Today I'm giving thanks for Keith Castonguay.

Keith is the CEO of a real estate brokerage in the Twin Cities, TheMLSonline.com. He signed on as my first customer – before Mobile Realty Apps or HomeSpotter existed.

At the time, I was doing iPhone app development consulting work for a lot of companies. I had been intrigued about the idea of building a real estate app out of a personal need. But I still didn’t have a way into the industry. I was introduced to Keith through a mutual acquaintance.

My first proposal to Keith – which took more of the form of a typical consulting arrangement – was deemed to be too expensive. Ultimately, we agreed on a mutually beneficial path – I agreed to create an iPhone app for his company at a discount, and I would retain the intellectual property so I could go sell a similar service to other brokerages.

I knew very little about the residential real estate market, and even less about running a brokerage when he became a client. Keith taught me a lot about the industry. He weighed in on product design, as he knew what his customers appreciated. He also helped me out in a lot of ways that weren’t directly beneficial to him – things like pointing me in the direction of where I could find information on the largest brokerages in the US so I could seek them out as clients.

Keith- thanks for joining on as our first client and for all your advice. You’re an innovator and someone I was fortunate to learn from early on.

Originally posted on LinkedIn – head over to give it a like or a share.

I’m giving thanks for 100+ days to individuals that positively impacted me or HomeSpotter’s trajectory.