Breaking Property News 18/03/25
Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X.
Building a start-up is a 24/7 mindset, but for 90 minutes a week, my focus is elsewhere.
Owen Redman co-founder of Roome – is looking to save Universities over £9M annually by connecting the dots in a fragmented student accommodation market. Putting these institutions back in the driving seat and ensuring undergraduates have a centralized service for all off-campus accommodation problems, which empowers wellbeing and gets them living with people they like so they complete their courses.
But what struck me was a post on social media Owen made – because it sums up the plight of every property technology founder I have ever met, (over 1,300 of them in the last eight years – 140 as clients) – the fact that they permanently exist in in two worlds, and there is never any respite. In fact I think it is actually poetry so I have reproduced it in a free verse poem format.
Here then are Owen’s brilliant words –
‘Roome is always on my mind.
First thing in the morning. Last thing at night.
At the gym. Watching a film. Even on a date with my fiancé (sorry, Tash, I’m working on being more present here!).
But when I step onto the football pitch, it’s different.
For those 90 minutes, my only focus is the game.
A finite challenge. A clear goal. A team working together.
And every Saturday, I come home feeling refreshed.
Not just because I love football as much as I did as a child, but because stepping away from Roome, even for a little while, gives me clarity when I return.
A couple of weeks ago, we won a cup final. A great day, a great win, but more than that, a reminder of how important it is to find balance.
What’s the one thing that completely takes your mind off work?’
This ‘proptech poem’ I am sure so resonates with all proptech founders and of course people heading up their own businesses, the highs and lows, the worries the achievements etc, always with the dead hand of time chasing us. Plus of course now with an ever increasing digitally connected world, our brains are over stimulated and bombarded with so much new data hourly.
The concept of running around with your team, being part of that with no connection to the world or the stresses of the business – even for 90 minutes, is as Owen says a vitally important part of balancing the day job.
And it not only wise words that Owen Redman and James Buck the other co-founder of Roome have going for them, but they really are also a dynamic powerhouse of talent looking to solve the loneliness of the University adventure if accommodation is not done right – a lost opportunity for the student, and a bigger financial one for the University.
Andrew Stanton Executive Editor – moving property and proptech forward. PropTech-X
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