Tract Postmortem
Introduction
Between May 2023 and March 2025, Tract attempted to build a<br>venture-backed company to address Britain’s housing crisis by<br>improving the planning permission process. After raising a<br>£744,000 pre-seed round in April 2024, we explored several<br>business models: a site-sourcing tool for developers (Tract<br>Source), a free land-appraisal tool for landowners (Attract),<br>becoming tech-enabled land promoters ourselves, and finally, an<br>AI-powered platform to assist with drafting planning documents<br>(Tract Editor).
Despite significant technical progress, building tools like Scout<br>and the well-received Tract Editor, our journey taught us critical<br>lessons from failing to secure a viable, venture-scale business<br>model in the British property market. We learned the difficulty of<br>selling software into a conservative sector, experienced the<br>operational complexities and timelines of land promotion, and<br>encountered a low willingness to pay for useful tools.<br>Furthermore, we came to understand how the market's conservatism<br>and fragmentation limited its potential for venture-backed<br>disruption. After nearly two years without revenue or committed<br>paying customers, we realised we lacked a clear path to the<br>necessary scale and returns. This prompted the decision to cease<br>operations and return capital, sharing our experience as a case<br>study.
In retrospect, it's easy to see ways we could have approached<br>things differently. This document is a post mortem, explaining<br>what happened and why it went wrong. Our aim in writing this is:
Codify and share what we’ve learned for our benefit and<br>hopefully others.
Document the story for posterity.
Produce an artifact to explain, if not justify, the time and<br>money spent.
Exorcise our demons.
We want to stress from the start that the ultimate failure of the<br>company lies with us. Some issues were within our control and some<br>were beyond it. At times, we’ll describe external factors in ways<br>that sound negative. This isn’t an attempt to pass blame. We want<br>to tell the story as matter-of-factly as possible. Most<br>importantly, we’re extremely grateful to everyone who supported us<br>over the last couple of years, in money and in time.
Jamie Rumbelow<br>and<br>Henry Dashwood
April 2025, London
Table of Contents
This document is long; this table of contents also functions as a<br>bullet-point summary. The<br>Advice for Founders section<br>contains the main lessons we hope people take from our experience,<br>so feel free to only read that and skip the rest.
You can also
summarise this page with ChatGPT.
Introduction<br>jump to
In May 2023, Tract was founded to build software to fix<br>Britain’s housing crisis.
We raised a £744,000 pre-seed round in April 2024.
We decided to wrap up operations and return capital to investors<br>in March 2025.
Mission and worldview<br>jump to
Housing in Britain is expensive because getting planning<br>permission is difficult.
Granting permission takes the median hectare of land from<br>£20,000 to £2.4 million - a 139x uplift.
If we can reduce the costs and uncertainty of this process by<br>any reasonable amount, we can build a business and help solve<br>the housing crisis.
Reflections<br>jump to
Things we did well:<br>jump to
Raised capital for an unusual business in a difficult market.
Built good technology and solid products.
Pivoted quickly in December when we realised our strategy wasn’t<br>working.
Learned a lot about a complex industry quickly.
Reasonable errors:<br>jump to
Overestimated British market size and receptiveness.
Raised venture capital for a model that probably should have<br>been funded differently.
Focussed too much on technology over business development.
Built out the team too early.
Didn’t consult land agents early enough.
Failed to capitalise on Scout’s success.
Spend lots of time and money on non-essentials.
Didn’t focus on getting to revenue.
Advice for founders:<br>jump to
Get to the US - larger, higher-quality market, better ecosystem<br>for building companies.
Focus on market quality - receptive customers, clear<br>decision-makers, fast learning cycles.
Stay lean until you have proven revenue.
Be aggressively commercial from day one.
Test hypotheses quickly and thoroughly.
Always ask yourself, “what have I learned from customers?”
What's Next?<br>jump to
Jamie is interested in new projects.<br>Email him.
Henry is also interested in new projects.<br>Check out his website.
Appendices<br>jump to
Further reading
Things that should exist
Things that already exist
The Mission
Many young people have had to delay forming families and often<br>take poorly paid, insecure jobs that can barely cover rent and<br>living costs as the price for living in culturally attractive<br>cities. They see opportunity as limited and growth as barely<br>perceptible. Meanwhile, older generations sit on housing<br>property worth many times what they paid and, stuck in a<br>zero-sum mindset, often prioritise the protection of their own<br>neighbourhoods over the need to build more homes. Can you...