Unintended Consequences That Cause Spectacular Results

I just returned, as some 3,000 other folks have, from attending Inman's Real Estate Connect in San Francisco. For many of the industry leaders whom I spoke with, it was one of the most successful Connects that they have attended and certainly the busiest. I found myself squarely in the same camp.

I discovered something incredibly special about what I think makes Inman Connect unique: It fosters the creation of what I call "unintended consequences that cause spectacular results."

I have a few great examples from this most recent Connect to illustrate what I mean.

Origins of Real Estate Connect

In the spring of 1997 I left Fannie Mae, most recently as Director of Housing Impact for its highly successful Seattle Partnership office that I had opened, and forged out on my own. When Brad Inman heard the news, he asked me to meet with him. I had worked with Brad since the mid-1980s. He was a friend and I was a fan of his business acumen. I immediately said yes, as I wanted to talk to him about my new company.

So I brought my "team," which at the time consisted of my wife, Kyanne, who handled the financial side of the business, and my father-in-law, Keith Willis, a skilled businessman and savvy investor, to a restaurant near the Hyatt in Bellevue, WA where we met with Brad.