Advertise on podcast: The Fort - An Entrepreneurship Podcast

Simon Wagner is the Founder and Managing Partner of Granite Oak, a private investment firm with over $250mm of assets across Real Estate and Venture Capital. His career spans more than 20 years of investing and entrepreneurship in financial markets and alternative investments. On this episode, Chris and Simon discuss: Working in mortgage-backed securities at Morgan Stanley in 2006 Developing his commercial mortgage thesis The Irish real estate market Planning & Entitlements We'd appreciate you filling out our audience survey, so we can continuously work on providing relevant content to our listeners.  https://www.thefortpod.com/survey Links Granite Oak Simon on X Topics (00:00:00) - Intro (00:04:51) - Meeting Simon and his journey to the United States (00:10:44) - Working in mortgaged-backed securities at Morgan Stanley in ’06 (00:24:35) - Forming the commercial mortgage thesis (00:39:54) - Lending Lessons learned (00:42:26) - Entering the Ireland market (00:45:24) - Simon’s first deal (00:56:25) - Irish vs. American loans (00:57:13) - Simon’s portfolio today (00:59:37) - Ireland’s influx of foreign capital and housing shortages (01:07:21) - Fundraising (01:13:53) - Planning and entitlements Support our Sponsors: RE Cost Seg: https://bit.ly/3oC7JcY Better Pitch: https://bit.ly/42d9L0I Fort Capital: https://bit.ly/FortCapital Follow Fort Capital on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/fort-capital/ Chris on Social Media: X: https://bit.ly/3BYIjcH LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/45gIkFd   Watch The Fort on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3oynxNX Visit our website: https://bit.ly/43SOvys Leave a review on Apple: https://bit.ly/45crFD0 Leave a review on Spotify: https://bit.ly/3Krl9jO  The FORT is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Jamie Winship has decades of experience bringing peaceful solutions to some of the world’s highest conflict areas. After a distinguished career in law enforcement in the metro Washington D.C. area, Jamie earned an M.A. in English and developed a unique process of resolving inner conflict that results in the ability to lead and innovate from a position of authenticity and freedom. His unconventional efforts to bring about societal and racial reconciliation led him to Indonesia, Jordan, Iraq, Palestine, Israel, and back to the U.S.  We discuss: How to discover your true identity Separation and Connection world views Jamie’s experiences working in the Middle East Bringing terrorists to the US and converting them to Christianity We'd appreciate you filling out our audience survey, so we can continuously work on providing relevant content to our listeners.  https://www.thefortpod.com/survey Links Jamie's website Living Fearless by Jamie Winship Identity Exchange Finding Hope in Depression Topics (00:00:00) - Intro (00:01:55) - Jamie’s background and upbringing (00:05:49) - Being recruited into the CIA (00:11:43) - What is identity? (00:15:32) - How can I discover my true identity? (00:27:32) - Separation vs. connection world views (00:35:41) - Jamie’s experiences working in the Middle East (00:52:55) - How to change the mentality of another person (01:06:30) - Bringing Palestinian terrorists to a Christian men’s retreat Support our Sponsors Fort Capital: https://bit.ly/FortCapital Follow Fort Capital on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/fort-capital/ Chris on Social Media: X: https://bit.ly/3BYIjcH LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/45gIkFd   Watch The Fort on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3oynxNX Visit our website: https://bit.ly/43SOvys Leave a review on Apple: https://bit.ly/45crFD0 Leave a review on Spotify: https://bit.ly/3Krl9jO  The FORT is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Ian is the founder of MicroCapClub.com, a global community of microcap investors. He is also the founder of Intelligent Fanatics Capital Management LLC, where his team works with private wealth clients to help give them exposure to the smallest public companies in the world. We discuss: The world of microcap investing Why the greatest investors started in microcap Building MicroCap Club Ian’s process for investing in a company We'd appreciate you filling out our audience survey, so we can continuously work on providing relevant content to our listeners.  