POWERS

We'd appreciate you filling out our audience survey, so we can continuously work on providing relevant content to our listeners. Responses received by 05/11/23 will be entered in a drawing for $500 cash. http://www.thefortpod.com/survey EPISODE #265 In today’s episode, Chris is joined by the founder of ConvertKit, Nathan Barry. Nathan’s journey to helping creators all around the world began when he was doing web design in high school before expanding into freelance blogging and content creation. But after deciding to launch a book to promote his web design service, Nathan racked up more than $19,000 in sales in just the first week, at which point he decided to go all-in on digital products and building an audience. After a friend introduced him to the power of email marketing in the content creation space, Nathan decided he wanted to start his own software business, ConvertKit, in January 2013. In today’s episode, Nathan sits down with Chris to discuss why email is still king, leveraging AI technology for content creators, and what the most successful creators are doing now. Make sure to check it out! Key Takeaways: Intro (00:00) Nathan’s backstory (02:11) Is email making a resurgence? (11:00) Does everyone need a newsletter? (17:04) The limitations of email (23:34) The dark side of newsletters (28:32) Building trust at scale (36:12) What’s ahead for creators? (46:17) Sticking to one platform (59:17) The power of AI (1:15:09) Additional Resources: 👉 See more about ConvertKit 👉 Follow Nathan on Twitter 👉 See Nathan's Books 👉 Nathan's Website 👉 Founder of Basecamp Jason Fried Keynote 👉 Sparkloop 👉 The Billion Dollar Creator by Nathan Barry 👉 Sahil Bloom on Twitter 👉 Lex Website ➡️ Learn more about Relay Human Cloud ➡️ 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!

We'd appreciate you filling out our audience survey, so we can continuously work on providing relevant content to our listeners. Responses received by 05/11/23 will be entered in a drawing for $500 cash. http://www.thefortpod.com/survey EPISODE #264 In today’s episode, Chris sits down with Mitchell Baldridge and Nick Huber to discuss the current real estate market, how Twitter changed their lives, and cost segregation. Nick has been a small business owner since his final year of college when he started a student storage business with his friend, and after expanding to 25 towns over 10 years, he exited for $7 million. Nick has also acquired 42 self-storage facilities with over 1,000,000 square feet under management while raising over $20 million in capital. Mitchell is a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Financial Planner with vast experience in financial planning and corporate accounting. In 2014 he founded Baldridge Financial to achieve his dream of helping other business owners achieve their financial goals. Make sure to listen in! Key Takeaways: Intro (00:00) The problem with the real estate business right now (01:52) What’s happening in the market right now? (04:44) The impact of supply on rental rates (11:55) The difference between Class A, B, and C buildings (22:19) What’s going on with interest rates? (30:09) Why is cost segregation taking off now? (44:41) How Twitter changes lives (58:28) Building trust with Twitter (1:05:32) Advice on online networking (1:15:50) Additional Resources: ➡️ See Nick's podcast 'The Sweaty Startup' ➡️ See more about the work Mitchell does here: https://baldridgefinancial.com/ ➡️ Learn more about Relay Human Cloud ➡️ 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!

We'd appreciate you filling out our audience survey, so we can continuously work on providing relevant content to our listeners. Responses received by 05/11/23 will be entered in a drawing for $500 cash. http://www.thefortpod.com/survey EPISODE #263 In today’s episode, Chris is joined by the co-founder of the Firestone & Robertson Distilling Company, Troy Robertson. Troy grew up in West Texas in a family that was heavily involved in the oil and gas industry. He studied business at Texas Tech University before going on to spend 10 years in the finance side of oil and gas. Troy took the responsibility of fundraising, structuring, strategy, and operations evaluation for more than 20 portfolio companies, some even reaching a size of $1 billion. But Troy decided to follow his creative entrepreneurial spirit and carved his own path in the business he is passionate about, the whiskey business. In today’s episode, Chris and Troy sit down to discuss behind-the-scenes in the whiskey business, how to build a world-class brand, and the details of building (and exiting) a successful business. Make sure to check it out! Key Takeaways: Intro (00:00) How Troy got started in whiskey (01:11) Why was nobody making whiskey in Texas before? (07:41) Pursuing whiskey full-time (11:09) Coming up with a name (18:03) Making a unique pitch (35:12) Troy’s big influence (39:12) Purchasing a golf course (1:01:11) Mistakes made along the way (1:04:53) Deciding to sell (1:14:16) Did Troy want to sell? (1:20:09) Additional Resources: ➡️ Learn more about Relay Human Cloud ➡️ 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!

