Today Patrick shares time with Nishant Phadnis who is the Chief Product Officer at Rent. and has been with the company for over a decade. Nishant discusses the solutions Rent. is providing to the multifamily industry in innovative and creative ways.
Multifamily Innovation
11/212022
11/172022
On today’s episode, Patrick spends time with Kerry W. Kirby, Founder and CEO of 365 Connect, an award-winning technology company providing marketing, leasing, and resident service platforms for the multifamily housing industry.
11/092022
Henson Orser founded Two Dots, a venture backed technology company dedicated to solving the problem of apartment leasing fraud using some of silicon valley’s most advanced AI, while bringing operational excellence to multifamily property managers along with it.
09/212022
Topics range from centralized leasing for multifamily portfolios, the state of multifamily technology integrations, pilot programs and new technology integrations, leasing automations, flexible rentals, and more.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Sept. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Multifamily Innovation® announces their 2022 Summit schedule, covering the most requested and most crucial topics for operating winning, successful multifamily organizations in today’s climate.
Register today for the Multifamily Innovation® Summit.
At the Summit, you will gain access to the perspectives from the Multifamily Innovation® Advisory Council members so you can avoid pitfalls and gain new perspectives for your business. You will have access to people and companies that are implementing new products, working through pilot programs, and designing their business with people that are thinking deeply about making their Multifamily business better.
This event also recognizes the official Best Places to Work Multifamily® companies nationwide. You don’t have to be involved in the awards program to attend this event. Top executives and CEOs from these companies being recognized will be in attendance to receive their award and make remarks from the stage.
Attendees will learn to bring together their technology initiatives with strong, internal-proven Multifamily leadership processes.
The Multifamily Leadership platform has spent the last 8 years producing high level events centered around technology, leadership, innovation, and Multifamily Investments. The company also conducts research on what it takes to run a successful multifamily company through the official Best Places to Work Multifamily® program.
Through their podcasts, live broadcasts, award programs, in-person summits, articles, social media channels, and streaming platform, Multifamily Leadership reaches a global audience of millions of viewers and listeners.
On December 7-8, 2022, you will have the opportunity to experience the Multifamily Innovation® Summit in Phoenix, Arizona. This event is open to everyone in multifamily and the content is built specifically for the challenges this industry is facing running apartment portfolios, delivered by experts who have been through it all, boots on the ground, paving the way for what’s next.
“I’m spending time every week with top Executives in the Multifamily Innovation® Council, and productivity remains the top priority for these organizations. Forward thinking executives will need to focus on increased productivity and efficiency so investors get to their yields without depending on rent increases. Innovation goes beyond technology, it’s about making a business better,” states Patrick Antrim, CEO of Multifamily Leadership and Chairman of the Multifamily Innovation® Advisory Council.
Content for the 2022 Multifamily Innovation® Summit is as follows:
- Multifamily Innovation® Showcase – a curated group of expert discussions so top executives can stay on top of current innovations and the most impactful technologies on the market.
- Multifamily Awards Show – Announcing the top-ranking companies in the National Best Places to Work Multifamily®
- Centralized Leasing for Multifamily Portfolios
- The State of Multifamily Technology Integrations
- Pilot Programs and New Technology Integrations
- Leasing Automation That Will Eliminate Unnecessary Tasks, and Help Retain Onsite Teams
- What You Might Not Know About the Flexible Rental Surge
The most unique thing about every event produced by Multifamily Leadership is the care taken to address every aspect of the individual. Work life and personal life are no longer mutually exclusive and it is equally important to treat the individual for personal growth as it is for professional growth. This is why the in-person events include unique experiences to foster mindset shifts, deeper relationships, and easier networking for industry professionals. From hiking to yoga to helicopter rides, you just never know what is in store!
For more details and descriptions of specific content, please visit multifamilyinnovation.com and be sure to get registered today before ticket prices increase.
There are a few sponsorship opportunities remaining, so to get involved now, please visit multifamilyinnovation.com/sponsors/.
Media Contact:
Patrick Antrim (480) 719-4409
contact@multifamilyleadership.com
SOURCE Multifamily Leadership
08/012022
Note: The analysis of the FCC ruling in this article is for informational purposes and should not be considered legal advice. Readers are encouraged to consult with legal counsel before taking any actions based on the analysis in this article.
