Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Most high-net-worth investors and even many family offices now allocate to private real estate funds rather than buying and managing properties themselves. It sounds almost too good to be true: passive ownership, professional management, diversification, and the promise of institutional-quality returns without the headaches of toilets, tenants, and turnover.
But is it really that simple?
Join us for a candid, no-pitch conversation that separates marketing hype from reality.
Biographies of Panelists
David Lynn MBA ’02. Dr. David Lynn is the founder and CEO of Unity Investment Management. He grew a medical real estate portfolio from $0 to $860 million in gross asset value and $90 million in annual revenue in just over two years. Over his career, he has acquired, developed, or managed more than $20 billion of real estate across twelve countries, delivering a 23.3% net IRR career track record that places him in the top decile of the NCREIF universe. He previously built and led three institutional real estate platforms (Everest Healthcare Properties, White Oak MOB REIT, and Unity REIT) totaling $1.2 billion and 119 properties. Before his entrepreneurial private equity ventures, he was a Managing Director, Partner and C-suite executive for two leading, blue-chip Wall Street investment and asset management firms, with a combined commercial real estate AUM of $170 billion. Author of five widely cited books, including Active Private Equity Real Estate Strategy (Wiley) and Real Estate Mathematics, along with many articles, David is a recognized thought leader and Counselor of Real Estate (CRE).
Catherine Lee SM ’90. 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. 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.
Organizer/Moderator:
Ronald Koo ’89, SM ’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)
Most high-net-worth investors and even many family offices now allocate to private real estate funds rather than buying and managing properties themselves. It sounds almost too good to be true: passive ownership, professional management, diversification, and the promise of institutional-quality returns without the headaches of toilets, tenants, and turnover.
But is it really that simple?
Join us for a candid, no-pitch conversation that separates marketing hype from reality.
Biographies of Panelists
David Lynn MBA ’02. Dr. David Lynn is the founder and CEO of Unity Investment Management. He grew a medical real estate portfolio from $0 to $860 million in gross asset value and $90 million in annual revenue in just over two years. Over his career, he has acquired, developed, or managed more than $20 billion of real estate across twelve countries, delivering a 23.3% net IRR career track record that places him in the top decile of the NCREIF universe. He previously built and led three institutional real estate platforms (Everest Healthcare Properties, White Oak MOB REIT, and Unity REIT) totaling $1.2 billion and 119 properties. Before his entrepreneurial private equity ventures, he was a Managing Director, Partner and C-suite executive for two leading, blue-chip Wall Street investment and asset management firms, with a combined commercial real estate AUM of $170 billion. Author of five widely cited books, including Active Private Equity Real Estate Strategy (Wiley) and Real Estate Mathematics, along with many articles, David is a recognized thought leader and Counselor of Real Estate (CRE).
Catherine Lee SM ’90. 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. 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.
Organizer/Moderator:
Ronald Koo ’89, SM ’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)
