Born in 1973, Andrew Blount grew up in a single-wide trailer sitting on a garden where his mom grew and sold vegetables to help pay the family bills. Over the course of five years his parents built their home, stick by stick, next to the old trailer.
At age 6, Andrew taught himself how to write computer software. By age 8, knowing the value of hard work, he started his first computer software company creating and selling software by mail order for the Radio Shack TRS-80 color computer. He specialized in database applications, games and utilities. Over the next nine years he expanded his practice to include legal, point-of-sale and communication software. At age 14, his “artificial intelligence” software was featured on the cover of the widely distributed Rainbow magazine.
In 1996 Andrew started a new software company in Southern California called Realhound.com. In addition to specializing in commercial real estate software, Andrew worked as a strategic software consultant for some of the world’s largest companies such as CB Richard Ellis and Fannie Mae. Andrew’s software has been used to close thousands of commercial real estate transactions and facilitate the financing of over $20 billion worth of properties.
In 2002 Andrew developed an application called Portfolio designed to provide business intelligence for multi-family owners and managers. He sold that application to RealPage, Inc.(NASDAQ:RP) in June of 2002. Andrew served as RealPage’s Senior Vice President from 2002-2004 managing the development of yield management and portfolio management software. Andrew has spoken at and keynoted numerous commercial real estate conferences including the annual Beverly Hills Apartments Conference, the National Apartment Association and the once famous PikeNet.
From 2005 to 2015, Andrew concentrated on developing applications beyond the commercial real estate industry. In 2005 Andrew began development on an automated stock trading algorithm that predicts the daily direction of the S&P 500 using a proprietary pricing elasticity model he invented. The trading system was designed to constantly evaluate the stock market then place trades to capture both upward and downward price movement. In 2009 he invented a method for securing a person’s computer, electronic accounts and social media while they are going through a divorce. In 2010 he developed software for automating Search Engine Marketing and Search Engine Optimization for one of the most trafficked websites in the world. Also in 2010 he began development of a series of internet lead generation websites.
In 2012, Andrew launched the development of Skado, a first of its kind mobile application for managing a massive number of election volunteers. As a peer-to-peer, micro-contact system, Skado is poised to change the face of politics and how candidates are elected to office by disintermediating many traditional, costly steps and allowing candidates to share their message directly with potential voters. Featuring an easy-to-use, gamified interface, volunteers are given simple tasks of contacting people whom they may already have an existing relationship with or have something in common with utilizing messages that have been specifically worded to be meaningful to the person being contacted. Skado cuts through all of the mass marketing that a candidate would typically have to do and empowers them to communicate in a much more personal, targeted way to ensure the get-out-to-vote. Skado will be widely available beginning the 2015 election season.
Most recently, Andrew served as Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Innovation Officers at Realpage, Inc.. Occasionally, he performed expert witness services and has testified in multiple cases pertaining to social media usage, computer security, email security, software design and intellectual property. Adding to his computer related qualifications, Andrew is also a Registered Investment Advisor and member of FINRA.
Andrew has two children, Ethan and Faith. Starting in 2009, the Blount family began a tradition of elaborately decorating their home for Christmas. Visitors come from far and wide to watch the dancing light show of over 100,000 LED’s. Each person is greeted with a smile and a cup of warm apple cider. The Blount’s home has been featured all over the Internet and on the front page of the Orange County Register.
From 2009-2014 Andrew served as a member of the Foundation Board of the Orange County High School of the Arts and is an active philanthropist. While the Blount family are avid travelers, focusing mainly on Mexico, Central America and Africa with an occasional European trip, Andrew loves Laguna Hills the most which is the city in which he chose to raise his family in and currently serves as City Councilman and past Mayor of Laguna Hills, California.
Connect with Andrew on LinkedIn. Follow Realhound on LinkedIn
