The Fort - An Entrepreneurship Podcast Chris Powers

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Scott Everett founded S2 Capital in 2012 to acquire multifamily Real Estate. In the past 11 years as CEO of S2 Capital, he has built a Real Estate investment company that has transacted on $10B of multifamily assets totaling 45,000 units and 3 operating companies that generate annual revenues in excess of $400M with over 600 employees. This is Scott's second appearance on Fort, if you want to hear his first episode, you can do so here.

On this episode, Chris and Scott discuss:
➡️ reflecting on Scott's fixed rate debt claims
➡️ capital markets & slowing rent growth
➡️ bear market predictions
➡️ S2's strategy going forward

Additional Resources
👉S2 Capital
👉Scott's First Appearance on Fort

➡️ Go here to save $500 on your Re-Convene Tickets!: https://bit.ly/3MGFEJl
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➡️ Fort Capital: https://bit.ly/FortCapital
➡️ Follow Fort Capital on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/fort-capital/
➡️ Follow Chris on Twitter: https://bit.ly/3BYIjcH
➡️ Follow Chris on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/chrispowersjr/
➡️ Sign Up for our Newsletter: https://newsletter.thefortpod.com/
➡️ Subscribe to The Fort on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3oynxNX

Timestamps
(00:06:25) Reflecting on last year: Fixed Rate Debt
(00:13:51) Factors creating deal flow in Multifamily
(00:16:36) Capital Markets
(00:21:57) Slowing Rent Growth
(00:23:29) Equity and lending in the next 24 months
(00:27:11) What are capital providers wanting to see in the next year?
(00:33:31) Debt markets
(00:34:40) A Bear-ish market prediction
(00:44:35) What metrics matter to you the most?
(00:50:19) S2’s strategy going forward
(00:55:47) What kills growth markets?
(01:00:22) Is the sun belt still the place to be?
(01:02:02) How are you thinking about pacing your capital deployment?
(01:06:16) How are you leading your company in this environment?
(01:08:40) How are you thinking about AI?
(01:12:31) How do you generate deal flow that isn’t acquiring assets?
(01:16:31) What’s your approach to development?
(01:18:49) What will consume your days over the next 10 years?
(01:22:33) What do you envision S2 looking like in 10 years?
(01:24:26) Why Scott left Twitter
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The FORT Podcast with Chris Powers is a place where you can find meaningful conversations about entrepreneurship, real estate, investing, and more.

Be sure to follow the podcast, so you never miss an episode!

The FORT is produced by Johnny Podcasts

We'd appreciate you filling out our audience survey, so we can continuously work on providing relevant content to our listeners. 

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Joe Pohlen is the Founder and Partner of Cardinal Senior Management, an assisted living company operating facilities in Michigan and Pennsylvania.
This is Joe's second appearance on The Fort, if you'd like to hear round 1, you can do so here.

On this episode, Chris and Joe discuss:
➡️ Family dynamics and American culture towards how we treat our elders
➡️ Why assisted living has been in decline since 2017
➡️ Joe's ideas to improve assisted living long term
➡️ Discussion on the current market and what he expects in the next few years
➡️ Cardinal's recent sale and how they'll structure the company differently going forward

Additional Resources
👉 Live Cardinal
👉 Joe on Twitter

➡️ Go here to save $500 on your Re-Convene Tickets!
➡️ Fort Capital: www.FortCapitalLP.com
➡️ Follow Fort Capital on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/fort-capital/
➡️ Follow Chris on Twitter: www.twitter.com/FortWorthChris
➡️ Follow Chris on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/chrispowersjr/
➡️ Sign Up for our Newsletter: https://newsletter.thefortpod.com/
➡️ Subscribe to The FORT on YouTube

Timestamps
(00:04:54) Why is there a decline in care quality within Assisted Living?
(00:07:04) Why is the government trying to push people out of Nursing homes?
(00:09:46) Why is it so much harder for elderly people to be obese?
(00:11:16) Joe’s first day in Assisted Living - Showering the elderly
(00:18:45) Why are we seeing fewer people entering the industry?
(00:23:06) What can the everyday citizen person do to help our elderly population?
(00:26:58) How are your planning on leveraging Cardinal to radically change Assisted Living?
(00:46:16) How would you structure a long-term hold?
(00:52:50) Are there any national brands in this industry?
(00:54:03) How much scale do you need to justify a back-office?
(00:58:34) How would you begin to attack expenses and operational issues in the day-to-day?
(00:59:50) What happens when a tenant can’t pay rent?
(01:00:42) Are there any state or federal support options to help residents?
(01:01:46) Are there ways to design buildings in a more efficient way?
(01:03:20) Are people waiting longer to move into Assisted living?
(01:03:58) Are there any lingering effects of Covid?
(01:05:16) Why are you only in PA and MI?
(01:06:00) Are there any states you wouldn’t go into?
(01:08:45) Who is the ideal investor for Cardinal?
--
The FORT Podcast with Chris Powers is a place where you can find meaningful conversations about entrepreneurship, real estate, investing, and more.

