I signed up to sell commercial real estate. I did not sign up to orchestrate twelve subscriptions.
And yet.
Finding the right opportunity means getting the information together first. Which sounds simple until “together” becomes the part of the job that takes all your attention. The data is in one place. The tool you need is somewhere else. Getting them to make sense alongside each other becomes its own occupation.
You still have to do the actual job afterward.
That is the frustration behind Signal Intelligence. I started building a software platform so other people could spend their attention on commercial real estate. Which means I now spend part of mine building software.
Occupational hazard, apparently.
When I say “The Deal is the easy part,” I’m talking about finding the right one. The work before the opportunity becomes obvious. Gathering information. Asking whether it belongs together. Figuring out what you know, what you’re missing, and what deserves another question.
Getting a collection of tools to cooperate should help you do that work. It shouldn’t become your professional identity.
I still like the people part. A conversation can change what you thought you were looking for. Someone tells you what they actually need, and suddenly the question is different. That is a good reason to stay curious. It is also a good reason to be careful about confusing a pile of information with an answer.
Data is not human. Humans are not data.
The point of building this is to give the human part better support. A useful question. Information you can follow back to its source. Enough clarity to decide what deserves your attention next.
That is the standard I want the work to meet. It also gives me something specific to show as I build: the problem, the attempt, and what the attempt actually does.
No need to pretend the detour was the plan all along.
I wanted to sell CRE. Here I am building software so other people can sell CRE.
Go figure.
If getting the tools to cooperate has become part of your job too, read the longer story behind Signal Intelligence.