The Collective Genius Podcast

Leon Barnes
  • 5.0 (10)
  • Business
  • Updated Weekly

The CG Podcast is the go-to resource for active real estate investors looking to scale their business to the next level. Tune in as the nation's top real estate investors share their success stories the game-changing decisions that shaped their journey how they turned failures into valuable learning experiences. Whether you're aiming to grow your portfolio, refine your strategy, or gain insights from industry leaders, this podcast delivers the knowledge and inspiration you need to accelerate your success.

  1. 1d ago

    The One Hire That Took This Wholesaler From 36 Deals to 65 featuring Chip Ferguson

    Chip Ferguson is the founder of Smooth Closing in Austin, Texas, a direct to seller home buying operation he built after spending eight to nine years as a full time online poker player. He went from flipping houses completely solo to running a team of nine in office and two overseas, with Q2 of this year landing 50% above his previous revenue record. This conversation walks through the whole arc, including the single hire that doubled his deal count in 12 months, why standard operating procedures were the hinge that changed everything, and the hairy deal niche most investors walk away from. If you are a solo operator who suspects you have hit your personal ceiling, this episode shows you exactly what the next step looks like.   Timeline Summary [1:30] – Leon welcomes Austin based CG member Chip Ferguson to the show [2:41] – What Smooth Closing buys today, mostly wholesale with flips on rural and messy title situations [5:01] – From Ohio to Northwestern, a school he picked by sorting national rankings [5:45] – Catching the online poker boom in college and going pro before he turned 21 [8:25] – Biggest single night win, worst pot lost, and why the losses stick harder [10:02] – Playing 30 tables at once online versus the slower grind of live tournaments [12:19] – Buying his first duplex in 2009 and getting scammed by his first contractor [13:35] – Entering wholesaling in 2014 by transcribing a podcast role play into a seller script [19:22] – Doing all of it alone, acquiring, project managing the GC, and listing the flips himself [21:39] – Hitting 36 deals two years in a row and reading that as proof of his ceiling [22:38] – One acquisitions hire takes the business from 36 to 65 deals in the first 12 months [25:37] – How lending to Sean Grabow sight unseen led to the introduction to Collective Genius [28:49] – The SOP problem, when every process lives inside two founders' heads [32:15] – Bringing dispo in house after years of handing deals to a third party company [37:14] – The hairy deal niche, chasing broken chains of title and estranged heirs nobody else finds [42:47] – Best quarter ever in Q1, then Q2 comes in 50% above the previous record   5 Key Takeaways Hire What You Are Not Good At — Most operators are their own best salesperson, so acquisitions is usually the last seat to fill. Chip was honest that talking to sellers was not his strength, hired for it, and nearly doubled the business in a year. A Repeated Number Is a Ceiling — Doing 36 deals two years running told him the constraint was him, not the market. When your output stops moving no matter how hard you work, that is a capacity problem and not an effort problem. Process Beats Instinct at Scale — Running everything from memory works right up until you hire someone. Without documented procedures you will keep churning through people and blaming the hires for a gap you never filled. Be the Worst Person in the Room — Chip joined CG specifically because everyone there was doing more volume than he was. The upside of being the least experienced person in the room is that everything you need has already been solved by someone sitting near you. Nobody Chases the Hairy Deals — Broken chains of title, estranged siblings on an inherited property, owners who cannot be found. Chip closed 10 to 15 of these because most investors will not do the research, which makes it one of the least competitive deal sources available.   Links & Resources Collective Genius Community — https://explorecg.com Smooth Closing — https://www.smoothclosing.com Chip Ferguson on Instagram — https://instagram.com/thechipferguson Chip Ferguson on Facebook — https://facebook.com/thechipferguson Email Chip directly — chip@smoothclosing.com BiggerPockets Podcast — https://www.biggerpockets.com   Enjoyed This Episode? If Chip going from 36 deals on a whiteboard to a team of eleven hit close to home, send this to the operator in your life who keeps saying they are too busy to document anything. The hairy deal conversation alone is worth a second listen, especially if you have let a title issue kill a contract this year. Follow the show, leave a rating and review, and head to https://explorecg.com if you want to be in the room with investors like Chip.

