Austin Allison, the founder of Pacaso, and CEO of dotloop, is no stranger to disruption. He got his start in real estate selling to make extra money through college and law school, and then left law to found dotloop, a software company that catered to the real estate market. The company was so successful that Zillow Group bought it after 6 years, and he stayed on working for Zillow for 3 more years.  He later joined a friend he met at Zillow to form Pacaso.

Pacaso, named after the artist Picasso, was another disruptive company. After he and his wife bought a second home, they realized that there was an unserved market for second homes, as most people can’t afford a second home, and those who do leave their home empty for months at a time. Pacaso solved this problem by bringing together co-owners in a property.

How do you become a disruptor? What does it mean to disrupt? Steve Jobs was a big influence on Austin Allison. Steve Jobs was a disrupter because he realized that the word “normal” is just an agreement. The world is the way it is because people made it that way, and people who have the courage to “Think Different” can change the world. You can choose to believe that the world is the way it is just because it is, or that the world is the way it is because no one has come up with a way to change the world yet. 

If you come up with a vision, and stay true to that vision even as you adapt to changes, and do the hard work, you can disrupt the world.