Getting to “Hell Yes!” with Dana Dunford: Why the Real Innovation in Proptech Starts with the Underdog

💬 “Fifty percent of it is just hard work. The other fifty percent is luck - right place, right time.” – Dana Dunford

Dana Dunford didn’t come from real estate. She came from Apple, Nest and a spreadsheet full of rental headaches. That mix led her to launch Hemlane, a property management platform built not for the REITs but for the 72% of landlords who self-manage.

📦 These aren’t the folks on CoStar. 🏘️ They’re the ones managing duplexes from two time zones away. 🧠 And they’re the future of housing, if we give them better tools.

What stood out most from our conversation:

✅ Innovation doesn’t trickle down. It bubbles up. ✅ If users won’t pay for it, it’s not solving their real pro ...