Software for Real Estate Management

Mark Friedman is founder and CEO of Accruent, the leader in real estate management software for major companies. Friedman talks about how he discovered a need for this service, and the future of his company.

Mark Friedman: We give him the software. we help them get it up and running. We help them get their date loaded and then once they’re ready to go, they manage it themselves. Zorianna Kit: Hi! Welcome to Dog and Pony. I am Zorianna Kit. Mark Friedman is founder and CEO of Accruent, an enterprise software company that provides real estate performance management solutions. Mark, welcome. What the heck is Real Estate Management Solutions? What does that mean? Mark Friedman: Basically, big companies, large organizations have real estate and facilities that they need to manage. They need to find properties, build properties, pay rent, manage these properties and we provide them with software to do that. Zorianna Kit: So, it’s like being a software accountant for them or a software business manager? Mark Friedman: Well, we give them the tool to do it and too is in part financial but part of it is, if you have five or 10,000 stores or locations, you need something to keep all that straight. We work with large companies, large institutions, and public sector clients about 20% of the Fortune 500 are our customers. About half the top retailers are our customers and then a lot of universities, the U.S. Army, the U.S. Navy, all these folks have stores, offices, plants, cell sites, service stations, all these stuff needs to be managed. Zorianna Kit: How did you get the idea to start your business? Mark Friedman: I was in commercial real estate and we were helping folks find locations to negotiate leases and companies were investing a lot of money in the front end of that process, so they’ll fight for every last term and condition in a contract but then, when they’re finished, those contract terms kind of disappear in big companies. And what happens is they don’t have tools to manage them and they end up making lots of financial mistakes. So, this is a problem that I saw and I started writing some software and it was part of a big company, rendered as division for a few years and the span around about 13 years ago. Zorianna Kit: Do you also develop software or do you just license it? Mark Friedman: Well, we develop and then we license it to companies, resell it to companies in essence, so we give them the software, we help them get it up and running. We help them get their data loaded and then once they’re ready to go, they manage it themselves. Zorianna Kit: Do you use your own software for your own company? Mark Friedman: We are too small for our own software. We use it for managing our projects but we only have half dozen leases. Zorianna Kit: You’re too small to use your own software, really? Mark Friedman: We are. Zorianna Kit: How many people are in the company or in what sense are you too small? Mark Friedman: Well, we’re a 160 people in North America. We’ve got another 250 people off shore. But generally, the companies we’re dealing with are billion dollars and up. Zorianna Kit: So, where do you see your company going? Mark Friedman: Well, the next big gross area is international. China and India are very exciting growth markets. If you look at the explosion in there, the growth around retailers, there’s a Starbucks, KFC and a Pizza Hut on every corner. And they’re going to need a lot of help getting that in for sure term place which is exactly what are software is good at. Zorianna Kit: Do you plan on developing other types of software? Mark Friedman: Well, real estate and facilities is a pretty broad basket already, you’re talking about everything from paying rent to facilities, to energy management, property tax management, there are plenty in there for us to fill in the pieces and keep us busy for a long time. Zorianna Kit: Got it. Do you need the software per location or is it—or was the software capable of transcending all the locations? Mark Friedman: Little above. I mean there are some foundation elements that you need just to do something and then as you get bigger, there are more stuff you need. Zorianna Kit: How much does it cost to license your software? Mark Friedman: A lot. Zorianna Kit: I mean, is there a set price no matter what company you are? Mark Friedman: It’s really going to be based on the size of the company and how much real estate they’re managing, so somebody that’s got a 100 locations is going to pay less than somebody’s managing 10,000 locations. Zorianna Kit: All right, we’re going to play a game right now called None of Your Business. I am going to ask you a series of questions, you can either answer them or tell me that is none of my business. Mark Friedman: Okay. Zorianna Kit: What kind of clients do you like the least? Mark Friedman: There are some big companies that cue you as a partner and they treat you like a partner and they treat you with respect in everything else and then, there are some that will treat you as a vendor of this a lot of arrogance, we’re a big company, you’re a lowly vendor and that’s about fine. Zorianna Kit: Who is your personal hero? Mark Friedman: None of your business. Zorianna Kit: What color is your MX? Mark Friedman: Silver. Zorianna Kit: What is your greatest achievement to date? Mark Friedman: My two daughters. Zorianna Kit: Thanks for playing None of Your Business. Mark Friedman, CEO of Accruent. Thank you so much for joining us. Mark Friedman: Thank you. Zorianna Kit: If you have questions, comments or ideas for guest, please email us at info@dogandpony.com. I am Zorianna Kit. Thanks for watching.