Riccardo Iannucci-Dawson, chief executive of Yourkeys, on how he got started in property. He also shares his cultural tips, his favourite superpower and the historical figure he would like to befriend
How did you join the property industry?
I started as an architect and then moved to work for a housebuilder in sales. In housebuilding, the sales process is very complex, very analogue; the buyer journey is poor and resource-heavy. I set out to solve it and that is what gave birth to Yourkeys.
What does your job entail?
A bit of everything. I love winning the hearts and minds of clients and getting stuck into rollouts and onboarding. I spend time with the commercial and tech teams. I enjoy setting the high-level strategic direction and watching it trickle down through the organisation, delivering on those objectives.
What do you like most about the property industry?
I love the people – the no-nonsense attitude. If you can effectively sell your solution and convince people that it is the right thing to do, the majority of people will come on board.
And what do you dislike most about it?
Reluctance to change. But when you do convince people, they get behind you. Tearing down those initial barriers is tough but worth it in the end.
What would you change about the property industry?
What I would like is more adoption of technology that makes the sales process better, slicker and more seamless for everyone in the supply chain. It takes a mindset shift to be open to those changes.
What barriers or challenges have you overcome?
Adoption is always going to be the biggest challenge for any tech company and it is how you overcome that that determines your success. It is great having an idea, but you need to be able to convince people to adopt it.
What are you most proud of in your career?
The team that we have built here is incredible. They look after each other like a family. We have so many effective problem-solvers, so many smart people – I honestly believe there’s no challenge that we can’t face as a team and that’s something to be really proud of.
What do you value in people?
I value resilience above anything else. I love problem-solving – the more difficult and complicated, the better – and we hire people at Yourkeys with a similar mindset. When you’re building a tech company, there will always be setbacks and it takes an enormous amount of resilience.
What advice would you give someone starting a career in the property industry?
Give it your everything. Once you have mastered your craft, become a positive force for change and a champion of the industry – that is what we need.
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