Trying — with difficulty — to shake up a staid industry? It could be that you aren’t thinking small enough. Joe Fox, who has founded two industry-changing companies with his older brother, Avi, is a big believer in “mini-innovations,” small insights that add up to a big disruption. Their first company, a pioneering online brokerage called Web Street, was acquired by E-Trade Group for about $50 million in 2001. In 2006, they launched BuySide Realty, an online discount real estate brokerage that rebates 75% of its commission to home buyers. Last year they started Iggys House Realty, a subsidiary of Iggys House Inc. that allows sellers to list their homes for free in multiple listings services and on Realtor.com. Here Fox talks with Josh Hyatt for the MIT Sloan Management Review about how he became a toppler of traditions — and where he is likely to strike next.
What do you see in an industry that convinces you that there is room for grand-scale innovation?
FOX: I really believe you can’t force innovation; it’s not something that happens in a vacuum. You have to observe the world with a fresh eye. In the 1990s my brother and I were trading stocks on our own, and there was a company that had announced it was going public at $16 a share; the night before we said, “Let’s... To read the complete article, login or sign-up using the form below.
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