Homepal provides Gladsheim with better business support for its operational management
David Dahlgren is CEO of Gladsheim, a real estate company focused on housing that he co-founded. With a background as a macro analyst, he has always valued visualization and storytelling to explain complex relationships using data in an educational way—both for employees and the board.
When Gladsheim got a new main owner in 2021, an American venture capital fund with high demands for granular reporting, the need for a tool that not only collected data but also made it possible to understand and act on it increased.
“I wanted a way to get a concrete picture of the entire business without having to ask five people who in turn had to consult twenty Excel sheets and three systems,” says David.
The goal was clear
The goal was clear
To be able to present complex data in an educational way that makes it intuitive and easy to understand, both for employees, the board, and owners
To get fast, recurring reporting without manual handling
The tool should have a low threshold for use and not create person dependency
One year, significant amounts of money, various consultants and systems – but still had to go back to Excel
Gladsheim began building its reporting in another data and visualization system. The work required several different consultants. Finding a consultant with relevant experience in the real estate industry and meeting the company's reporting requirements proved to be a challenge. Data from different systems could not be trusted or compared – which undermined the whole purpose of building automated reporting and follow-up.
By switching to a consultant with more experience in the real estate industry, some progress was made, but Gladsheim still did not get the results they wanted.
“In the end, the last consultant himself said that the intended solution would not be able to give us what we needed – and suggested that we build Excel reports with the data instead,” says David. “So we gave up.”
“When I saw a demo of Homepal, it warmed my heart.”
At the same time, a dialogue was ongoing with Homepal, which initially did not feel quite right. David had gotten the impression that Homepal was a rather limited product. But when one of his most skeptical colleagues saw a demo and came back saying, “This is actually good,” David changed his mind and wanted to set up a meeting.
When David saw a demo of Homepal, his impression changed completely—it wasn't as limited as he had first thought.
“The simplicity, the drag-and-drop functionality, how quickly you could put together different parameters – it was incredibly user-friendly. It warmed my heart.”
“Homepal is like Apple”
For David, simplicity and user-friendliness are crucial.
“I've evaluated several other systems that are basically incredibly powerful – but they often end up being like French grammar – an inherently high threshold before you become proficient at it. Others feel like an old Microsoft product from the 90s. Homepal is like Apple: low threshold, easy to understand and quick to get started with.”
David didn't just want reporting tools, he wanted a way to make data available to more people in the organization so they could act faster. Homepal is built with this in mind—it's not the data itself that creates value, but what the analysis leads to in terms of decisions and actions.
Homepal is built for real estate companies, by real estate experts
The difference from previous tools was clear. Homepal is built for real estate companies, by people who really know real estate data. This means that everyone is “speaking the same language” from the start – and that everything is ready to go right away.
Homepal has standard integrations with almost all of the industry's systems and extensive experience in data collection and modeling of real estate data. Because Homepal are experts in the real estate industry, customers never need to explain definitions or concepts – everything is pre-built, defined, and packaged to suit the unique needs of the industry.
"One thing I really like about Homepal is that they don't rely on charging lots of expensive consulting hours to make ends meet. As a customer, I don't want that kind of arrangement. That's why a true SaaS model like Homepal actually works. It's what I've been looking for. A system where we have a low threshold for using, developing, and visualizing what we need—without building up an internal dependence on Excel or relinquishing control to external consultants."
Homepal develops together with its customers
Homepal develops together with its customers
David's long experience of making complex figures understandable has given him a clear picture of what is required for data to truly become a decision support tool. When he found Homepal, he was not just looking for a solution, but a partner to develop further together with.
"I have more ideas about how we could develop Homepal's customer offering. Unlike other players who only want to solve a small part of my problem at a high cost, I felt that Homepal really wants to make the whole journey together."
Homepal solved what others couldn't
Homepal solved what others couldn't
Thanks to Homepal, Gladsheim has now achieved its goals by:
Being able to present complex data in an intuitive and easy-to-understand way for employees, the board, and owners.
Establishing fast, recurring reporting without manual handling – in a tool that did not require special expertise to use. For that goal, Homepal was the right choice.
Basically, David believes that many suppliers offer powerful tools – but not for what Gladsheim wanted to achieve.
“You could say that the difference is that many systems are not really reporting and visualization tools, but are built for data mining and controlling. That was the mistake we made from the start, choosing something that was competent in terms of data, but not competent in terms of reporting and visualization. Homepal has given us the solution we had previously sought elsewhere.”
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