https://www.thefortpod.com/survey Links Ian on X MicroCapClub.com Topics (00:00:00) - Intro (00:02:06) - Growing up near the Amish (00:06:31) - Getting into Microcap investing (00:13:42) - Why most microcaps lose money (00:16:02) - The cost of being a public company (00:17:57) - Why the greatest investors started in microcap (00:21:22) - Experiences during the GFC (00:26:29) - Starting MicroCapClub (00:32:20) - Ian’s process (00:49:30) - Do you expect stock movement when you buy into a company? (00:54:40) - Due diligence  (01:02:01) - Finding undervalue (01:03:32) - Emotion in Investing (01:07:05) - Thoughts on the market (01:12:02) - What size does a microcap end? (01:14:06) - What are the best sources of information for mIcrocap? Support our Sponsors Fort Capital: https://bit.ly/FortCapital Follow Fort Capital on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/fort-capital/ Chris on Social Media: X: https://bit.ly/3BYIjcH LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/45gIkFd   Watch The Fort on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3oynxNX Visit our website: https://bit.ly/43SOvys Leave a review on Apple: https://bit.ly/45crFD0 Leave a review on Spotify: https://bit.ly/3Krl9jO  The FORT is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Bill Cawley is the brand and vision behind Cawley Partners, a full-service, Dallas-based real estate company historically focused on commercial office product. Over the course of his career, Bill has owned all classes of commercial real estate in multiple markets across the country. He is continually recognized as one of the most influential business leaders in Dallas-Fort Worth. Cawley Partners has been the premier office developer along the Dallas North Tollway, developing more than $500 million of Class A office space and totaling more than 1.5 million square feet within the last 5 years.  On this episode, Bill and Chris discuss: Bill's near-death experience and coming to Christ Experiencing the 80's crisis in Dallas The state of the Office market Advice for folks entering RE We'd appreciate you filling out our audience survey, so we can continuously work on providing relevant content to our listeners.  https://www.thefortpod.com/survey Links Cawley Partners Avery Capital Topics (00:00:00) - Intro (00:04:23) - Bill’s near-death experience and coming to Christ (00:19:10) - Rebuilding burned bridges (00:25:19) - Legacy (00:28:36) - Bill’s mission trip to Cuba (00:31:52) - Bill’s career in real estate (00:40:50) - Being in Dallas during the 80’s crisis  (00:44:13) - How the DFW tollway has evolved (00:52:06) - The state of the Office market (01:02:28) - The buyer market (01:04:33) - Construction (01:06:11) - Reflecting on Bill’s career (01:16:05) - Building Multifamily (01:19:24) - Advice to RE folks Support our Sponsors Better Pitch: https://bit.ly/42d9L0I Juniper Square: https://bit.ly/45yiYUq Fort Capital: https://bit.ly/FortCapital Follow Fort Capital on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/fort-capital/ Chris on Social Media: X: https://bit.ly/3BYIjcH LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/45gIkFd   Watch The Fort on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3oynxNX Visit our website: https://bit.ly/43SOvys Leave a review on Apple: https://bit.ly/45crFD0 Leave a review on Spotify: https://bit.ly/3Krl9jO  The FORT is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Barry Sternlicht is Chairman & CEO of Starwood Capital Group, the private alternative investment firm he formed in 1991 that is focused on global real estate. He also serves as Chairman & CEO of Starwood Property Trust (NYSE: STWD), a leading diversified finance company. For the past 32 years, Barry has structured investments with an asset value of $240B+. Starwood Capital’s investment vehicles have invested in approximately 290,000 residential units, 4,000 hotels, 103M SF of office properties, 75M SF of industrial, 56M SF of retail and 70,000 lots of land in residential subdivisions.  