  2. 5d ago ·  Bonus

    Jason Pritchard: What It Actually Costs To Build The Team That Replaces You

    In this CG Live episode recorded at the Collective Genius Q2 event in Oceanside, California, Leon Barnes sits down with Jason Pritchard, a CEO level member out of California's Central Valley who has been on Leon's radar since the days when territory restrictions kept him out of the room. Jason started his home buying business in 2014, now runs around 120 deals a year, built a rental portfolio north of 100 units, and three years ago began redeploying that capital into land and development deals. This conversation covers why the active side of the business has to keep running before the bigger opportunities are possible, what it actually costs to shift a company away from being all about the founder, and the two hour breakout that produced a back of the napkin exit strategy he had been overcomplicating for months. If you are an owner operator trying to build the team that lets you take your eye off the ball, this one will land.   Timeline Summary [1:44] – Two years in the CEO room and why the timing of the tier expansion worked out perfectly [2:28] – The territory denial folder and what Leon was actually screening applications for [3:33] – Why the Central Valley is full of strong investors, and the mentor culture behind it [3:57] – People poured into Jason without strings attached, and why he does the same thing now [5:04] – The model, 120 deals a year at 60% flip and 40% wholesale, plus rentals and land [5:50] – Central California as the last affordable place in the state, and the demand that creates [6:30] – A white collar approach layered on a blue collar work ethic, and where that caps out [7:31] – Building the org chart so the home buying business runs without him [8:08] – Why the active grind funds everything else, and how hard that is to teach newer investors [9:11] – The season where profits go to salaries and marketing, one step back for a bigger one [10:08] – Shifting the identity away from everyone needing to talk to Jason [10:56] – What the CEO room delivers, tactical accountability plus proximity to high level operators [12:45] – Inverting the ratio, from 60% flip to 40%, because land deals are so cash intensive [13:28] – The napkin math from a two hour breakout that solved a partnership structure [16:00] – Parking at development sites years ago and finally being close to building them [17:12] – More time with the kids, and being the youngest grandpa in the room   5 Key Takeaways The Active Business Funds Everything Else — Without the home buying operation there is no land deal, no rental portfolio, no bigger swing. Everyone wants to jump to the sexier projects, but the grind years are the domino that knocks the rest over. Hard Work Has A Ceiling — Ten years of piling responsibility on your own shoulders gets you to a level and then stops, and it comes at the expense of family. The next level requires an org chart, not more hours. Expect The Profit Dip — Owner operators are highly profitable precisely because they are wearing every hat. Building the team means forgoing some of that for salaries, marketing, and overhead, and you have to be financially prepared for that season. Proximity Beats Information — The tactical accountability matters, but the real value is sitting next to operators who are further along and being willing to be a sponge. That is what compresses years into months. You Are Probably Overcomplicating It — Jason spent months in his own head on a partnership structure. It took a two hour breakout and the back of a piece of notepaper for someone to say the answer is simpler than you think.   Links & Resources Collective Genius — https://explorecg.com   If you are the bottleneck in your own business and everyone still has to come talk to you, go back to the section on shifting the identity of the company. Jason is candid about what that transition costs in profit and in time, and about the fact that it does not happen overnight. Send this to the operator who keeps saying they will build the team next year. Get in this room. Whether you are doing a couple of deals a month or thousands of deals a year, there is a tier for you, from Select and Elevate up through Premier, CEO, and now commercial through CG Legacy. Head to https://explorecg.com to find the application. It is invite only based on that application, and these are salt of the earth people.

