An Interview with Mike Koshatko

Mike has been living in America for more than 10 years now, and his experience shows that at the heart of any success story are hard work and devotion to your true self.

Tell me your story

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I was born in Sumy—a small town in northeastern Ukraine. In 2008, I visited America for the first time, and I realized that it really is a land of many opportunities. A year later, I moved to America, and well, then my journey began.

Did you start your business right after moving to America?

No. I worked many jobs and moved from place to place. I was always looking for something. My wife and I lived in New York, Key West, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. I worked as a waiter, store manager, courier, and cook. Then, we moved to Miami.

It was in Miami that I first got into the real estate business. I worked as a real estate agent and found it to be both hard and exciting at the same time.

Was it challenging working as an agent after being a cook?

Yes. I didn’t know much at first, but I realized that there were many opportunities in the real estate market. I was a regular agent and helped people find real estate to rent. While you can’t earn much being just a real estate agent, I gained a lot of experience and insight into how money works.

After that, I started working with a European company that invested in the American real estate market. As I was well informed on the American real estate market, it was easier for me to find specific real estate. I worked there for two years, and then I left to create my own company on Amazon.

That’s when Arteza started?

That’s when Arteza started.

I was fascinated by the opportunities that the online marketplace had to offer. My partner and I studied many products in different niches and chose a product that is not a one-time purchase, but a recurring one. That’s why we opted for art supplies.

We focused on producing quality goods and selling them at an affordable price. We also put an emphasis on providing great customer service.

Customer service was our most valuable discovery. Arteza helped me realize that customers’ feedback is vital to the success of a business. It helped us optimize our inventory and build a positive public image.

On that note, we decided to hire experts with an artistic background—people who knew the difficulties and nuances of using the type of goods we sold. If advertising helps you attract new customers, then you can think about feedback as being a way to refine your products—which results in long-term customers. Customer loyalty is the best long-term benefit to any business. Our emphasis on customers is the reason why we were so successful.

But you sold your Amazon business anyway. Why?

All that time, I never gave up on real estate. But, I understood that I lacked important experience, and Amazon gave it to me. Working with Amazon taught me how websites function and how to attract customers. Plus, Arteza gave me a deep understanding of all the benefits of a client-oriented business.

Did you have to start your real-estate business from scratch?

No, we already had a property management company. While we worked on Arteza, my wife ran the property management company. After selling Arteza, we split the capital and invested part of it in the new real estate business.

What is unique about your business?

When running the real estate company, we ran into a problem: it was very time-consuming to find good real estate and gather financial data. Sometimes I could only find 8 to 10 good deals a day. I even tried expanding the company’s staff to help solve this problem, but it didn’t really help. A lot of deals on the real estate market pop up every day, but we often missed them due to all the time it took to find them.

That was the starting point of our new business idea: a technological platform that helps you find a property on the real estate market according to the given parameters. We used AI algorithms to calculate all characteristics of properties on the market and provide a user-friendly depiction of them. Now, we have a whole database of real estate that can be purchased, rented, or invested in. The database provides an estimated medium price for a purchase or the monthly rent and helps the user better understand all the costs associated with it.

Instead of spending the entire day searching for real estate, you can just visit our website and narrow down your search in correspondence with your needs.

Because of your enthusiasm, I gather that you plan to stay committed to your business for the long run.

I have a feeling that we’re just starting. This business has so much potential. Our goal, for now, is to get into the top five real estate portals in the US. So, yes, a lot of work needs to be done, and I’m really thrilled about it.