The Ask
Ease Capital knew they wanted to build a technology-powered origination and servicing platform for commercial real estate. But first, they wanted to validate their vision. So, our Innovate team stepped in to help.
The Details
The platform was envisioned as providing commercial real-estate owners with a seamless experience for financing commercial assets; improving the speed and certainty of closing deals, making borrowing cheaper and more flexible; and rendering commercial lending simpler and more accessible for investors.
The Challenge
Ease Capital’s two founders had previously founded three successful startups, two of which were in the real estate space, and had professional experience in real estate lending and investing. Because of their previous experience in the industry, they knew first-hand there was a major opportunity in making the commercial real estate lending process more approachable. They just needed to make sure their platform would also suit the needs and address the pain points of others in the notoriously involuted industry.
The Approach
We partnered with the Ease Capital team to test the hypothesis that their platform would fit the market and its users’ needs. In order to auspiciously tackle the research, we started by identifying the information necessary to consider throughout the undertaking. This included: the current step-by-step process, primary pain points, key differences among asset classes, and key opportunities to improve the process.
The Process
Throughout this engagement, the process and tools used were grounded in design thinking and human-centered design process. By utilizing these frameworks we remained focused on the users in this market and not the potential solution. This created more opportunity space for additional and improved ideas.
In a few short weeks, our strategists conducted Market Research, followed by Lean User Research, building a view of user pain points and critical patterns to consider. The founders’ extensive contacts in the real estate space provided us a base from which to begin our research, upon which we layered on additional user types to create a response. We also analyzed the current solutions available to users to best identify additional areas of opportunity.
The Delivery
Using all of the data we collected, we were able to clarify the target market, the key value propositions, and the go-to-market strategy. This included employing user interviews and created personas to identify their market strategy. The strategy was based on our recommendations to focus on a specific user type that the Ease Capital team already has access to, and are the most open to new digital solutions.
Following the validation and prioritization of Ease Capital’s initial hypothesis, we were able to confirm and hone their value proposition, which will guide borrower-oriented product development moving forward.
The Results
Ease Capital gained confidence in their opportunity and focus in their strategy. Using our work, the Ease Capital team took all of the insights gathered to create their first pitch deck. We stayed on board to help them translate research findings in order to create a storyline most impactful for their audience.
With their visionary leadership and our partnership, they secured a vital seed capital round and began development on their MVP. Since their team has successfully launched their first product.
FROM THE CLIENT
Charlie Oshman, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Ease Capital
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