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21: From Building Dating Apps to Building Affordable Urban Homes - Interview with Brian Gerrard, Co-Founder at California Modular and Co-Founder at Bae Dating App
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Brian Gerrard is Co-Founder at California Modular, an Oakland-based real estate development company, that addresses the rising housing costs in many US urban communities. He is also Co-Founder of Bae, a dating app for Black millennial singles. Brian is based out of Oakland.
Brian says that in the Bay Area, the supply for affordable housing has stayed constant, but the demand has grown exponentially. Consequently, the cost of housing has risen by 75% in the past 5 years in Oakland. Family salaries have not risen by this rate, so there is a tremendous need to be solved. The demand is spilling over from San Francisco, where big tech companies are attracting folks moving in who are able to pay much higher rent, and thus displacing the original locals. He says that the people living in these areas are not getting access to the education in order to be able to get these jobs offered in their cities. This is the real problem that needs to be addressed.
With California Modular, Brian and his co-founders saw the opportunity to cut the cost of housing in half for people in the Bay Area, by building houses at 10 times the speed and one tenth of cost of a normal unit. To do that, they've been using tiny homes, which can be built in 6 to 8 weeks, which are smart-home outfitted, and they are located in micro-villages, with many community amenities like fire pits and basketball courts. Some of the homes are even built using shipping containers.
Brian says that people have been living in small homes for many decades in the past. Think the trailer park. But what's changed recently is the demographic that can be served with these homes. Nowadays millennials don't want 30 to 50 year mortgages and be tied down to a specific community. People can rent or finance these small homes. Or they can even live in an accessory dwelling unit (ADU), which is a small structure attached to part of a house property (such as in the backyard). California Modular builds the ADU and enters into a revenue share with the property owner for rental income.
Brian wanted to be an entrepreneur before becoming a technologist. He got a bit dizzy with the tech narrative, and so moved into the analog world of building houses after building phone apps. He sees real estate as a great business to be in. But he does say the regulatory hurdles are difficult. If you submit an app, you just have to get past the Apple review team. But for building houses, you have to get past the mayor, the building code, the zoning and planning office, and you're waiting 6 to 8 months to be approved or rejected. Also the capital required to start this business is a lot higher.
Brian started Bae, the dating app for Black millennial singles when he and his co-founders realized Tinder was not serving the Black community effectively. He said that the reason nobody built this prior is that nobody is thinking to solve problems that affect this community. Because people in these communities who are affected by these problems often don't have access to capital. Bae was very successful and was eventually acquired by if(we), which itself was acquired by The Meet Group. Brian joined The Meet Group as Director of Product Marketing. He eventually then left to start California Modular.
Brian grew up in New Jersey and was encouraged by his family to take risks in life. He was the number one fencer in the state for multiple years. He learned that he could be the best and excel, helping him later in life as an entrepreneur. Brian graduated from the University of Virginia, and planned to be a lawyer, but ended up as a kindergarten teacher in Queens, New York. Later he landed a position at the NBA, helping their international efforts in building the NBA League Pass International app. He then worked at Nielsen as a consultant to help clients transition from TV to mobile. He then started Bae afterward.
Brian is concerned that large tech companies, even with their current work demographic, are already performing financially well and have no real incentive to change. He is also concerned that there are more fundamental problems facing the African-American community, such as very low high school graduation rates, prison industrial complex, and high rates of single-parent households leading to lower household incomes. The lack of diversity in tech companies is ultimately not the underlying issue.
Brian is featured in CA Technologies' STEM10 series highlighting future leaders in STEM fields.
For career advice, Brian says don't create your own barriers. If you want to launch an app but don't have money to pay a developer, then learn how to code online for free. Or build a low cost / free website to validate your product ideas, before investing in building an app. Brian also recommends positive social peer pressure. Tell your personal network that you're working on an idea with a deadline. So you give yourself pressure to follow through. Brian also says put your money into your business. So that forces yourself to commit to it and raise the personal stakes.
linkedin.com/in/brianjgerrard/
CA Technologies STEM10 Brian Gerrard
STEM Diversity Podcast
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