Over the years, Lindsay has turned a passion for real estate from a side hustle into an industry she seeks to transform. Having managed a small portfolio of properties across condos and vacation rentals, she has been thrust into various challenges and lived through many pain points that could be made easier through technology.
Lindsay is as driven by sparking change as she is by showing results. It’s this combination of inspiration and action that drove her to build Super. As a cross-disciplinary leader, Lindsay works at the intersection of business, product, and brand. Across Lindsay’s varied career, one thing has remained consistent: a track record of driving growth in revenue and reputation. She brings experience in leadership roles at early-stage startups, growth-stage companies, and multinational Fortune 500s like LTSE, Work & Co, and Accenture.
How did the idea for Super first come about?
Super was born from personal experiences. I joined my first condo board in 2016 for a 20-unit building that was 9 years old at the time. We were plagued with issues: daily problems affecting residents, major repairs depleting the building’s reserves, lack of documentation and records in order to make warranty claims, thwarted unit sales because of the issues and assessments, and an unhealthy relationship with the property management company. It was a tense situation, and most of it fell on the board. This experience made me think: there has to be a better way. I started hacking together digital tools to organize our building, and it led to sketching up an early product vision.
Fast forward a few years (and another stint as a board member, this time at a self-managed condo), and the need for a platform like Super kept glaring at me. It was time to take the idea out of a deck and into buildings.
What is your vision for how Super can help buildings and homeowners?
How well a building is managed impacts people’s daily lives, their real estate investments, and the safety of their homes. As an owner and board member, I’ve experienced how paralyzing it can be when you aren’t equipped with the tools and information to make the right decisions, especially the hard ones.
Technology has changed so much about our lives: how we work, travel, eat, and yes, live. My vision is to provide building managers, board members, owners, and residents a tailored suite of tools that help them focus their time, energy, and resources. We aim to be a true partner to buildings, one that is proactive and predictive. A building on Super should have boosted confidence in both their day-to-day happenings as well as their long-term plans.
What excites you about the journey you’re embarking on at Super?
We are solving a real problem. While Super’s software platform will also enhance the little things, the core of what we are tackling is more than an incremental improvement. The urgency for fixing building management became even more apparent following the tragic Miami condo collapse in the summer of 2021, right when we were finishing our fundraise. It was a catastrophic event that could have been prevented.
We take that level of responsibility very seriously. Creating a company and a product that has the potential to make people’s homes safer; help people grow the value of an asset; create healthy communities and relationships—this is meaningful work.
At the same time, I’m really excited about how we shape our company as well, and how we can imbue our values in the way we grow our team, build our product, and treat our customers. I am driven by this opportunity to cultivate a company that, to put it plainly, behaves better.
How have your previous experiences all led to building a venture from scratch?
I feel like I’ve been in training for Super for years professionally and personally. After having worked at companies of all sizes—ranging from a dozen people to 400,000 global employees—I’ve learned that the stage I love the most is getting in on the ground floor of a company to shape its strategy, team, and offering. I’ve gained a lot of confidence in those capabilities, including having the opportunity to sharpen them in roles with direct responsibility for multi-million dollar revenue generation at early and growth-stage companies.
I’ve also dabbled in ventures and side projects, like the time I ran a food stand. Some of these ventures include real estate investments, which has taught me a lot about what it takes to manage a portfolio of assets, be a landlord (and at times, a super!), and generally grow the value of a property.
What are some key learnings and lessons you’re bringing to how Super is being built?
The early team at a company influences so much about the culture and roadmap. There’s a saying “hire fast, fire fast.” Well, I’ve learned that growing carefully and thoughtfully has more of an outsized impact. That means prioritizing the capabilities most needed—including diversity of perspectives. Every employee should feel ownership for our outcomes as an active contributor.
Another learning is that revenue is not a thing to be figured out later. In fact, it’s the most important metric to help you understand if you’re onto something. I’ve seen people focus on things that don’t actually indicate whether you’ve got a strong product-market-fit. Creating enough value for a customer to justify paying for it is the ultimate validation that you’re onto something. We’re here to build a strong business, and doing that will benefit both the company and our customers—who will be happy to retain our services and trust we’re here for the long run.
You’ve been on the board of a couple condos and self-managed buildings. What are you hoping you can solve for yourself with Super?
Prioritization and compliance.
When all of your correspondence and requests are stuffed in your email inbox, it becomes a herculean task to understand what’s actually in progress, what you need to take action on, and what can be dealt with later. Email is terrible for prioritization, yet it’s the tool most buildings and boards have.
Building compliance and the required inspections and filings also feels like a mystery today. Especially in New York City, regulations can change and communicating with various city departments can be opaque.
Super is built to help you stay on top of what matters most.
You’ve been selected to give a TEDTalk—right now. What’s a topic you could give a 10-minute presentation on without any preparation?
How to identify the metrics that matter. Startups are often told things like build your audience first, monetize later. Go after the biggest TAM. Get more engagement. But this can lead to vanity metrics that paint a nice story, but don’t guarantee a good business outcome. I believe the fundamentals are more often: have you created a product or service valuable enough that lots of people will be willing to pay for it? How to identify the ultimate indicators of value exchange—and build models that help you stay focused on those fundamentals.
What’s something you’re proud of, but few people know about you?
I come from a family of entrepreneurs. My parents are small business owners that have run a coffee shop in Massachusetts for nearly 20 years, and my sister is a founder with a successful exit under her belt turned investor. I’ve absorbed a lot from their experiences and am so fortunate to have direct family to go to for advice and mentorship.
On a personal note, I rescue dogs and cats as a foster and trap-neuter-return (TNR) volunteer.
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