Terrascope

do people care about when they buy rural properties? This question is actually very insightful. Q Do the listings provide information on permitting or zoning regulations? A At the moment, a lot of it depends on the buyer to do their own research. But we’re actually working on providing buyers with additional information on all these requirements.

Q So, you educate buyers as they search?

A Absolutely! People are overworked. They want more space. They want a different lifestyle. But it’s only a fantasy for them because they don’t know how to make that transition.

So by having this AI real estate agent that is informative and smart, we’re educating all buyers on how to do this.

Our search is location agnostic. We have a button that you can click on to search anywhere because rural property buyers sometimes don’t care about the location.

A lot of buyers are just exploring. So that function allows them to start browsing and learning. The AI is there to guide them through the process while they discover their true preference.

Q How does Terrascope make money?

A At the moment, we’re focusing on generating transactions. But going forward, we want to be the only agent you go to. We’ll replace the real estate agent’s commission with a small fee for the same quality of service with an even faster turnaround.

We’re exploring virtual touring, actually. It’s going to be so fun because you get to see a farm virtually. Q With your background on Wall Street, why did you decide to focus on everyday buyers? A Being a lead transactor on Wall Street, I spoke to CFOs all the time. I got invited to fancy meetings and events. It sounded like a great life. At the same time, I was getting tired of it because my life had no overarching purpose. I felt unsatisfied to a certain degree.

For me, it has always been about trying to help people.

Before I got my full-ride scholarship to Wesleyan, I was literally in a terrible situation. I couldn’t go to college without a scholarship. I also couldn’t go to a college in China because of a rule where you have to go back to where you were born to take the (entrance) exam. I was born outside of Beijing in a small, small village. So I decided to take a different route through the SAT.

At the time, no one was giving international students, especially Chinese students, full-ride scholarships because it was 2011. We were right off the financial crisis. A lot of people needed help. The universities were not rich, either. Their endowments were hit by the financial crisis, too. They were looking for Chinese students to subsidize the tuition of domestic students.

So I applied to 40 schools and got rejected again and again. I really thought I didn’t have a chance. But then Wesleyan came through.

You know, I didn’t come from a rich family. I came from a single-parent family, just with my mom. So I understand struggles. I always wanted to use my position either through technology or finance to create something that benefits other people, too.

Q Where is your father?

A My father passed away when I was really young. My mom was the one who raised me and gave me the best education despite the fact that we didn’t have what in Beijing they call a household registration (a Mao-era system known as hukou, which limits rural migrants’ access to public health care and education).

Another reason I left China was that I’m gay. My mom and I realized that staying in China would be difficult for me as a person. She even told me that if I don’t get a scholarship, she was going to work her fingers to the bone to get me to America at some point.

It was not an easy childhood, but I was lucky to have a very supportive mother. I always think about that as a source of strength and purpose.

That drives what I do now.