Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
2026-0627: The market has shifted violently in the last twelve months. The "cooling" narratives of last year have been completely obliterated by a supply-starved, AI-fueled surge that has pushed prices back to record-breaking levels.
If you are a first-time buyer, the old playbook is dead. Are you prepared to compete in the most aggressive inventory environment in a decade?
Join us for a no-nonsense, high-impact panel where we cut through the mainstream noise to address the actual mechanics of surviving the San Francisco Bay Area market in 2026.
Speakers
Catherine Lee SM ’90 (Civil Engineering)
Catherine is a Partner focused on early-stage tech companies for Top Corner Capital, an early-stage venture debt and equity fund. She has over 30 years of investment and operating experience. Catherine invests in a number of different industries, including Real Estate Tech. Previously, Catherine was an entrepreneur who founded several real estate investment funds and a market leading brokerage firm in the Bay Area. Catherine was consistently one of the top real estate agents in the Peninsula between 2010 and 2024. She started investing in real estate in 2009, in a portfolio of single-family homes in the East Bay. She has subsequently invested in residential and commercial real estate in the Peninsula, Salt Lake City, Boise, Portland and Atlanta, directly and through syndications. Catherine started her career as an engineer, and also has experience in strategy consulting, later-stage private equity and public market investing. She has an MBA from Harvard and a SM in Civil Engineering from MIT.
Ryan Lenox MA ’12, MCP ‘12
Ryan Lenox is a San Francisco–based luxury real estate advisor known for his design-driven approach and sharp market insight. A Course 4 and 11 MIT architect by training, Ryan works with some of the city’s most notable properties, blending creative vision with analytical precision. With multiple investment properties of his own, Ryan guides those he advises on using real estate as a wealth driver. He lives in Clarendon Heights with his husband and two children.
Evan Matteo ‘94
Evan is broker-owner of Big Tree Properties, a San Francisco real estate brokerage operating since 2006. He also owns, with his wife, several San Francisco rental properties, and recently constructed 5 Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs). Prior to opening his real estate brokerage, Evan worked with two partners to purchase and entitle land for residential development. Evan is active in the San Francisco Association of Realtors, as a Director, and member of the Board's Government Relations Committee, Budget and Finance committee, and Managers Council. Prior to real estate, Evan had a successful career in enterprise software.
Organizer/Moderator:
Ronald Koo BS '89, MS '90
Ronald spent nearly thirty years in the analog/mixed-signal semiconductor industry with technical, applications, and business responsibilities. In 2007, he and his wife built their home in Los Altos, California. In 2012 and 2013, he purchased apartment buildings in San Francisco. Afterwards, he invested in multiple real estate funds. Currently, Ronald is the Chief Executive Officer of Koliso, which provides the LandTeller software to facilitate communication between field workers on a jobsite. LandTeller allows users to create geotagged work tickets pinned to a georegistered site plan. Owners and managers can now ask status questions to LandTeller’s built-in AI anytime of day because the AI can analyze the work tickets and project emails. LandTeller is targeted at land developers and their general contractors.
Links:
MIT Club of Northern California Fin-Track (mitcnc.org/page/finance)
2026-0627: The market has shifted violently in the last twelve months. The "cooling" narratives of last year have been completely obliterated by a supply-starved, AI-fueled surge that has pushed prices back to record-breaking levels.
If you are a first-time buyer, the old playbook is dead. Are you prepared to compete in the most aggressive inventory environment in a decade?
Join us for a no-nonsense, high-impact panel where we cut through the mainstream noise to address the actual mechanics of surviving the San Francisco Bay Area market in 2026.
Speakers
Catherine Lee SM ’90 (Civil Engineering)
Catherine is a Partner focused on early-stage tech companies for Top Corner Capital, an early-stage venture debt and equity fund. She has over 30 years of investment and operating experience. Catherine invests in a number of different industries, including Real Estate Tech. Previously, Catherine was an entrepreneur who founded several real estate investment funds and a market leading brokerage firm in the Bay Area. Catherine was consistently one of the top real estate agents in the Peninsula between 2010 and 2024. She started investing in real estate in 2009, in a portfolio of single-family homes in the East Bay. She has subsequently invested in residential and commercial real estate in the Peninsula, Salt Lake City, Boise, Portland and Atlanta, directly and through syndications. Catherine started her career as an engineer, and also has experience in strategy consulting, later-stage private equity and public market investing. She has an MBA from Harvard and a SM in Civil Engineering from MIT.
Ryan Lenox MA ’12, MCP ‘12
Ryan Lenox is a San Francisco–based luxury real estate advisor known for his design-driven approach and sharp market insight. A Course 4 and 11 MIT architect by training, Ryan works with some of the city’s most notable properties, blending creative vision with analytical precision. With multiple investment properties of his own, Ryan guides those he advises on using real estate as a wealth driver. He lives in Clarendon Heights with his husband and two children.
Evan Matteo ‘94
Evan is broker-owner of Big Tree Properties, a San Francisco real estate brokerage operating since 2006. He also owns, with his wife, several San Francisco rental properties, and recently constructed 5 Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs). Prior to opening his real estate brokerage, Evan worked with two partners to purchase and entitle land for residential development. Evan is active in the San Francisco Association of Realtors, as a Director, and member of the Board's Government Relations Committee, Budget and Finance committee, and Managers Council. Prior to real estate, Evan had a successful career in enterprise software.
Organizer/Moderator:
Ronald Koo BS '89, MS '90
Ronald spent nearly thirty years in the analog/mixed-signal semiconductor industry with technical, applications, and business responsibilities. In 2007, he and his wife built their home in Los Altos, California. In 2012 and 2013, he purchased apartment buildings in San Francisco. Afterwards, he invested in multiple real estate funds. Currently, Ronald is the Chief Executive Officer of Koliso, which provides the LandTeller software to facilitate communication between field workers on a jobsite. LandTeller allows users to create geotagged work tickets pinned to a georegistered site plan. Owners and managers can now ask status questions to LandTeller’s built-in AI anytime of day because the AI can analyze the work tickets and project emails. LandTeller is targeted at land developers and their general contractors.
Links:
MIT Club of Northern California Fin-Track (mitcnc.org/page/finance)