  3. Aug 11

    How To Run 500 Flips A Year Without Knowing Construction featuring Armando Banuelos

    Armando Banuelos has been buying real estate since 2005, and at his peak his Visalia based operation was fixing and flipping 400 to 500 homes a year, nearly all of it acquired at trustee sales on the courthouse steps. He came to it from a farm working family, followed the crops to Washington every summer starting at age eight, and built a corporate career at Hewlett-Packard and Deloitte before an e-business layoff sent him back to the Central Valley with no plan. This conversation covers how you actually manage hundreds of construction projects a year when you are, in his words, one of the least handy people you will ever meet, and why after twenty one years the goal has shifted from buying more properties to buying fewer of the right ones. He also gets honest about the hardest personnel decision he has ever made, and why he could not have made it without the room. If you are running a construction heavy operation and starting to suspect that bigger is not the same thing as better, this one is required listening.   Timeline Summary [3:50] – Based in Visalia, primarily fix and flip, buying at auction since 2005 across Central California [5:37] – Four to five hundred homes a year through brute force, and everything came from trustee sales [7:25] – How you actually run hundreds of construction projects, and the leaks you ignore at full speed [9:16] – What Hewlett-Packard and Deloitte taught him about bringing systems to chaos [10:31] – A farm working family, following the crops to Washington, and a mother who would not let up [11:17] – Chico State, a switch from engineering to accounting, and the rejection that redirected everything [12:33] – Laid off from Deloitte and the friend's passing that led him to the courthouse steps [15:16] – Two properties bought on December 26th, 2005, and six months to rehab and flip them [17:09] – Going full time in 2008, in the middle of the crash, watching loans drop from 350 to 100 [18:00] – Any property priced correctly will sell, in any market, up or down [22:34] – The least handy guy in the room, a conductor who does not play any instruments [26:26] – Not the CG slap but a roundhouse kick, and the inefficiency it exposed across the business [28:59] – The hardest personnel decision he has made and why he never would have made it alone [31:46] – Team basketball, why the star who needs the ball can cost you the whole chemistry [33:23] – Buying fewer properties on purpose, more net over more gross, and nobody working weekends [37:06] – The health phase, reprogramming into a leader, and making room for the next one   5 Key Takeaways You Do Not Need To Know Construction To Run Construction — Armando calls himself a conductor who plays no instruments. What scaled the business was systems, technology, and people who had been with him fifteen and twenty years, not personal expertise with a tool belt. Speed Hides The Leaks — At a hundred miles an hour you stop noticing what the business is losing. In-house construction did not eliminate the leaks, but it kept them small enough to see and to price. The Hardest Fixes Are Personnel, Not Process — The room did not hand him a new acquisitions system. It told him the real issue was a person, and that answer took wise counsel from more than one voice before he could act on it. Price Solves Almost Everything — Any property priced correctly will sell, in a hot market or a crashed one, because someone is always looking to buy a house. That belief is what carried the business through 2008. Bigger Is Not The Goal Anymore — Fewer properties, managed correctly, with less leakage and a team that does not work weekends. The metric that matters now is net, not gross, and the freedom the business creates for everyone in it.   Links & Resources Collective Genius — https://explorecg.com   If you have been telling yourself the problem is your systems, go back to the section on acquisitions and the decision Armando had to make. Sometimes the leaky bucket is not a process at all, and you will not see that clearly from inside your own office. What got you here will not get you there, and the answers are usually sitting in a room with people who have no reason to tell you what you want to hear. Get in this room. If you are a full time real estate investor looking to grow and scale, head to https://explorecg.com to find the application and see which tier fits your business. We are invite only, and worst case you have a great conversation about your business and meet a new friend in the industry.

