Timing Was Right for Justyn Hornor, Real Agent Guard

February 3, 2015

Real Agent Guard, the Rogers startup co-founded by IA client and ARK Challenge alum Justyn Hornor, provides personal security for real estate agents. 

The timing was right back in November -- sadly, due to tragic circumstances -- for Hornor to put his ARK firm Politapoll on hold and focus on Real Agent Guard.

Hornor believes the startup he founded with Tim Brasuell can help keep similar circumstances from happening and keep real estate agents and other "lone workers" safe.

Here's an excerpt of a Q-and-A we did with Justyn about his ARK pivot and latest venture, which he plans to place in the IA pipeline soon:

IA: So, explain just how the Politapoll/Real Agent Guard pivot came about.

Hornor: While at the ARK Challenge, a local real estate agent was lured to a rural property, kidnapped, and brutally murdered. We had already been developing a security system for "lone workers," so when the local woman was killed, we saw a huge need for our product. We put the prototype in front of some local real estate agencies and saw immediate, near explosive demand.

IA: Is Politapoll simply on hold for now?

Hornor: Yes, but only temporarily while we stand up Real Agent Guard.

IA: Are there other products like Real Agent Guard on the market? If so, how is your product different?

Hornor: There are similar products, but none nearly as effective or affordable. The easiest differentiator is our price. We're a fraction of anyone on the market mostly because we can absorb so much of the development costs with our in-house team. We come in around $1/agent/month. We also incorporate the best-of-breed features: active monitoring, authenticated logout and timer resets, and real-time geo-location if something is wrong.

Lastly, we’re the only solution built for enterprises. Everyone else took a single-user approach, but we built our system for agencies. The reason being that we found agencies wanted to be able to offer Real Agent Guard as a benefit to their agents while also getting agents under a single security/safety policy. We're weeks from bringing to the table a way to also allow agents to use the app as individuals, meaning they won't have to wait for their agency to purchase Real Agent Guard.

IA: Would this pivot have happened without the ARK?

Hornor: No way! The ARK taught us so much about rapid prototyping and customer interviews. We were able to very quickly identify a huge need, understand core features, and determine pricing the market could bear in a matter of days. The ARK also gave us confidence we lacked. The mentorship and experience we received at the ARK was incredibly empowering.

Read the full thing here. More great stuff from Arkansas' talented pool of techpreneurs...

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