Hougarden founder thriving before the age of 40

A young Chinese-born entrepreneur who spotted a niche in New Zealand’s property market, and turned it into a thriving business, has been recognised by the University of Auckland.

Sam Yin is a Business School graduate and founder of Hougarden.com. He was named this week on the University of Auckland’s 40 under 40 list for 2019, which recognises 40 exceptional graduates under the age of 40 across a range of fields and endeavours.

Next year will mark 20 years since Sam, now 39, arrived in New Zealand with limited English, but a determination to take full advantage of the opportunity to live in his newly adopted country.

Sam graduated from the University of Auckland with a Bachelor of Business and Information Management (BBIM) and started working as an accountant, then software engineer, before going out on a limb and starting his own business.

The idea and inspiration came from listening to friends in the real estate sector regularly complain about the challenges Chinese-speaking buyers experienced accessing information on the property market.

Finding some space in his garage to establish a small home office, he began researching and developing a real estate platform specifically for the Chinese market.

In 2011 he launched Hougarden.com which quickly became the number one online marketplace for Chinese-speaking property buyers in New Zealand.

Since then, Hougarden has expanded - opening a research and development centre in China in 2016 to focus on initiating further online projects.

In 2018 Sam became involved in OneRoof as CTO, a joint venture with media company NZME.

“I’m the first to admit I wasn’t very entrepreneurial to start with but I’ve become more of a risk taker as I’ve gone along. Now I employ 45 people so I think a lot about the responsibility that goes with that in creating a business that is going to be around for the long-term,” he says.

“Hougarden is evolving to become what I term a ‘super-platform’ that gives users information about properties for sale, rental listings and other relevant information, but increasingly we’re also moving into other areas such as motor vehicles.”

Acknowledging the role his parents have played in his success, Sam says that in addition to always encouraging him to chase his dreams they have also helped to keep him grounded.

Forty exceptional individuals under the age of 40 are recognised each year by the University of Auckland.

The 40 under 40 list recognises graduates who are outstanding and making a significant contribution to their field and community. It comprises six categories: business leaders, influencers, performers, entrepreneurs, humanitarians, and disruptors and innovators.

“Out of our 185,000 alumni in New Zealand and around the world, 70 per cent are under the age of 40,” says the Director of Alumni Relations and Development, Mark Bentley.

“Recognition of achievement often comes later in life but we wanted to celebrate the game changers and high achievers now and draw inspiration from their accomplishments.”