On this episode, Chris and Barry discuss: - Stories of scaling the business to 120k employees in 6 years - The value of “A Shared Pair” REIT - How to take a company from $1B in AUM to $10B - Selling Caesars Palace - Thoughts on the 2024 market Links: Starwood Capital Support our Sponsors Better Pitch: https://bit.ly/42d9L0I RE Cost Seg: https://bit.ly/3oC7JcY CRE Daily: https://bit.ly/4bteOQw Fort Capital: https://bit.ly/FortCapital Follow Fort Capital on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/fort-capital/ Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:02:07) - AI & Hotels (00:08:48) - The Midas touch (00:10:46) - Scaling to 120k employees in 6 years (00:15:48) - Shared Pair REITs (00:28:41) - Thoughts on Blackstone (00:36:26) - How to buy a REIT (00:40:39) - Taking a company from $1B in AUM to $10B (00:49:57) - How did you keep Starwood Capital moving while you stepped away? (00:58:42) - Selling Caesars Palace (01:08:01) - Thoughts on the market in 2024 Chris on Social Media: X: https://bit.ly/3BYIjcH LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/45gIkFd   Watch The Fort on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3oynxNX Visit our website: https://bit.ly/43SOvys Leave a review on Apple: https://bit.ly/45crFD0 Leave a review on Spotify: https://bit.ly/3Krl9jO  The FORT is produced by Johnny Podcasts

In this conversation, I sit down with my partner and Fort Capital CEO Jason Baxter to talk about our current fundraise, company wins, building out Fort’s custom AI, deal pipelines, profitability, how the team has grown, and an outlook for 2024. Past 'Year in Review' episodes: 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 We'd appreciate you filling out our audience survey, so we can continuously work on providing relevant content to our listeners.  https://www.thefortpod.com/survey Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:04:17) - Reflecting on 2023 (00:08:07) - Fundraising (00:16:16) - Company Wins (AI, Company Challenges, Team Meeting Structures) (00:35:05) - Fort Capital’s custom AI - Foster (00:52:30) - Pipeline (01:00:49) - Profitability (01:07:20) - Highlighting the Team (01:10:33) - 2024 Outlook Support our Sponsors Better Pitch: https://bit.ly/42d9L0I Juniper Square: https://bit.ly/45yiYUq Fort Capital: https://bit.ly/FortCapital Follow Fort Capital on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/fort-capital/ Chris on Social Media: X: https://bit.ly/3BYIjcH LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/45gIkFd   Watch The Fort on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3oynxNX Visit our website: https://bit.ly/43SOvys Leave a review on Apple: https://bit.ly/45crFD0 Leave a review on Spotify: https://bit.ly/3Krl9jO  The FORT is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Devon Eriksen grew up with images of the galaxy and the imagined worlds of the golden age of science fiction. Now a retired software engineer, he writes with one purpose in mind: to give the reader something to love. On this episode, Chris and Devon discuss: Why culture is upstream of law The era of whining being over Property Rights Why we need to push back on bad ideas Artificial Intelligence Rent-Seekers Links: Devon on X Devon's Book: Theft of Fire We'd appreciate you filling out our audience survey, so we can continuously work on providing relevant content to our listeners.  https://www.thefortpod.com/survey Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:02:23) - Devon’s multiple careers (00:03:42) - “Culture is upstream of law, and law affects us.” (00:17:33) - How does the non-left get back into the cultural dialogue? (00:30:54) - The era of whining is over. (00:34:43) - Property Rights (00:41:48) - Pushing back on bad ideas (00:46:13) - Artificial Intelligence (01:00:26) - Predicting the future (01:03:11) - Rent-Seeking (01:07:05) - Who are the fiction gatekeepers? (01:14:18) - Who is ‘they’? (01:16:53) - The Principle-Agent Problem Support our Sponsors: Fort Capital: https://bit.ly/FortCapital Follow Fort Capital on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/fort-capital/ Chris on Social Media: X: https://bit.ly/3BYIjcH LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/45gIkFd   Watch The Fort on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3oynxNX Visit our website: https://bit.ly/43SOvys Leave a review on Apple: