Redfin's Glenn Kelman, left, along with James Slavet of Greylock and Michael Arrington of TechCrunch

Michael Arrington recently sat down with Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman and board member James Slavet over some cold beers, an effective interview tactic since the TechCrunch publisher discovers right off the bat that the Seattle online real estate upstart is on track to reach $30 million in revenue this year. That's nearly double the $16 million that Redfin pulled in last year. Kelman also notes that the company will be profitable in 2010 even though it is opening about one new market every month at a cost of about $200,000 to $300,000 per market. But the best moments are when fireworks erupt between Kelman and Arrington as they debate Seattle versus Silicon Valley.

Redfin has been on a bit of a growth tear after raising $10 million in funding from Greylock, Madrona, Vulcan and Draper Fisher Jurvetson last fall. The company recently expanded its service into Portland and Phoenix, and now operates in 12 markets.

The 20-minute interview (embedded below) has some other entertaining gems, such as Kelman describing Redfin as an "E-trade for real estate" and Arrington pressing Kelman on whether the company is the Wal-Mart or Costco of real estate. In minute four, Kelman also notes that the company is more likely to go public than sell out since "nobody is going to want to buy us because it is such an operational intense business."

There also some great moments in minute seven when Kelman discusses his younger days when he picked a fight with the real estate industry and in minute eight when he chats about the debate of Seattle vs. Silicon Valley. Arrington calls Seattle the minor leagues, noting that it is not as intense as the Bay Area. The best players are in the Valley, Arrington says.

"It must be fun to be in Seattle where you can go skiing," says Arrington. "But aren't you more of the exception rather than the rule of a successful Seattle startup in terms of like: How can you work only half time and still have something be a winner?"

To which Kelman responds that he's an "animal," and no one is going to work harder than him or his team. "I think you can work hard anywhere," he said. Kelman comes back to the topic in minute 15, saying: "I gotta represent Seattle."

"I don't know why you've got an axe to grind. I bust my ass up there every day, and almost everybody I know does," said Kelman.