  4. Aug 7 ·  Bonus

    Matt Viebrock: What Nobody Tells You About Hiring For Acquisitions

    div]:bg-bg-000/50 [&_pre>div]:border-0.5 [&_pre>div]:border-border-400 [&_.ignore-pre-bg>div]:bg-transparent [&_.standard-markdown_:is(p,blockquote,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6)]:pl-2 [&_.standard-markdown_:is(p,blockquote,ul,ol,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6)]:pr-8 [&_.progressive-markdown_:is(p,blockquote,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6)]:pl-2 [&_.progressive-markdown_:is(p,blockquote,ul,ol,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6)]:pr-8"> _*]:min-w-0 gap-3 [&_>_*:last-child]:mb-0 print:block print:[&_>_*_+_*]:mt-3 standard-markdown"> In this CG Live episode recorded at the Collective Genius Select and Elevate event in Clearwater Beach, Florida in May 2026, Matt Viebrock joins the show for the first time to preview his masterclass on hiring and team building. Matt runs a fractional COO firm along with Acquisition Reps, a branch focused specifically on hiring for acquisitions, dispositions, and lead management, and he spent years in the acquisitions seat himself running a wholesaling and fix and flip operation. This conversation covers why most operators plateau between $1 million and $2 million, why pulling yourself out of the acquisitions seat too early kills growth, and what A player compensation actually looks like right now in a market where good salespeople have options. If you are stuck doing the selling yourself and afraid to hire, or you have made two bad acquisitions hires and cannot figure out what went wrong, this one is required listening.   Timeline Summary [0:22] – The event, the theme, and the four or five challenges every real estate entrepreneur runs into [1:44] – Why acquisitions is a completely different sale and you cannot just move someone into the seat [4:38] – What the team should look like at every stage, from one deal a month solo up to ten [4:57] – Culture comes before hiring, because if you never define it you still have one [6:23] – You are only as good as your recruits, and identification comes before acquisition of talent [8:06] – Why operators plateau between $1 million and $2 million and stop acquiring talent [8:47] – Reverse the hiring mentality, get operational help before you hire your first acquisitions rep [10:01] – The baseball analogy, why pulling your best home run hitter to manage kills production [11:28] – A players will not work for C players, and why leadership has to level up first [12:47] – The biggest hiring mistakes right now, rushing the process and going off gut feel [13:31] – Gary Keller on making your world big enough that nobody wants to leave [14:57] – What A player acquisitions comp looks like, 15% with a small base as a draw [16:13] – What the masterclass includes, job descriptions, training plans, and full playbooks   5 Key Takeaways Define Culture Before You Hire — You already have a culture whether you named it or not. Deciding what you want it to be is the first move, not something you fix after the team is in place. Always Be In Hiring Mode — Build a bench the way a football team does. Identify people you would want twelve months from now and start the relationship early, so a departure does not stall the business. Buy Back Your Time Before You Replace Yourself — Start with a time audit and an EA rather than an acquisitions rep. Get out of the admin work first so you can stay on the phones and actually double revenue. Your Best Closer Is Not Your Next Manager — Sales production and management are different skill sets. Pulling your top producer into a manager role because a book told you to be the visionary removes the person driving revenue. Pay Like You Want An A Player — Top acquisitions people are pulling 15% with a small base as a draw. W2 with real benefits beats 1099, and the honest test is whether you would take the job you are offering.   Links & Resources Collective Genius — https://explorecg.com   If you are the one still taking every seller call and telling yourself you are too busy to recruit, go back to the part where Matt explains why the plateau between $1 million and $2 million is almost always a hiring problem in disguise. The fix is not a better closer, it is buying your own time back first. Send this to the operator you know who just made their second bad acquisitions hire. You have to get in this room. If you are a full time real estate investor who wants to grow, head to https://explorecg.com to see the different levels of the Collective Genius and find the application. You are where you are right now, and this community exists to help you get where you want to go.