EPISODE #261 In today’s episode, we are joined by Alex Olshansky, Principal, and Head of Investments at Zenith IOS. Zenith is one of the largest institutional owners of industrial outdoor storage assets in the US. Alex’s well-decorated CV began with a B.A. in Economics from Claremont McKenna College, and he received an M.B.A. from NYU’s Stern School of Business. After graduating, Alex worked in acquisitions and asset management for IDS Real Estate Group, with a focus on industrial, office, and retail assets in Southern California and San Francisco. He later joined Abingdon Square Partners in 2017 and was primarily responsible for sourcing and evaluating new investment opportunities. In today’s episode, Chris and Alex go through what IOS is, how Zenith underwrites IOS deals, and how exactly they decided to go all in on IOS. Make sure to listen in! Key Takeaways: Intro (00:00) What is IOS? (01:02) How did Alex get here? (02:14) How has IOS been maturing? (04:36) What makes a great IOS deal? (11:00) How property management looks (14:10) How is the market developing (15:50) Zenith’s process for new markets (25:05) How Zenith is approaching 2023 (32:56) Driving value (40:07) Episode wrap-up (47:32) Additional Resources: ➡️ Learn more about Juniper Square here ➡️ 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!

EPISODE #260 In today’s episode, we are joined by Brian Good, the co-founder and CEO of iBorrow. iBorrow is a nationwide real estate lender made by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs, with an impressive track record of over $1 billion. Brian also founded TenantDirect, the first web-based property management software. Brian has moderated and served on a number of panels during his career, including panels for UCLA, YPO, Bisnow, and IMN. Currently, he sits on the Board of Advisors for the Ziman Center for Real Estate as part of the Anderson School of Business at UCLA. In this episode, we’ll be covering everything from Brian’s backstory and why he moved from equity real estate to debt real estate to how iBorrow underwrites borrowers and how the private lending market has changed going into 2023. Make sure to listen in! Key Takeaways: Intro (00:00) What brought Brian to debt real estate? (01:39) Why did he want to make the switch? (05:46) The difference between iBorrow and other lenders (08:23) What Are Bad-Boy Carve Outs? (10:12) How has the market changed over the last year? (13:14) How should we plan out the year ahead? (29:12) How leasing activity is looking now (43:07) Episode wrap-up (55:36) Additional Resources: ➡️ Learn more about Juniper Square here ➡️ 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!

EPISODE #259 After being bailed out of his first company by his dad 15 years ago while in college, Aaron Rubin learned his lesson and founded ShipHero in 2013 as a warehouse management system for e-commerce shippers. Since then, ShipHero has gone on to serve around $8 billion per year in orders from e-commerce stores. In the last 3 years alone, they have opened up 9 warehouses across the country to manage shipping and fulfillment for medium and large businesses including Shopify, Canadian Tire, Glossier and Universal Music Group. Aaron is known for having his finger on the pulse of ShipHero’s major initiatives, He is responsible for planning and executing the overall vision and strategy of the organization. In today’s episode, Aaron sits down to discuss his backstory, how he almost went bankrupt in 2008, taking inspiration from Amazon, and what lies ahead in 2023 for the logistics world. Key Takeaways: Intro (00:00) How Aaron got started (01:30) What is ShipHero? (07:32) The problem with copying Amazon (13:25) Everyone hates logistics (22:51) The state of the market (28:08) What’s going on with supply chains (37:15) Is manufacturing leaving China? (43:33) What’s coming up in 2023 (48:44) The future of the workforce (58:36) Episode wrap-up (1:05:07) Additional Resources: ➡️ Learn more about Juniper Square here ➡️ 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!

