What’s it like to quit your full-time job and launch a startup? I asked this, among other questions, to Bart, founder of Propty.app, a landlord rental management platform.
Check out the podcast episode here:
The following is an edited transcription of the podcast episode with Bart Korpershoek.
January 18, 2024, 2:25 PM, Duration: 25m 49s
Olivier:
Welcome to the first episode of the User Experience Podcast. Today, we have Bart Korpershoek as our first guest. We met at KLM almost a year ago where Bart was my buddy on my first day, helping me with everything from picking up my laptop to getting my credentials. Bart, thanks for making a great first impression and for all your help.
Bart:
It was my pleasure, Olivier.
Olivier:
Could you introduce yourself, provide a bit of your background, and briefly explain your journey to where you are now?
Bart:
Sure. My name is Bart. I worked at Capgemini for about four years. Last year, I left and started working for myself. I co-founded a SaaS solution for property management with two others. One whom I’ve known since primary school, and the other is an acquaintance of his who is active in the real estate market. It’s been almost a year, and we’re up and running, having a lot of fun. I mainly handle web app development and integrations using no-code tools like Bubble.io.
Olivier:
Interesting. Could you take us back to how you and your friends came up with the idea for your company?
Bart:
It started with the real estate agent who was dissatisfied with his external property management company. He felt they weren’t transparent and didn’t provide value for the high commissions he paid. He thought we could create something to automate and streamline the process. He mentioned that to my friend, who asked me if I could build something for them. I said yes and that’s how our journey began.
Olivier:
That’s exciting, setting up a company with friends and stepping away from your job to work for yourself. Can you tell us more about Propty.app? What specific pain points are you addressing?
Bart:
Our main target is the landlords who are dissatisfied with traditional property management. Our platform offers transparency and automates tasks like rent collection and profit/loss insights, reducing the dependency on error-prone manual systems like Excel.
Olivier:
How did you go about starting to build the platform? Did you face any significant obstacles?
Bart:
We first identified what we needed by analyzing competitors. We signed up for demos, pretending to be potential clients, to understand their strengths and weaknesses. Then we combined the best functionalities into our platform. The main challenge was catering to different target groups like landlords, rental parties, and service parties. We continuously interact with our customers to ensure we’re meeting their needs.
Olivier:
I see, comparing your stakeholder management now with your time at KLM, what are the similarities and differences?
Bart:
The industries are entirely different. KLM, being a large corporation, had a lot of bureaucracy and slow processes. At Propty.app, we’re much more agile and quick to adapt. Listening to end-users was challenging at KLM due to the company’s size and varied user base. At Propty.app, we maintain direct and active communication with our customers.
Olivier:
Could you tell me more about what made stakeholder management harder at KLM, compared to at your startup
Bart:
Yeah, the end-users at KLM were all from different backgrounds, different ages, and they had been working with the same legacy software for years. Some of them had difficulty getting used to the new changes in the software. At KLM, change management was one of the bottlenecks.
Olivier:
I definitely recognize that, I guess one of the advantages you have is that you are building a new type of software, so your users have no preconception of what to expect, so you are starting from a blank slate.
Bart: Exactly.
Olivier:
As you near the end of your first year, how do you prioritize features and handle customer feedback?
Bart:
We’re in constant communication with our customers, using WhatsApp groups for immediate feedback. We’re planning to implement a voting system for feature prioritization. Currently, we manage requests on a case-by-case basis, considering whether they fit our general user base or require custom solutions.
Olivier:
And in terms of validating new features or changes, do you rely on data, A/B testing, or is it more intuition-based?
Bart:
Right now, it’s more intuition-based. Our focus hasn’t been on our website yet, but we’re planning to revamp it for better SEO. As for the platform, we’re considering user feedback and observing how they interact with the system to guide our improvements.
Olivier:
Lastly, any advice for someone considering starting their venture or learning a new skill like no-code development?
Bart:
Have a passion for what you’re doing, and just start. With tools like Bubble, you can see results immediately, which is quite motivating. Don’t hesitate, dive in, and you’ll quickly see progress.
Olivier:
Thank you, Bart, for sharing your journey and insights. It’s been inspiring to hear about your transition from KLM to running your own successful startup. Before we wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to add or show us today?
Bart:
Actually, yes. I’d love to give you a quick tour of our product, Propty.app. Let me share my screen with you. Alright, here we go. This is the dashboard of Propty.app:
One of the new features we’ve added since I last showed it to you at KLM is this interactive calendar. It consolidates all the critical tasks and events for our landlords, ensuring they never miss important deadlines or activities.
Here you can see the task management section, which includes repair tasks and rent collection reminders:
These tasks are generated from repair requests submitted by tenants, streamlining communication and response times. And over here, we have the properties section. Landlords can easily track and manage their portfolio, getting real-time profit and loss insights. This automation replaces the traditional, error-prone Excel spreadsheets.
Olivier
Wow! Even though there’s a lot of information available, I find the interface clean and intuitive. Seems really user-friendly so that landlords can quickly find what they need without feeling overwhelmed.
Bart:
Exactly, this approach has been well-received by our current users, who appreciate the simplicity and effectiveness compared to their previous management systems.
I hope this gives you a good sense of how Propty.app is transforming property management for our users.
Olivier:
That’s impressive, Bart. It’s clear that you’ve put a lot of thought into the user experience and functionality. Thanks for sharing this sneak peek with us.
Bart:
Absolutely, Olivier. It’s been a pleasure to talk with you and share our progress.
Disclaimer
Please note that both Bart and I, Olivier, are no longer employees of KLM, nor do we hold any current affiliations or representations with KLM. The opinions and views expressed in this podcast are solely our own and should not be interpreted as reflective or representative of the views, policies, or positions of KLM. Our discussions about our experiences at KLM are based on personal perspectives and are mentioned in a purely anecdotal context. We acknowledge and appreciate the time we spent at KLM, but emphasize that our current ventures and opinions are independent of the company. Furthermore, chatGPT 4.0 was used to polish up the transcription and make it more readable.
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