A Boulder entrepreneur who sold his own house without a real estate agent — and went viral doing it — is launching a startup today to help others do the same.

Why it matters: Real estate commissions, typically 5%-6%, remain stubbornly high, even after last year's landmark antitrust settlement was supposed to shake up how agents get paid.

Driving the news: Mike Chambers is debuting his AI-fueled agent-free platform Ridley in Colorado.

• He made national headlines earlier this year when he successfully sought to prove he could sell his house without an agent after taking to social media with the handle @realtorshateme to chronicle the DIY process.

How it works: Ridley's desktop-only platform breaks the home-selling process into stages with checklists, AI guidance and human support. Tools include:

• Pricing guidance using AI that factors in upgrades, defects, features and market data.
• A property page builder for direct offers and showings.
• MLS access via partner brokerages, plus syndication to Zillow, Redfin and Realtor.com.
• A document center with smart pre-filled forms and highlighted explanations.
• A vendor scheduler via Thumbtack for photographers, inspectors and more.

By the numbers: It's $999 for the base service, with add-ons available for MLS access and legal support.

Between the lines: Despite his cheeky Instagram handle, Chambers insists he's not "anti-agent" — just anti-system.

• He's also not naive. He "100%" expects industry backlash.

What's next: Chambers plans to expand Ridley to other states. He's also building an agent mode for professionals who want to use the same tools or offer à la carte services to sellers who still want a hand.

• Already, Chambers said, more than $30 million worth of homes have been listed on Ridley.

Dig deeper

Colorado's poet laureate, Andrea Gibson, 49, died at their home early Sunday from ovarian cancer. (CPR)

• Gibson, a Boulder-area resident of about 25 years, talked with Axios Denver about their cancer diagnosis, work and favorite local spots in 2023.

👀 The Pentagon pulled senior Defense Department officials from the Aspen Security Forum yesterday, one day before the four-day summit in Colorado was set to begin. (Axios)

• Pentagon spokesperson Kingsley Wilson said the event "promotes the evil of globalism, disdain for our great country, and hatred for the President of the United States," per Just the News, which first reported on the move.

⛷️ Nederland hosted a town hall last week to discuss its agreement to buy the Eldora ski area, but officials did not reveal when it might approve a "not-to-exceed" amount to cap the total debt it can assume in the purchase. (Daily Camera 🔑)

🐄 Halter, a billion-dollar New Zealand company behind a fenceless system to help cattle ranchers manage their herds, has a new North American headquarters in Boulder. (BizWest 🔑)

You're not imagining it. Fireflies are having a good year.

Why it matters: Firefly populations have declined over the last 100 years.

The big picture: Mild, moist spring conditions were ideal for fireflies this year in much of the country, including Colorado, where they can be spotted in select areas along the Front Range.

• That includes Sawhill Ponds in Boulder, where fireflies have been spotted on the south side of the open space near the railroad tracks

Zoom in: Colorado is home to at least five species of the luminous insects — they emerge between late June and early July around the Front Range's wetlands, CPR reports.

• Populations in Boulder and Fort Collins were active from about mid-June until early this month, with "larger than usual activity levels," University of Colorado Boulder researcher Owen Martin tells us.
• Fireflies may still be spotted in the mountains, but it's harder to find them, Owen adds.

What's next: Scientists in Boulder are using photos of evening firefly activity to research their behavior.

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