The Fort - An Entrepreneurship Podcast

Chris Powers
  • 4.9 (464)
  • ENTREPRENEURSHIP
  • UPDATED WEEKLY
The Fort - An Entrepreneurship Podcast Podcast

The Fort is an entrepreneurship podcast. Here, we uncover the proven strategies, insights, and inspiring stories of today’s greatest leaders in the worlds of business, real estate, entrepreneurship, and investing. Each episode’s mission is to help you to level up your entrepreneurial game by hearing directly from the men and women in the arena. Chris is able to uniquely uncover things not commonly discussed because he is an entrepreneur himself. We not only cover business, but we also cover the personal side of entrepreneurship. The Fort began in 2018 as a way for Chris to publicly explore the fascinating world of entrepreneurship. Since he was a child, he’s been characterized as obsessively curious about the world around him.  The Fort has now been downloaded over 2M times, across more than 50,000 unique listeners. Each week features conversations with entrepreneurs, Founders, CEOs, and Executives from some of the leading companies in America. Past guests have represented companies such as JLL, Hillwood, S2 Capital, Chick Fil A, Morning Brew, Founders Podcast, Tiny Capital, Permanent Equity, Fort Capital, Matthews REIS, Bonobos, and ConvertKit. 🐦 Follow Chris on Twitter: www.twitter.com/FortWorthChris 💡 Follow Chris on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/chrispowersjr/ 📹 Subscribe to The FORT on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FORTpod

  1. AUG 29

    #364 - Chico West - Getting Sober, Overcoming Trauma, & Winning

    Chico West is a LPC therapist, coach, and consultant.  He works with on-site programs and for Construction companies and has a private practice with over 34 years of continuous sobriety. We discuss: - Common themes around addiction - Marriage - Therapy and Counseling in the C-Suite 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 Chico West Counseling Chico on LinkedIn Topics (00:00:00) - Intro (00:02:06) - Be a Buffalo, not a cow (00:03:19) - Life before sobriety (00:13:03) - Believing in Jesus (00:16:58) - Common themes around addiction (00:22:23) - Following a higher power vs. following Christ  (00:24:33) - What does your work look like today? (00:27:34) - What do you tell people who want to quit booze? (00:31:20) - How do you deal with the weight of when people fail at this work? (00:37:28) - Men & Women (00:42:20) - Is addiction nature or nurture? (00:45:37) - Gordon Highlander (00:55:16) - Is mental health overplayed? (00:59:59) - Closing advice Support our Sponsors Relay Human Cloud: https://bit.ly/3sjQcaY Fort: https://bit.ly/FortCompanies Follow Fort on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fort-companies/ Chris on Social Media: The Fort Podcast on Twitter/X: https://x.com/theFORTpodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefortpodcast 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

    1h 5m

  2. AUG 27

    #363 - Jason Illian - GP & Co-Founder @ Highmount Capital - Growth Equity, Investing in Dude Perfect, Launching Koch Disruptive Technologies

    Jason is the General Partner and Co-Founder of Highmount Capital, a unique investment firm focused on growth stage and middle market investments in transformative technology and other growth-related platforms. He is the former Managing Director and founding member of Koch Disruptive Technologies (KDT), the venture and growth arm of Koch Industries, the largest privately-held company in the US with over $130B in revenue. Jason was responsible for helping KDT grow to billions in AUM across 40+ companies. We discuss: - What makes a great venture partner - What venture firms look for in late-stage companies - The process of making a $100mm investment in DudePerfect 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: Dude Perfect Highmount Capital Jason on X Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:05:23) - Jason's Early career (00:10:03) - What makes a great venture partner  (00:13:23) - Joining Koch Industries (00:15:18) - Building the venture framework for Koch (00:19:48) - What does a great late-stage company look like in the eyes of a venture firm? (00:26:40) - Founding Highmount Capital (00:29:56) - Building a great origination engine (00:35:44) - Investing in Dude Perfect (00:40:18) - The craving for family-friendly brands (00:44:10) - How do you think about your role post-investment? (00:46:44) - What are unique ways to make money in the creator economy? (00:54:14) - Are the Dudes a technology business or technology-enabled business? (00:57:34) - How do you find a CEO for a company like DudePerfect?  (01:01:18) - How is Highmount structured? Support our Sponsors Vesto: https://www.vesto.com/fort Better Pitch: https://bit.ly/42d9L0I Fort: https://bit.ly/FortCompanies Follow Fort on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fort-companies/ Chris on Social Media: The Fort Podcast on Twitter/X: https://x.com/theFORTpodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefortpodcast 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