  5. Aug 4

    The Dispo System That Assigns Deals In 72 Hours featuring Trey Chandler

    Trey Chandler is a West Point graduate, former infantry officer, and co-founder of My Tennessee Home Solution in Nashville, where he and his business partner Jordan run a wholesaling operation doing hundreds of transactions a year across Middle Tennessee. Since closing their first deal in 2020, they have grown from 80 deals a year in CG Select to a CG Premier promotion and a belt on the wall. This conversation covers how military leadership frameworks translate directly into real estate operations, why brand and personnel decide who wins in competitive markets, and how their Dispo team built a Buy It Now program that now moves half of their deals without a single walkthrough. If you are scaling a wholesaling business in a crowded market and want to know what actually compresses a ten year learning curve into five, this one is for you.   Timeline Summary [1:30] – Leon Barnes introduces Nashville investor and CG Premier belt winner Trey Chandler [2:56] – The model, wholesale assignments across Middle Tennessee plus sub two deals held as rentals [4:47] – Scaling responsibly, why they held off on construction and hard money until the right people showed up [6:48] – West Point, infantry, and combat deployment as the foundation for high tempo business execution [8:09] – Putting himself and Jordan in front of the camera and what that did for inbound trust [11:56] – Applying the military decision making model to business, intent, left and right limits, desired end state [13:43] – The settlement statement Jordan showed him at Fort Benning that ended his Special Forces plan [15:10] – First deal was a flip with six figure profit, and he pulled his packet shortly after [17:35] – Enablers that cut a ten year learning curve to five, including Collective Genius, Ramp, and Atlas [20:19] – How a referral and a conversation with Brad Bowen led him into the CG room [21:14] – From 80 deals a year in CG Select to hundreds of transactions and a Premier promotion [25:07] – The one CG conversation about sales process that led to signing with the Ramp team [26:32] – Why breaking bread with a service provider beats hiring off a recommendation alone [30:04] – The Buy It Now program that now moves 50% of their deals with no walkthroughs or outreach [32:28] – 45 day project check ins with buyers and why he does not want to sell a deal that loses money [35:38] – The purpose indicator behind the company, positively impacting 8,000 people by 2030   5 Key Takeaways Add Verticals When People Arrive — Construction and hard money stayed on the shelf until the right business unit leaders showed up. Perfecting one thing is what attracts the people who let you safely add the next thing. Give Intent, Not Instructions — Set the desired end state and the left and right limits, then let the team figure out execution. The Buy It Now program came from the Dispo director, not from the owner dictating a process. Brand Compounds Faster Than You Think — Trey and Jordan decided early that people needed a brand to trust, then put their own faces on the marketing. Five years of intentional brand beats twenty years of accidental reputation. Vet Providers Before You Need Them — The advantage of a peer group is not just the recommendation. It is sitting across the table from a provider and finding out if they will push back on you before you ever sign. Protect The Buyer Side Of The Deal — Weekly deal reviews, ARV and rehab variance tracking, and 45 day project check ins keep buyers winning. That trust is what makes half their deals sell at Buy It Now pricing.   Links & Resources Collective Genius — https://explorecg.com My Tennessee Home Solution: https://mytennesseehomesolution.com/   Enjoyed This Episode? If the Buy It Now breakdown or the 45 day buyer check in process gave you something to steal, send this episode to the operator on your team who owns Dispo. The answers Trey talked about are not theoretical, they came from being in the room with people already doing it. Follow the Collective Genius podcast, leave a rating and review, and head to https://explorecg.com to see which tier fits where your business is today.

  6. Jul 31 ·  Bonus

    Steve Trang: Becoming Objection Proof with Humans & AI in Your Lead Manager Roles

