Kalam Dennis’ Post

Hi everyone! I don’t share too often on here, but we’re at a very exciting moment at AptDeco, and I wanted to let you all in on it. AptDeco opened a community investment round and the response has been incredible. We’ve raised over $2M so far from institutional investors, customers and supporters. Nothing is more validating than customers doubling down with their own capital. And now, I’m inviting you, my network, to be part of our journey. When we started AptDeco, we set out to make buying and selling furniture easier. Over the years, many of our competitors have come and gone, but AptDeco continues to thrive. Why? Our technology, logistics and branding continues to set us apart and that's why major retailers including West Elm, Pottery Barn, La-Z-Boy, Article and 30+ more have partnered with us. The beauty with this investment round is that anyone can be an investor. Learn more and invest directly at wefunder.com/AptDeco.

🌿 How did Michael Zung, Co-founder and CEO of Bloomist, Inc, manage to grow the brand without straining cash flow? By partnering with Clearco, Bloomist funded their artisan-crafted products without giving up equity or taking on debt. Discover how non-dilutive funding empowered Bloomist to continue its growth while staying true to its ethical values. Read the full story: 👇 #ecommerce #sustainability #businessgrowth #invoice #funding

If there's one thing that Adam Neumann understands deeply, it's aspirational marketing. How to get people excited about being a part of something "bigger." How to create messaging that leads people to see greater potential in a place and in themselves. The Flow tagline illustrates this perfectly: 'Come To Your Higher Self.' Yeah, it's the type of tagline you'd expect for a high-end gym or an exclusive self-help community. That's the point – it's meant to appeal to people in a transcendent way. Live here, be a better version of yourself. If you know how much money the self-help/self-care industries make, you know this is a message that resonates with *a lot* of us. As far as the real estate itself, there's nothing exceptional about most of what he's done so far – this is the standard value-add playbook in popular locations. He's raised rents, focused on retention, and worked to increase the overall value of the assets. “When people like being in a building, when they actually feel like they’re part of a community, they stay. And when people stay and there’s no churn in the building, it increases occupancy, and it increases the value.” Nothing revolutionary there. The industry has been beating this drum for decades. But pay attention to the details of the messaging. The imagery. The positioning. The feelings it's all meant to evoke. The connection and desire it's intended to create. That's where the opportunity lies to set yourself apart. And when it's executed well, people will line up and gladly pay a premium to be a part of it. #apartmentmarketing #multifamily #brandpositioning #wework

What differentiates Hyprop Investments Limited’s portfolio from other real estate investment trusts? Our goal is to create modern town squares and ‘villages’ of sorts, places where people can connect, engage, and explore, a place that positively impacts the world around them and offers exceptional and authentic experiences. Because if all consumers wanted to do at a mall was a shop, they’d order their goods online. In truth, humans have a deep need to connect and socialise and malls are a great and safe environment for connecting and socialising. While our shopping centres based all around South Africa and Eastern Europe differ heavily in their designs, they are all connected by what we call our Golden Thread. The Golden Thread program is a consumer-driven approach to business that focuses on key pillars, including our Brand, People and Place. The respected retail strategist Paul Simpson, in the April 2024 issue of Asset Magazine, commended the program as being a welcome departure from the landlord as a ‘trader of space’ mentality!   Our Golden Thread ensures that all Hyprop shopping centres are connected through a unified set of services, offerings, experiences, and values while still being authentic to their location.

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Did you know the furniture you’re sitting on could be part of Europe’s #circulareconomy revolution? 🛋️♻️ Valentina Cerolini, CEO and co-founder of Deesup, didn’t just build a marketplace for second-hand high-end furniture—she flipped the script. What started as a personal frustration turned into a thriving platform that partners directly with brands and retailers across Europe. A marketplace focused on less waste, more design. Why Listen? If you’re interested in how startups can drive real impact in industries traditionally resistant to change, Valentina’s story will resonate. She’s proving that #sustainability and #business success can go hand in hand, especially when driven by passion, innovation, and a clear understanding of market needs. For anyone working in the circular economy, #marketplaces, or #sustainability, this episode is packed with practical insights and real-world lessons. 🎧 Tune in for #EUROPEBUILDS Ep.3: How Deesup became Europe’s ethical marketplace for furniture resale, with Valentina Cerolini Co-hosting: Mathilda Nathan & Niko Efstathiou Here's a sneak peek to intrigue you even more 👇

