Spencer Rascoff

It was hard, not easily. I wrote a blog post in 2007 that's probably out there on the web still somewhere on Zillow's blog. The headline was, The Tidal Wave is Coming. And it was quite easy for us to see in our data that we were going to have a foreclosure crisis. You could see the increasing number of late payments and mortgage delinquencies happening

and the increasing number of short sales and the reduction in homeowner's equity. So you could sort of see it in 2007. I wish I had had the foresight to place some giant short trade on mortgage-backed securities, you know, and then maybe I would have been in the movie, The Big Short, but I did not. But anyway, so we saw that in 2007. When 2008 happened and the mortgage meltdown happened,

and the increasing number of short sales and the reduction in homeowner's equity. So you could sort of see it in 2007. I wish I had had the foresight to place some giant short trade on mortgage-backed securities, you know, and then maybe I would have been in the movie, The Big Short, but I did not. But anyway, so we saw that in 2007. When 2008 happened and the mortgage meltdown happened,

We right-sized the company. Unfortunately, we did layoffs. We went from about 200 people to about 150. We refocused the company. We closed down some initiatives. We tightened the belt. We worked harder and smarter. We increased the level of communication with our employees to make sure they stayed motivated and focused. We became more metrics focused.

We right-sized the company. Unfortunately, we did layoffs. We went from about 200 people to about 150. We refocused the company. We closed down some initiatives. We tightened the belt. We worked harder and smarter. We increased the level of communication with our employees to make sure they stayed motivated and focused. We became more metrics focused.

We just became a better run company in order to make it through that recession. What I learned from it all was to increase the level of communication with employees and to see the silver lining, because there definitely was a silver lining for us at Zillow.

We just became a better run company in order to make it through that recession. What I learned from it all was to increase the level of communication with employees and to see the silver lining, because there definitely was a silver lining for us at Zillow.

The silver linings were that the industry, the real estate agents, brokerages, and MLSs were willing to experiment with new things more during that downturn. They cut back advertising on newspapers so that they could lower their spend.

The silver linings were that the industry, the real estate agents, brokerages, and MLSs were willing to experiment with new things more during that downturn. They cut back advertising on newspapers so that they could lower their spend.

And when the coast started to become more clear and the dust settled and the clouds lifted, they were more willing to spend more on online advertising like Zillow, online lead generation, than they were before. So it accelerated the pace of the migration from offline real estate advertising to online real estate advertising, which Zillow benefited from.

And when the coast started to become more clear and the dust settled and the clouds lifted, they were more willing to spend more on online advertising like Zillow, online lead generation, than they were before. So it accelerated the pace of the migration from offline real estate advertising to online real estate advertising, which Zillow benefited from.

It increased the industry's willingness to syndicate listings to sites like Zillow. And it turned out it was very similar to 2001 with online travel. 2001, after 9-11, accelerated the pace with which consumers shifted their behavior from offline to online purchases. It accelerated the embrace of hotels and airlines of online distribution. So it sucked.

It increased the industry's willingness to syndicate listings to sites like Zillow. And it turned out it was very similar to 2001 with online travel. 2001, after 9-11, accelerated the pace with which consumers shifted their behavior from offline to online purchases. It accelerated the embrace of hotels and airlines of online distribution. So it sucked.

I'm not glad that it happened, these two downturns, but... In some weird way, it actually made both those companies more successful even though it was a really challenging time to manage through.

I'm not glad that it happened, these two downturns, but... In some weird way, it actually made both those companies more successful even though it was a really challenging time to manage through.

So when we started the company, I was CMO, Chief Marketing Officer, and my co-founder was CEO. And then I think it was about a year into the company's history, basically, once we raised the Series A and it looked like we were probably going to make it, then he stepped back and became chair of the board and I became CEO. Then I was CEO for, I think, 10 or 11 or 12 years.

So when we started the company, I was CMO, Chief Marketing Officer, and my co-founder was CEO. And then I think it was about a year into the company's history, basically, once we raised the Series A and it looked like we were probably going to make it, then he stepped back and became chair of the board and I became CEO. Then I was CEO for, I think, 10 or 11 or 12 years.

Then when I retired from that, he stepped back in from chair to move back to CEO for a couple of years. He just stepped down and one of my former colleagues is CEO. It's quite helpful for a CEO to have played many roles for a while there. For that first year, I was the CMO. I was the CFO, I was the COO, I was head of industry relations. I sort of had lots of jobs just as I did at Hotwire.

Then when I retired from that, he stepped back in from chair to move back to CEO for a couple of years. He just stepped down and one of my former colleagues is CEO. It's quite helpful for a CEO to have played many roles for a while there. For that first year, I was the CMO. I was the CFO, I was the COO, I was head of industry relations. I sort of had lots of jobs just as I did at Hotwire.

I think the benefit of that is you have a lot more empathy for your direct reports and you become more well-rounded because you have a broader perspective on things. And I think that helps you make better decisions and helps you manage and motivate your team better.