This article was written to accompany the What Multifamily Leaders Need to Know About the FCC Broadband Ruling event. It is available to watch for free with the rest of our on-demand multifamily events tackling industry problems through our Events page..
The Federal Communication Commission (FCC) made a ruling on February 15, 2022 that changes the landscape of how telecom agreements are arranged with multifamily apartments. The FCC made this decision with the goal of increasing competition in multifamily units for residents. These begin enforcement on September 26th, 2022.
It’s worth remembering that not all of these are new laws. Some are updated interpretations of existing regulations. As a result, these will affect past and future agreements instead of only newly made agreements.
These are based around changes regarding exclusive marketing agreements, tiered revenue shares, and the “Sale and Leaseback” components of some agreements.
Exclusive Marketing Disclosures
Although the FCC does not straight-out ban exclusive marketing agreements, the service provider is now required to notify all current and prospective residents of any such agreement.
Service providers have discretion on how to communicate the details of what this means, but the notices will be included on all marketing materials. Building owners lose any opportunity to influence this if exclusive marketing is part of the agreement.
This does not require immediate action from the property owner or operator, but it is still in the best interest of the owner to rework these agreements as soon as possible into non-exclusive marketing. Very few residents are likely to be happy to hear about any exclusive marketing agreements.
However, not all providers are concerned about how this affects the building owners’ relationships with the residents. The building owners’ relationship with the service provider is the critical reason why service providers may want to renegotiate these agreements to remove this risk from the building owner.
Tiered Revenue Shares
Since the FCC rulings in 2007, multifamily properties have not been able to enter into telecom agreements that include a restriction that prevents other providers from entering a property, previously referred to as “exclusive access” agreements.
With the new 2022 ruling, the FCC found that the “tiered revenue share” model had a very similar effect to the no-longer-permissible “exclusive access” agreements.
Also known as “penetration-based” models, this is when the revenue share paid to owners will change based on the percentage of available residents that service provider has as subscribers. That percentage is known as the “penetration rate”.
Properties should attempt to renegotiate these tiered revenue share models immediately. Service providers are already making decisions regarding if they will pay any revenue share at all, or if they will offer a flat percentage of revenue share regardless of penetration rates on a property-by-property basis.
Waiting for each service provider to tell the building owner what they will pay is not a great idea because the owner does not have any opportunity to argue for better terms. According to the FCC, the provider has no obligation to pay any future tiered revenue share after the changes.
There are strategies that the top telecom negotiators use to encourage renegotiation from reluctant providers. Some of these are difficult to utilize, so it’s highly recommended to talk to an expert to get a better deal.
This directly affects the property owner. Any agreements that include this style of revenue share will need to be reworked or else the property may no longer receive this revenue.
Sale and Leaseback
“Sale and leaseback” arrangements were not permitted under the 2007 FCC rulings. Unfortunately, there is significant debate within the FCC legal community regarding if this restatement of the FCC’s 2007 ruling will have any significant impact.
It is similar to a parent telling a child, “I told you to clean your room. Please do it!” This will probably only be determined as a result of future court cases, so don’t be that owner.
Like the decision on tiered revenue share agreements, this will directly affect the property owner. Any agreements that include this type of stipulation will need to be reworked promptly. Fortunately, most agreements done since 2007 with any major national service provider are unlikely to be a major threat.
Even so, check with a specialist who understands the wiring infrastructure in the exact building. This is a bad time to presume knowledge without a specialist reviewing the agreement and the wiring.
Moving Forward
The deadline to take action on the ruling is September 26th, 2022. That’s only a short time to get critical changes done to important contracts. It’s worth noting that these rulings currently only affect television and telephone contracts, though it’s likely that similar changes will target internet service providers in the future.
As of the writing of this article, service providers nationwide have already been sending change proposals or notices of stopping revenue share payments. Likewise, building owners should expect to see letters to residents in August and September if they have an exclusive marketing agreement so that providers can claim compliance by delivering notices prior to the September 26, 2022 deadline.
The easy way to deal with this is to let the telecom companies contact you and then accept whatever changes they send your way, perhaps with some slight bargaining.
In the end, this route could be leaving tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars on the table and have your residents believe the building’s ownership didn’t care about the services available to residents. This makes now the perfect time to completely renegotiate your contract terms.