EPISODE #258 In today’s episode, Chris Powers and Jason Baxter take a look at the last year for Fort Capital and discuss the biggest wins of the year. How our team and technology have progressed, how we are looking at the market in 2023, what makes Fort Capital so special, and much, much more. At Fort Capital, our mission is to become the best real estate operator in the entire world. We’re always considering how we can operate better, acquire more real estate, improve our credibility and track record, attract top-tier talent, and drive more profit and returns to our investors. So I’m delighted to say that following off the back of an incredible year in 2021, in which we smashed all of the targets we outlined in last year’s Year in Review, we have stretched even further in 2022 to outperform our initial goals in every metric we set out. Today, I'm excited to discuss and hope you can take something from what we’ve achieved in the last 12 months and carry it with you in 2023. Fort Capital's 2022 Annual Report: https://fortcapitallp.com/2022-annual-report/ Key Takeaways: Intro (00:00) The background to 2022 (02:24) Our revamped investor reporting process (12:35) Our underwriting import tool (19:48) Our brand-new deal sourcing tool (29:29) How do we effectively work through markets? (36:55) What sets us apart in our industry? (43:01) How our dashboard utilization has improved so rapidly (52:11) Cash management for 2023 and beyond (1:01:36) What we achieved in 2022 (1:09:20) Fort Capital University (1:17:05) Additional Resources: ➡️ Learn more about Juniper Square here ➡️ 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!

Kyle started his fixed-income career on a J.P. Morgan trading desk before joining multi-strategy hedge fund Millennium. In 2018, Kyle left Millennium to manage his own capital, emphasizing real estate debt investing. He has experience investing across the real estate capital structure, including first and second-lien mortgages, tax liens, and equity. He holds a Bachelor of Science in mathematics from the University of Maryland. On this episode Chris & Kyle discuss: what he learned from trading at hedge funds on Wall Street and why he eventually decided to start buying crack houses how to find and buy distressed debt different types of high-yield loans and strategies forward thoughts on the 2023 real estate market and more! Learn more about Chris Powers and 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/ Subscribe to The Fort on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ Follow Kyle on Twitter: https://twitter.com/financeguy725 Constitutional Lending: https://constlending.com/invest Topics: (2:05) - How did you get into Wall St. and where did that transform into buying crackhouses? (5:22) - How do you come up with a trade idea? (9:20) - How often do you need to have an idea? (11:08) - How accurate is the show Billions? (13:09) - Why forces people to stay in the Wall St. world? (15:12) - What code do you write? (16:36) - How would you describe what you do today? (19:25) - What are you seeing in lending right now? (24:34) - How would you predict the lending industry’s future in the short to medium term? (27:12) - What’s happening in Office right now? (30:21) - What happens on your end when someone presents a loan for you to buy? (38:31) - What happens when you take control of an asset? (45:03) - Wanting to own a bank (45:42) - How do you source these non-performing loans? (50:13) - Is your model scalable? (51:40 - What is a Prevent Foreclosure Loan? (54:20 - What’s an Airbnb Loan? (57:02) - Punting assets vs. Running a business (1:00:35) - Do you think sometimes your ability to operate hurts you? (1:03:52) - Will high-yield loans still be 8-12% in ’23? (1:05:06) - What needs to happen for money to start moving again? (1:10:05) - What do you think about in terms of existential risks to your business? (1:12:58) - Ranting about insurance (1:23:07) - Wrapping up

