Help, I Don't Get It. ... Join the Crowd

Are You Confused? ... Who isn't with the (almost) daily announcement of new real estate dot-com initiatives? So here's how I try to understand the interplay of information and service in the new economy. Start with the information services, which I divide into seven categories:

Listings... For sale, for lease, auctions, triple nets.
Finance... Mortgages, equity, securitization.
Project Management... Deal tracking, lease admin, construction.
Telecom... High-speed access, wireless, communications.
Aggregation... Portals, group purchasing, reverse auctions.
Research... Market statistics, demographics, due diligence.
Infrastructure... Management, operations, reporting.

Then consider company initiatives (both announced and unannounced) for new real estate services. These players include real estate owners, asset managers, service providers and investors. You've got traditional players like AEW, Goldman Sachs, Insignia, NAIdirect and Octane (CB, JLL, TC). You've got new players like FrontLine Capital Group and host of venture investors. And, finally, you've got stealth initiatives like Protegic, RealCentric and RealPulse, where the business models are not publicly known.

Which of these ventures will be successful? Who knows? It's far too early to make predictions, and it's far too complex to forecast outcomes. But many of these initiatives will be on display at my trade show... So it's official...

PikeNet Expo... The PikeNet Expo will be held at the New York City Hilton on Monday and Tuesday, October 23-24, 2000. Mark your calendar! My plan is to feature new dot-coms and traditional players alike as they seek to create that perfect combination of information and service. Interested in exhibiting your product or service? Send e-mail to me at ppike@pikenet.com.

--Peter