From Selling Desks to Enterprise SaaS: The DNK Journey Through a CEO's Eyes

Hi, I’m Matthew Shampine, the co-founder and CEO of DNK.

Looking back, the path that led me here is a story of serendipity, persistence, and plenty of pivots. It’s a journey shaped by lessons learned at WeWork, challenges overcome while building a startup during a global pandemic, and a realization that the timing couldn’t be better to transform the residential real estate market in APAC.

WeWork Days and the Seeds of a Vision

The story begins in 2010 when my digital agency signed up for an office at the first WeWork location in New York. Not long after, I found myself deeply immersed in real estate when WeWork’s co-founders, Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey, brought my team and I on to help build WeConnect—WeWork’s first digital platform powering everything from conference room bookings and community management to sales and accounting.

That experience was a crash course in solving operational challenges at scale through technology. Later, when I moved to Asia to lead WeWork’s expansion in the region, I gained an intimate understanding of the real estate markets in China, Korea, Japan, and beyond. It was clear to me even then: while real estate in APAC was a massive business opportunity, much of it was operating on outdated systems or no systems at all.

Founding DNK and the First Pivot

Fast forward to 2020, when my co-founder, Insong Kim, and I launched our company, originally called Dongnae, with grand ambitions to change how homes are bought and rented in Korea. Inspired by platforms like Redfin in the U.S., we envisioned a centralized marketplace where buyers, renters, and brokers could connect seamlessly.

The need for disruption was obvious. In Korea, finding a home often meant walking past brokers’ windows plastered with hand-written listings or navigating online platforms rife with fake posts. We were confident that combining a multiple listing system (MLS) with full-service brokerage could revolutionize the market.

The vision gained early traction. With funding from top VC firms like Flybridge, MetaProp, and NFX, we built a robust network of brokers, launched apps, and even patented a system for booking home tours online. But despite our efforts, the excitement did not last long. The results didn’t match our expectations. Waves of users came after each press push, but users didn’t engage with the platform as we had hoped. No matter what we tried, we could not get nearly enough actual customers to do business with us in a meaningful way. It was a humbling moment.

Dongnae FLEX: A Solution to Korea’s Unique Rental Challenges

While we struggled to scale our brokerage platform, we listened to the market. One pain point came up repeatedly: the Jeonse system. This traditional Korean rental model requires tenants to pay massive upfront deposits, often 70% of a property’s value. For young professionals and newlyweds, it was a nearly insurmountable barrier.

Seeing an opportunity, we pivoted to Dongnae FLEX, a rental solution that drastically reduced deposits while offering premium apartments at fixed monthly rates. We curated premium apartment rentals that would lower typical renters’ housing deposits by approximately 98% by working with landlords to provide premium apartments to renters with a low deposit and fixed monthly rent. The concept resonated. By early 2022, we had secured $20.5 million in funding and were scaling rapidly.

Momentum seemed unstoppable—until it wasn’t. Just as we were finalizing a $100 million debt facility with Credit Suisse, the financial world was thrown into turmoil. March 2023 marked a period of unprecedented chaos in the banking sector. The initial shock came with the bank run on Silicon Valley Bank, leading to its abrupt failure and sending ripples through the startup ecosystem. A couple of weeks later, the turmoil reached a peak when Credit Suisse, a 167-year-old banking institution, also collapsed.

Navigating through turbulent times has reinforced our resilience and commitment to innovation. The collapse of Credit Suisse profoundly impacted the sustainability of the "Dongnae FLEX" project, pushing us to reevaluate our course and explore new possibilities.

We’ll share how these events ultimately led us to pivot our business model, showcasing not only our resilience in overcoming challenges but also how this transformation redefined industry standards and set a new benchmark.

The DNK Pivot: Finding Our True Calling

In the midst of the uncertainty, we acquired a Co-living operator called Dears that was managing a co-living space in Pangyo. Running this 520-unit building gave us a front-row seat to a new problem: the lack of modern software for property and leasing management in Korea. The software options available were either outdated or built for markets like the U.S., with little relevance to the unique needs of APAC.

Drawing on my experience from WeWork, we developed our own property management software to run the building. It quickly became clear that the real opportunity wasn’t in managing properties but in building the software itself.

The multifamily building we managed featured a wide variety of contract types and SKUs, highlighting the urgent need for a versatile leasing management solution that could handle both rentals and sales/marketing effectively. Leveraging our existing technology, we integrated specialized functionalities that streamlined everything from tour bookings to leasing and CRM processes. This not only enhanced overall management but also demonstrated the robust potential of our software in a challenging market environment.

By late 2023, we made our final pivot: DNK would become an enterprise SaaS company focused on property management systems for APAC. This included a rebrand from Dongnae to DNK, reflecting our shift from real estate transactions to technology solutions.

Why the Timing Is Perfect

The timing of this pivot couldn’t be better. APAC is home to some of the most dynamic real estate markets in the world, yet many of them lag behind in digital transformation. Korea, for example, has seen a surge of interest in multifamily housing, but the tools for managing these properties are decades behind. Similarly, Japan’s residential real estate market is ripe for modernization with over half of properties being managed by Microsoft Excel.

Unlike other regions, APAC has unique cultural and regulatory challenges. For instance, rental agreements in Korea often include unique terms and requirements, while Japan places significant emphasis on privacy and tenant rights. Generic solutions from the U.S. or Europe simply don’t fit.

At DNK, we’re tailoring our platform to address these regional nuances. We’ve onboarded over 17,000 units, including properties from GH Partners, Korea’s largest multifamily housing operator. And we’re just getting started, with operations now expanding into Japan and Australia.

Looking Ahead

Building DNK has been a journey of persistence and reinvention. From creating WeWork’s original software to navigating multiple pivots, every experience has led us to this moment. Our mission is clear: to set the standard for property management in APAC and help the region’s real estate industry embrace the digital future.

The lesson for anyone watching? Success often comes from adapting, listening, and finding the right opportunity at the right time. For DNK, the time is now.