For any questions, watch the FCC Changes Q&A meeting we hosted with Mark Weaver, as well as our What Multifamily Leaders Need to Know About the FCC Broadband Ruling on-demand event.
Discussed questions include how the ruling affects bulk services, how to add new providers, how to negotiate high-quality contracts with small properties, and many more.
Have the Experts Negotiate for You
Our client, the Cable Contract Negotiation Group (CCNG), negotiates the best of internet, cable, and telecom agreements. They’re led by Mark Weaver, a telecom industry insider who knows exactly how far providers are willing to go and capitalizes on it in the best way possible for multifamily owners and operators.
Standard real estate lawyers are out of their element in this. They don’t handle this every day. Expert telecom negotiators are the best option for multifamily properties who want to take advantage of these changes, getting better terms compared to even the top 20 national multifamily companies.
Reach your NOI goals and provide better services for your residents.
07/112022
Note: This article is written to accompany the How to Tackle Multifamily Labor Shortages event. It is available to watch for free with the rest of our on-demand multifamily events on our Events page. This article reveals the data we collected as part of our research leading up to the event.
In March alone, 3% of the workforce quit. That’s 4.5 million people walking away from their jobs.
Finding high quality employees has always been a struggle, and it’s gotten even harder in the last two years. Employees that have stayed for years are leaving. It’s often referred to as “The Great Resignation.”
Most employers weren’t ready for this. The work environment changed with COVID moving workers to their homes. Now these companies aren’t fully prepared to handle their workers quitting.
Our research revealed that only 50% of multifamily properties expect to be able to handle all their incoming calls, and 65% think they would benefit from having another leasing agent.
There are not enough leasing agents on staff for many properties. What’s going to happen when no leasing agents are available and a prospect comes looking?
They will go to another property.
Most large properties are spending tens of thousands of dollars on marketing. Every prospective resident turned away is marketing dollars being wasted.
Yet even hiring more leasing agents (if they can find them) might not be enough. A majority expect that prospects prefer to interact with the property after office hours. We found that 32% use a call center to allow for more after-hours interactions, but it can’t cover the rest of the leasing journey.
The multifamily leasing environment is changing. Everyone wants instant access and convenience. If a future resident can’t get it from one property, they’ll get it from the next.
In the past several years, we’ve seen a shift towards technology-enabled leasing. Tech can fill holes effectively where hiring wouldn’t be able to.
Websites with basic information aren’t enough anymore. The future of leasing is technology, and properties need to take advantage of the opportunities it provides.
Those opportunities are already here. Properties need to adopt them. Ease of access is critical in today’s world, and more staff won’t always achieve it.
Properties need to enable touring in convenient ways. Online 3D tours that can be experienced in virtual reality (VR), letting leasing agents Facetime or Zoom with prospects to show them the apartment, or self-guided tours after hours with smart locks.
Although in-person tours are still an option, there are now more ways to tour. Properties need to take advantage of that.
But touring is only half of the equation. What is the process of getting a future resident to the point of touring?
We found that right now, 93.3% of multifamily executives expect technology to change the way we lease apartments. Over half picked artificial intelligence (AI), guided conversation, or voice assistants to make a change to how we lease apartments.
It makes sense. Staffing is a massive issue for all industries right now, not just multifamily. Artificial intelligence can do the same work that properties would need to hire more workers to complete.
A prospective resident can get the same information from an AI as it could from a leasing agent. Instead of them coming to see a leasing agent, the leasing agent comes to them.
Our data found that only 72% of apartments have a way for prospects to find availability, ask questions, schedule a tour, or lease, without talking to a person. Well over half think an apartment can be leased without a leasing agent.
Automation is growing, but it’s not finished. The entire leasing process has been automated in pieces, and properties need to make the jump, or they will continue to lose leads through the cracks.
There’s an obvious solution to staffing problems, and it’s not hiring more people.
Our client, LeaseHawk, helps multifamily properties lease faster by using an AI leasing assistant that handles phone calls, text messages, and online chats, at the same time. Prospects can ask questions and get information just like a normal conversation. This supplements employees and allows them to focus on more important tasks.
Don’t let staffing problems hurt your business. Let AI pick up the work.
Your Guide to AI and the Apartment Industry
06/212022
Nice Healthcare gives residents access to cost-effective healthcare right in their apartment.
