Inman

Meet the New Guard: Mueller, Team, Wilson

Ted Irvine

The New Guard are the people building and defining the real estate industry for the next decade. 

Who comprises Inman’s New Guard? Entrepreneurs creating new business models. Executives pushing establishment companies forward into the future. Venture capitalists and investors funding the next wave of innovation. Leaders of organizations setting — and changing — the rules of the game. 

The New Guard is coming to Inman Disconnect at the Parker Hotel in Palm Springs, CA, March 30-April 1, 2020. Here now, three members of the New Guard who are joining the conversation in Palm Springs at Inman Disconnect: 

Suzanne Mueller

Chief Industry Relations Officer, Move Inc.

After 10 years as chief marketing officer at Coldwell Banker Bain, among the nation’s largest Coldwell Banker franchises, Mueller made a big leap into the digital world, first as a senior vice president of industry relations at realtor.com then to that search portal’s parent company, Move Inc.

Since then, she’s perfected a delicate balancing act as a liaison to the nation’s multiple listing services, Realtor associations and traditional brokerages at a time when disruption is on the minds of nearly everyone in the industry.

“Do I see things changing? Absolutely,” Mueller said in an interview last year with Parkbench.com. “We want the businesses to succeed. We want professionals, brokers, to be more productive — to build their business. Because then we all grow together. All boats rise together.”

Josh Team | Keller Williams

Josh Team

President, Keller Williams

As Keller Williams’ chief innovation officer, Josh Team, fresh off a stint at the fiercely independent marketing agency RAPP, emerged as a tech-savvy force to be reckoned with, crafting next-generation marketing tools for nearly 150,000 agents and overhauling KW’s eEdge agent software platform.

Now, as president of the brokerage, he’s turned his focus to the ambitious goal of blending technology with customer service and transforming the 37-year-old Texas-based real estate brokerage into a full-fledged technology company. With the official launch of its consumer-facing app this week, KW and Team may have realized its biggest technological coup to date while remaining true to CEO Gary Keller’s original roots.

Justin Wilson | Softbank

Justin Wilson

Partner, Americas, Softbank

Growing up in a military family with ties to Korea, Texas, California and Washington, Wilson embarked on a career path that careened across industries no less disparate, first as a consultant working with an array of companies, then at Google as head of global accounts.

Now, as a partner at Softbank, the Tokyo-based holding company best known for its $100 billion Vision Fund, Wilson has carved out a niche with real estate’s most innovative startups, including Compass, Opendoor, Katerra and Clutter.

“It’s exciting because we are seeing businesses and industries in the midst of significant transformation,” Wilson said in a recent interview. “Take real estate: we’re seeing growing market opportunity in an area that has historically been resistant to change and innovation. Now you have companies that are leveraging data and artificial intelligence to change how assets are financed, constructed, managed and sold.”

Want to join the New Guard in Palm Springs?  Apply to attend Disconnect and join in on the discussion of the pressing issues and future of the industry.

Interested in sponsoring Disconnect? Reach out here for more information.