    Steve Trang is the founder of Objection Proof AI and the former operator of Max Cash Offers, and he now builds practical AI tools that review sales conversations, run role plays, and work follow up for real estate investors. He joined us on stage at CG Select and Elevate in Clearwater Beach ahead of his masterclass on where investors actually are in their AI journey and what the next step looks like. This conversation covers what it costs to run AI across a real company, why the operators seeing the best results are running humans and AI on the same leads instead of choosing one, and how automated follow up is producing $1,000 cost per contract on leads most investors throw away. If you have a CRM full of leads nobody has touched in a year and a sales team that says it follows up but doesn't, this one is for you.   Timeline Summary [0:22] – Host opens at CG Select and Elevate with 200 plus full time investors focused on getting better, not just bigger [3:19] – Framing the conversation around practical AI you can use today, not technology that's 30 years away [4:23] – Why 90 percent of the room has used ChatGPT but almost nobody has AI actually doing work for them [5:04] – Steve's team spent nearly $4,000 in tokens in one month and learned mostly what not to do [5:30] – Every employee gets a paid AI account, and why nobody has been let go because of AI [5:49] – The April lesson on using AI responsibly and setting budget overrides by team member [7:13] – How CG member conversations pushed Steve to build the AI product in the first place [7:31] – Automatic sales conversation review on every call, including an app for recording in person appointments [7:59] – Ten role play bots covering cold inbound, form fill to appointment, and appointment to contract [8:39] – The old Max Cash Offers cadence of nine dials in 24 hours and why it never got done consistently [9:20] – AI now calls forever until it reaches the homeowner, with no sick days and no bad days [11:37] – Why the top performing clients run humans and AI on the same lead instead of picking one [12:35] – Most teams have six closers and two good ones, so let AI cover the rest [15:30] – Peeling off $1,000 a month for Facebook leads and seeing $1,000 cost per contract [16:20] – The text message channel that dominated 2019 to 2021 and still has no real replacement [18:57] – Jacob Matlock closed a $60,000 deal eight days in from a lead untouched for two years [20:03] – What's next, an AI closer built to buy houses virtually over the phone   5 Key Takeaways Run Humans And AI Together — The clients getting the most out of this aren't choosing between a human lead manager and an AI caller. They put both on the same lead and let whoever connects first take it. Activity Is Now Guaranteed — Sales training has always assumed the follow up actually happens, and it usually doesn't. AI removes the variable, calling nights, weekends, and holidays without getting discouraged. Cheap Leads Just Got Viable Again — Facebook and other low cost leads used to die because working them took too much human labor. Strip out that cost and a $1,000 monthly ad spend can produce contracts at $1,000 each. Follow Up Is Where The Money Is — Somewhere between 75 and 85 percent of deals come from follow up, not first contact. A two year old dead lead turned into a $60,000 deal eight days after one operator turned the system on. Budget Discipline Beats Enthusiasm — Getting the whole team on AI is only half the work. Once everyone is using it, you need spending limits and clear rules about who is allowed to go over.   Links & Resources Objection Proof AI: https://objectionproof.ai Hear the AI caller: text AI CALLER to 33777  Hear a role play bot: text ROLE PLAY to 33777  The Collective Genius: https://thecollectivegenius.com   Enjoyed This Episode? If you've been telling yourself your team is handling follow up, go pull a lead from two years ago and see what happens. Steve's breakdown of running humans and AI side by side is the kind of thing that changes how you staff your sales floor, so send this to the operator you know who is still trying to hire their way out of the problem. Follow, rate, and review the Collective Genius podcast so more investors can find these conversations.

