How today’s fast-growing companies can solve the real estate problem

The real estate industry is a case study of how this revolution is taking place. I'm going to explain how agents and portals work, why portals are focused on the wrong goals and Asia's importance

It is lost on no one that Asia is distinguished from other regions of the world by its larger population, higher internet and mobile penetration and faster-moving commercial sector. When measured in dollars, China will be the world’s largest economy by 2028. ASEAN will be the world’s fourth-largest by 2050.

There are 400 million mobile users in ASEAN, making it the second-largest cluster of digitalisation in the world, after China and well ahead of the United States. By comparison, the United States has just 276 million mobile users.

ASEAN and China also lead the world in the penetration of super apps like WeChat, Gojek and Grab. Only high-volume platforms like these can keep up with the scale and pace of Asian markets.

While Asian companies once copied Western business models, it has been the other way around for many years. The lessons for founders in any industry are clear. If you optimise for just one step of the value chain, you will end up focused on the wrong metrics.

With your startup up failing to solve the whole problem for your customers, it may never have a chance to succeed. And, if you’re not exposed to the fast-growing, innovative markets in Asia, you may be limiting the scale of your potential growth.