Homes of The Future, With Yotam Cohen of Daisy
An Interview with Jason Hartman
There are a couple of trends I’m really excited about. It’s no surprise that sustainability is becoming a big focus in the real estate industry, and it is something we at Daisy are very focused on. There are companies trying to tackle sustainability in nearly every aspect — from insulation to lighting, to energy, to water, and beyond. Another area that I believe will become bigger is the use of IOT in buildings and getting buildings more connected in a way similar to Smart Homes. Connecting everything in a building to one operating system can dramatically impact people’s lives.
As a part of our series about “Homes Of The Future”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Yotam Cohen, CEO and co-founder Daisy, a tech-driven, full-service building management company that creates exceptional living experiences.
Yotam Cohen, the co-founder and CEO of Daisy, is a serial entrepreneur who has a strong passion for building new products and structuring companies around them. Prior to Daisy, Yotam co-founded Wibbitz, which he took from inception to having offices in New York, Tel Aviv, Paris, and London. He earned his business degree specializing in entrepreneurship from Israel’s IDC, where he was chosen to attend the Zell Entrepreneurship Program for outstanding students. Today, Yotam mentors young entrepreneurs through several programs, including Zell and Station F in France. He is the author of “Another Hour a Day,” a framework for productivity and time management.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
The ‘aha moment’ actually came when I joined the board of my own building. As a tech entrepreneur, I was shocked by how antiquated the processes and tools were. I thought, there’s got to be a better way to manage life in buildings. We created Daisy to help buildings reach their full potential. Buildings are unique ecosystems with their own vibrancy and life, and we have this opportunity to create a really special end-to-end experience for residents.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
When we started Daisy, as the CEO, I brought a tech background, not a real estate background. I believe this is one of our biggest strengths, we can rethink every aspect of building management — not just do what’s been done for decades. I was introduced to a potential strategic investor who had 30 years of experience in the real estate industry in New York, his reaction was “You Israelis are crazy, only you would think you can come to New York and be able to manage buildings without any prior knowledge.” Today, he is working with us closely and ended up investing in the company.
Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Are there takeaways or lessons that others can learn from that?
I believe that success is never overnight, it requires a lot of hard work and iteration. The last 6 months at Daisy have been amazing. We are providing solutions, building the product people need, and hiring amazing talent to deliver on our promise. We’ve grown by over 300% and more buildings are continuing to moving to Daisy to elevate the life in their buildings.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person to whom you are grateful who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I am a strong believer in getting advice and help from people with experience. One of our key successes in the company has been to bring onboard amazing investors both from the tech and from the real estate world. All of them have tremendous experience in building successful companies. They are super helpful, each one with their own experience, and we consult with them on a weekly basis to get their perspective.
Do you have a book, podcast, or talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us? Can you explain why it was so resonant with you?
I would recommend two — the first is “Start with the Why” TED Talk from Simon Sinek. I believe this is the way inspiring companies are formed. Before we started the company, Nir Hemed, my co-founder, and I spent hours on hours identifying the true core of Daisy. We saw this huge potential to be able to impact people’s life by managing their homes. This excites us and pushes us every day.
The second is more around team building and leadership. The book “The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team” talks about how to build strong teams. I believe that if you build the right culture and empower people to create, amazing things will happen. This book explains Maslow’s pyramid for building successful teams. At Daisy, every new person that joins the team reads that book during their onboarding.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“A ship in a harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.” I am a strong believer in living outside of our comfort zones. I think that this is the place for you to grow and advance in all aspects of life. Life is exciting if you go out there and explore, take risks.
Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. Homebuilding in the US has grown tremendously. We’d love to hear about some of the new trends and techniques that are being used to build the homes of the future.
There are a couple of trends I’m really excited about. It’s no surprise that sustainability is becoming a big focus in the real estate industry, and it is something we at Daisy are very focused on. There are companies trying to tackle sustainability in nearly every aspect — from insulation to lighting, to energy, to water, and beyond. Another area that I believe will become bigger is the use of IOT in buildings and getting buildings more connected in a way similar to Smart Homes. Connecting everything in a building to one operating system can dramatically impact people’s lives.
Can you share with us a few of the methods that are being used to make homes more sustainable and more water and energy efficient?
While solar is still on the rise, there are many other ways to make homes more sustainable. Sealed is a company that’s auditing and updating the insulation of suburban homes, reducing the use of heating and cooling. New homes can benefit from smart irrigation systems to filter and recycle unused water. An often overlooked method to reduce energy consumption is to install eco-friendly lights and use a mixture of motion sensors and timers, based on your lifestyle.
There is a lot of talk about Smart Homes. Can you tell our readers a bit about what that is, what that looks like, and how that might help people?
