Vegas is Back: CEO of AI-Company Looking to Eliminate Real Estate Brokers Received a Bloody Pig's Head in The Mail
NY Post – The CEO of an AI startup received a severed pig’s head and a threatening note when his tech firm threatened to upend the “traditional brokerage” business in Las Vegas real estate.
The 30-year-old Vegas resident revealed he discovered the bloodied carcass wrapped in packing paper and stuffed inside a cardboard box.
The unwanted gift included a note addressed to Owens.
“Clark Kent knockoff, a simple Google search goes a long way these days, especially in Vegas. Saw your Marcus video, what a joke. ‘AI’ is not going to replace brokers,” the unidentified sender wrote. Clearly you don’t understand real estate wasn’t built by developers or investors. And it sure as hell wasn’t built by tech guys in Lulu Lemon. It was built by brokers. We did it the hard way, no shortcuts, no tech, just people. So enjoy your moment while it lasts. And don’t get greedy because pigs get fat and hogs get slaughtered,”
Agrippa is an AI-powered, broker-free platform that connects commercial real estate Capital Seekers with Capital Providers, according to the company’s website.
The Las Vegas-based tech group champions itself as a firm that disrupts the status quo by challenging conventional practices and dismantling traditional barriers.
In June, Agrippa introduced its newly created AI program, Marcus, that helped secure a $45 million casino purchase.
I've been seeing a lot "Vegas is dead" claims on the internet lately. Type that into Twitter and you'll see a bunch of posts like this.
I was there just a couple months ago. It was pushing 110-degrees that weekend and it seemed pretty alive to me. But it's definitely more expensive than it used to be. There's a ridiculous amount of celebrity chef's restaurants that sell $20 chicken finger baskets of the same quality I can get frozen in a bag from Giant Eagle. I certainly didn't see a blackjack or craps table with a minimum under $15. And the tables that were $15 were almost impossible to find a spot at. When I went to Las Vegas 10 years ago, I was playing $1 Blackjack at a table that was being served free drinks. That's almost (if not completely) impossible to find anymore. At least not on the strip, or even Fremont Street. And I believe the numbers show that Las Vegas is in midst of a down stretch.
When things start getting a little too expensive, a little too commercial, people start to yearn for a time where they risked being stabbed by a hooker every time they walked from one casino to another. I don't think that was ever actually a threat, but I bet there's a whole lot of Vegas purists who would sign up for that if it meant less Guy Fieri.
But thank God there's still someone out there with a little bit of the seedy old Vegas left in them. Someone isn't going to let a Clark Kent knockoff with his fancy AI-powered software cut out the middle-men brokers who've been getting rich off transforming Vegas into what it is today for so long. Not without getting a pig's head in the mail.
The severed pigs head was sent in response to a $45 million casino land deal that was facilitated by "Marcus", which is the name of Blake Owens' AI-powered "omniscient dealmaker". No brokers were involved whatsoever. Well… except for Marcus himself. But apparently Marcus doesn't count as a middleman. I'm sure he's just facilitating these deals for free.
After making the $45 million deal, Owens' company 'Agrippa' posted this video.
Gotta be honest, Blake. You were kinda asking for the severed pig's head with that one. You just strolled onto the Las Vegas real estate scene and opened with a threat. Specifically, a threat to take people's jobs. It would almost be crazier if you didn't receive a severed pig's head and an ALL CAPS note after that one.
Glad to see Las Vegas has some fight left in it. Vegas definitely isn't what it used to be. Joe Pesci isn't walking through that door to punch you in the face any time soon. But if someone is going to get rich as fuck off of turning that city into one big advertisement for the Food Network, it's at least going to be… people.