Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff: International expansion is not in the cards for now

rascoff111

Zillow is growing like gangbusters, employing nearly 700 employees and posting a 73 percent revenue growth rate during the fourth quarter. It’s also attracting a whopping 50 million unique visitors per month, the vast majority of whom are located in the U.S. So, one might wonder if the Seattle online real estate powerhouse could take… Read More…

Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff’s secrets to startup success: Be a servant to your managers

rascoff11

Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff is known as one of the hardest working dudes in Seattle tech. And that work ethic was on full display Tuesday night as Rascoff spoke to students and faculty as part of the Albers Executive Speaker Series at Seattle University. Rascoff shared a number of his startup secrets, expressing the management… Read More…

Zillow plans big ad push, aims to create a ‘massive, enduring brand’

Spencer Rascoff

Around these parts, Zillow is a pretty well known entity. But get out of the Seattle tech echo chamber and the online real estate company — despite attracting more than 45 million visitors last month — doesn’t have anywhere near the brand recognition of a Starbucks or Amazon.com or Expedia. But Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff… Read More…

Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff rings bell on Nasdaq, but no magical touch this time

zillow-closebell

Zillow was back on Wall Street today, ringing the closing bell on the Nasdaq stock exchange. (By my count, this is the third time that the Seattle online real estate company has opened or closed trading). But did Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff — the last entrepreneur in the Seattle area to guide his company to… Read More…

Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff sounds off on the JOBS Act, calls it a ‘step backwards’

Spencer Rascoff of Zillow

The Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, also known as the JOBS Act, was signed into law by President Barack Obama six months ago. The measure was supported by many in the technology and startup communities, in part because it was designed to loosen regulations on emerging businesses, including obligations to comply with Sarbanes-Oxley and other… Read More…

Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff: Startups that try to disrupt real estate commissions are doomed to fail

rascoff-2

Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff delivered the keynote address this morning at the TechNW event in Seattle, discussing the process by which the online real estate company went public and dishing on the recently approved JOBS Act. But one of the most interesting moments in my opinion came when an audience member asked Rascoff when the… Read More…

Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff: ‘We monetize on mobile’

Spencer Rascoff

There’s been a lot of chatter about companies like Facebook and Zynga having challenges unlocking the mysteries of monetization on the mobile Web. But that’s not the case at Zillow, with CEO Spencer Rascoff today appearing on Bloomberg TV and discussing the company’s success in driving advertising through its mobile platform. He said the biggest… Read More…

Why Zillow’s CEO wants to be the OpenTable of real estate

Spencer Rascoff

On the surface, OpenTable may not seem to hold many similarities with Zillow. After all, one specializes in restaurants, and other in real estate. But Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff sees similarities between the two companies, telling Business Insider that those companies which simply provide leads to businesses are ripe for disintermediation. In Rascoff’s view, OpenTable has… Read More…

Market Leader lands $2.55M deal to help Century 21 agents manage sales leads and marketing

marketleader2

Last month, I reported on how Market Leader and Zillow appear to be on a collision course in the online real estate market as both roll out new services for real estate agents across. Well, Market Leader — the older, but lesser known and less valuable of the two companies — just picked up a… Read More…

Next up at Zillow: Tools to help real estate agents manage leads, contacts and much more

Spencer Rascoff

Historically, Zillow has derived the bulk of its revenue from online advertising, charging real estate agents to gain access to the company’s growing ranks of home buyers and sellers. And while the advertising business won’t be going away anytime soon, Zillow has much bigger ambitions in 2012. Essentially, it wants to become the place where… Read More…