How working at a real estate startup changed my mindset on money

Throughout 2022, I have been working at 99.co, a real estate startup. Although my role was on the engineering side, I still learnt a fair amount about Singapore’s real estate scene and I also saw the company secure its Series C funding at US$52M. Here are 3 lessons I learnt about money from working there.

1. Start financial planning early and budget for what will probably be the biggest purchase in your life, a property.

It is not uncommon to hear the Singapore property market booming over the past few years, with many people complaining about high property prices. We can see it all over the news. Rent prices are surging, resale prices are through the roof and the supply of BTO flats is still not enough to meet the demand. The government had no choice but to introduce several measures to cool the property market.

Working in the industry made me realise how important the decision to buy a property is. It is almost definitely the largest financial purchase you will make in your life. It will also probably span across the bulk of your adulthood, considering the loan you have to repay over your working life. Having to work on the calculator features of the web application also gave me the opportunity to play around with some figures. This kind of “immersed” me into the property prices in Singapore. Being aware of the prices make me more motivated to do proper planning and budgeting so I can afford a home that I will enjoy in the future.

2. A good product alone is useless. A good idea alone is useless. Execute the good idea well and sell it well, that is what will make you succeed.

This is something I realised after we managed to secure our Series C funding. Being completely honest, an online real estate portal is not something revolutionary. We have regional competitors like PropertyGuru and global competitors like Zillow, Redfin and BeiKe. This made me realise that a good product is not about a life-changing idea which no one else has thought of.

A successful business is a mixture of both a good product and also being able to sell well. A good product may not necessarily mean the most well-engineered product as well. The startup environment taught me to move quickly and be daring enough to break things. (Of course, it depends on the company and context you are in.) We aim to release new features quickly as well as adjustments whenever the government makes a policy update.

Being able to sell well may not necessarily mean that we have the best salesperson who is able to sell our products to the most real estate agents. It also means that our business model is fundamentally sound and unit economics are sensible. It means that our business has a flywheel that can lead to greater profits and cash flows in the future.

I picked up this insight from listening to our town halls as well as reading this book, Zero to One, by Peter Thiel. It is perhaps one of the best books about startups and really made me understand why startups operate the way they do.

3. Dare to dream big.

Before I entered 99.co, I always had the mindset of living below your means. This meant that I always wanted to buy the cheapest possible items and in the context of housing, buy the smallest house possible and live at a place I find tolerable.

However, being exposed to the properties on 99.co and being aware of the prices made me realise how we can discover the nice properties in Singapore. Some of them are truly amazing, and worth the higher price tag.

Obviously, some people will call this “lifestyle inflation”. However, just like anything in life, we can view it positively. I see it as a form of motivation. It gives me something to work towards and look forward to. Considering that a home is probably the biggest purchase in our lives and a place that we will stay at for the bulk of our lives, I want a place that I like and I can call home. Somewhere that I feel satisfied and happy.

These are not really money “lessons”, but they have definitely changed my mindset about money. I applaud people consistently reading about personal finance on Seedly. I think having a strong financial base is important but I also think that money is ultimately a means to an end. Use it to your advantage. Don’t be a penny pincher and spend on what you must, and occasionally want.