In this episode, we sit down with John Young, who is the Senior Vice President of Growth at Nice Healthcare, and Kelly Krasner, the Vice President of Growth.
06/082022
Multifamily Innovation® Advisory Council Turns Industry Blind Spots into Breakthrough Innovations Through Collaboration
SCOTTSDALE, AZ – The Multifamily Innovation® Advisory Council announced today its formal launch with approximately 1.5 million apartment units being represented. The council is on track to grow to north of 3 million units by end of year, with a focus of being the catalyst for innovation, through delivering insight to leaders across the industry.
The Multifamily Innovation® Advisory Council is led by Chairman Patrick Antrim, Founder and CEO of Multifamily Leadership, a media and events platform providing streaming content around technology, innovation, leadership, and investing. Antrim is an industry professional and producer of the highest-level events in the multifamily apartment industry, through their podcast network, conferences, and annual summits.
Serving as Chair of Technology Initiatives for the Multifamily Innovation® Advisory Council is technologist Kerry W. Kirby, Founder and CEO of 365 Connect®, a leading provider of automated marketing, leasing, and engagement platforms for the multifamily housing industry. Kirby is an accomplished entrepreneur, innovator, and industry influencer. He holds 95 technology awards, has presented in over 150 webcast reaching over one-million listeners from around the world, and is changing the way we think about the convergence of technology in the rental housing market.
Antrim and Kirby have built their careers collaborating with leaders in the multifamily space, and have been extracting the perspectives from investors, developers, and operators or more than 20 years. They have been meeting in individual and small group gatherings over that past two years to discuss a variety of topics, from shifting consumer expectations, reimagining the role of our workforce, and analyzing the way next-generation renters can be accommodated.
Daryl Smith, Chief Marketing Officer for Kettler stated, “The Multifamily Innovation® Council is a diverse group of intra-disciplinary professionals obsessed with a vision for innovation that will inspire the next generation of multifamily operations and leaders. I am extremely excited to participate, the discussions are timely and strategic, while inspiring me to imagine the calculus of innovation and its impact on our consumers and operations.”
Members of the Multifamily Innovation® Advisory Council gain access to a diverse group of high-level multifamily owners and operators, where ideas are exchanged about deploying and using different types of technology, without investing valuable resources into a venture capital fund. Working together to identify opportunities and navigate obstacles, members openly share their experience in finding solutions that are the proper fit for their operations.
Mike Brewer, Chief Operating Officer at RADCO Residential added, “The Multifamily Innovation® Council allows me to see the signal in the noise. Gone are the days when I must sit through endless sales pitches without understanding which technologies truly meet the needs of my business. The council takes the hard work out of making informed business decisions.”
The private invitation only group of council members attend weekly meetings to openly discuss real-world experiences related to utilizing technology across their communities. The members are void of any vendor influences and sales pitches to allow them to freely think through challenges they had or are having in deploying technology, as well as finding quality solutions for their operations. Council members also meet in-person annually at the Multifamily Innovation® Summit to join panel discussions, as well as celebrate the Best Places to Work Multifamily®.
Kim Boland, Director of Digital Marketing at Morgan Properties stated, “The Multifamily Innovation® Council allows me to not feel alone when evaluating and implementing new programs. They help me realize that other people are having similar experiences. Listening to feedback from other operators and seeing how they have planned, tackled, and succeeded in rolling out technology programs allows me to know that challenges are normal, and success is possible.”
Membership to the Multifamily Innovation® Council is by application only. Those applying must be with a firm that owns or manages a minimum of 1,500 apartment units. To learn about membership opportunities, visit MultifamilyInnovation.com
ABOUT MULTIFAMILY INNOVATION® COUNCIL: The Multifamily Innovation® Council is a private, members only group focused on assisting owners and operators of multifamily communities by reducing risks associated with vetting new technologies and implementations. Through leveraging the knowledge and creativity of people within the organization, emerging digital transformation can be explored and accelerated. For more information visit MultifamilyInnovation.com
04/142022
Underwriting is all about assessing risks. That means a lot of paperwork.
Companies hire MBAs and other professionals to do multifamily underwriting. It’s expensive. It’s slow. And it’s worked for decades.
Technology is getting more powerful, and jobs that have always been done by humans are being done by computers. More and more companies are realizing that these innovative technologies can take hours of work and finish it in minutes.
