Today on Day in the Life, we’re getting to know Milton Rodosthenous, Founder of LetsBid Property and Director of Equity and Capital.
LetsBid Property is fast becoming one of the largest online property auction destinations in the UK. It’s changing the letting industry as we know it with their fee-free online auctions and a revolutionary probate lead system; a must-have for every agent.
Milton’s day
06.30 – 07.00: Time to Wake Up!
With three kids all under the age of 10 and a dog, you don’t need an alarm. After a quick look at the phone, news, emails, banking…I’m off
07.30: Coffee Break
I developed a love for coffee when I first started my career at Barclays. We were doing our banking exams and had a deadline to meet and was introduced to coffee at 11 pm the night before the deadline. Before that night I was always a tea person. I quickly realised coffee’s benefits! Now, several bean-to-cup machines later, it’s a must-have for me in the morning.
08.00: Heading to the Offices
I have two offices across London and in India, so at this time I would normally get in the car and travel to one of my London offices. But with lockdown, I tend to work from home at least one to two days a week now, with the rest of the time spent visiting one of our development sites or a new acquisition.
I tend to write a list — yes, I know…very old fashioned — but it works for me, so I work my way through it. I’m also very lucky to work with great people, so delegating is a must. Don’t get me wrong, a weakness of mine is relinquishing control and I’m still not great at it, but without delegating some of my workload there is no way I could cope.
09.00: Coffee and Team Briefings
After another coffee, I tend to have a catch up with my three teams; Equity and Capital, the LetsBid Property front liners, and our IT team’s project manager.
With Equity and Capital, we always have a development on the go, plus an acquisition or two, so I’m always keen to stay on top of these.
It’s also managing the external stakeholders, like the solicitors, architects, project managers, planning consultants, and managing agents. I see them as very much a part of the team.
I’m always keen to speak to the IT team before our frontline team. We’re very lucky that we have a great team that is constantly innovating, so lots going on out there, plus the prospecting tool needs 24hr attention. Believe me, all of us in the industry experience bugs and issues, so we have a dedicated member of the team that runs system checks every morning across a wide data sample. It’s great when you’re there for the morning system clean.
10.30: New Acquisitions
We’re very active in the real estate space and are known as serious buyers. We’ve been involved in hundreds of millions of pounds worth of property transactions in the last five years, so I get dozens of opportunities sent to me every day. I sense-check them all, which take a bit of time, and I usually move one or two a week into our active list, which normally amounts to one acquisition every month.
“…I always knew I would end up in property. Even during my time in banking, I made my name lending money on property because I understood it so well.”
Milton Rodosthenous – Founder, LetsBid Property
11.30 – 14.30: Out and About
Normally I’m out and about during these times, either visiting new or existing acquisitions and meeting different people across the UK. I’m a big believer in networking.
15.00: Tech Chat
We normally have our tech chat on Zoom or Skype and look at how we’re getting on, as we’re in the process of launching a B2C product. We always take our agents’ feedback very seriously. If we can adapt our back-end to help make agents’ lives easier, we will do.
15.45 – 16.30: More Zoom Calls!
I tend to drop in on one of the LetsBid area manager calls as I love meeting agents and getting their feedback. My Mum’s sister has been in agency all her life and set up her own place when I was around 10 years old. I used to love going there and helping out, so I always knew I would end up in property. Even during my time in banking, I made my name lending money on property because I understood it so well. The fact is, we’re now buying millions in property every year from shopping centres to family homes. With LetsBid we’re touching thousands of people in the sector every day. It’s very rewarding.
16.30 – 17.30: Mop Up
I tend to use the end of the day to go back and check the priority list I made at the start of the day, to see what has been done and what I can influence before I wrap up for the day. I use this time to also return the calls and emails I have missed during the day. I try to make sure I get back to everyone on the same day.
17.30: !!!
It’s great to spend time with the family at this time, whether it’s enjoying a meal together, watching TV or on our daily dog walk. We’re lucky enough to have a lovely forest on our doorstep, which is a rarity in the suburbs, but our dog loves it.
The kids are normally in bed around 8 pm, so I then get a chance to have some downtime and get ready for another day. The great thing about my day it’s different every day, and I love doing what I do. So, for me, I don’t see it as work…it’s life.
Follow up questions
Do you work at weekends? If so, how many hours? Never. For me, it’s family time, but my phone is on 24 hours a day and I always check my emails. I can’t help it.
Typically how many hours a week do you work on average? I never switch off, even when I sleep. I’ll wake up and put a note on my phone for something I have remembered.
Do you work from home? Currently, yes, at least 50% of the week. But slowly we’re getting back to normal, as I do enjoy the office.
How did you get your job? Before I ventured out on my own I was at Barclays corporate for many years. It gave me such a good grounding and an education, and I’d never change it.
Out of ten, how much do you like your job? 10 – I’m a very lucky person, I absolutely love what I do. I’d be lying if I told you that I wasn’t motivated by money, because I am, and I enjoy the benefits it brings, but LetsBid is very exciting. Watching a startup grow from nothing to revenue-generating is special.
Share your day
If you would like to share your Day in the Life with the Proptech-X community, let us know. Whether you are a CEO, COO, assessor, surveyor, lettings manager, inventory clerk, solicitor….any role in any vertical in the industry, what is your day like?
Andrew Stanton is the founder and CEO of Proptech-PR, a consultancy for Founders of Proptechs looking to grow and exit, using his influence from decades of industry experience. Separately he is a consultant to some of the biggest names in global real estate, advising on sales and acquisitions, market positioning, and operations. He is also the founder and editor of Proptech-X Proptech & Property News, where his insights, connections and detailed analysis and commentary on proptech and real estate are second to none.
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Andrew Stantonhttps://proptech-x.com/author/andrew-stanton/
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Andrew Stantonhttps://proptech-x.com/author/andrew-stanton/
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Andrew Stantonhttps://proptech-x.com/author/andrew-stanton/
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Andrew Stantonhttps://proptech-x.com/author/andrew-stanton/
