Apartment List: Revolutionizing Rental Searches: The Journey by the Founders.
Company profile
Company business details
Motivation to build the product
The founders were motivated by the frustrations renters face in the apartment search process, including misleading listings and scams. They aimed to create a solution that simplifies the rental experience and provides a trustworthy platform for users.Problem that their product solves
Apartment List solves the problem of finding suitable rental housing, which is often complicated by misleading listings and scams. The end users are renters looking for apartments, and solving this problem is important for them to ensure a smooth and efficient search process.Their unfair advantage
Apartment List's unfair advantage lies in its comprehensive aggregation of listings from various sources, combined with user-friendly design and features that enhance the rental experience, such as online booking and real-time availability.Strategies
Pre-Launch (Product Development & MVP)
Building Relationships with Clients
John realized that to grow his business, he needed to establish strong relationships with potential clients. He took the advice of a friend who suggested that he should take clients out for golf and steak dinners. This led him to fly around the country to meet with clients face-to-face, which significantly improved his business relationships and helped in building a successful meta search model for rentals.
Customer-Centric Problem Identification
John Kobs, the co-founder of ApartmentList, identified a significant pain point in the apartment rental process after experiencing multiple scams while searching for an apartment in New York City. This frustration led him to pivot from his initial idea of starting a real estate brokerage to creating a platform that would simplify the apartment search process. He recognized that renters needed a reliable and user-friendly way to find apartments, which ultimately shaped the core mission of ApartmentList.
Building a Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
After deciding to pivot from a real estate brokerage to a rental listing platform, John and his co-founder Chris Herndon focused on developing a minimum viable product. They initially created a basic website called mycheapapartments.com, which served as a prototype for their metasearch engine for apartments. This early version was rough and lacked polish, but it allowed them to test their concept and gather feedback before launching a more refined product.
Launch Stage
Creating a Unique User Experience
To differentiate Apartment List from competitors, John focused on creating a unique user experience. They developed an online tour booking system and integrated real-time availability features. They also utilized a Photosphere camera to create immersive virtual tours of apartment buildings, similar to Google Street View, which enhanced the user experience and attracted more renters.
SEO and Content Marketing
Apartment List implemented a robust SEO strategy by creating comprehensive city guides for apartment hunting. These guides were written in advance of the site's launch, with the co-founder initially writing some of the content. As the company scaled, they recruited freelance writers to produce guides for over a thousand cities, ensuring that the content was optimized for search engines. This strategy not only improved their organic search rankings but also provided valuable information to users, leading to higher engagement and retention rates.
Learn more about Apartment List
A conversation with John Kobs
