Susan Daimler
Daimler leads Zillow's Premier Agent, Mortgage and StreetEasy businesses, as well as the company's communications function.
- Current role:
- President, Zillow
- Home:
- New York, New York
- Power 200 Leadership Ranking:
- 22
Other notable roles
Board of trustees, Johns Hopkins University; board of directors, online advertising company PubMatic.
Career journey
After graduating with an English degree from Johns Hopkins, Daimler worked in marketing, first at the advertising agency TBWA\Chiat\Day and then at an email marketing firm. Prior to joining Zillow, she co-founded two companies with her husband, Matt Daimler: SeatGuru, founded in 2004, provided consumers with airline seat quality ratings and was sold to Expedia. Buyfolio, founded in 2009, was a co-shopping platform for real estate agents and homebuyers, which was sold to Zillow in 2012. With the sale, Daimler became senior vice president and general manager for StreetEasy and Zillow NYC, moving to SVP of Premier Agent in 2018. She was named president of Zillow in February 2021.
In her own words
"Women need to be more confident in their abilities, their knowledge and what they are capable of. They need to stop questioning themselves. They need to see more women leading by example. They need to find partners who support them 100 percent," Daimler told The New York Business Journal.
"Work stress is not a big factor for me. I'm very one foot in front of the other — 'How are we going to solve this?'" Daimler told Bob Safian on the "Masters of Scale" podcast. "I think stress can be really paralyzing, and then it feeds itself. For me, it's about being action-oriented."
How others describe her
"There is no harsh edge to her at all; just friendly, charming, and delightful… with a hint of competitive passion," Rob Hahn said while naming her one of the seven most interesting people in real estate in 2020. Besides describing her as "cool" and "down-to-earth," Hahn proclaims her to be "one of Zillow's best investments in talent" because of her results as she's taken on increasingly high-level leadership roles.
Charitable efforts
Daimler primarily supports educational and cancer research charities.
Did you know?
Daimler and her husband Matt sold their Seattle Home through Zillow's "Make Me Move" program in 2007, she told Joel Burslem of 1000 Watt. They returned to New York City where the experience of buying an apartment led them to found Buyfolio.