Ten years ago, no one would have thought you could underwrite a deal in four minutes. Entire companies exist to help with underwriting so employees can focus on more important work.
One of our clients, Parag Goswami led a company with dozens of analysts doing the same basic tasks every day. He realized that more analysts was the wrong answer.
The industry is changing, and billions of dollars of real estate deals are underwritten by artificial intelligence every year. Companies are starting to recognize that.
Clik.ai was an early software company that did the underwriting for deals. Parag Goswami, the owner of Clik.ai, had to teach companies what AI could do for them. It was new. No one was used to it.
That was five years ago. The environment has changed. When he talks with clients, they are often already aware of the benefits of the technology.
Finishing deals faster and getting onto the next one. Enabling workers to focus on more important work. Being fast enough to get that one breakthrough deal.
Automatic underwriting is becoming the industry standard. Seventy years ago, “computers” were people who did simple math for a living. (They “computed” math.) It was basic labor. Computers were the standard then and are the standard now, but instead of a person it’s a device. A calculator.
Are your underwriters people, or an AI? The people doing your underwriting are professionals with degrees. They are spending their time doing work a computer could be doing instead.
“Computers” did math by hand for decades. It worked. Businesses did underwriting by hand for decades. It worked. Now the industry is changing. AI is able to assess deals faster. Fewer deals are slipping through the cracks.
Clik.ai automates over $50 billion in real estate underwriting every year. That number is growing. The industry is changing. Are you?
Underwriting is Being Completed by AI
03/242022
In this episode of the Multifamily Innovation Show, Patrick Antrim hosts Trevor Park, a specialist in multifamily and real estate development who now serves as the Head of Marketing for a software company called BetterBot.
BetterBot is based out of Seattle. Park’s goal is to connect people and to provide them with strategic solutions through world-class support and good data. BetterBot is a sophisticated AI chatbot. It aims to give people their time back and create more freedom in when, where, and how people can access their information. The company views itself as customer-centric.
Key Topics
(2:20) – Getting away from emails
“300 million emails are sent each day, and only 18% are opened,” says Antrim, turning things over to Park to explore why that is.
Park answers that the main problem is the sheer volume of emails sent out. BetterBot helps reduce the number of emails coming in, and ensures the emails that do arrive are better leads. That frees up lots of time for property management teams.
Park says BetterBot can also help with resident retention, explaining, “By freeing up the front end, it allows you to focus on that back door.”
(4:40) – The way people consume information is changing
People want things instantly these days. BetterBot gives them instant responses, leading to a massive improvement in rent conversion times. Conversions started happening in about 13 days rather than 45.
(6:30) – Lessening touchpoints
Since BetterBot handles a lot of the preliminary questions, you don’t need to have as much back-and-forth over email.
(7:40) – The Handoff
BetterBot doesn’t try to trick people into thinking they’re talking with a human; it’s very clear and upfront that it’s a chatbot. With email nurturing, they also offer things people can do online rather than needing to connect with a human.
Park believes the handoff between the automation and the human is one of the most important parts of the technology. AI doesn’t do things better, it’s just different, and Park wants to create a good interaction and workflow between technology and humanity.
(10:00) – Texting
People are already used to being on their cell phones constantly. That platform is similar to chatbots because you can send messages without having to worry about someone being active on the other side; you can even send automated messages. Some companies have AI guided text conversations to help people make purchases or get tech support.
(11:40) – Prospect interaction
Almost 60% of traffic is coming after hours, Park says. When things come in during working hours , the leasing agents can handle it, but it’s the late-night hours when direct interaction is most valuable. The company that responds right away is more likely to get that person’s business. Plus, it’s expected! People want instantaneous results.
(14:20) – Building a bot
It takes BetterBot 3 days or less to build a bot tailored to your apartment. Then, they can adapt that so you can have it across your entire portfolio.
“By having that level of data come through, you’re able to really evaluate where the trends are coming from, where are you seeing the best ROI from your marketing sources, where are you seeing the most traffic, what’s converting well? You can start to evaluate it on a much grander scale,” explained Park. “When you’re looking at isolated data points, you can really be blinded by initial results and skewed data.”
(16:30) – Why trust BetterBot?