https://bit.ly/45crFD0 Leave a review on Spotify: https://bit.ly/3Krl9jO  The FORT is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Chris Hoffmann currently serves as the CEO at Deutschmann Lane Holdings (DLH), which operates a family of companies including Hoffmann Brothers, Ferguson Roofing & Exteriors, Deutschmann Lane Real Estate, and HBH Investment Company. Before joining DLH, Chris served as an officer in the United States Marine Corps, leaving active duty in 2014. On this episode, we discuss: Chris' experience in the Marine Corps Taking over the family business Scaling the business Retaining and training labor The future of the trades Scaling acquired businesses We'd appreciate you filling out our audience survey, so we can continuously work on providing relevant content to our listeners.  https://www.thefortpod.com/survey Links: Chris Hoffmann on X Chris Hoffmann on LinkedIn Hoffmann Brothers Nexstar Network Tugboat Institute ServiceTitan Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:03:19) - Chris’ time in the Marines (00:10:17) - Taking over the family business (00:14:41) - Scaling the business (00:19:18) - The first year in the business (00:23:04) - What metrics matter in your industry? (00:25:25) - Scaling the business after $20mm (00:27:30) - Successfully retaining labor & Hoffmann Brothers University (00:32:43) - The future of the trades (00:34:06) - Purpose-driven ownership vs. PE (00:41:09) - What questions should sellers be asking buyers? (00:45:12) - Scaling acquired businesses (00:48:01) - Call centers (00:50:34) - The future of marketing is not paid search (00:51:58) - The importance of Google reviews (00:52:29) - Is B2C harder than B2B? (00:54:13) - Recession resistance (00:57:06) - Business ideas: House managers (00:59:29) - What do the next 10 years look like for Hoffmann Brothers? (01:02:40) - The family dynamic within the business (01:06:19) - Do you have a succession plan? (01:09:03) - Mistakes made (01:12:23) - What do you see for the future of your industry? Support our Sponsors Better Pitch: https://bit.ly/42d9L0I Relay Human Cloud: https://bit.ly/3sjQcaY Fort Capital: https://bit.ly/FortCapital Follow Fort Capital on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/fort-capital/ Chris on Social Media: X: https://bit.ly/3BYIjcH LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/45gIkFd   Watch The Fort on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3oynxNX Visit our website: https://bit.ly/43SOvys Leave a review on Apple: https://bit.ly/45crFD0 Leave a review on Spotify: https://bit.ly/3Krl9jO  The FORT is produced by Johnny Podcasts

David Moore is the founder and Managing Partner at Knightvest. Under David’s leadership, Knightvest has acquired over 55,000 units at a total capitalization of approximately $10.0 billion.  Since inception, Knightvest has sold over 15,000 units with an average IRR and multiple of over 30% and 2.2x, respectively. On this episode, Chris and David discuss: Making key hires to grow the company The explosion of the Class B multifamily market  A walkthrough of a typical deal The American renter in 2024 Construction & labor cost hikes State of the market update 2022-2024 We'd appreciate you filling out our audience survey, so we can continuously work on providing relevant content to our listeners.  https://www.thefortpod.com/survey Links Knightvest Capital - https://knightvestcapital.com/ David on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-moore-03005a39/ Topics (00:00:00) - Intro (00:04:45) - David’s first property  (00:13:08) - The decision to focus on multifamily (00:20:46) - Scaling Knightvest (00:24:01) - Multifamily is HARD work (00:27:25) - Becoming the best renovator (00:29:47) - Making key hires to grow the company (00:34:40) - The Class B MF market taking off (00:42:32) - Walkthrough of a typical deal (00:46:20) - The American renter in 2024 (00:54:09) - Thoughts on construction & labor cost hikes (00:58:17) - State of the Market Update 2022-2024 (01:19:22) - Technology innovations (01:21:32) - What do you think about often in multifamily? Support our Sponsors Better Pitch: https://bit.ly/42d9L0I RE Cost Seg: https://bit.ly/3oC7JcY Fort Capital: https://bit.ly/FortCapital Follow Fort Capital