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Case Study / 082026
§ Case Study / 08 — Modern Agent

Modern Agent

A proptech consultancy on a brand-first thesis.

Role
Founder
Year
2019 – 2022
Stack
Proptech · GTM · brand architecture
§ 01The Situation
Proptech startups were getting tactical advice that wasn't working. Adoption kept stalling, and the reason wasn't bad technology: the go-to-market was built on assumptions that didn't match how real estate agents actually make buying decisions.
§ 02The Bet
Proptech doesn't have an adoption problem. It has a brand architecture problem. Agents don't trust what they can't feel. The consultancies advising these startups were optimizing for feature checklists when they should have been optimizing for emotional resonance and trust signals.
§ 03The Work
The consultancy ran on four motions, each one feeding the next:
  1. Advised on PMF, GTM, and technology adoption strategy.Worked directly with proptech founders to reframe their go-to-market from feature-led to trust-led.
  2. Stepped in as fractional CRO for a NAR REACH-funded client.First commercial leader for an early-stage AI SaaS. Built the revenue function from zero: CRM architecture, the demo motion, pipeline frameworks, and the partnership pipeline.
  3. Designed conversion frameworks for agent communities.Agents don't buy software the way SaaS buyers do. Built adoption playbooks that respected that difference.
  4. Translated between founder vision and agent reality.The gap between what founders build and what agents need is linguistic. I was the bridge.
  5. Trained 500+ agents on technology adoption.Workshops, webinars, one-on-ones. Adoption at scale requires trust at the individual level first.
§ 04The Outcome
Three of the startups I advised landed in NAR REACH, proptech's hardest filter. Collective client funding crossed $4M. The clients who treated brand as architecture cleared funnels the others could not.
NAR REACH placements
0
Proptech accelerator acceptances across advised startups. The hardest filter in the industry.
Collective client funding
$0+
Raised across advised startups during and after engagement.
Agents trained
0+
On technology adoption and process transformation across client networks.
§ 05 — Over Coffee

I shut down Modern Agent to go to Kelley. Hardest business decision I've made. Still right.

— You don't always leave because something failed. Sometimes you leave because something bigger is calling.