Almost every entrepreneur will tell you it’s usually not the
first venture that works out to be a success. And for Kansas City native and engineer
Parker Hills, founder of Keyzio, this
statement reigns true. His first venture into the startup world began a few
years ago with a small company that developed and deployed algorithmic trading
strategies in the US equities markets. As
Parker puts it, “We built a lot of really cool things and learned a ton. But it got to a point where it wasn't profitable, so it was best to just shut it down.”
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| Parker Hills, founder of Keyzio |
But when one door closes, another door almost always
opens. And the idea of Parker’s current
venture, Keyzio, sparked when he and his wife sold their house but couldn't find a new house that met their desires.
“We were looking in an in-demand area, but weren't finding
anything available that met our specs and our budget, and the clock was ticking”
says Parker of the problem he faced. “We
had heard stories of house hunters having success dropping letters or knocking
on doors simply asking homeowners if they’d be interested in selling their home. There is a world of hidden sellers out there,
but they are tough to find.”
And that was the simple idea that Parker took to Startup Weekend in Kansas City.
The initial design of Keyzio was to be able to push a button
on your phone and let an owner, who isn't necessarily looking to sell at the
time but is open to the idea, know you’re interested in purchasing their home. Since the original idea, Keyzio has grown into
a full-fledged business model that connects buyers, sellers, lenders, real
estate agents, and other entities that encompass the real estate industry.
Due to his success at Kansas City Startup Weekend (Keyzio
earned 2nd place) and the evolution of Keyzio, Parker decided to
apply for the KC-based accelerator program run by Think Big Partners. He was accepted into the first class.
“I had met Herb (founding partner of Think Big Partners) in
the past and had been following Think Big’s growth,” explains Parker. “When I
saw the announcement
and launch of the accelerator, I thought this was the perfect opportunity to
stop toying around with the idea and see if it actually had legs.”
Currently, Keyzio’s website is live in public beta and its
buyer-focused iPhone application just hit the app store (just search Keyzio in
the app store). Although the service is running
in a minimal capacity, the startup is constantly iterating on the structure it
already has in place. One of the most
interesting aspects of Keyzio is the feature that allows prospective buyers to
send a personalized letter to a homeowner to express their interest in a particular
home. The feature is currently being tested, but thus far, has yielded very positive
results.
As for the future of Keyzio, Parker’s hopes to fulfill the vision
of Keyzio’s tagline “Where every house is for sale”, where buyers can easily
connect with the entire universe of potential sellers, and sellers can privately
test the market before they are ready to publicly list their home.
Parker feels the Think Big Accelerator
program has benefited him so far in his journey of building Keyzio.
“The first
few weeks were definitely more intense than the last few weeks, but it has really
kept us focused on short term priorities and customer validation,” he explains.
“Time is extremely valuable right now. There’s
no reason to spend time on something that isn't absolutely critical to validating
our business model or staying on schedule to launch early next year.”
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