Before Google Maps. Before smartphones. Before Silicon Valley gave mobile a second thought — the Blumberg brothers were strapping GPS units to PalmPilots and piping real estate data through them.
In this episode, Nick Smoot sits down with Brad and Eric Blumberg, the underdog inventors who quietly pioneered location-based real estate search and filed the first patents that would later shape the mobile experience we take for granted.
From living a few blocks apart in Jersey to battling billion-dollar giants over the definition of “proximate,” the brothers share their wild ride through invention, patent wars, early startup life, and building trust with major partners before “startup” was even a cultural word.
This one’s about grit, timing, vision — and being early enough that people thought you were crazy.
They were the first to hack GPS and mobile devices to make real estate location-aware.
At a time when telecom was obsessed with “minutes,” they were shouting: “It’s about data.”
Selling a vision is often harder than building the tech.
They faced deep skepticism from insiders who couldn’t see the future — yet.
Real innovation demands a shift in perception — and persistence when no one’s clapping yet.
They proved you could shop for homes on a tiny screen long before Zillow or Redfin.
Innovation often starts by refusing to follow the rules everyone else takes for granted.
They stuck to their vision even through lawsuits, economic downturns, and tech shifts.
Progress doesn’t happen in a straight line — it’s messy, hard, and worth it.
At the center of it all: understanding real user needs, not just market trends.
Check out AstorKey, their newest innovation using encrypted, decentralized data to rethink how mortgages are done — without giving up your identity to the internet forever.
17:55 Pioneering Patents: The First Steps in Innovation
51:52 Defending Patents: The Journey
01:00:58 The Reality of Intellectual Property