Geek Life: Fun stories, memes, humor and other random items at the intersection of tech, science, business and culture. SEE MORERedfin CEO Glenn Kelman when the company went public in 2017. (Nasdaq Photo)We’re going to miss Glenn Kelman’s earnings calls.Redfin’s CEO, who last week announced a $1.75 billion deal to sell the tech-driven real estate company to Rocket Companies, has a rare knack for delivering colorful quotes and off-the-wall zingers — keeping analysts and investors entertained, at least, in what’s normally a dry and obligatory exercise for public companies.“Plan B is to drink our own urine or our competitors’ blood — stay in the foxhole,” Kelman said in one striking example from June 2024, emphasizing Redfin’s resilience and determination in response to an analyst who asked about the company’s backup plan if mortgage rates were to rise unexpectedly again.Redfin’s brand remain will intact after the deal. But as part of a larger company, Kelman won’t have quite the same opportunity to hold court with Wall Street, even if he does end up joining Rocket CEO Varun Krishna on earnings calls.After this came up on the latest GeekWire Podcast (while discussing the deal with Stephanie Reid-Simons of RealEstateNews.com and Tim Ellis, former Redfin market analyst) I was inspired to compile a list of Kelman’s best earnings quips, by mining GeekWire’s reporting and creating a database of transcripts in NotebookLM.(This doesn’t include his legendary quote on 60 Minutes in November 2007, “Real estate, by far, is the most screwed up industry in America.” Nor does it include his writing, such as the 2012 essay in which he observed, “We have a government to solve the problems that greedy, short-sighted businessmen like me can’t.”)The end result is a case study in using levity, candor, and humility — plus ample references to pop culture — to navigate the ups and downs of leading a business.With that, let’s turn it over to Glenn …“I spent half the Super Bowl in the bathroom or upstairs making nachos because I didn’t want to see these competitor ads.” Kelman explained in 2024 that Redfin saw more website traffic despite rival CoStar Group’s massive spending on Homes.com ads during the big game.“Nobody is more afraid of Amazon than me. I mean, those guys are animals.” Addressing questions about a 2019 collaboration between Amazon and Realogy, Kelman offered this perspective as context for his opinion that the partnership wouldn’t amount to much. He was right.“Redfin believes in technology, but technology on its own is just a glorified toaster oven.” Describing Redfin’s culture and approach to innovation, Kelman said in May 2019 that what really matters is its people and how they treat each other.“This analogy makes no sense, except the images of the exploding blood and the flamethrower are what always come to mind when people ask me about today’s housing market.” Kelman made a vivid comparison to the movie The Thing in a November 2020 earnings call.“If you are not scared running a seasonal, cyclical business with fixed costs, there’s something wrong with you.” This how Kelman, in November 2021, explained his clear-eyed, pragmatic and “jittery” approach to running a business that depends so much on external market forces.“Our goal is just to gain share every quarter for the rest of time.” Kelman explained the company’s rare form of eternal KPI in a February 2021 earnings call.“iBuying isn’t going away

BREAKING: Rocket announces $1.75 billion acquisition of Redfin.