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Mission

The Proptech Scout mission is to accelerate technology adoption in real estate by promoting best-in-class proptech.

I. Increase Awareness and Understanding

People from tech and real estate are quick to point out that real estate is “antiquated industry” that’s “slow to adopt”. Few of them really understand why.

For the proptech side, I’ve written a series of Proptech Founders’ Guides to help people on the tech side to see things from the perspective of the real estate industry and gain deep comprehension of how technology adoption works in real estate.

For the real estate side, I’ve compiled and curated an ever growing list of proptech companies for real estate professionals to browse through like an e-commerce site, with supplementary blog posts and YouTube content that dives deeper into categories and companies.

II. Hold Proptech to Higher Standards

Not all proptech is created equal. At its best, proptech becomes an indispensable part of the real estate life cycle. It can enhance the experience of the built environment or the processes to build and maintain them.

At its worst, proptech destroys real estate values. Tech industry hubris, unprofitable business models, and unethical practices give proptech a bad reputation and makes real estate stakeholders hesitant to adopt technology.

I have created a set of quality standards to determine whether a proptech company is truly enhancing real estate values and pushing the industry forward:

  • It has to enhance some aspect of the built environment’s life cycle for its users and stakeholders
  • It should do so without adversely impacting the risk of the underlying real estate investment
  • The company has to have a good track record and leadership.

Bonus Points:

Who is The Proptech Scout?

My name is Derek Hsiang, and I’ve spent most of my career wandering between tech and real estate. The first half, I graduated with an engineering degree and bootstrapped an ecommerce site. I freelanced as a management consultant on the side to fund the business.

After exiting, I became a proptech-forward real estate developer and landlord. I’ve worked on over $100mm of real estate deals and own a stake in several NYC multifamily buildings. This site was borne out of my frustration with deploying proptech on my projects.

If you want to chat, or book me for a speaking engagement, feel free to reach out on LinkedIn. And if you’re in NYC and want to meet in person, come rock climbing with me and tell me about your business.