  7. Jul 28

    Why He Spent 3 Years Learning Before Building A Business featuring Bobby Kough

    Bobby Kough is a West Point graduate and former Army engineer officer who partnered with Jimmy Vreeland to run a wholesale operation across St. Louis, Little Rock, and Wichita, with his brother Gerrad running the Little Rock side. Six years in, the business is on pace for eight figures and running roughly 200 percent net profit growth in the St. Louis market. Instead of the usual founder story, this episode follows the path most people are actually on, going from a W-2 job to working for someone doing it at scale to becoming a partner in the business. If you're still employed and wondering how to make the jump without burning the bridge behind you, Bobby lays out exactly how he handled that conversation and what it turned into.   Timeline Summary [3:53] – Wholesale makes up 80 to 90 percent of the business across three Midwest markets [5:25] – Southern California football, playing alongside Bobby Wagner, and the road to West Point [11:24] – The plan was a corporate engineering job at Honeywell until a COVID quarantine policy changed it [13:33] – First flip in summer 2020 nets $25,000 while he's still an active duty captain [15:08] – An Army football headhunter connects him to Jimmy Vreeland in St. Louis [16:38] – One dinner at a Mexican restaurant and 72 hours later the Phoenix plan is dead [19:20] – Why he told Jimmy on day one that he planned to leave in two years and build his own thing [21:38] – 100 plus properties in year one, then an outside group offers him 25 percent of their company [22:22] – Jimmy responds with a question instead of a counteroffer and it reshapes the business [24:29] – The Branson trip that proved the culture was worth keeping together [28:00] – The simple CG feedback on lead response speed that became a massive early unlock [29:56] – Relationships, revenues, reviews as the Q3 theme in a business heading toward eight figures [30:52] – Why hiring middle managers and chasing initiatives pulled them off buying and selling [34:41] – 200 percent net profit growth in St. Louis and the path from 300 to 700 houses [36:17] – An executive coach analyzes the team and identifies the real X factor [38:59] – Why sellers stopped trusting text offers and started wanting a human conversation 5 Key Takeaways Be Honest About Your Exit — Bobby told Jimmy up front that he wanted to build his own company in about two years. That transparency is the reason the relationship turned into a partnership instead of a competitor problem. Ask What They Really Want — When Bobby brought an outside offer to the table, Jimmy asked what he actually wanted long term. Finding out someone's real end goal is how you keep good people instead of bidding against strangers. Small Nuggets Beat Big Ideas — The advice that moved the needle early was how fast they responded to a new lead. It sounds too basic to matter until you check your own numbers. Middle Managers Are Not Growth — Every time they added layers and ran internal initiatives, performance dropped. The business grew when the whole team stayed pointed at buying and selling houses. Genuine Care Is The Edge — No AI stack, no cutting edge tech. An outside executive coach analyzed the team and found the differentiator was people who actually care, and sellers can tell the difference immediately. Links & Resources • The Knock Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-knock-podcast/id1829544728 • The Knock Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheKnockPodcast • The Collective Genius: https://thecollectivegenius.com Enjoyed This Episode? If you're sitting in a W-2 job with a few flips under your belt and no idea how to make the leap, go back and listen to how Bobby handled that first conversation with Jimmy. Being upfront about wanting to eventually leave is what got him a partnership instead of a resignation letter, and that's worth sending to anyone you know who is stuck on the fence. Follow, rate, and review the Collective Genius podcast so more investors can find these conversations. EPISODE TITLE OPTIONS How to Tell Your Boss You Want to Leave and End Up a Partner Why Middle Managers Slowed Down a Company Doing 300 Houses a Year The Question That Turned an Employee Into a Business Partner From Army Captain to an Eight Figure Real Estate Business in Six Years Why Sellers Are Done With Text Offers and Want a Human Again What Actually Separates You From the Competition in a Trust Recession How Three Partners Scaled Across Three Midwest Markets Without Losing Culture The Quiet Advantage That Beats Every AI Tool in Real Estate Right Now Why the Best Operators Answer the Phone Faster Than You Do How We Went From 300 Houses to 700 Without a Hiring Spree A few things to verify before this goes out: Names. The transcript renders the guest as "Bobby Ko," "Bobby code," and "Bobby cough." Correct spelling is Kough. His brother is spelled Gerrad, not Jared. Worth a find and replace anywhere else this transcript gets used. The company. Bobby's operation comes through the transcript garbled as "I buy Saint Louis" and "I buy houses." It's I Buy STL. No website was given on air, so I left it out of the links. Send me the URL if you want it added. Bobby's Instagram. He gives it verbally at 43:29 but the transcript doesn't capture a usable handle. I left it out rather than guess. The CG website. Same issue as the Steve Trang episode, the URL comes through as "explore." I used the main site address.