Be sure to follow the podcast, so you never miss an episode!

The FORT is produced by Johnny Podcasts

We'd appreciate you filling out our audience survey, so we can continuously work on providing relevant content to our listeners. 

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Gabe is responsible for all aspects of the investment process including deal origination, due diligence, financing, investor relations, dispositions, and refinancings. Gabe works closely with the Head of Renovations on building repositioning and the Chief Operating Officer on asset management and property management. Gabe believes that a deep understanding of market and economic fundamentals are key to pricing real estate assets and leverages his 25 years of investment analysis to understand and forecast the risks and cash flows of investing in metro Denver real estate.
Gabe has led more than $50mm of multi-family investments in metro Denver, across more than 500 apartment units in Denver, Lakewood, and Aurora. Gabe is also the co-manager of over $25mm of multi-family investments (164 units) in Los Angeles.

On this episode, Chris & Gabe discuss:
➡️ His investing principles
➡️ What he learned from years on Wall Street
➡️ Why he chose sub-institutional MF
➡️ How he underwrites opportunities and creates value
➡️ Current market discussion and Tekton's plans for the future

Additional Resources
👉 Tekton Group
👉 Gabe on Twitter

➡️ Go here to save $500 on your Re-Convene Tickets!
➡️ Learn more about BetterPitch
➡️ Fort Capital: www.FortCapitalLP.com
➡️ Follow Fort Capital on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/fort-capital/
➡️ Follow Chris on Twitter: www.twitter.com/FortWorthChris
➡️ Follow Chris on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/chrispowersjr/
➡️ Sign Up for our Newsletter: https://newsletter.thefortpod.com/
➡️ Subscribe to The FORT on YouTube

Timestamps
(00:00:00) Intro
(00:05:02) Gabe’s background and career on Wall St.
(00:08:33) Investment principles developed on Wall St. and in Real Estate
(00:15:29) Don’t fight the FED!
(00:25:58) Only play winnable games
(00:33:02) Making the jump from Wall St. to Real Estate
(00:36:44) Sourcing deals
(00:41:14) What a great deal looks like for Gabe
(00:51:02) Creating value on assets
(00:57:03) Finding a great 3rd party manager
(01:00:49) Unit renovations and turnover times
(01:04:14) Landlord horror stories
(01:12:29) How are you positioning your company for the next three years?
(01:21:51) Syndications and Funds
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The FORT Podcast with Chris Powers is a place where you can find meaningful conversations about entrepreneurship, real estate, investing, and more.

Be sure to follow the podcast, so you never miss an episode!

The FORT is produced by Johnny Podcasts

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

Kelcey Lehrich is the Co-Founder and CEO of 365 Holdings. 365 Is a vertically integrated owner and operator of consumer product brands focused on eCommerce.

On this episode, Chris & Kelcey discuss:
➡️ How they look at investing in niche e-commerce businesses
➡️ Why they've chosen shared services hold-co structure
➡️ The current eCommerce market
➡️ Deep dive into two of their businesses (cloth diapers & good for preppers)

Timestamps
(00:04:14) Kelcey’s background and 365 Holdings
(00:05:14) What does shared services mean?
(00:06:39) Acquiring the first eCommerce business
(00:07:09 How do you think about your role in the organization?
(00:08:12) What’s happening in eCommerce right now?
(00:09:44) What happened in your eyes when Apple and Facebook went at it in the Ad space?
(00:10:43) What are the best ways to market online today?
(00:11:44) What caused the end of the ‘Covid bump’?
(00:12:41) What goes through your mind when you want to buy a business?
(00:14:00) The business of cloth diapers and emergency food
(00:21:41) What have you learned about structuring a deal?
(00:22:57) Amazon: A Necessary Evil
(00:25:37) What’s your goal for these 9 businesses?
(00:26:56) What happens when you sell a business?
(00:28:46) - Are the big 3 in eCommerce gaining more dominance?
(00:31:06) AI in eCommerce
(00:31:57) What type of HoldCo do you run and how would it differ from others?
(00:37:10) Why do you have manufacturing here in the US?
(00:39:42) How is the business capitalized?
(00:41:17) HoldCo Conf
(00:53:28) Twitter

Additional Resources
👉 Kelcey on Twitter
👉 365 Holdings
👉 HoldCo Conf
➡️ Visit RE Cost Seg for a free proposal to see your potential tax savings
➡️ Fort Capital: www.FortCapitalLP.com
➡️ Follow Fort Capital on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/fort-capital/
➡️ Follow Chris on Twitter: www.twitter.com/FortWorthChris
➡️ Follow Chris on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/chrispowersjr/
➡️ Sign Up for our Newsletter: https://newsletter.thefortpod.com/
➡️ Subscribe to The FORT on YouTube
--
The FORT Podcast with Chris Powers is a place where you can find meaningful conversations about entrepreneurship, real estate, investing, and more.

Be sure to follow the podcast, so you never miss an episode!

