By partnering strategically and building a team that ‘vibes’, Co-Founder and Director Olivier Siah has grown FRX Capital into a US$500 million global real estate business.
As a CEO, what is one of the most crucial challenges you face day to day? For Oliver Siah, the answer is recruitment.
“The people you hire will make or break your business,” the Co-Founder and Director of FRX Capital tells The CEO Magazine.
Hire the wrong people, and they will bring the company down. The right people – the ones you ‘vibe’ with, as Siah puts it – have long-term goals that align with the company values.
“They are the kind of people who are wholly appropriate for the company, as opposed to those who are just with you to earn a salary,” he adds.
Siah even has a name for them: mercenary.
“They work for whoever pays more,” he explains. “If you hire mercenaries, you’re going to have a very high turnover, because you’re not going to be able to compete with another financial institution or another real estate company that pays even more.
“That’s why we’re grateful to our OG – our original group – who have been with us since the start. They’re vibing with the company and that has really helped us.”
Proof of concept
The ‘us’ in question is Siah and business partner Rachel Teo. In 2017, the pair founded Fraxtor, a blockchain-enabled real estate investment platform, designed to give people the chance to invest in international real estate that would normally be inaccessible – by purchasing digital tokens.
The pair quickly realized that, rather than offering clients a share in already existing properties, the best path was to offer them a share in developments. In order to do so, it would be best to create and spin off a separate operating entity to build and manage the projects: FRX Capital.
Siah is still an executive in Fraxtor Group, which owns Fraxtor.
In 2019, the duo were ready to trial the concept by crowdfunding through Fraxtor for small real estate projects that would be subdivided and developed by FRX Capital. They took just 30 days to raise the US$2.5 million required for their first development project.
Then the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the world. Rather than shrinking away from risk, however, Siah and Teo decided to seize the opportunity to acquire marquee properties on the market at attractive prices. This included what has become its Mount Rosie Signature Collection, a bungalow turned into six luxury homes in one of Singapore’s most exclusive postcodes, which has been developed by FRX Capital. Fraxtor investors hold a 35 percent stake in the development.
The vibe economy
This strategy was so successful that Siah now refers to FRX Capital as “the accidental startup that managed to flourish.”
Currently, it has over US$500 million worth of projects globally under its management and a swagger of awards under its belt, including Best Housing Development (Singapore) for its Mount Rosie Signature Collection at the PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards (Singapore) 2024.
Among its upcoming developments is The Hillshore, two five-story residential blocks set for delivery in 2027, which mark FRX Capital’s foray into condominiums.
Siah says individual successes have allowed FRX Capital and Fraxtor to set off on independent paths, and a clear focus is that both continue to work independently with other developers. For instance, he explains, Fraxtor has now partnered with the likes of CapitaLand Development to acquire and develop a large food processing facility in the Kolam Ayer industrial estate in Singapore.
“FRX Capital is actively trying to work with other developers as well and joint venture on more projects,” he confirms.
Beyond building relationships with other developers, the company works with partners across the entire construction ecosystem, including premium building partners like Singapore’s Bond Building Products, to provide buyers with high-quality aluminum window systems.
Air Force lessons
Siah has a Master of Science in Real Estate from the National University of Singapore as well as an MBA from Imperial College London. He spent 17 years as an active member of the Singapore Air Force before transitioning into the private sector.
He says his leadership style has been shaped by this experience and can be boiled down to three key learnings.
“The first is that a great leader must be able to inspire and motivate their team toward the goals of the company,” he explains.
“The second is they must have the grit to persevere through any adversity.”
Even the best-laid plans go awry, in both business and the military, and leaders must be able to push through any setbacks and continue to motivate their team as they navigate through it.
“You cannot be the one to give up. If you do, then the whole business is gone,” he says.
Siah rounds out the trio with a core value taken directly from the military: caring for your soldiers.
“You have people working under you and they depend on you,” he points out. “Caring for their wellbeing, making sure they are equipped with the correct skills, taking an interest in their personal lives – that’s something Rachel and I are adamant about.
“We want the company to feel like a family and that’s an important attitude for a startup.”