When you run into walls. Passed the 1.4 million views per month mark within the luxury furniture niche—mostly visited by people from Los Angeles, New York, Washington, and San Francisco. Strange in many ways. That means Maverick Mansions is among the biggest luxury brands globally by traffic. Sure, in theory, this opens doors. And it has. But in practice, situations like this put 10x more things on our plate—things we have no idea how to solve. Now I see that most people couldn’t. For example, a global payment method that handles taxes properly (something 99.999% of payment methods won’t do) and also deals with affiliates? It’s a pain in the ass just to even talk about it. The strangeness lately is that when you start to seek solutions, you usually find one—but it’s built for the masses. And those solutions? They fall short—badly. When you’re striving for the top, solutions don’t really exist, or you need to pioneer them yourself. And the issue isn’t just 1 or 2 key parts—it’s most of it. Running into 100 walls at once and realizing nobody could really solve these issues? It feels like the early days of WordPress—you just juggled. And the one solution that does solve the problem? The people behind it live like kings and queens. Take this: an influencer finder program that’s actually usable starts at the $10k range. In five minutes, it accomplishes what five people couldn’t achieve in a month with paid tools. Nobody can touch them. They had the best cost-to-value service, video-called me from NY, and showed me how it works. They cared. That’s why they win. Not half-baked solutions, tutorials, or headaches. They solve it for you. I truly believe the one who cares the most wins. It’s not about IQ or even the product itself. If you care more and therefore listen more, it’s just a matter of time before your product is lightyears ahead of the so-called competition. #maverickmansions, #LuxuryFurniture, #InteriorDesign, #LuxuryLiving, #HomeDecorGoals, #HighEndDesign, #EntrepreneurLife, #ScalingUp, #BusinessChallenges, #StartupStruggles, #Innovation, #PioneeringSolutions, #TechForBusiness, #GlobalGrowth, #AutomationTools, #DigitalInnovation, #KeepPushing, #BehindTheScenes, #Resilience, #TheHustleIsReal, #CareToWin

Today, we’re seeing a fascinating shift towards co-living, and the recent partnership between Sattva Group and Bain Capital is a clear indication of its growing prominence. The $100 million investment signals a significant vote of confidence in the co-living model. This partnership is poised to redefine the way we think about housing, especially in urban areas. Co-living offers a unique blend of affordability, community, and convenience, making it an attractive option for a wide range of individuals, including young professionals, students, and digital nomads. What does this mean for the future of real estate? 1. Increased Demand: As co-living continues to gain popularity, we can expect a surge in demand for this type of housing. This will drive development and investment in co-living projects. 2. Innovative Design: To meet the evolving needs of co-living residents, developers will need to focus on innovative design concepts that prioritize shared spaces, amenities, and sustainability. 3. New Investment Opportunities: The co-living market presents exciting opportunities for investors, both institutional and individual. However, it's essential to conduct thorough due diligence and partner with experienced developers. As a realtor, I believe co-living is here to stay. It's a testament to the changing dynamics of urban living and the desire for a more connected and community-oriented lifestyle. Are you considering investing in co-living or exploring this type of housing for yourself? Let's discuss the possibilities. #CoLiving #RealEstate #Investment #UrbanLiving #FutureOfHousing #SattvaGroup #BainCapital

Most founders have it backwards. I helped a founder recently avoid the same mistake I always see: Most founders are focused on raising funds, instead of talking to the market. They’re busy building something on their computer and “thinking” they already know what the customer wants. And then they say to me “I need investors.” It was the same for a new client I helped scale before he made the mistake of going ALL IN too early. He was just starting out with selling home decor in Germany and was about to buy a huge container of inventory from China. So I asked him, “Have you ever sold home decor?” “No, never. But I see that it’s working.” So, I made him pump the brakes. My main recommendation was: 1. Set up an MVP site: We started with 2 or 3 products. 2. Run campaigns so you can understand the CAC and potential LTV: Show if the person is buying one or more (what is the average ticket) or if they return it. And after 3 months, he was able get market validation with only $10k investment. It was EXTREMELY bootstrapped. And to fulfill on his orders it was the same. He just went to eBay, bought product full-price and shipped to the customer. And there were 3 main benefits to this: 1. Avoided 5-6 figures in buying a container of products and THEN looking for market validation. By the end, he COMPLETELY changed the product-mix once he found which products weren’t working. This is huge. Otherwise, you end up with a huge container of product nobody wants and now you NEED to make it work to sell them. 2. Because he was local, he was able to ship the product himself This was so smart. When delivering the product, he got to go see their decor, house location, demographic, what they said when they were unboxing, etc. and he learned SO much about the end-user. 3. He leveraged what he learned about the user in those 2—3 months. He learned so much about the product, the pricing, the CAC and potential LTV. So then all the decisions he made after were very connected to what the market wanted. But if he took the opposite approach and just bought the container out of the blue, he would be in huge trouble. But he was saved from all that because he didn’t go ALL IN. Even when he did his market-research and he thought he had it nailed. The lesson here is: Don’t bet on what you THINK people want. Bet on what people DO. Go test and see their behavior — then focus on funding. Because you don’t need funding to start, you need traction. — P.S. I’ve opened up more slots in my calendar to help high-performing founders accelerate market validation with absolute clarity. Let’s chat (link in my bio) → Ignacio Carcavallo