Jason Gesing of OMNUS Technologies and OMNUS Law: The Metaverse Workspace Replaces Traditional Infrastructure and Enhances Industry Profitability

As a part of our series about business leaders who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jason Gesing.

Jason Gesing, author of THE METAVERSE WORKPLACE REVOLUTION, is a pioneer in Metaverse-based work environments. He is an attorney and the co-founder and CEO of OMNUS Technologies, Inc. and OMNUS Law, companies that use technology to unlock competitive advantages in positive and strategic ways. He served as CEO of eXp Realty, the Metaverse-based real estate brokerage with approximately 86,000 agents and brokers across twenty-four countries from 2016 to 2018 and from 2019 to January 2023. In addition, Gesing served on the board of directors of the Nasdaq-listed company eXp World Holdings, Inc. from 2013 to January 2024. Gesing resides with his family in the greater Boston area. You can learn more at: www.jasongesing.com

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

I was born in Boston and grew up in an industrial mill city in northern Massachusetts. My mother was a single mom who supported us and believed in the value of education. She gave me the space to hone my strengths and improve my weaknesses, of which there were many. While some kids were lavished with material items — new school clothes every August, round-trip vacations to exciting locations for spring break — I was taught the value of hard work and the importance of education. These values shaped my later business pursuits and made me a prime candidate to embrace the Metaverse. Though I could not articulate this as a young person, inclusive access became a key driver in my business decisions, making me more “meta-minded” than I would ever realize.

After college and law school, I joined a midsized law firm in Boston. But I was never quite happy in that career. In 2009, I was given the opportunity to join a Metaverse-based startup called eXp Realty which would go on to become one of the fastest growing residential real estate brokerages in history in North America and one of the fastest growing in the world. I staked everything on eXp’s success. I eventually became CEO and a Board member, but I am now retired from those positions. I wouldn’t trade the experiences or the friendships formed at that company. I am now launching OMNUS Law, a Metaverse-based law firm that I believe will shake-up the profession, providing countless benefits to attorneys and clients alike.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

OMNUS is a true disruptor as a full-service, metaverse-based, “white shoe” law firm that has adopted a low cost / high engagement approach to the practice of law across multiple jurisdictions and practice areas. Our approach and cost structure allow us to attract and retain the most reputable, respected, and experienced attorneys from traditional, brick-and-mortar-based firms. We offer them far greater compensation opportunities, drastically decrease their workload, eliminate billable mandates, empower them to increase their efficiency, and to restore harmony to the balance between their work and all of the other important parts of their lives which are often and easily neglected in traditional hierarchical firms. At the same time, we are able to provide lower cost legal services for clients. In addition, we are creating greater access to justice through our allocation of a portion of every billable hour to legal aid organizations and pro bono work — a commitment that has thus far garnered the support of state attorneys general, former state supreme court justices, and others for whom access to justice remains an issue and a challenge.

I have also written a new book to be published by Fast Company Press in March called THE METAVERSE WORKPLACE REVOLUTION that shows why the Metaverse is not just a disruptor, but also the most effective business model for service industries. In a post-pandemic era, it surprises me that so many business leaders are unaware of or still question the profitable and versatile offerings of a Metaverse workplace.

Shedding the cost of physical real estate has an enormous impact on a company’s bottom line. Profitability is also enhanced by the other benefits of a thoughtfully constructed Metaverse culture: collaboration, employee buy-in, productivity, and more. In the book, I draw on my decade of experience at eXp Realty to address twelve “tensions” that business leaders should consider applying a Metaverse work model: from productivity and profitability, to social equality and corporate well-being.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

It’s always been a challenge for me to delegate something to somebody, rather than do it myself. Part of this is informed by my experience as a lawyer. You’re working with people, but for the most part you’re doing it yourself, because you need the billable hours and because your clients want you. In business, it’s a little bit different.

