Matterport Capture Services: Dan Smigrod Recommendations | Part 6 | We Get Around Network Forum

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Matterport Capture Services: Dan Smigrod Recommendations | Part 6

Hi All,

In Matterport Capture Services: Dan Smigrod Recommendations | Part 5, I wrote that in Part 6 - this installment - I would reply to this comment from Part 4 of my series:
Quote:

Originally Posted by @JuMP
@DanSmigrod Your recommendations to Matterport is so good to MSPs, but it is too outstripped to be accepted by Matterport's management team. ...

Despite these exciting headlines ...

✓ Engel & Völkers to use Matterport Capture Scanning Services for Listings
✓ Matterport Capture Service: 6,000+ Colliers International CRE Brokers
✓ (And many more likely ...)

... for reasons stated in Parts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of my Matterport Capture Services commentary, Matterport should have encouraged photography agencies and companies to be in the Uber of Digital Twins rather than competing with companies and photography agencies.

It's ironic that Matterport recently pivoted to becoming a service provider at scale – the Uber of Digital Twins – client service has never been an obsession with Matterport.

Three of a bazillion examples:

1. Matterport Service Provider: Quote:

Originally Posted by @immersivespaces
Our local Engel & Völkers office has been a long time client of mine, pretty much since the day they opened their doors. I was just notified today that their agents are no longer permitted to book scanning services with me because they now have to book directly through Matterport. To add insult to injury, they had to cancel all of the scans they had previously scheduled with me through next week so they can reschedule them through Matterport.

I don't imagine I have much of a legal leg to stand on, but I am meeting with my attorney on Friday. There are some questions as to whether or not Matterport may have violated Florida's Sale of Business Opportunities Act. We'll see, but it appears that Matterport has basically screwed me after being an early adopter of their product and investing thousands of dollars and countless hours into their business since their inception. Really wish GeoCV would have worked out.

2. Property Management Company: the head of marketing for the largest property management company in a top 10 major U.S. city - whom wanted Matterport digital twins to help lease the 10 percent of vacant commercial office space and seek additional capital by overseas investors told me that when she reached out to Matterport to get a referral for a Matterport Service Provider, the Matterport inside sales person only wanted to sell her a camera (and did not mention either the MSP program or the Matterport Capture Services program.)

3. Major Insurance Company: a senior executive for a $1+ billion insurance company called me in December 2018. He said, despite anticipating needing at least 20,000 Matterport scans annually - fire and flood damage and insurance underwriting - for various business units, he could not get a return call from Matterport. I offered to make an introduction - which I did. This week, he reached out to me again because it was so frustrated with Matterport, he wanted recommendations for other platforms!

These examples (above) are all recent examples. Historically too:

✓ WGAN Forum discussions tagged: Dystopian | Matterport Ecosystem
✓ WGAN Forum posts that include the words: Matterport Stealing

For clarification, the Matterport Capture Services business model makes sense. Large companies need the solution that Matterport is implementing. Again, Matterport should (have) encouraged photography agencies and companies to provide this role. Unfortunately, as I have pointed out in my other commentary in this series, photography agencies and companies that wanted to provide digital twin solutions to their clients will look for other 3D and 360 platforms to represent.

Matterport has never been obsessed with servicing the customer: which prompted this comment:

Quote:

Originally Posted by @JuMP
@DanSmigrod Your recommendations to Matterport is so good to MSPs, but it is too outstripped to be accepted by Matterport's management team. ...

Apparently, I am too focused on helping Matterport Service Providers!

When was Matterport ever obsessed with helping Matterport Service Providers?

You might be surprised - or not surprised - to learn that in the early days of the MSP program, leads were first sent to the Matterport inside camera sales team to attempt to sell a camera. Only when the lead decline did the (stale) lead get parsed out to Matterport Service Providers.

So, while those headlines (above) announcing major clients of the Matterport Capture Service program sound enticing, unfortunately, it's likely that the labor intensive service business - with a thousand details that can go wrong - is a disappointing - and likely disastrous - direction for Matterport to be headed.

