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VTS is a New York based SaaS giant that helps real estate brokers, landlords, and their tenants get the most out of their office buildings with smart technology.
When economic upset hit hard, co-founder Nick Romito found his life-long obsession with boxing helped ensure his company didn’t suffer a knock-out punch.

Interviews & Fireside Chats

VTS is a New York based SaaS giant that helps real estate brokers, landlords, and their tenants get the most out of their office building with smart technology. But when COVID-19 hit hard, co-founder Nick Romito found his life-long obsession with boxing helped ensure his company didn’t suffer a knock-out punch.
I’m Michael Hainsworth and this is the Innovation Economy Series presented by CIBC Innovation Banking.
Nick Romito: Hello, my name is Nick Romito and I am the co-founder and CEO of VTS.
VO: VTS software helps real estate brokers, tenants and their tenants get the most out of their office buildings with smart apps that help determine rental rates, availability, and even control the lights and locks.
Nick: I started boxing at a very young age. My father was a professional fighter, golden glove champion, marine champion. I had no choice but to start boxing.
Michael: How does that help you in an environment like this?
Nick: So I think most people think about boxing, think about physical toughness when in reality, it’s actually all about mental toughness. Pushing yourself and your limits and being comfortable in the uncomfortable which running a business is really important.
Boxing Coach: Double it up. Double. There you go. One two.
VO: At the height of COVID, Nick was going 12 rounds with lawyers, negotiating another acquisition.
Nick: The punch in the face for us, when deciding growth through acquisition was going to be important was really how hard it is to integrate people. Technology is pretty simple, right. It’s math, it’s architecture, it’s programming. People are far more complicated and so really understanding the cultural differences and how those things are going to work together has been the hardest part. Now luckily we’ve done it a few times and we’ve got a playbook that works. And we’re also very good at identifying great people. We are a values driven culture. We ask you a series of questions about your life, how you think about the office, work, what you care about. If those questions align to our core values, that person is usually pretty successful here.
VO: Nick is clearly a heavy weight. An expanded product line, an acquisition, and in 2022, a knock-out deal.
Nick: When someone like a CBRE sees someone like CIBC Innovation Banking, that gives them a ton of confidence. Capitals not super hard to get when you are a great company. But the partner is. It is hard to find truly great partners who are going to let you run your business the way you want to, who are bought into your vision, put the founders first. CIBC Innovation Banking does that.
VO: So what does the future of commercial real estate look like to Nick Romito?
Nick: I think we’re going to see pretty much every building, every company making technology a critical component of how they can pull back to the office and operate those offices.
Michael: And run it all over this.
Speaker 1: All on their phone, just like every other part of your life, right?
Boxing Coach: There you go. One two. There you go.
VO: Be sure to catch every episode of our innovation economy series.

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