    1h 8m

  3. AUG 20

    #362 - Steve Van Amburgh - CEO @ KDC - Developing The BEST Corporate Build-To-Suits in America

    As the CEO of KDC, Steve Van Amburgh manages the firm’s strategic planning while coordinating new business development efforts. He also oversees KDC’s acquisition and development activities. Under his leadership, KDC completed over 154 corporate build-to-suit office and industrial projects valued at over $11 billion and totaling more than 37 million square feet. We discuss: - The process for developing corporate campuses for the likes of State Farm - The state of the office and construction market - Working with cities and municipalities as a developer 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: KDC Topics (00:00:00) - Intro (00:06:09) - Steve’s early career (00:14:10) - Buying Koll Company (00:22:47) - The importance of focus (00:25:59) - How corporate campus deals come together (00:33:00) - Negotiating the deal (00:38:48) - Architecture and design (00:42:46) - Budgeting and planning (00:46:27) - The impact of change orders (00:48:26) - When does your work on a project end?  (00:51:05) - The state of the market (00:55:46) - Capital markets (00:58:33) - Is there a market for these assets? (01:00:24) - Max bid deals (01:01:04) - What’s the hardest part of a project? (01:03:19) - Brokers (01:06:25) - How cities can help themselves and developers Support our Sponsors Vesto: https://www.vesto.com/fort Fort: https://bit.ly/FortCompanies Follow Fort on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fort-companies/ Chris on Social Media: The Fort Podcast on Twitter/X: https://x.com/theFORTpodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefortpodcast 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

    1h 11m

  4. AUG 6

    #361 - Jeremiah Donati - Director of Intercollegiate Athletics @ TCU - The Business and Future of College Athletics

    Jeremiah Donati was appointed as TCU’s Director of Intercollegiate Athletics on December 11, 2017.  Since his arrival at TCU in 2011, Donati has played a major role in enhancing the TCU student-athlete experience through donor-supported facility upgrades totaling nearly $500 million. During Donati’s tenure as athletics director, the Horned Frogs have won eight team national championships and 11 Big 12 Conference titles. In the 2023-24 athletics season, TCU was one of just five schools nationally to win multiple NCAA Championships with its titles in rifle and men's tennis. The 2022-23 athletics season was the most successful in TCU's 150 years. TCU became the only school in the College Football Playoff era to reach the CFP, NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, and College World Series in the same academic year.  We discuss: - The changing landscape of NIL, recruiting, and Private Equity entering athletics - The process of raising capital and the business side of college athletics - The future of conference realignment in football, coaching hiring and firing, and more 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 (00:03:45) - Jeremiah’s career and background (00:10:40) - The evolution of TCU as a University (00:13:05) - Building a Power 5 School mentality (00:16:01) - Raising money for an Athletic department (00:19:41) - Becoming Athletic Director at TCU (00:26:03) - The NIL dilemma (00:33:13) - Transfer Portal issues (00:37:57) - Is PE going to become involved in college athletics? (00:42:52) - How do universities make money via athletics? (00:44:04) - Coaching: Recruiting, hiring, and firing (00:59:02) - The Caitlin Clark effect & the value of winning (01:02:45) - The Big 12 realignment (01:07:21) - The entertainment business within college sports (01:09:31) - Are we moving to super-conferences? Links: Jeremiah on X - https://x.com/JDonati_TCU TCU Athletics - https://gofrogs.com/ Support our Sponsors Better Pitch: https://bit.ly/42d9L0I Fort: https://bit.ly/FortCompanies Follow Fort on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fort-companies/ Chris on Social Media: The Fort Podcast on Twitter/X: https://x.com/theFORTpodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefortpodcast 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

    1h 22m

  5. JUL 23

    #360 - Andy Weiner - President @ RockStep Capital - Investing in Shopping Malls in Secondary / Tertiary Markets at 15-25% Cap Rates

