Navigating Venture Success: Insights on Returns and Strategic Funds The Propcast

In the final episode of season 12 of The Propcast, Louisa is joined by Jeffrey Berman, General Partner at Camber Creek, where they discuss how to set yourself on a path for the potential to create venture return, Camber Creek’s investment thesis, portfolio, their approach to investment and JB’s predictions for 2024.
Jeffrey dives into the importance of a ‘less is more approach’ when it comes to investment, and how Camber Creek’s investment strategy is based around a ‘need to have’, rather than a ‘nice to have’ method, providing examples like Flex and Built whose products provide solutions to the challenges that tenants and landlords are facing in the US.
Tune in to this episode to hear more about what 2024 has in store for the real estate technology space, as well as what JB’s ‘walking out’ song would be if he were to headline Coachella…
 
Companies mentioned
Flex
Notarize
Bilt
Measurabl
Placemakr
Pet Screening
VTS
Curbio
Arcadia
Jones
Bowery
 
Shoutouts
Michael Beckerman
Casey Berman
Shragie Lichtenstein
YeTong Shao
Matt Ellis
 
Episode Highlights
We invest in exceptional entrepreneurs who are building companies that are changing how we interact with the built world – Jeffrey
The way we always thought about fund size was we looked backwards. Not forwards. – Jeffrey
We have this massive group of strategic limited partners, over 300 around the globe, whose reading points become the foundation layer of ‘these are the types of companies we need to look at’ – Jeffrey
 
Key Takeaways
How Camber Creek has created its investment theses from an initial investment hypothesis, and how they continue to utilise that to invest in the best companies within the real estate technology sphere.
The two main questions that sparked Camber Creek’s investment thesis idea
Camber Creek’s different funds, including its opportunity fund
Jeffrey shares with us a bit more about some of their fastest growing companies, like Flex and the mission behind it
The massive opportunity set for climate tech and carbon tech
 
About our guests
Jeffrey Berman
Jeffrey Berman is a General Partner at Camber Creek. Jeffrey participates in all aspects of Camber Creek’s operations and portfolio management and serves on the boards of numerous Camber Creek portfolio companies. He has more than two decades of executive management experience and deeply rooted relationships in the startup, real estate, and venture capital ecosystems. Prior to Camber Creek, he was a Principal at one of the Washington, DC area’s largest privately held real estate development and management companies. Jeffrey has also been an active early-stage investor, backing more than three dozen startups, including Jackpocket, Kindbody, and Rappi. 
 
Camber Creek
Camber Creek is a venture capital firm providing strategic value and capital to operating technology companies focused on the real estate market. Camber Creek contributes in a direct and significant way to the success of its portfolio companies by leveraging the real estate expertise, operating experience and portfolio of assets of its partners, investors, and advisors. Our investment team has investing, operating, and technology experience and expertise across a range of real estate businesses, including construction, property management, development, and leasing. Our investors own, operate and manage billions of square feet of real estate in the U.S., giving us a unique competitive advantage as an investor and value-added partner in the real estate technology space. The firm has ~$1bln AUM.
 
About Our Host  
 
Louisa Dickins  
 
Louisa is the Co-Founder of LMRE, which has rapidly become the market-leading global built environment recruitment platform and search consultancy, specializing in finding the best strategic talent for the most innovative organisations in PropTech, ConTech, Smart Buildings, ESG, Sustainability and Strategic