  8. Jul 24 ·  Bonus

    Marc Ensign: Why Most Real Estate Investors Lose the Lead in the First 48 Hours

    Marc Ensign runs a fractional CMO agency that steps into real estate investing companies as marketing leadership, managing budgets, strategy, internal teams, and outside vendors after 25 years of running his own agency. At the May 2026 CG Select and Elevate event in Clearwater Beach, he sat down ahead of his "First 48" masterclass with Benmont Locker to talk lead response, follow up, and vendor accountability. This conversation breaks down why most seller leads die in the first 48 hours, why the same copy-paste text message fails leads from TV, PPC, and direct mail, and how to hold marketing vendors accountable when results slip. If you're a real estate investor spending real money on marketing and not seeing consistent deal flow, this episode is for you.   Timeline Summary [0:22] – Host opens live from the May 2026 CG Select and Elevate event in Clearwater Beach, Florida [1:13] – Consistent deal flow named the number one challenge facing real estate investors right now [1:30] – Marc explains the fractional CMO model: managing budget, strategy, team, and vendors, not running the ads [2:20] – Shiny penny syndrome, and why investors throw money at the wall instead of mastering the basics [3:46] – The four marketing channels the most successful direct-to-seller investors rely on consistently [4:31] – Can AI run your Google Ads without management fees? Marc on where automation falls short [5:03] – The human element: why empathy wins with distressed sellers aging out of homes or in financial trouble [5:47] – Inside the First 48 masterclass with Benmont Locker and why speed to lead beats 6-month nurture plans [7:40] – The copy-paste text message problem: TV, PPC, and direct mail leads each need a different first touch [9:22] – 75 to 85 percent of closed deals don't close on the first appointment, making follow up non-negotiable [10:51] – What members will do differently with their sales teams after the presentation [12:28] – Personal touch beats automation when sellers make this transaction only 1 to 3 times in a lifetime [12:54] – How to confront a marketing vendor after five years when results start slipping [13:59] – Run the meeting yourself: replacing vanity metrics with the business owner's actual lead goals [14:38] – Marc's 60 to 90 day probationary framework for coaching up or replacing vendors [15:35] – Why every vendor joins the same weekly call, so the PPC guy answers to the whole room   5 Key Takeaways Win the First 48 Hours — Investors obsess over 6-month nurture sequences while losing the first five minutes. If you haven't connected within 48 hours, that opportunity is likely gone. Segment Leads by Source — A seller who saw your TV ad already knows your brand, while a PPC lead has never heard of you. Sending both the same "we'd love to buy your house" text ignores where they came from and what they need. Personal Touch Beats Automation — AI can run campaigns, but it can't replace empathy for a seller dealing with distress. The investors leaning into the human element right now are doing business at a higher level. Run Vendor Meetings on Your Goals — Stop letting your SEO team celebrate rankings for keywords nobody searches. Set the specific lead targets that matter to your business and make every vendor report against them. Weekly Accountability Drives Results — Vendors will always work harder for the client checking in every week than the one meeting quarterly. Marc puts all vendors on one shared call so data flows and nobody hides in a silo.   Links & Resources LoudMouth (Marc Ensign's fractional CMO agency) — https://loudmouthed.com The Collective Genius — https://explorecg.com   Enjoyed This Episode? If Marc's breakdown of the first 48 hours made you rethink that copy-paste text your sales team sends every new lead, put it in front of them this week. Share this episode with an investor who's still letting vendors run the meeting with vanity metrics. Then follow the Collective Genius Podcast, and leave a quick rating and review so more investors can find the show.

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The CG Podcast is the go-to resource for active real estate investors looking to scale their business to the next level. Tune in as the nation's top real estate investors share their success stories the game-changing decisions that shaped their journey how they turned failures into valuable learning experiences. Whether you're aiming to grow your portfolio, refine your strategy, or gain insights from industry leaders, this podcast delivers the knowledge and inspiration you need to accelerate your success.

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