September 10, 2019
Episode #70 – Michael Moll – Trailblazer; Visionary
“Ideas don’t have to come from technical people, they really have to come from a place of understanding a marketplace, understanding the pain, and understanding that solution will really make revolution in wherever you’re at. Whether it’s business efficiency, saving lives, more transparency…I think we’re now going into a new industrial revolution which is the revolution of ideas…” – Michael Moll
Michael is a social commerce visionary who dreams of using technology to transform human activities. He has a keen eye for visual communication and product development. He is obsessed with the power of co-creation. Michael has created, implemented and launched three successful startups in the last decade. In 2017 he was hand-selected to pitch his gardening app on the Canadian startup TV series, Dragon’s Den.
He grew up in Kenya and was awarded a full scholarship to study in Vancouver, Canada at University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business in 2008.
Michael’s expertise in marketing, business and technology led him on the path to co-creating REITIUM, an asset-backed blockchain real estate investment marketplace, protocol and secondary exchange.
Dedicated to educating millennials, the unbanked and investors on the power of smart contracts, Michael sees tremendous possibility and growth potential in worldwide real estate investing.
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- Show Notes
- [02:01] Patrick introduces his next guest, Michael Moll.
- [04:23] Michael and Patrick get underway with Michael’s elevator pitch; who is he and what the heck is REITIUM?
- [05:56] Michael provides context and a deeper dive into REITIUM, a real estate crowd investment platform he co-founded, which is built on innovative blockchain technology.
- [09:24] For more clarity, Michael highlights the differences of what investing in the REITIUM platform means vs. traditional REITs. Accessibility is an overarching distinction.
- [13:51] Michael explains the thorough due diligence, compliance and best practices that REITIUM undertakes for a new asset offering. Their relationship driven approach allows them to draw on a number of sources for investment opportunities which gives investors more choice.
- [18:37] Blockchain, bitcoin, cryptocurrency; oh my! Michael breaks it all down. He illustrates how blockchain works, it’s specific application for REITIUM, the benefits it provides for ease and transparency, cryptocurrency efficiencies, broader accessibility and what the future looks like in digital monetary transaction technology.
- [27:59] What does efficient liquidity look like for REITIUM investors? How does it differ from more traditional investments?
- [32:05] Patrick clarifies the intent for digging in so deeply with REITIUM; not as an infomercial, rather to provide context for listeners to learn where technology is taking the real estate investment market and the workings behind it from one of the leaders in this space.
- [32:45] Michael explains how an investor can explore projects and offerings on the REITIUM platform, the diversity and choice REITIUM can offer and how an investor can match this criterion with their strategy.
- [36:00] Where REITIUM has come from, where they are now, and where they are going.
- [37:42] Michael offers his observations and learnings so far about the future of real estate, what people are starting to look for and where some of the gaps show up.
- [40:26] In Michael’s experience, where do the main differences and advantages show up with the advent of this new technology and emerging economies?
- [45:44] Now for a shift in gears, Michael shares his journey from Kenya with a lifelong interest in technology, to the UBC Sauder School of Business in Vancouver and further to the space he’s in now of emerging and cutting-edge technologies.
- [53:05] A mix of family origin rooted in entrepreneurialism from his Grandad, plus an education that provided early exposure to the capabilities of the internet contributed heavily to Michael’s thriving creative mind and entrepreneurial heart.
- [54:13]Exposure to a large mix of cultures in the international school he attended in Kenya set the groundwork for Michael’s unending fascination with using the power of technology to connect and positively impact tribes of people globally.
- [58:50] Michael offers expansive insights from his leading-edge position in the digital world about what people can watch for, participate in and get excited about! [one spoiler: Michael feels humanity is headed more towards Star Trek, less towards disaster, so bet on that and the educational opportunities that abound for the next generation (pun intended).
- [66:45] In his extensive travels, particularly as of late, Michael studies where Canada sits on a global scale and shares how he views Canada within technology, values, regulatory framework and innovation.
- [69:49] In places like Kenya where necessity is already creating innovation, Michael sees a future shift from the focus of what technologies are, to the solutions they can provide which changes the conversation and empowers the next generation of visionaries.
- [71:12] Patrick supports that point with an example of how that already shows up with a simple money deposit.
- [73:31] “Ideas, like talent, come from everywhere.” Building on that thought Michael explains how encouraging and exciting that can be for imminent start ups and innovators in any arena. A word of advice: leverage the power of industry experts to build out the right ideas and create solutions people want.
- [76:48] This episode may have had a format shift, but Michael’s not off the rapid-fire-hook! The book Michael’s reading and book he most gifts; favourite inspirational quote; room-desk-car; messages at the pearly gates; favourite tune; favourite movie; favourite swear word.
- [82:34] Michael’s gratitude.
Connect with Michael Moll:
Selected Links and People Mentioned from this episode:
Tribes by Seth Godin
Blitzscaling by Reid Hoffman