    Andy Weiner, President of RockStep Capital, started RockStep Capital Corporation in 1996. Weiner has built or acquired over 9 million square feet of shopping centers throughout the United States. Prior to founding RockStep Capital, Weiner served as Vice President of Operations for Weiner Stores, a chain of 159 family clothing stores with locations in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. We discuss:  Andy’s mall thesis A Deal Breakdown of a mall in Small town America Implementing a successful company culture via the Rocksteps 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 RockStep Capital The 25 RockSteps Topics (00:00:00) - Intro (00:04:58) - Andy’s background (00:09:09) - Retail pricing structures (00:14:06) - Falling in love with small-town America (00:18:52) - Andy’s mall thesis (00:21:59) - What Andy looks for when underwriting a mall (00:30:19) - What are deal killers for you? (00:33:58) - Capitalizing and Closing deals (00:38:50) - Deal breakdown: Manhaatan, KS (00:45:37) - Zombie malls (00:48:53) - Government funding + battling Amazon (00:52:07) - Alternative ways to monetize mall assets (00:54:27) - The Rockstep way Support our Sponsors Bullpen: https://www.bullpenre.com/ Vesto: https://www.vesto.com/fort Better Pitch: https://bit.ly/42d9L0I Fort: https://bit.ly/FortCompanies Follow Fort on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fort-companies/ Chris on Social Media: The Fort Podcast on Twitter/X: https://x.com/theFORTpodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefortpodcast 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

    1h 10m

  6. JUL 9

    #359 - Michael Levy - CEO @ Crow Holdings - 2008 GFC Stories, Restructuring, View on 2024 RE Market, Life at Crow, A Man of Commerce

    Today’s episode is full of incredible career stories and deep market insights as we enter the second half of 2024.  Michael Levy is the Chief Executive Officer of Crow Holdings where he is responsible for leading and overseeing the Company’s overall business strategy and activities. The firm’s operations include real estate investment management, real estate development, renewable and traditional energy exploration, and securities management. Before joining Crow Holdings in 2016, Michael had a longstanding career in real estate finance and investment management at Morgan Stanley. He was a member of the Firm’s Management Committee and held a number of leadership positions including COO and Head of Distribution for the Investment Management Division, Head of Traditional Asset Management, COO and CFO for Real Estate Investment Management, and co-head for Real Estate Investment Banking.  We discuss: Michael’s career at Morgan Stanley during the DotCom crash and GFC The experience working for Crow Holdings Analyzing the state of the market, asset classes, and looking to the future of 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: Michael Levy on LinkedIn Crow Holdings Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:03:10) - Days on Wall St. (00:05:47) - Experiences during the DotCom Crash and the GFC (00:21:02) - Advice for someone going into a restructuring (00:24:49) - The worst assets to be in during the GFC and Michael’s time with Morgan Stanley (00:30:44) - Being a man of commerce (00:31:57) - Joining Crow Holdings (00:38:38) - Texas Vs. New York (00:42:25) - Crow Holdings business units & development structures (00:53:57) - Thoughts on the market (00:57:16) - 2008 vs. 2024 (00:59:20) - Interest rates (01:03:58) - Oil and Gas (01:06:05) - Office (01:14:10) - Data centers (01:17:51) - MF & Industrial (01:23:23) - Acquisitions (01:25:00) - Development challenges (01:27:10) - Capital markets (01:31:26) - What are you most proud of from your time with Crow? (01:33:50) - Solar (01:36:48) - Looking at the future of RE Support our Sponsors Better Pitch: https://bit.ly/42d9L0I Fort: https://bit.ly/FortCompanies Follow Fort on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fort-companies/ Chris on Social Media: The Fort Podcast on Twitter/X: https://x.com/theFORTpodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefortpodcast 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

    1h 43m

  7. JUN 25

    #358 - Phillip Huffines - Co-Founder @ Huffines Communities - The Art Of Building Award-Winning Master Planned Communities

