Is This a “Crisi-tunity” Moment for the Real Estate Industry? Creating the Industry’s Innovation Agenda
The R-LABS partnership was founded in Toronto four years ago with a big vision – to build the great companies the world needs to solve the major problems in real estate and housing.
In its role as the Real Estate Industry Venture Builder, we have come a long way in a short period of time, winning and learning, and while I believe history will show that in 2022 R-LABS’ momentum was only just getting started, the reason for the partner gathering on November 28th wasn’t just to be aware of this momentum – it was to be aware of this moment.
Through our unique platform, we have a rare perspective and see something that could be transformative on a much bigger scale. We wanted to share that perspective with our partners and do some visioneering together, because in this moment great opportunities will not be seen with our eyes, they are going to be seen with our minds.
Real estate and housing is something we are literally all in together – governments, industry and consumers alike – but if you look carefully, you will see that no one is actually in charge of it. Today, we find ourselves in an environment that is rich with many complicated and interrelated problems and many people (both here and around the world) are calling real estate and housing a crisis.
Governments cannot solve these problems on their own and while Industry’s role is to be in the business of solutions, we must also appreciate that the business model and thought process used by real estate in the past has its limits. So, if real estate and housing are in a state of crisis, this may be the industry’s “crisi-tunity” moment. Cue Einstein here because, “We’re not going to solve the problems before us with the same thinking we used to create them.”
In this moment, Industry has a massive opportunity and arguably a responsibility to lead through innovation. Industry understands the complexity and interdependencies of the problems and when it applies novel thinking, can deliver new capabilities through open innovation and entrepreneurial business models and transform crisis into opportunity.
Through R-LABS, large corporations and institutions become co-founders alongside game changing entrepreneurs and co-create the great companies the world needs, each solving specific problems in residential and commercial real estate.
As the Industry Venture Builder in this problem rich environment, R-LABS finds itself gaining momentum and expanding its partnerships, having the right model, at the right time, in the right place and delivering both a return on society + return on investment.
In this momentum, we find ourselves aware of this moment and the transformative opportunity to form an Industry Innovation Agenda together, and discuss what that could mean not just for the Lab and the industry, but for the region, the country and possibly the world.
In good Lab protocol let’s ask ourselves, “What if?” Two very innocent and basic words on their own, but when combined have the power to create a mindset that can change the future –
- “What if” together, we created an Industry Innovation Agenda?
- “What if” that Innovation Agenda put in place a set of behaviours that could unlock the human potential of this diverse region of 8 million people and that led to the renaissance of the region?
- “What if” this region stopped being known for having one of the most unaffordable housing markets in the word and started being known as the place where real innovation happens and where great new global companies are created?
We think there is good evidence to suggest that we could be in the early-stage formation of a Global COI here, and this “crisi-tunity” moment cannot be wasted.
In this moment, please consider a key Lab formula and question –
Through this formula, we know that the crisis event we now face in real estate and housing is not going to be what defines us. What will define us and our future outcome is how we handle it. The key question for you is – what will your response be to the events: denial, blame or innovation? I believe history will look back on this time and show those who were the learners and those who were the lessons. That applies to each one of us, our businesses and our region. Let’s not let the “crisi-tunity” moment go to waste.
We encourage fellow entrepreneurs and innovators to learn more about our venture building platform and lean in on what you are passionate about. There is much great work to be done together. Join us in this incredible journey and be a part of the process of innovative growth and transformation at R-LABS. Take a look at the “Build With Us” section on our website to read more about how you can get involved, or email us at [email protected] and connect with one of our team members.
