A decade can hold a lot of changes for a growing real estate business. In the case of Yat-Pang Au, it meant phenomenal growth at his firm, Veritas Investments—from 1 to 200 employees in less than 10 years.
In fact, the impressive success of the San Francisco–based start-up earned Au the 2017 Multifamily Executive of the Year award.
Here, Au speaks about the trajectory of his business and how he continues to manage the fast pace of his organization’s growth. Specifically, he credits continuous reinvention for the firm’s success.
“It really is about reinventing ourselves, holding true to core values while doing so, and being able to establish and continue to have a very collaborative culture,” Au says.
Self-proclaimed “serial entrepreneur” Georgianna Oliver, creator of Package Concierge, agrees. Oliver advises her fellow entrepreneurs not to sit on an idea too long before acting on it, because there’s always someone else out there who’ll find a way to compete with your organization.
And in writing for Entrepreneur.com, John Rampton, founder of online invoicing company Due, recommends entrepreneurs focus on medium-term goals and happy customers, among other growth strategies.
Au, like Rampton, who, in his Entrepreneur.com article cites the importance of having a mentor, looks to personal development as a strategy too. Au mentions Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn, as a source of inspiration.
Just as Au speaks about reinventing Veritas, Hoffman encourages entrepreneurs to keep their vision but also remain flexible, notes blog site Kissmetrics. Hoffman’s belief that company culture must be strong and established early on is a philosophy Au has put into action at his own firm.
As Au looks to the future, he welcomes the opportunity to push his already successful firm to even greater heights.