    Continuing a practice of three generations of business and community work in the Dallas area, Phillip and his twin brother, Co-Owner Donald, have developed their Land Development and Land Investing legacy by creating superior master-planned communities and multifamily community living styles. The firm has developed over 15,000 single-family homesites, and 2,800 multifamily units in the DFW metroplex, and invested in thousands of acres of land. The Huffines name has become widely esteemed within the industry and the State of Texas. Huffines Communities has assembled over 100 limited partnerships, created hundreds of jobs in North Texas, and generated billions in asset values. In 2021 alone, Huffines Communities invested over $120 MM in land. We discuss: How Huffines creates incredible Master Plan communities City/state incentives  Design, architecture, and amenity strategies after 30 years of building communities 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 Huffines Communities Topics (00:00:00) - Intro (00:04:10) - Getting kicked out of military school (00:08:47) - Master Plan communities (00:16:00) - Phillip’s secret sauce (00:20:11) - Finding a site for a community (00:24:24) - State and city incentives (00:29:47) - Establishing school districts (00:34:03) - Experiences during the GFC (00:36:28) - Entitlements (00:39:50) - Entrance design & amenities (00:43:13) - Community events (00:45:51) - Planning (00:53:52) - Thoughts on the market (00:57:20) - Home builders and the DFW market (01:02:19) - Nearly going bankrupt in the 80’s (01:07:53) - Does anything concern you in the macro right now? (01:11:10) - The importance of profit Support our Sponsors Better Pitch: https://bit.ly/42d9L0I RE Cost Seg: https://bit.ly/3oC7JcY Fort: https://bit.ly/FortCompanies Follow Fort on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fort-companies/ Chris on Social Media: The Fort Podcast on Twitter/X: https://x.com/theFORTpodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefortpodcast 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

    1h 18m

  8. JUN 11

    #357 - Dov Hertz - Founder @ DH Property Holdings, LLC - The Greatest Land Assembler New York City Has Ever Seen

    Before founding DH Property Holdings, Dov was the Executive Vice President of Acquisitions of Asset Management at Extell Development Company. During his 13+ years at Extell, Dov negotiated and supervised the acquisitions of over $20 billion of New York real estate. Dov was directly responsible for sourcing some of the most notable transactions over the last 10 years, including The Ring Portfolio, One 57, Nordstrom Tower, and One Manhattan Square. We discuss: Stories from Dov’s career assembling iconic NYC sites Pivoting to Class B Industrial How to Negotiate in 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 Topics (00:00:00) - Intro (00:01:56) - Dov’s early career  (00:05:02) - Land assemblage and zoning in NYC (00:13:12) - Tenant risks (00:16:06) - Assembling Central Park Tower site (00:27:21) - Assembling 1 Manhattan Square site (00:32:45) - The Ring portfolio (00:48:19) - Hiring Japanese actors to finalize a deal (00:56:42) - Venturing into Class B Industrial (01:13:58) - How would outsiders perform in NYC trying to assemble land? (01:15:00) - The power of negotiation Links DH Property Holdings More on Dov Hertz Dov in The Real Deal Dov in Crain's New York Business Dov's Real Estate Investment Blog Support our Sponsors Relay Human Cloud: https://bit.ly/3sjQcaY Fort: https://bit.ly/FortCompanies Follow Fort on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fort-companies/ 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

    1h 27m
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4.9
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About

The Fort is an entrepreneurship podcast. Here, we uncover the proven strategies, insights, and inspiring stories of today’s greatest leaders in the worlds of business, real estate, entrepreneurship, and investing. Each episode’s mission is to help you to level up your entrepreneurial game by hearing directly from the men and women in the arena. Chris is able to uniquely uncover things not commonly discussed because he is an entrepreneur himself. We not only cover business, but we also cover the personal side of entrepreneurship. The Fort began in 2018 as a way for Chris to publicly explore the fascinating world of entrepreneurship. Since he was a child, he’s been characterized as obsessively curious about the world around him.  The Fort has now been downloaded over 2M times, across more than 50,000 unique listeners. Each week features conversations with entrepreneurs, Founders, CEOs, and Executives from some of the leading companies in America. Past guests have represented companies such as JLL, Hillwood, S2 Capital, Chick Fil A, Morning Brew, Founders Podcast, Tiny Capital, Permanent Equity, Fort Capital, Matthews REIS, Bonobos, and ConvertKit. 🐦 Follow Chris on Twitter: www.twitter.com/FortWorthChris 💡 Follow Chris on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/chrispowersjr/ 📹 Subscribe to The FORT on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FORTpod

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