the unique experience of working in commercial real estate.
Silicon Valley is no longer the only large tech hub. What about Silicon Beach has made it an attractive destination for entrepreneurs to start their businesses?
There is great weather, great talent and great opportunity. There is an extremely talented tech community in L.A., growing larger every day. Additionally, there are incredible universities like Caltech, USC and UCLA teaching the next generation of tech leaders. Tremendous wealth has been generated by startups like Snap, Hulu, Tinder and Ring, all founded in L.A. Those companies have laid the groundwork for new entrepreneurs and angel investors. And for new tech companies to have the opportunity to succeed – like Crexi.
Are there any misconceptions surrounding proptech that you’d like to debunk?
I’d like to debunk the misconception that proptech is complicated. Crexi was created as a simple yet powerful tech stack anyone can use to supercharge their business. It’s a single-source hub for stakeholders to market, analyze, lease and trade commercial property. And simple doesn’t mean the product is not complex; we do the work so our customers don’t have to. Today, Crexi empowers nearly 2 million buyers, brokers and tenants each month to explore over $2 trillion in property value nationwide, helping to close upward of $330 billion in transactions. Our platform is revolutionizing the way commercial real estate professionals transact by accelerating deal velocity and democratizing access to both properties and industry data.
What’s next for Crexi?
At Crexi, we’re always improving and iterating on our products. Our aim is to advance our industry and develop technology to continually add value to our customers. We care about long-term, sustained transformation and are always working to connect the commercial real estate ecosystem and streamline processes. We’re focused on designing solutions to make our customers’ businesses easier to run and make the commercial real estate industry more accessible to all.