While it may take a few years for my conclusion to be obvious, the Matterport Capture Service program - implemented by Matterport - is the wrong pivot for Matterport.

What do you think and why?

Best,

Dan

WGAN Forum Related Discussions

✓ Matterport Capture Services: Dan Smigrod Recommendations | Part 1
✓ I Apologize. I Made a Big Mistake.
✓ Matterport Capture Services: Dan Smigrod Recommendations | Part 2
✓ Matterport Capture Services: Dan Smigrod Recommendations | Part 3
✓ Matterport Capture Services: Dan Smigrod Recommendations | Part 4
✓ Matterport Capture Services: Dan Smigrod Recommendations | Part 5
✓ Matterport Capture Services: Dan Smigrod Recommendations | Part 6
✓ WGAN Forum discussions tagged: Matterport Competes with MSPs
✓ WGAN Forum discussions tagged: Matterport Capture Services Program

5 years ago

There are about 30 bazillion people in just India ready to take on post production duties. It's not rocket science. I know dozens of German speakers living in Costa Rica that would love a way to make a living while living in Costa Rica(and Italian speakers, Dutch, Portuguese, etc). And of course there are a many educated Spanish speakers in Costa Rica who would love a job with Matterport. I think Matterport can find plenty of people with requisite skills to perform post production in every major language. In the coming years, it is not a stretch to imagine that AI and algorithms will handle most of the post production work.

The way I see it, there are too many low-cost, good-enough 3D options emerging (and quality and ease of use will improve across the board) and too few million-dollar homes in the world. My theory is that Matterport needs to adjust price downward while dramatically scaling, or perish. Will the MSS strategy they adopted accomplish that and save them? Maybe not.

I also think that perusing the MSP model would lead to their eventual demise. They have to change. There will likely only be a handful of winners (or fewer) when it is all over.

Lastly, consider that in the early '80's, "secretary" was the #1 job in the united states, and those early adopters among them were mostly ecstatic about the advent of office productivity software like word processors and spreadsheets and email. At the end of the day their bosses are now expected to do the work they once did, and except for a few elite executive assistants, secretaries went the way of the dinosaur. I predict that "real estate photographer" will follow the same path. Adaption is the primary skill needed these days.

Today, "truck driver" is the #1 job in the USA. Can you guess what will happen to that job category over the next 20 years, more or less?

If photographers remain relatively expensive, agents will do the work, or they will have robots do the job.

I assume this post will not win me friends in this forum. My point is, though it is understandable that you may whine as change happens, and you should definitely try to guide change in a direction that benefits you, some change is like the tide. You are going to have to move, and the sooner you accept that and embrace it, the more you can benefit from the change, and the slower you move, the higher the likelihood that you will drown.

843	843 bryanhscott private msg quote post Address this user	plus 1 plus 1 plus 1 3
	@DanSmigrod Spot on as usual Dan. I wonder what new entrants into the Matterport Capture Program think about it after becoming involved in the past few weeks? I suspect we may never know, because I assume those who made the jump are obligated to NDA-Non Circumvention Agreements. My delayed reaction to their new Capture Service, is that they will sort it out and be successful, despite all of the noise that has been made about it, because I also believe there are enough operators looking for more work and who have joined their team that MP will get the work done. Looking forward to the next viable platform. For now, I (and my customers) are happy with EyeSpy360 and soon to be Nodalview.
	5 years ago	Post 2 • IP flag post

2.99K	2.99K MeshImages private msg quote post Address this user	plus 1 plus 1 plus 1 6
	The MSS program is doomed to fail. I have not seen anyone doing great edits on a tour that he has not shot. If you separate post-production from shooting you will get bad results. Especially if a real estate agent is supposed to do the post-production without any know-how and without any support from the scan technician. And why should a real estate agent be willing to spend time on Matterport workshop or URL codes? And then we come to the final question: what is a Matterport 3D-tour worth without the edits from workshop? Is a Matterport 3D-tour without edits a premium product suitable for Engel and Voelkers?
	5 years ago	Post 3 • IP flag post