on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/fort-capital/ Chris on Social Media: X: https://bit.ly/3BYIjcH LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/45gIkFd   Watch The Fort on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3oynxNX Visit our website: https://bit.ly/43SOvys Leave a review on Apple: https://bit.ly/45crFD0 Leave a review on Spotify: https://bit.ly/3Krl9jO  The FORT is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Billy is the founder and Managing Partner of Pearl Energy Investments and manages the firm. He currently sits on the board of most Pearl portfolio companies including Permian Resources, SLANT Energy, Infinity Natural Resources, and Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. Before founding Pearl, Billy served as Co-Managing Partner of Natural Gas Partners (NGP) for almost 20 years. As Managing Partner, he co-managed NGP’s investment portfolio and played an active role in the full range of NGP’s investment process. In addition, Billy gained valuable investment experience working for Rainwater, Inc. and Hicks, Muse, Tate and Furst, Inc. He also worked as an analyst in the investment banking divisions of Bear Stearns & Co. and BT Securities Corporation. On this episode, Chris and Billy discuss: Running due diligence on a fund and operator Predicting the potential success of a company you acquire How to be a great capital partner How the industry has changed over 30 years The future for PE-backed Oil and Gas companies Fundraising, hiring, and building relationships We'd appreciate you filling out our audience survey, so we can continuously work on providing relevant content to our listeners.  https://www.thefortpod.com/survey Links Pearl Energy Investments Billy on LinkedIn Topics (00:00:00) - Intro (00:02:46) - Billy’s career in Oil and Gas PE (00:10:01) - Finding equilibrium in owning oil and buying oil (00:13:21) - Running due diligence on a fund and an operator (00:19:05) - Backing Permian Resources (00:24:05) - The importance of being close to the asset you operate (00:25:12) - How can you predict the potential success of a company you acquire? (00:29:10) - How to know you’re being a good partner (00:33:02) - Experiences during Covid (00:40:22) - Leaving NGP and forming Pearl (00:49:38) - How has the industry changed over 30 years (00:54:00) - What’s the best price for oil? (00:54:59) - Consolidation in the industry (00:56:43) - The Future for PE-backed Oil and Gas Companies (00:59:20) - Is capital coming back into the industry? (01:04:13) - What’s your strategy around fundraising? (01:13:08) - How do you think about hiring and relationships? (01:14:34) - Billy’s love for MMA Support our Sponsors Relay Human Cloud: https://bit.ly/3sjQcaY Fort Capital: https://bit.ly/FortCapital Follow Fort Capital on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/fort-capital/ Chris on Social Media: X: https://bit.ly/3BYIjcH LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/45gIkFd   Watch The Fort on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3oynxNX Visit our website: https://bit.ly/43SOvys Leave a review on Apple: https://bit.ly/45crFD0 Leave a review on Spotify: https://bit.ly/3Krl9jO  The FORT is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Marc is Chief Executive Officer at DigitalBridge and has been an investor and operator in the digital infrastructure sector for over 25 years. He has led DigitalBridge’s transformation to become a premier platform for digital infrastructure and real estate investment. Marc founded Digital Bridge Holdings in 2013 and, as its CEO, built the firm into a leading global manager of digital infrastructure assets with more than 20 billion in AUM, until its merger in July 2019 into the current public company, DigitalBridge Group, Inc. On this episode, Marc and Chris discuss: How the industry has evolved over the decades AI's impact on this industry The different verticals of data centers Value add digital Lease structures & Cybersecurity Digital real estate We'd appreciate you filling out our audience survey, so we can continuously work on providing relevant content to our listeners.  