Success from A to Z: How a Shea entrepreneur went from Aryeo to Zillow

Branick Weix ’19 is a month out from his five-year BC reunion. Pausing to reflect on this milestone, he realizes one of the biggest defining moments of his undergrad career – launching Aryeo – is already the stuff of startup dreams. Last summer, he sold the real estate content platform to Zillow for a cool $35 million. 

How did a budding BC entrepreneur go from tinkering with code in the recesses of Cushing Hall to raising $3.65 million in seed funding then selling for 10 times that amount? Was it market conditions? Pent-up demand? A better value proposition? 

We sat down with the CEO and former Shea Center regular to find out. 

Tell us how it happened, what with Covid and so much market volatility.

Weix: The real estate market has been all over the place. But one of the constant truths throughout that time period was trying to make the home shopping experience as easy and impactful as possible. And for Aryeo, that meant how can we help photographers deliver great pictures, videos, and floor plans. That's really where our software stepped in and helped them shine.

How were photographers hearing about you? Was it word of mouth?

Weix: For our first two or three years, we grew entirely by word of mouth. They were looking for tools, and we built one of the most robust tools for their business. In the last two years, we started doing more outbound sales. That's when things really took off. It didn't even feel like we were doing sales. It was just spreading the word about what our software did, and they would sign up.

How fast was Aryeo growing and how quickly were you adding employees?

Weix: At first, it was just me and my two co-founders, Brendan Quinlan and Matt Michalski. Things started to accelerate after we hired our first employee in the summer of 2020, and then we sold the business in the summer of 2023. So, those three years were crazy. I remember sitting in classes, and I would get a text whenever a photographer uploaded a property and pretty quickly, I had to turn them off because I was getting so many.

But some of it was timing, right?

Weix: The timing was great. That first month of Covid was right when we were raising our first round of capital. And everyone was pretty worried about what the future of the real estate market would look like. We realized this is actually a great tailwind for the business in that we accelerated the technology that home shoppers, agents, and photographers were using – 3D tours, floor plans, and rich media experiences versus the basic photos that were out there before.

Was it surprising to you that a product like yours didn't exist?

Weix: There were some solutions, but we were one of the first to look holistically at our customers. When we first started the company, most were photographers just starting to use drone footage to market homes. So, we started a drone photography business and pretty soon, agents were asking for more content, and we realized all the pain points involved with getting content where it needed to be.

How long was Zillow a customer before you started talking partnership?

Weix: We got connected with the folks at Zillow about a year and a half ago. In our initial meeting, we realized how aligned we were on making one of the best home shopping experiences possible. They came onboard as a customer first, things were going well and we progressed the conversations into a deeper partnership or acquisition.

Were they chomping at the bit to buy you?

Weix: There was some mutual excitement about what we could do together, for sure. We were both able to experiment for a few months, and ultimately, we saw the impact that high-quality media can have for consumers, for agents, and for photographers. And for us, that was a win-win scenario. 

Was your product fully developed by the time you worked with Zillow?

Weix: Yes, by the time of acquisition, we had powered thousands of photography companies across the U.S. and Canada and hundreds of thousands of real estate listings every single year. It’s crazy to think about the scale it got to and how quickly it happened.

And was Zillow seeing a corresponding lift in business?

Weix: Yes, there were a couple things. We made it so Zillow has one of the best home shopping experiences. The other thing, Zillow had recently launched a product called Listing Showcase, with a big push to agents. The Aryeo team was pretty vital to helping launch that product and enabling agents to use it. 

How many employees did you have by then and did they get folded into Zillow?

Weix: I think we had 45 employees at the time of acquisition, and everyone became Zillow employees, and then we continued running the company within Zillow. 

How has this amazing turn of events changed your life?

Weix: Honestly, not too much has changed, which I think is a good sign. I do have a little bit more free time now, which has been nice. I did buy a 1972 Jeep, because I've always wanted to learn how engines work. So, I've been ripping apart the Jeep learning how to do that. 

Did you know Aryeo was destined for greatness back when you entered the Strakotsch Venture Competition in the spring of 2018? 

Weix: I always knew we were onto something important. I knew that if we could build a really good product and help our customers, the rest would follow. But we always joked, "what if we sold the business to Zillow one day? How amazing would that be?" And then the day arrived. 

What stands out from your BC days? 

Weix: For me, Tech Trek really accelerated the want to start a company and develop those necessary skills to do so.  Jere Doyle has been a huge supporter over the years. John Gallaugher, Peter Bell, Tom Coburn, and Bill Clerico – all super inspiring, helpful, and supportive as well.