The CRETech Los Angeles event held last weekDowntown dove into the nuances of tech integration in thecommercial real estate industry. The event opened with a discussionof technology with some of the leaders in real estate, andconcluded with a discussion of Fifth Wallexecutives. Fifth Wall is a venture capital firm focused on fundingreal estate tech start-ups. The discussion at CRETech includedBrad Greiwe, co-founder and managing partner;Brendan Wallace, co-founder and managing partner;Natalie Bruss, partner; K.C.Cleary; partner; and Vik Chawla,principal.

“What is really critical in a venture capital model like ours isto delicately orchestrate this tension between being corporate andyet independent,” said Wallace says about the firm's model. “On theone hand, we must listen to our corporate LPs and internalize theiracute understanding of their own technology pain points and absorbtheir deep domain expertise. Yet, Fifth Wall must simultaneouslyrecognize that corporate venture capital almost alwaysunderperforms financially because they have been challenged intheir ability to think outside the box and lack the venture capitalinvestment acumen to structure great deals and find greatentrepreneurs.”