The FORT is produced by Johnny Podcasts

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

Levi Benkert is a proven innovative business leader with 20 years of experience in strategic real estate-related business development. Levi founded Harbor Capital, a private equity firm focused on industrial real estate in Texas. Levi has leveraged his skills to identify unique opportunities, maximize growth, raise capital, and create a lasting vision for companies that he has founded and led. Levi has bought, managed, and developed over $450M in real estate properties in his career.
On this episode, Chris & Levi discuss:
➡️ Lessons learned during the 2008/2009 Great Financial Crisis
➡️ Story of moving to Ethiopia to build an orphanage and several businesses
➡️ Why he chose to focus on Class B Industrial throughout Texas
➡️ How Harbor underwrites deals and structures their real deals
➡️ Discussion on current real estate market

Learn more about The Fort Podcast by going to https://www.thefortpod.com/

Timestamps
(00:04:44) Levi’s career in home building through the GFC
(00:22:06) Building an orphanage & 4 different businesses in Ethiopia
(00:33:40) Building Harbor Capital with a focus on Class B Industrial
(00:36:06) Levi’s focus within Class B Industrial
(00:46:21) Doing a deal in Katy, TX that ended up being next to the Tesla Factories
(00:52:02) Insights on the Houston & San Antonio markets
(00:56:07) “Buy, Refi, Die.” - Long-term holds
(00:57:46) Harbor and Fort Capital’s future plans
(01:06:36) Harbor’s organizational structure
(01:09:30) Twitter

Additional Resources
👉 Levi on Twitter
👉 Harbor Capital
➡️ Get $500 off your ticket to Re-Convene!
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➡️ Check out The Distribution by Juniper Square Podcast
➡️ Fort Capital: www.FortCapitalLP.com
➡️ Follow Fort Capital on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/fort-capital/
➡️ Follow Chris on Twitter: www.twitter.com/FortWorthChris
➡️ Follow Chris on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/chrispowersjr/
➡️ Sign Up for our Newsletter: https://newsletter.thefortpod.com/
➡️ Subscribe to The FORT on YouTube

--
The FORT Podcast with Chris Powers is a place where you can find meaningful conversations about entrepreneurship, real estate, investing, and more.

Be sure to follow the podcast, so you never miss an episode!

The FORT is produced by Johnny Podcasts

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

Matt began as a top consultant at McKinsey, where he witnessed the power of customer loyalty programs and immediately understood why large companies pay millions of dollars to create them. His vision for Fivestars was to make the power of a Fortune 500 customer loyalty program accessible to local businesses. Fivestars has gone from two guys in a garage to serving thousands of businesses across the country. In October 2021, Fivestars was acquired by global payments leader, SumUp.
Matt has led technology at FiveStars since its founding, spearheaded their transformation into a payments company, and drives ongoing business development and payments strategy. Before Fivestars, he volunteered with TechnoServe in Uganda, was a strategy consultant at McKinsey & Company, and an analyst at AVM, a 32-year-old global macro hedge fund.

On this episode, Chris & Matt discuss:
➡️ Their process for deciding what startup idea to pursue & why they chose a loyalty program for small businesses
➡️ Lessons learned while building a startup
➡️ The challenge of finding product market fit, even if the business is growing like a rocket ship
➡️ How AI will impact businesses and consumers

Timestamps
(00:03:00) From El Paso to the Tech world
(00:09:26) What does an entry-level person at McKinsey even do?
(00:11:17) Did you have a filter for easy no’s while in consulting?
(00:12:48) What’s an example prototype you were working on in Technology?
(00:15:07) How did you transform your skillsets to become a CTO?
(00:17:10) What did you get from Y Combinator and learn from Paul Graham?
(00:19:46) What was the origin of Fivetars?
(00:24:42) If you were building another company now is there a way to avoid the mistakes you made the first time?
(00:26:09) Finding Product Market Fit
(00:30:06) How do you avoid the trap of taking on too much overhead?
(00:36:13) How were you able to take the credit card fee and turn it into more CRM users?
(00:38:56) When did you begin to decide it was time to sell?
(00:43:10) What was the transition like going from start-up culture to integrating into a larger organization?
(00:47:32) How are you receiving the entrance of AI?
(00:50:29) Will the job of the VC change with AI?
(00:52:48) How Chris thinks AI will affect RE
(00:58:49) How should we simplify all of these different AI languages available?
(01:01:44) How is the American Customer right now?
(01:05:18) What are you predicting for the Startup scene over the next five years?
Additional Resources
👉 Fivestars
👉 Matt on LinkedIn
👉 Matt.Doka@Gmail.com
➡️ Fort Capital: www.FortCapitalLP.com
➡️ Follow Fort Capital on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/fort-capital/
➡️ Follow Chris on Twitter: www.twitter.com/FortWorthChris
➡️ Follow Chris on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/chrispowersjr/
➡️ Sign Up for our Newsletter: https://newsletter.thefortpod.com/
➡️ Subscribe to The FORT on YouTube
--
The FORT Podcast with Chris Powers is a place where you can find meaningful conversations about entrepreneurship, real estate, investing, and more.

Be sure to follow the podcast, so you never miss an episode!

The FORT is produced by Johnny Podcasts