Brandon Donnelly — Daily insights for city builders. Published since 2013 by Toronto-based real estate developer Brandon Donnelly. — Page 1018

I’ve been hearing a lot about Bird recently. Perhaps it has something to do with the $15 million Series A round they raised last month (February 2018) and the $100 million Series B round they announced earlier today.

A “Bird” is small electric scooters that look like this and can be rented from your phone for short haul trips. They are currently available in Santa Monica, Venice, UCLA, Westwood, and San Diego, and they are intended to be ridden in existing bike lanes.

What may be particularly interesting to this blog audience is the fact that Bird is calling itself a “ last-mile electric vehicle sharing company.” The pitch: 40% of car trips (in the US?) are less than 2 miles long. Let’s replace those using electric scooters.

One of the first things that came to my mind is that this feels more accessible than cycling. Cycling to work can be a commitment. You have to think about your attire and the sweat factor, among other things.

Would you agree?

My friend Matthew Slutsky runs a company called BuzzBuzzHome that allows you to search for new construction homes. This week they launched a feature that allows you to put down a deposit on a new home – online – with your credit card. It’s live right now for the Barra on Queen in Kitchener, Ontario.

I know that Matthew and his team have been working on this for years (I saw earlier demos), and so I wanted to publicly congratulate them on the blog. I’m not sure who their competitors are right now, but this feels to me like one of the first online real estate marketplaces where you can actually just hit “buy now.” Huge accomplishment.

I am sure many of you will have objections that we will hear about in the comment section below. But I have little doubt that this is the future. People used to say that the masses aren’t going to buy clothes online because of the need to try things on. I own suits that I have purchased online. People will buy real estate online.

The more important question: When will it go mainstream?

I just finished watching the Raptors beat the Pistons in overtime to clinch a playoff berth. This is, by far, the earliest in the season that they have ever done that. They are also the first team in the NBA to do that this year. And this is after being down 17 tonight.

The Raptors feel like a different team this year. They have the grit and toughness to come back and squeak out games like they did tonight. Seeing DeRozan run the floor and throw it down with less than 10 seconds left in the game is a powerful display of that. They are finding ways to win.

As of today, FiveThirtyEight is giving the Raptors a 55% chance of making the finals. That would be a franchise first. And a 17% chance of winning the title. I am really enjoying watching the best Raptors team that this city has ever seen. And I’m looking forward to playoff time in the city. It transforms this place.