When I talk about Smart Homes, I think about the features that make one’s experience even better and a home more sustainable. Many of these technologies cross over, like smart speakers with Bluetooth that allow you to control music throughout your house, you can order groceries with Alexa, and Google anything instantly. Other technologies, like Nest and Latch, allow remote control via your smartphone to adjust your thermostat and locks. Ultimately more of these features will be interconnected. I think homes of the future will be nearly fully controllable from your smartphone — from systems like thermostats and lighting, to leak detection, ordering more groceries, and beyond. In addition to that — you’ll be able to better track how your home is doing from an operational perspective — alerts for when your vents should be cleaned, the status of your 8-year-old dishwasher, your energy, and water usage.
Aside from Smart Homes, can you talk about other interesting tech innovations that are being incorporated into homes today?
Another area is the sharing economy. During the pandemic, people spent more time in their homes and became familiar with the value their community can bring.
Can you talk about innovations that are being made to make homes more pet friendly?
We’re seeing a lot of pet cams that allow people to not only watch their pets remotely but also talk to them and feed them remotely. What I think is the game-changer however are rolling robotic toys that can keep your dog or cat entertained while you’re away for hours. Maybe I’ll try that toy with my kids too.
How about actual construction materials? Are there new trends in certain materials to address changes in the climate, fires, floods, and hurricanes?
We’ll start seeing more homes, and buildings, designed and constructed to withstand greater levels of wind and water. Keep your eye out for creative uses of metal sheeting as that is very fire resistant and durable against all the other elements. It is not traditionally attractive, so there’s a challenge to work it into a universal style that would be desirable for the masses. Materials like fiber cement and brick and stone veneers are also fire resistant. However, none of these materials are really made sustainably so those living in areas with pervasive fires will find it challenging to construct eco-friendly homes.
For someone looking to invest in the real estate industry, are there exciting growth opportunities that you think people should look at more carefully?
“Prop-tech” has been hot for a bit and while there are still new opportunities in this industry, I’m thinking about companies that are focusing on solving sustainability issues at scale. A niche area I would focus on is companies that are offering financing or smart financial models for implementing eco-friendly solutions.
Let’s talk a bit about housing availability and affordable housing. Homelessness has been a problem for a long time in the United States. But it seems that it has gotten a lot worse over the past five years, particularly in the large cities, such as Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, and San Francisco. Can you explain to our readers what brought us to this place? Where did this crisis come from?
Multiple factors are at play here, a big one being the lack of affordable housing. The cost of living has gone up disproportionately to increases in minimum wage and salaries for the middle and lower class. Homes are getting too expensive to afford to buy, or rent, coupled with gas, utilities, groceries, etc., it’s more than an uphill battle. As more affluent individuals move to these large cities — 80% of new construction is for luxury and high-rise buildings, resulting in many getting pushed out of affordable housing. Other factors that play a larger role than many might think include illnesses and disabilities, abuse, and personal hardships.
Is there anything that home builders can do to further help address these problems?
There is a lot that can be done. The use of sustainable materials will allow homes to be built much more affordably. We know that the majority of homeless individuals have the desire to be working, generating a paycheck, and be self-sufficient with a roof over their heads. I see a huge opportunity for these companies to offer training programs to homeless individuals to help them get back on their feet with dignity and respect. They could bring them on to building homes that they could ultimately live in with the help of government subsidies until they are able to, hopefully, be self-sufficient.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
The main reason we started Daisy was because we saw the potential for buildings to impact people’s lives. I was living in a building where we had amazing relationships with our neighbors. We shared groceries, watch the dog for the others, and gave the car when we are away. It had a tremendous impact on our lives. A building is a vertical neighborhood where people share so much. A building, similar to a company is a living organism that has its own culture. Having a strong and positive culture and community can improve everyone’s lives. There is a sentence we really love at Daisy, “A close neighbor is better than a distant relative.”
There was another reason I was drawn to the idea of starting Daisy, beyond the frustrating and shocking experience I had with my property management company as a board member. The first building I lived in didn’t have the amenities or the same caliber as the next building I lived in. However, I had a far superior experience living in the first building, I connected with my neighbors and the building really became a community. We picked up each other’s kids from school, grabbed groceries, ate dinner together, borrowed each other’s cars, and so on. I believe that if people lived in buildings, or neighborhoods, that fostered this sense of connection and sharing economy, people would be much happier. The benefits beyond simply happiness from human connection — cost savings, time savings.
How can our readers follow you online?
You can follow me on LinkedIn at /yotamcohen
Daisy website: https://www.joindaisy.com/
Daisy LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/daisyliving/mycompany/
Daisy Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LiveWithDaisy/
Daisy Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joindaisy/
Thank you so much for sharing your time and your excellent insights! We wish you continued success.
