Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU)

Founder, Hipflat (Acquired)  -  CEO  -  Entrepreneur

Proptech Builders is a venture studio and fund. We create innovative real estate technology companies from scratch for global markets, using Thailand as a sandbox.

Proptech Builders

Founding Partner

Chulalongkorn School of Integrated Innovation

Mentor at Project Seed II (Entrepreneurship, Tech, Startups) | BAScii

LIFULL Connect has acquired my company, Hipflat. During the transitional period, I assisted their team with various integration tasks and post-closing activities. This included transferring assets, integrating teams and operations, reassigning client contracts, and transitioning financial records and accounting.

Special focus was given to seamlessly integrating Hipflat's websites and IT infrastructure into LIFULL Connect's network of online marketplaces. This was achieved alongside the rollout of a new customer-facing listing management app. All procedures were completed successfully, and ahead of schedule.

LIFULL Connect

Post-acquisition Integration Consultant

Founded Hipflat.co.th, a top 3 online real estate marketplace in Thailand. During the pandemic, led a successful M&A process over Zoom, securing profits for investors, my team, and myself. Prior to that raised $1M+ in funding from prominent investors across SE Asia, Japan, US, including 500 Global.

Conceptualized Hipflat, merging my property agency expertise with Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing. Crafted a go-to-market strategy, tackling the “chicken-egg” issue in marketplaces, automating content aggregation and enrichment for superior SEO.

Single-handedly built the initial version of Hipflat using Ruby on Rails, MongoDB, and Javascript. Integrated Algolia for search, Sidekiq and Redis for background jobs, Capistrano for deployment, and Chef for infrastructure automation.

Built a dynamic, lean team, effectively competing against rivals with 10x our resources. Led it through intense challenges, and survived several near-death moments. Hired and mentored top talent in senior Sales, Operations, IT, and Product roles.

Implemented a “Predictable Revenue” model with a CRM and dashboards for real-time KPI and reward tracking, which proved highly effective during remote work transition. Devised in/outbound B2B sales strategies, covering lead sourcing, nurturing, and opportunity conversion, along with call/email script development. 

Secured partnerships with Facebook and Google. Became one of the three exclusive integration partners for the country-wide launch of Facebook's home search feature on Marketplace. Automated high-conversion campaigns on Facebook / Google Ads, utilizing APIs and chatbots.

Implemented data-driven operations and decision-making processes by integrating multiple tools into a cohesive platform, including Zapier, Close.io, Help Scout, Klipfolio, ActiveCampaign, Mailchimp, Salesforce and others.

Built a large network in the online real estate industry, connecting with leaders and founders across Thailand, SE Asia, and globally.

Hipflat

Founder and CEO (Exit to LIFULL)

When Daily deals were all the rage I co-founded one of the first Groupon-like startups in Thailand. It marked my initial foray into the tech startup world, where I gained the fundamentals: lean methodology, customer development, B2B sales, pitch deck creation, team building and motivation. Despite our initial enthusiasm, the business faced challenges due to inaccuracies in our Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) and Virality assumptions. However, it was a valuable learning experience that paved the way for future success.

I created the initial version of the website by tweaking and reshaping a pre-made script I bought (PHP, MySQL). Had a bit of a tough time though, cause it was all in Chinese :). Later on, aiming to stand out from the competition, I rebuilt the customer side into a Facebook App, named CouponVille. That one was done with Ruby on Rails, which I was learning at the same time. The core concept was similar to Zynga's games approach: users could initially obtain a few coupons with minimal effort, but for additional coupons, they would need to take actions such as inviting friends or use Facebook credits.

I've also tackled all the usual early-stage startup stuff:
• Brought on a few sales execs and got hands-on with selling our deals, primarily to small merchants such as restaurants, spas, hotels, and clinics.
• Managed Facebook and Google AdWords campaigns, in addition to setting up automated mailing lists to attract users. Used some viral marketing tricks too, such as giving away “free” coupons and running sweepstakes.
• Hustled at various tech and business events, both locally and in Singapore, in an effort to meet investors and pitch our project. While we didn't secure funding at that time, I did establish a solid network of contacts that later played a vital role in kick-starting successful fundraising for my next startup, Hipflat

Dealtrio - Daily Deals Startup

Co-founder & CEO

Co-founded a real estate agency and received an International REALTOR® designation after completing certification courses by NAR in Bangkok. Became an active member of Thailand's Real Estate Broker Association and the Real Estate Broker Association - Eastern Seaboard.

Recruited and trained real estate agents and office personnel. As a broker myself, helped 100+ international sellers, buyers, renters, and investors find attractive deals that met their needs and provided the best ROIs. Conducted market research, studied various residential projects, and secured brokerage agreements.

Developed an online network of property websites covering Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket, Samui, and Hua Hin, which generated a steady stream of home buyer inquiries. Assisted in opening our own branches in three of these markets and securing partnerships in the other two.

GRADE Property Advisors

Co-Founder, Real Estate Agent, Managing Director

Farang.Ru was the biggest community for Russian-speaking tourists and expats in Thailand, with over 150,000 monthly visitors. It was also a popular monthly magazine, widely regarded as the best in its category, covering local news, travel tips, and essays on Thai culture and traditions.

I co-founded the company with a friend upon relocating to Thailand, and was responsible for a wide range of functions:
• Oversaw legal, accounting, and office day-to-day operations
• Successfully recruited and managed editors and advertising sales executives.
• Managed the end-to-end production and distribution of the magazine
• Directed online and offline advertising sales, boosting market presence and revenue.
• Wrote articles for the magazine on topics related to Thai culture, travel, and real estate

Farang.Ru Online Community and Magazine

Co-Founder, Managing Director

Sapsin Software was Egar Technology's outsourcing branch, based in Bangkok. I built it from scratch, handling legal matters, office setup, equipment, infrastructure, and leading a team of Thai engineers as their project manager, ensuring smooth communication with headquarters.

Sapsin Software

Managing Director

As a part of the team, completed several implementation projects of a complex front-to-back trading and risk management system in leading financial institutions in Russia and the UK.

Conducted project planning, defining objectives, timelines, and resources, while managing risks. Coordinated work and resources across multiple departments in various projects.

Actively managed and addressed challenges during product implementation at client sites, involving international travel.

Egar Technology

Project Manager

Participated in developing a distributed trading and risk management system using Visual Basic, C++, and MS SQL.

Personally responsible for refactoring and modularizing a large legacy monolithic application into functional parts. Actively applied OOD & OOP principles, utilizing Design Patterns, Refactoring, and Pair Programming.

Managed a team of 5 software developers, overseeing the hiring process, training junior developers, and conducting code reviews.

Software Engineer / Team Leader

Started my career while still in Uni, working at two companies. In one role, I served as one of the two software engineers, developing a visual information system for the gas and oil industry using Borland Delphi, MapInfo MapBasic, and AutoCAD's AutoLISP programming language.

In the other position, I worked independently, taking on the responsibility of adding new features and maintaining an inventory management system using Delphi and Crystal Reports, while also overseeing the setup and management of LAN and hardware equipment.

Denis Nemtsev