Spencer Rascoff

It was the fastest company to become a unicorn. We raised over $200 million of venture capital. We sold tons and tons of these vacation homes. And then the next crisis that we faced was mortgage rates that skyrocketed. So within a six-month period, mortgage rates went from about 2% up to 10%. Nobody's ever seen that type of increase in mortgage rates.

It was the fastest company to become a unicorn. We raised over $200 million of venture capital. We sold tons and tons of these vacation homes. And then the next crisis that we faced was mortgage rates that skyrocketed. So within a six-month period, mortgage rates went from about 2% up to 10%. Nobody's ever seen that type of increase in mortgage rates.

And that had a huge chilling effect on interest in second homes. And so here we are again, I kind of made it through the quarantine issue, but facing yet another crisis in my company's history. And Picasso had to manage through that. We closed some markets. We downsized the company. We refocused. We tightened the belt. We did all the things that we did at Hotwire and Zillow.

And that had a huge chilling effect on interest in second homes. And so here we are again, I kind of made it through the quarantine issue, but facing yet another crisis in my company's history. And Picasso had to manage through that. We closed some markets. We downsized the company. We refocused. We tightened the belt. We did all the things that we did at Hotwire and Zillow.

And now here we are as we record this in late 2024. Picasso is on the upswing. And we've sold about a billion dollars of these vacation homes. We've got thousands of very happy owners. We're in over 40 markets in four countries. And Picasso is by no means out of the woods entirely, but feels a lot better today than it did a couple years ago.

And now here we are as we record this in late 2024. Picasso is on the upswing. And we've sold about a billion dollars of these vacation homes. We've got thousands of very happy owners. We're in over 40 markets in four countries. And Picasso is by no means out of the woods entirely, but feels a lot better today than it did a couple years ago.

That's right. So Picasso is doing something pretty cutting edge right now. We're doing what's called a Reg A offering or a Regulation A offering, which is a round that retail investors, individual people, are able to invest in. And the reason we're doing this is it's very consistent with our mission.

That's right. So Picasso is doing something pretty cutting edge right now. We're doing what's called a Reg A offering or a Regulation A offering, which is a round that retail investors, individual people, are able to invest in. And the reason we're doing this is it's very consistent with our mission.

What Picasso tries to do is democratize access to second homes, to something that is typically only available to very wealthy people. And Private venture-funded companies are also typically not available to retail investors. They typically have to wait until these companies go public.

What Picasso tries to do is democratize access to second homes, to something that is typically only available to very wealthy people. And Private venture-funded companies are also typically not available to retail investors. They typically have to wait until these companies go public.

The SEC created something called Reg A as part of the JOBS Act about 10 years ago, which lets private companies raise capital in this way. So we publish our results with the SEC just like a public company would. We sell shares to the public just like a public company would. But the shares don't trade on an exchange just yet, not until the companies go public.

The SEC created something called Reg A as part of the JOBS Act about 10 years ago, which lets private companies raise capital in this way. So we publish our results with the SEC just like a public company would. We sell shares to the public just like a public company would. But the shares don't trade on an exchange just yet, not until the companies go public.

So that's what Picasso is in the midst of. We just launched this last week in early October of 2024. And it's an exciting, cutting-edge way to allow individual people to invest in a private venture-funded startup. Don't let the VCs have all the fun.

So that's what Picasso is in the midst of. We just launched this last week in early October of 2024. And it's an exciting, cutting-edge way to allow individual people to invest in a private venture-funded startup. Don't let the VCs have all the fun.

When I left Zillow, I started something called 75 and Sunny Ventures, which is my family office venture fund. And what we do is we start companies. So it's basically a personal startup studio. I've started seven companies in the last couple years through this. Picasso is the largest and best known and the most late stage of them. Of the seven companies,

When I left Zillow, I started something called 75 and Sunny Ventures, which is my family office venture fund. And what we do is we start companies. So it's basically a personal startup studio. I've started seven companies in the last couple years through this. Picasso is the largest and best known and the most late stage of them. Of the seven companies,

Three of them are former Zillow teams, teams that we used to work together. Three of the seven are in prop tech or in the real estate tech space, four are not. The common theme across most of them is democratizing access to something that only a small portion of people have access to. So Picasso is all about helping people

Three of them are former Zillow teams, teams that we used to work together. Three of the seven are in prop tech or in the real estate tech space, four are not. The common theme across most of them is democratizing access to something that only a small portion of people have access to. So Picasso is all about helping people

own a second home that might not otherwise be able to, or might not be able to afford such a nice second home. And they're doing it through co-ownership. Libby or heylibby.ai is one of my startups. And heylibby.ai is an AI sales receptionist for small businesses. So big companies have artificial intelligence responders.

own a second home that might not otherwise be able to, or might not be able to afford such a nice second home. And they're doing it through co-ownership. Libby or heylibby.ai is one of my startups. And heylibby.ai is an AI sales receptionist for small businesses. So big companies have artificial intelligence responders.