Startup Spotlight Q&A: Janover Ventures

Taking a loan out can be a daunting task. Janover Ventures is here to make it easier. Janover Ventures connects commercial property, multifamily, and business owners with the right lenders, taking the friction out of the process for borrowers and lenders alike, all while leveraging data and software to optimize the experience for all parties involved.

We recently had a chance to chat with Blake Janover, Founder and CEO of Janover Ventures, to learn more.

What’s your background?

I am the Founder & CEO of Janover Ventures. I have more than 15 years of experience in real estate capital markets. I’ve overseen the underwriting and origination of billions of dollars of commercial, multifamily, and residential real estate loans and have advised on many billions of dollars more. I also have nearly 20 years of experience as an entrepreneur. My work experience spans multinational corporations, cross-continent logistical infrastructure management, software engineering, and I have managed hundreds of employees across multiple countries. I’ve been published in Forbes and various other industry publications. Above all, I am a dad, husband, and total bookworm, geeking out on anything from tech to economics.

In a sentence, what does Janover Ventures do?

Rocket mortgage for commercial real estate.

How and when did Janover Ventures come to be? Did you have an ‘aha’ moment?

My ‘aha’ moment developed over many years with me operating as a lender, advisor, and real estate operator. I think that the frustrations along with the sum of my life experience gradually culminated in Janover Ventures. It’s anticlimactic, I know.

What makes Janover Ventures different in this market?

We’re different because we believe what many do not; that the human element is important but not in all or even most places in qualifying commercial property transactions. Over time, the human role will be around empathy and connection instead of any of the analytical elements of a deal. We believe the user experience for borrowers and lenders alike can be significantly enhanced by technology while reducing the errors, frictions, and frustrations of human inputs where they aren’t needed. This allows us to leverage our team to optimize experience through design, content, software, and data instead of the path that is more frequently taken.

Have you pursued funding?

We ran a first-round on Republic using regulation CF and raised almost $1M from 2,500 investors.

What milestone are you most proud of so far?

We just crossed the quarter-billion dollars in funding mark. Whoa.

What KPIs are you tracking that you think will lead to revenue generation/growth?

Application volume per week. Applications lead to closed loans.

How do you build and develop talent?

I’ve hired people that I’ve previously worked with, as well as through referrals and rigorous testing. Our culture may be our most significant competitive advantage.

What’s been the biggest success for the team?

All wins are big wins, and we celebrate each one and each other as often as possible. Our go-to way to celebrate is in our “toast” channel in our company Slack. I think my favorite recent celebration was when our Head of Development pointed out a mistake he made that caused a problem for a handful of users in our portal. We celebrate radical transparency and accountability. It’s nerdy, but it’s true.

What are the biggest challenges for the team?

It always is, and always will be, an allocation challenge. Where do we put our time and money to get the maximum return on our inputs? Battling novelty and recency bias is a common one. The biggest challenge is saying “no” frequently, so we can point our finite resources in the right direction.

What’s something you’re constantly thinking about?

I am constantly asking myself: “How am I blocking us from getting to our next level and what can I do to blow through any ceilings or bottlenecks I create to our success? Who can I talk to, to get a peek at our world through a different lens?”

What advice would you leave with other founders?

Shut up. Listen.

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