It’s all in the data. They’re at almost 100 million greetings. That’s 100 million data points and prospects they’re directly influencing. From those, they’ve had close to 50,000 conversions, which is an enormous impact in the market.
They’re also very transparent about sharing data points, even when it shows disappointing news. Even bad news gives you insight into trends you can then remedy.
(18:00) – The evolution of BetterBot
The company was originally focused on natural language processing. They chose to go with guided conversations instead. Those conversations work like a choose your own story book. They built from there, integrating things like virtual tours. They also rolled out email nurturing bots recently. Now, they can map what best leads to good conversions.
They want to evolve more to the resident side of things moving forward. Now, you can learn more about the resident experience even while using the chat bot.
(23:30) – Why don’t more properties use BetterBot?
BetterBot focuses on the U.S. but does have some links in Canada. Park believes the only reason it hasn’t expanded even further is because of the cost. They don’t do per-unit cost, it’s by property.
“I would say if you take your total web traffic and take out 60%, that’s pretty much the miss you have right there,” said Park. “Not being able to answer questions for people who look at your website, that’s 60% of traffic that you’re losing. Then factor in the number of emails you’ve gotten and the ones you’re able to follow up with.”
By factoring in the number of leases most properties miss out on, Park believes BetterBot pays for itself. When people try out BetterBot’s demo, they see how efficient it is.
Keep in mind, not all leads are qualified; some people are just checking out a tour or looking at the units. They might not be a lead worth nurturing off the bat, so BetterBot helps weed those out rather than leasing agents wasting their time.
(28:00) – How does this work with email?
Chatbots are limited to marketing links and websites.
“Where email comes into play is pretty much everywhere else,” explains Park. That could include places like Zillow, where people might click a link to send an email. The property can’t always follow up, so BetterBot responds for them and instantly engages with the prospect, then driving the prospect to the chatbot to schedule a tour.
BetterBot has tracked how response time influences successful signing of leases. More often than not, the first property to respond is the one that got the lead.
(30:30) – The future of leasing
Park thinks virtual tours are going to dominate the digital space. As in, being able to see the 360 view of the space while online.
“Then, when we start getting into when they’re about to convert and they want that tangible piece, this is where I truly value having a leasing agent being able to show me through a property and give me their elevator pitch on why this community is awesome,” said Park. “But I see the benefit in self-guided tours. I see being able to take yourself on your time after hours, before the office is open, what have you, and being able to actually tour the property without having to be beholden to a leasing agent’s schedule. That was huge.”
Park predicts those two will fuse, so people will be able to choose the time and day and that will determine whether it’s self-guided or not. If someone is available to host the tour, they’ll be there; if not, you can do a self-guided one.
(33:40) – Emotional vs. Logical buyers
Antrim points out that not all sales people or leasing agents are good at everything; some are good at details in the property, some are good at building strong relationships.
Park worked at Greystar for a bit and knew people who were fantastic at building relationships. People would check in just to be friendly and chat, not simply engage for transactional purposes. A chatbot can’t do that.
(35:40) – What’s it like to work at BetterBot?
“It’s like a job I have yet to consider an actual job. I get to test out new things, I get to build things, I get to explore what works and doesn’t work,” said Park. He doesn’t have a fear of failure, because everything is a team effort.
BetterBot has two different stakeholders: they have to evaluate what the consumer needs from a quality experience; but they also have to factor in their client and how they engage with the onboarding experience, reports, and so on. Those factors always have to be top-of-mind.
(39:20) – Handling tough conversations
Park says being transparent and sharing data is the best way to communicate. That’s the best way to find solutions. Maybe the company’s website is outdated and isn’t a good platform for the chatbot; maybe the chatbot is sending good leads but the agents aren’t closing them. Better performance requires a better picture of what’s going on.
Antrim points out that the multifamily industry has tons of smart people but has historically fallen very behind in technological advancements. For those that have been avoiding new tech, they’ll need to jump on soon. It’s a good time to do it, since technology is becoming more affordable and there’s more evidence to prove how automation pays for itself.
Park points out that onboarding takes time and effort; by fixing the onboarding process early and understanding what it takes to do that gets the company over that hurdle.
(44:50) – Final thoughts
Be more open to new tech solutions. Adopt one that fits your company, not one that fits the exact immediate solution you need; that way, you can build on the tech moving forward.