The Paul Milstein Center for Real Estate was pleased to contribute to the curriculum of the first ever PropTech Pre-Accelerator program at Columbia University! In late May, Professor Chris Mayer led a cohort of aspiring entrepreneurs through an interactive work session, touching on topics such as fundraising, how to best utilize the resources available, persistence vs. pivoting, and (firmly stressed) the value of investing in people. What is the MetaProp Pre-Accelerator at Columbia University? Developed by MetaProp NYC and The Center for Urban Real Estate (CURE), the Pre-Accelerator at Columbia University connects first-time, earliest-stage PropTech entrepreneurs (including students, recent graduates and scholars from the Columbia University community and beyond) to sources of seed capital, real estate and technology mentors, as well as to deep technology education. The inaugural program received nearly 100 applications and six companies were chosen to participate. Over the course of eight weeks, these pre-accelerator startups work on refining tech solutions to real industry challenges, and the program will culminate in late June with a graduation defense. What is MetaProp NYC? Founded by Zach Aarons ’13, Aaron Block and Clelia Peters ’09, the MetaProp NYC real estate technology accelerator is a New York–based growth program for early stage companies. The Paul Milstein Center for Real Estate is pleased to participate in this entrepreneurial initiative at Columbia University, and excited that three of the six companies selected from the competitive pool of applicants, all hail from the Columbia Business School Community!