https://www.thefortpod.com/survey Links: DigitalBridge Marc on LinkedIn DigitalBridge on X Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:03:36) - Marc’s early career (00:07:28) - The world of cell towers (00:17:05) - Gauging the needs of small providers vs. large ones (00:20:18) - How has the industry changed over the past few decades? (00:24:08) - Is there going to be an increase in demand for AI data centers? (00:26:54) - The different verticals of data centers (00:31:03) - Do Amazon and Microsoft dominate the cloud industry? (00:31:48) - How far out can companies see how far out on how much data they’ll need? (00:33:32) - Is all data equal? (00:36:13) - Value add digital (00:38:15) - Is your work spec build or do customers commit to a location first? (00:40:27) - Data center lease structures (00:41:52) - Cybersecurity (00:43:13) - How do you enhance a fiber optic cable? (00:44:02) - Can offices be converted to data centers? (00:46:01) - Will electric vehicles be an issue regarding power availability? (00:48:30) - Is crypto putting a dent in the industry? (00:49:44) - The US’ strength in cybersecurity (00:51:28) - How do you run your business ops in the Middle East and Asia? (00:54:08) - Digital real estate (00:56:03) - Were there any shifts coming out of covid? (00:57:02) - What’s the bear case for digital? Support our Sponsors Better Pitch: https://bit.ly/42d9L0I Fort Capital: https://bit.ly/FortCapital Follow Fort Capital on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/fort-capital/ Chris on Social Media: X: https://bit.ly/3BYIjcH LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/45gIkFd   Watch The Fort on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3oynxNX Visit our website: https://bit.ly/43SOvys Leave a review on Apple: https://bit.ly/45crFD0 Leave a review on Spotify: https://bit.ly/3Krl9jO  The FORT is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Herb is Executive Chairman of Weitzman. In 1990, after nearly 30 years in the real estate business, Weitzman founded the company, a full‐service commercial real estate brokerage firm that now ranks as one of the largest retail‐focused real estate services firms based in Texas. On the brokerage side, Weitzman leases a retail portfolio of approximately 44 million square feet in Austin, Dallas‐Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio. As a property manager, Weitzman is responsible for managing a statewide portfolio of more than 22 million square feet of retail and commercial properties. On this episode, Chris and Herb discuss: Herb's real estate career Timeless lessons for success in real estate What makes a great retail deal Leadership philosophies The future of DFW Innovation in retail We'd appreciate you filling out our audience survey, so we can continuously work on providing relevant content to our listeners.  https://www.thefortpod.com/survey Links Weitzman Support our Sponsors RE Cost Seg: https://bit.ly/3oC7JcY Better Pitch: https://bit.ly/42d9L0I Fort Capital: https://bit.ly/FortCapital Follow Fort Capital on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/fort-capital/ Chris on Social Media: Twitter: https://bit.ly/3BYIjcH LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/45gIkFd   Watch The Fort on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3oynxNX Visit our website: https://bit.ly/43SOvys Leave a review on Apple: https://bit.ly/45crFD0 Leave a review on Spotify: https://bit.ly/3Krl9jO  Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:04:06) - Herb’s career in RE (00:16:02) - Timeless lessons for being successful in RE (00;16:42) - Future growth for DFW (00:18:18) - The opportunity to buy 25% of Highland Park Village for $100k (00:22:21) - What it takes to see the future potential of a market (00:24:38) - Starting Weitzman (00:33:10) - Experiencing the 80’s Savings and Loan Crisis (00:42:08) - Raising capital (00:43:45) - Why have you chosen to stay exclusively in Texas? (00:49:30) - Leadership philosophies (00:52:25) - What makes a great retail deal and what do people get wrong? (00:55:01) - Suburban vs. urban retail (00:59:22) - Ikea (01:00:53) - The importance of relationships in retail (01:05:33) - Thoughts on construction pricing (01:10:02) - What areas of DFW are going to explode over the next 10 years? (01:12:50) - Innovation in retail (01:19:44) - What does work look like for you today? The FORT is produced by Johnny Podcasts