Early on when I switched from law to being in business, I had become accustomed to doing everything myself. When I joined eXp, I had to break that habit if the company was going to succeed.

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

Glenn Sanford, who founded eXp, has been and continues to be a mentor and friend. Also, when I worked closely with the former Massachusetts Attorney General for two years, it was inspiring to see that there were good, ethical people in public service. The common attribute that they both shared was a commitment to always being guided by doing what they believed was the right thing.

Can you please share 5 ideas one needs to shake up their industry?

1 . Identify the industry’s problems.

As I mentioned earlier, before joining eXp, I worked as a lawyer. During my years at the law firm, I started to recognize the destructive impact of the profession’s inefficiencies on access to justice and affordable representation; on the quality of that representation; and on the physical and emotional well-being of the legal profession’s members. While working as a lawyer, I did not know how to fix these problems, but I was well aware that they existed.

2 . Live the life of the person whose problem you’re trying to solve.

Eventually, my experience of building a Metaverse-based company at eXp led me to the conclusion that the same model could work for law firms. I had experienced the problems plaguing the legal profession, so I started OMNUS Law. By eliminating traditional infrastructure and working together in the Metaverse, law firms can not only succeed in difficult times but, if executed well, can offer a compensation model that will be disruptive to one of the largest industries in the United States and one that substantively serves as the foundation for everything else.

3 . Surround yourself with people who are going to support you in what you’re doing, rather than people who are skeptics and tell you what’s wrong.

4 . Take risks. I left my law job to go out on my own and went from a six annual income to zero. But I only lasted two weeks, because I was so stressed out trying to start a business and work for my clients. When the opportunity to join eXp Realty came along in 2009, I jumped at the chance to change careers. I wanted happiness more than I wanted money. And luckily I was able to obtain both.

5 . You’ve got to be ready to hear people say “no.” When I started at eXp, it was my job to reach out to brokers to get them to understand the business concept and its power and to come on board the platform. At first, the answer was almost always “no.” You need to grow a thick skin so that you can get up and ask again, no matter how many times you hear “no”.

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

I think the Metaverse is a perfect solution for almost any service-based business that doesn’t have inventory such as call centers, insurance agencies, accounting firms, and so on. They’re all ripe for disruption based on their traditional cost structures and the redundancies in their staffing tied to traditional physical workspaces. As a result, the customer suffers by paying more and the professional suffers by subsidizing expenses that don’t make sense. There’s abundant opportunity for disruption in many of these industries.

Do you have a book, podcast, or talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us? Can you explain why it was so resonant with you?

There have been two books that have impacted my thinking — Digital President by Michael Reese and Woods Davis which offers specific and actionable insights intended to allow individuals and organizations to establish authority and attract an audience. The Digital President served as part of the impetus for my writing THE METAVERSE WORKPLACE REVOLUTION.

Building a Story Brand by Donald Miller offered me a new way to think about business and serves now as the foundation for how I develop short form business plans.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“The things that people dislike the most about others are often times the things that they don’t have the courage to do themselves.”

I think that absolutely applies to innovators. There are innovative things that have come along and you sit there and say to yourself, “why couldn’t I have done that?” or “why couldn’t I have thought of that?”. And sometimes you do think of it, but you don’t have the courage to try to make it happen. In my own experience, when we were starting eXp and we were the underdog, everyone was supporting our idea even as we struggled to get real estate professionals to join our firm. But once we started to become successful, that’s when people started resenting the success and wondering why they hadn’t become a part of it.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

There’s right and wrong. There’s truth and fiction. Today, in my opinion, too many people are buying into fiction. The thing that would help the most, that needs to change, would be if people could separate fact from fiction — reject disinformation. In 2024, that’s the thing that I’m most concerned about. It’s jarring that so many people aren’t effectively discerning the difference between fact and fiction.

How can our readers follow you online?

www.jasongesing.com

www.omnuslaw.com

LinkedIn

Thank you so much for joining us!