Ben Borton is a Co-Founder of PodPlay Technologies, where he oversees go-to-market strategy and leads the Sales and Marketing teams. He also serves as Chief Strategy Officer and was the first external investor in PodPlay's parent company, PingPod Inc. Before joining PodPlay, Ben held several leadership roles in the finance and technology sectors, including as Head of Digital Fund Services at Figure Technologies, Partner at Mountaineer Partners, and Partner at MM Capital. Throughout his career, Ben has been a founder or partner in multiple investment management firms and an active technology angel investor.

(01:00) - Ben Borton & Podplay Technologies

(06:06) - PingPod, the autonomous sports venue

(09:50) - Real Estate opportunities with Podplay

(14:26) - Feature: Pacaso - Luxury vacation home ownership, elevated. Join Pacaso’s growth and become an investor of a venture-backed company at Pacaso.com/invest

(16:13) - Enhancing building & company culture with sports

(18:24) - Revenue sharing model with landlords

(19:40) - Podplay vs. Topgolf

(25:54) - Autonomous operating model

(28:28) - The rise & trends shaping third places

(34:48) - Feature: Blueprint - The Future of Real Estate 2025

(35:35) - Office-to-retail conversion opportunity

(41:17) - Inspiration from ServiceTitan's IPO

(47:16) - Collaboration Superpower: Charles Dickens (Wiki) & David Foster (ITTF)

💚 Learn more:
➡️ Visit PodPlay Technologies site
➡️ Ben Borton on LinkedIn

💚 Feature:
➡️ Pacaso - Join Pacaso’s growth - Become an investor of a venture-backed company at Pacaso.com/invest. Luxury vacation home ownership, elevated.

➡️ Blueprint - The Future of Real Estate - Register for 2025: The Premier Event for Industry Executives, Real Estate & Construction Tech Startups and VCs, at The Venetian, Las Vegas on September 16th-18th, 2025.

💚 Connect with Tangent:
➡️ Edward Cohen on LinkedIn
➡️ Jeff Berman on LinkedIn
➡️ Zach Aarons on LinkedIn
➡️ Tangent on LinkedIn

Disclaimer: Tangent podcast is for entertainment and informational purposes only, you should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advise. Nothing contained on our program constitutes a solicitation, recommendation, endorsement, or offer by Tangent, Camber Creek, MetaProp, or any third party guest to buy or sell any securities, public or private, other financial instruments or funds.

Ross Piermarini is the co-founder of symmetRE, a Chicago-based proptech firm specializing in automating data aggregation and reporting for commercial real estate investors. Prior to founding symmetRE, Ross worked in the Leveraged Finance group at BMO Capital Markets, focusing on real estate clients. His firsthand experience with the challenges of manual data aggregation and reporting in the real estate sector motivated him to develop solutions that streamline these processes. Under Ross's leadership, symmetRE has launched an AI-enabled platform designed to eliminate the time-consuming aspects of data collection and analysis, allowing real estate professionals to concentrate on optimizing asset performance. Ross also shared his insights into the integration of AI in commercial real estate, and he discusses the necessity of adopting advanced technologies to enhance efficiency and decision-making in the sector.

(01:13) - Ross's & symmetrRE's origin

(04:42) - Challenges in Real Estate data management

(08:06) - symmetry's solutions & client success

(13:54) - Feature | Berkadia's BeEngaged - Connect with the team: Ecosystem of founders, industry professionals, and capital providers dedicated to redefining the Commercial Real Estate space.
(15:24) - Partnership with Berkadia's BeEngaged

(17:45) - symmetry's long-term vision

(22:48) - Marketing vs. product delivery in Proptech
(26:07) - Feature | Blueprint - The Future of Real Estate 2025

(26:55) - The Role of AI in Real Estate

(29:20) - Collaboration Superpower: Marc Benioff (Salesforce CEO)

💚 Learn more:
➡️ Visit symmetRE's site
➡️ Ross Piermarini on LinkedIn

💚 Feature:
➡️ Berkadia's BeEngaged - Connect with the team: Ecosystem of founders, industry professionals, and capital providers dedicated to redefining the commercial real estate space.

➡️ Blueprint - The Future of Real Estate - Register for 2025: The Premier Event for Industry Executives, Real Estate & Construction Tech Startups and VCs, at The Venetian, Las Vegas on September 16th-18th, 2025.

💚 Connect with Tangent:
➡️ Edward Cohen on LinkedIn
➡️ Jeff Berman on LinkedIn
➡️ Zach Aarons on LinkedIn
➡️ Tangent on LinkedIn

Disclaimer: Tangent podcast is for entertainment and informational purposes only, you should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advise. Nothing contained on our program constitutes a solicitation, recommendation, endorsement, or offer by Tangent, Camber Creek, MetaProp, or any third party guest to buy or sell any securities, public or private, other financial instruments or funds.

Austin is CEO of Pacaso and co-founded the company with Spencer Rascoff (co-founder and former CEO of Zillow) to make the dream of second home ownership a reality for more people after experiencing the profound effect it had on his own life. Pacaso is Austin’s second startup. In 2009, he founded dotloop in his hometown of Cincinnati, a company that created software to seamlessly manage real estate transactions. Zillow acquired dotloop in 2015, and Austin continued to run dotloop as a Zillow executive until 2018. Austin started selling real estate at the age of 18 and worked in residential and commercial real estate for a decade.

(01:38) - Housing market update

(05:26) - Rise of fractional investing & ownership
(9:06) - Feature: Pacaso - Luxury vacation home ownership, elevated. Join Pacaso’s growth and become an investor of a venture-backed company at Pacaso.com/invest

(13:52) - Pacaso's Reg-A offering

(16:16) - Pacaso vs. timeshares vs. shares of Hotel companies

(21:38) - Property management & owner benefits

(26:27) - Community impact & housing affordability

(29:39) - Pacaso's Business Model
(35:22) - Feature: Blueprint - The Future of Real Estate 2025

(36:12) - Reg A investments, transparency & compliance

(53:41) - Collaboration Superpower: Steve Jobs

💚 Learn more:
➡️ Visit Pacaso's site
➡️ Austin Allison on LinkedIn

💚 Feature:
➡️ Pacaso - Luxury vacation home ownership, elevated. Join Pacaso’s growth and become an investor of a venture-backed company at Pacaso.com/invest

➡️ Blueprint - The Future of Real Estate - Register for 2025: The Premier Event for Industry Executives, Real Estate & Construction Tech Startups and VCs, at The Venetian, Las Vegas on September 16th-18th, 2025.

💚 Connect with Tangent:
➡️ Edward Cohen on LinkedIn
➡️ Jeff Berman on LinkedIn
➡️ Zach Aarons on LinkedIn
➡️ Tangent on LinkedIn

Disclaimer: Tangent podcast is for entertainment and informational purposes only, you should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advise. Nothing contained on our program constitutes a solicitation, recommendation, endorsement, or offer by Tangent, Camber Creek, MetaProp, or any third party guest to buy or sell any securities, public or private, other financial instruments or funds.