WGAN Forum Founder & WGAN-TV Podcast Host 31.34K Website Atlanta, Georgia Linked In Facebook Twitter YouTube TikTok Instragram Matterport Service Partner Google Street View Trusted Photographer Zillow Certified Photographer We Get Around Network Member	31.34K DanSmigrod private msg quote post Address this user	plus 1 plus 1 plus 1 0
	@MeshImages I would imagine that Matterport would handle all post production? Dan
	5 years ago	Post 4 • IP flag post

2.99K	2.99K MeshImages private msg quote post Address this user	plus 1 plus 1 plus 1 6
	@DanSmigrod No, I don't think so. Who should do it? Would you hire extra staff for this job? Multi-language staff? Matterport does not even offer multilingual floorplans.
	5 years ago	Post 5 • IP flag post

2.99K	2.99K MeshImages private msg quote post Address this user	plus 1 plus 1 plus 1 6
	As far as I understand this service, the scan technician will not even see the 3D Tour. The scan technician is supposed to upload the tour to another account. I don't even know, how they will handle reuploads or missing markers.
	5 years ago	Post 6 • IP flag post

244	244 johnwheatley private msg quote post Address this user	plus 1 plus 1 plus 1 3
	There are about 30 bazillion people in just India ready to take on post production duties. It's not rocket science. I know dozens of German speakers living in Costa Rica that would love a way to make a living while living in Costa Rica(and Italian speakers, Dutch, Portuguese, etc). And of course there are a many educated Spanish speakers in Costa Rica who would love a job with Matterport. I think Matterport can find plenty of people with requisite skills to perform post production in every major language. In the coming years, it is not a stretch to imagine that AI and algorithms will handle most of the post production work. The way I see it, there are too many low-cost, good-enough 3D options emerging (and quality and ease of use will improve across the board) and too few million-dollar homes in the world. My theory is that Matterport needs to adjust price downward while dramatically scaling, or perish. Will the MSS strategy they adopted accomplish that and save them? Maybe not. I also think that perusing the MSP model would lead to their eventual demise. They have to change. There will likely only be a handful of winners (or fewer) when it is all over. Lastly, consider that in the early '80's, "secretary" was the #1 job in the united states, and those early adopters among them were mostly ecstatic about the advent of office productivity software like word processors and spreadsheets and email. At the end of the day their bosses are now expected to do the work they once did, and except for a few elite executive assistants, secretaries went the way of the dinosaur. I predict that "real estate photographer" will follow the same path. Adaption is the primary skill needed these days. Today, "truck driver" is the #1 job in the USA. Can you guess what will happen to that job category over the next 20 years, more or less? If photographers remain relatively expensive, agents will do the work, or they will have robots do the job. I assume this post will not win me friends in this forum. My point is, though it is understandable that you may whine as change happens, and you should definitely try to guide change in a direction that benefits you, some change is like the tide. You are going to have to move, and the sooner you accept that and embrace it, the more you can benefit from the change, and the slower you move, the higher the likelihood that you will drown.
	5 years ago	Post 7 • IP flag post

244	244 johnwheatley private msg quote post Address this user	plus 1 plus 1 plus 1 3
	Quote: Originally Posted by DanSmigrod Quote: Originally Posted by @johnwheatley Matterport should be empowering agencies and companies to service large companies. In the long-run, the Matterport Service Partner program will reduce - not increase - the demand for Matterport digital twins. Dan You may be dead right that MP should have encouraged agencies to become Uber and Lyft vs doing it themselves. MP thought differently. Either move might not be enough to make them cheap enough to win in the end. We will see.
	5 years ago	Post 9 • IP flag post

1.19K	1.19K Expertise private msg quote post Address this user	plus 1 plus 1 plus 1 3
	Update and some additional information: We did quite a few scans with Capture Services about 4 weeks ago. Nothing since. We were responsible for trimming etc before upload. They were extremely obsessed with even the tiniest bit of scatter, like from a tiny window over an entry door. The scans were uploaded to a separate account, and yes... we can see them. Overall, we were very pleased with our experience and the check we received. Hoping to continue with this.
	5 years ago	Post 10 • IP flag post

Matterport Capture Services: Dan Smigrod Recommendations | Part 611940