On the TechTO stage ×1
First seen on the TechTO stage in 2020. Every talk is searchable — ask the archive about Nan ↗
In their words
I'm a much stronger operator than fundraiser, so it was just what I knew I could do. I did what I was good at.
After all, we're named after a turtle shell, you know, in Chinese.
I was hired early on as a generalist, and as the company moved up very quickly I was doing their accounting, modelling the pricing.
More from TechTO ×1
Around the web ×1
Quick answers
What is Nan Hao known for?
Founding Guiker, a Montreal real estate platform that started by finding housing for Chinese international students in Canada and now runs a cross-border rental network plus fractional property investing.
What did Nan Hao do before Guiker?
He studied mathematics and computational finance and joined Sonder — then called Flatbook — early, running its accounting and pricing models. Hedging short-term rental risk against foreign-student demand is what showed him the market he left to pursue in 2015.
Why did he bootstrap Guiker for so long?
He told TechTO in 2020 that he already had a profitable model, that he rated himself a far better operator than fundraiser, and that as the only founder he never had an uninterrupted stretch to run a raise. The Real Ventures round came roughly four years in.