Alfred’s Jessica Beck speaks with MHN’s Laura Valean on how greater financial backing and opportunity can boost women's leadership in multifamily tech.
In proptech, it’s estimated that only about 10 percent of company founders are women. Narrow that focus to multifamily proptech, and the percentage likely drops below one. Why?
“From my perspective, it’s not a capability thing, it’s more about capital allocations and who has access,” said Jessica Beck, co-founder & CEO of Alfred, in a conversation with Multi-Housing News Senior Editor Laura Valean for this month’s Mission Success: Women in Multifamily podcast.
Women in proptech often face unequal access to funding and fewer opportunities to advance in what still feels like a boys’ club—an environment where stigmas and biases persist.
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Beck is among the few women in proptech continually proving that barriers can be broken. She co-founded Alfred in 2014 with Marcela Sapone to streamline multifamily operations. Today, following Alfred’s merger with Quarterra’s property management division, Beck leads the combined platform, which oversees roughly 52,000 units nationwide and represents more than $20 billion in assets.
“Leadership to me isn’t about being the woman in the room. I’m a founder before I’m a female founder,” she said.
Tune in for an insightful discussion on what it takes to succeed as a woman in proptech, and how true inclusion starts with equal opportunity! Here are the main topics Valean and Beck touch on:
- (1:16) What’s keeping women from breaking through in proptech
- (2:54) What leadership looks like
- (4:11) The pressure to “lead like a man”
- (7:45) The double burden of women in proptech
- (8:57) Partners and role models
- (11:34) Changing systemic issues in multifamily proptech
- (14:16) Advice to young women entering proptech
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