Leaders Perception Magazine is currently running an interview series called – The Future Frontier: Insights from Diverse Leaders
Thank you so much for joining us today, Matthew Schneider, CEO of e-States! In this interview, we delve into Matthew’s journey as a Gen Z founder and serial entrepreneur, his hopes and expectations for 2024, and the impact of technological advancements on the commercial real estate industry. Matthew also shares his insights on the role of diversity, equity, and inclusion in shaping the future of his industry. Read on to discover more about his inspiring story and vision for the future.
Matthew Schneider, e-States CEO: Tech & Inclusion in Real Estate
Interviewee Name: Matthew Schneider
Company: e-States
Matthew Schneider’s favourite quote: “The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.”
The Interview
Thank you so much for joining us today! Tell us a little bit about yourself. What is your backstory?
Matthew Schneider : I’m a Gen Z founder and serial entrepreneur. I like to think that my strive for independence and love for building things started with the Minecraft servers I was programming and hosting at 10 years old. As that continued, I started posted content on YouTube, published a book while in high school, and began trading the stock market after I graduated. While throwing my money away in stock options, I was also working with two friends on a stock analysis group and an e-commerce business. As a side hustle, I was producing and distributing music, although it was fairly amateur. In 2021, I made a terrible trade in the market and began DoorDashing to recover my funds. One evening, my cousin sat down with me to discuss an ambition he had in commercial real estate: lower the entry barriers so that great investment opportunities could be made available to more people. Combining my love for storytelling, investments, and entrepreneurship, I came back with a business plan and we got to work.
As we embark on the journey into 2024, what are your hopes and expectations for the year ahead, both personally and professionally?
Matthew Schneider : I have two words that I want to define my personal and professional life: FOCUS & DESTINY. Each month, although my plate is already full, I’ve been crafting more ideas and trying to pursue more things; this is the ambitious spirit within me, but it creates a lot of noise. As much as I want to work on a dozen things at once, focusing on the priorities is actually the better way to get more things done. It’s my objective to minimize distractions of all sorts, whether that’s adding unnecessary features to our product or temporary gratification. My second word, destiny, came to me during a 14 hour car drive during which I listened to a synopsis of Napoleon Bonaparte’s life. On each campaign, he claimed that victory was his destiny, and I think this is the necessary mindset for startup success (even if it’s arguably, slightly delusional).
How do you see technological advancements influencing your field or industry in the coming year, and what opportunities or challenges do they present?
Matthew Schneider : We are extremely excited for technological advancements in commercial real estate…so much so that we’re the ones ushering it in. There are two underlying technologies that we focus on: blockchain and artificial intelligence. There was once a time that it was unclear whether blockchain would find a real world application, but tokenization, the digitization of ownership and other real estate data, has been adopted globally and financial institutions are scrambling to make it the default. This is great for us because it reaffirms our early claims of the technology’s possibilities and is a great stride towards democratizing and optimizing the industry. This is like the Wild West of finance: there’s going to be a hundred new ways to make money but only the most scrappy and ambitious will discover them. Innovation of this sort is not being taught in universities and many businesses may take years to properly integrate the new solutions into their business models. That being said, the people and companies who prioritize innovation will latch onto tokenization and AI, setting themselves apart from competition and radically improving their operations.
As a leader or aspiring leader, what role do you believe diversity, equity, and inclusion will play in shaping the future of your industry, and how are you working to promote these values within your sphere of influence?
Matthew Schneider : We see a grand opportunity for inclusion in commercial real estate through the democratization of ownership. The world is seeing a transfer of wealth in which more and more is controlled by institutions, whether that’s real estate, financial instruments, or access to opportunity. This creates the classic dilemma that the “rich get richer and the poor get poorer.” Commercial real estate, for example, is renowned for its great returns; hence, the ultra-wealthy and institutions dump trillions of dollars into the industry. That being said, the value comes from somewhere, and the majority of the time that’s middle and lower class people who pay rent or shop at a business. The capital trickles upwards and never back down. By allowing people to invest side by side in the same opportunities that generate wealth for the top percentiles, we are gradually distributing wealth and allowing people to build equity in their neighborhoods. When someone is financially vested in a property, they care more for it and are excited to see its success — success that is no longer at their expense.
Leaders Perception would like to thank Matthew Schneider and e-States for the time dedicated to completing this interview and sharing their valuable insights with our readers!
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