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Ralph McLaughlin
Chief Economist and SVP of Analytics at Haus
Professional Background
Ralph McLaughlin is a distinguished leader in the realm of housing economics and real estate analytics, offering pivotal insights and rigorous yet accessible applied research for a wide array of stakeholders including homebuilders, real estate developers, local government officials, public policymakers, and the general populace. With an impressive career spanning numerous high-profile positions and organizations, Ralph has established himself as a credible authority in the complex field of housing market dynamics and applied econometrics.
In his current role as Chief Economist and Senior Vice President of Analytics at Haus.com, Ralph leverages his extensive knowledge and expertise to guide strategic decision-making within the housing sector. His previous positions include serving as the Chief Economic Advisor at Kukun, and as Deputy Chief Economist at CoreLogic, where he played a crucial role in analyzing housing trends and providing actionable insights for market participants. Ralph's broad experience also encompasses significant contributions during his tenure at Trulia, where he served as both Chief Economist and Housing Economist, contributing to vital research that influenced housing policy on multiple levels.
In addition to his impactful work in the private sector, Ralph has also made substantial contributions to academia. He has previously held roles as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Southern California, an Assistant Professor at San Jose State University, and an instructor in Urban and Regional Planning at the University of South Australia. These teaching roles have enabled him to share his knowledge and passion for housing economics, preparing the next generation of urban planners and economists.
Education and Achievements
Ralph's educational journey is marked by a strong foundation in geography and regional development, leading to his advancement into more specialized fields such as planning and policy design. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Geography and Regional Development from the University of Arizona, where he developed a solid understanding of the geographical and demographic factors that influence housing markets. This academic foundation paved the way for Ralph to pursue further studies, culminating in a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Planning, Policy, and Design at the University of California, Irvine.
Throughout his career, Ralph has accumulated a wealth of knowledge and tangible achievements. His areas of expertise include not only housing market economics and applied econometrics but also real estate development, land use planning, spatial analysis, and economic geography. This multifaceted skill set allows him to approach complex problems from various angles, enriching the discourse surrounding housing and urban development.
Notable Contributions and Leadership
Ralph's leadership extends to public service as well, having served as a Housing Commissioner for the City of San Jose. In this role, he demonstrated his commitment to improving housing accessibility and affordability within the community. With a genuine passion for effecting positive change in the realm of housing, Ralph has consistently engaged in research that supports better public policy initiatives and development practices.
His unique perspective as both a researcher and practitioner provides Ralph with the ability to convey complex ideas in a digestible manner for diverse audiences. He recognizes the importance of fostering collaboration between public and private sectors to tackle pressing housing issues such as supply shortages and affordability crises.
Personal Philosophy and Impact
Ralph McLaughlin embodies the intersection of rigorous research and practical application, with a career dedicated to enhancing understanding of housing economics. His work aims to inform and elevate the dialogue on real estate and urban planning, making a lasting impact on local communities and the housing market at large. With an unwavering commitment to improving standards in housing research and policy, Ralph is a thought leader in the industry whose expertise continues to guide significant advancements in real estate development and urban planning.
As a result of his tireless efforts to bridge the gap between research and practice, Ralph remains a sought-after speaker and consultant, frequently called upon to share his insights at conferences and workshops focusing on urban economics and housing policy. His ability to synthesize complex data into actionable strategies sets him apart as a leader and innovator in the field, ensuring that he remains at the forefront of discussions on housing economics and policy innovation.
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Clay works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Clay offers several powerful features including:
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Clay is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Clay is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Clay as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Clay offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Clay takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Clay encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Clay work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Clay is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Clay is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Clay is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Clay offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Clay offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Clay for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Clay accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Clay offers extensive integration capabilities. Clay introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Clay supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Clay also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
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Clay is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Clay stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Clay excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Clay is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Clay offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Clay's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Clay has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Clay is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Clay beneficial.
Clay offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Clay offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Clay's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Clay offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Clay focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Clay also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Clay offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
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Clay is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Clay's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Clay has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Clay a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Clay's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Clay's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Clay has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Clay's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Clay as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Clay eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.