Ryan Eisenman is the co-founder and CEO of Arch, a digital solution utilized by over 180 private investment firms to automate the administration and management of tens of $Bs of alternative investments. Ryan is a Houston native, graduated from Vanderbilt University, and now lives in New York City where Arch is headquartered. On this episode Chris and Ryan discuss: the story of how he got the idea to build and execute on Arch the issues behind managing wealth and private investments how he raised VC capital Ryan asks Chris several questions about his career Support our Sponsors: Frank Kent Cadillac CRE Daily Newsletter Fort Capital Learn more about Chris Powers and 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/ Subscribe to The Fort on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ Links: Ryan on Twitter Arch Topics: (2:27) - Ryan’s background and career (3:49) - The Israeli Entrepreneurship scene (6:41) - Ryan’s journey to founding Arch (12:16) - What are you solving with Arch? (14:15) - Who are the customers for Arch? (15:13) - What was your experience raising capital in 2021? (17:14) - What do you lean on VC’s for? (19:20) - How do you break into the VC world and start setting meetings? (20:30) - How long did it take to convince your first major investor? (23:09) - How often do you talk to your investors? (23:25) - What’s “the next stage” of the business? (24:53) - Why was $1mm in revenue the point where you brought in more sales staff? (26:37) - How has your role changed as the company grows? Ryan Interviews Chris (28:17) - Chris’ thoughts on what’s broken in this industry (33:11) - What is and what should your first step be after a major liquidity event? (35:16) - What separates a great advisor from the rest of the pack? (38:27) - Chris’ role as an asset Manager and the purpose of Fort Capital (40:54) - How did you raise your first deals? (42:13) - Where do you see FC in 5 years? 15 years? (43:29) - How is the current market affecting your strategy? (48:43) - Being fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful (52:10)- What would you be building if you had to work somewhere else?

Welcome to the Fort Podcast. It's my privilege to share with you the stories, ideas, knowledge, and strategies of our era's greatest business leaders. What started as a podcast focused on only real estate has grown to cover all types of businesses, industry breakdowns, leadership and market insights. Since I was a kid, listening to and exploring the stories, wisdom, and unique perspectives of others has been one of my passions. The Fort is the podcast I always wish I'd had. I can't thank you enough for listening, and my hope is you'll find value that you can go out and share with the rest of the world. Enjoy the show.

Greg Gordon has a rich history in construction as a third-generation builder with over 25 years of industry experience. He started his career in shell construction and eventually transitioned to commercial interiors before founding Gordon Highlander in 2007. Under Greg’s leadership Gordon Highlander has experienced tremendous growth and received numerous awards as a result. But Greg’s true passion is for people and the relationships developed with both his team and clients. With a servant leadership approach to business, he has built a team of leaders who take ownership and pride in their work. It’s a reflect the organization’s mission of “building a legacy of helping others reach their God-given potential”. Greg attributes Gordon Highlander’s success to this culture model. On this episode Chris and Greg Discuss: a look into the commercial construction industry from 2007-Present what it's like to build for Amazon and how they built a prototype in 6 weeks how Greg views leadership and building a world-class culture leadership above and beyond "HR" Support our Sponsors: Frank Kent Cadillac CRE Daily Newsletter Fort Capital Juniper Square Links: Gordon Highlander Greg on LinkedIn Topics: (3:22) - Gordo’s experience as 3rd generation in the Construction industry (5:12) - What does Gordon Highlander do? (7:57) - What is a “Gordon Highlander”? (10:03) - How has Industrial Finish-out evolved since ’07? (15:10) - At what point in development does GH get involved? (18:18) - What does a perfect project look like to you? (19:44) - How do you budget a project in this market? (23:45) - Are there any permanent changes to the industry since 2020? (28:00) - What do people need to unlearn? (31:42) - What are you seeing in Industrial innovation? (36:47) - Developing the GH/Amazon relationship (46:25) - How do you think about the final days of a project? (47:15) - What are you seeing in the market? (51:40) - What’s different in building office within industrial and office in a place like Old-Parkland? (54:52) - How do you think about change orders? (56:35) - The headlines vs. reality pertaining to Amazon slowing down development (58:24) - How do you think about legacy, servant leadership and culture? (1:06:51) - Teaching culture at Gordon Highlander (1:11:36) - Advice for young people (1:12:49) - Friendship, business (1:18:00) - Pain distorts your memory (1:19:51) - Treating your employees like people

Sarah has 20 years of experience in office brokerage in the DFW region. Prior to founding Thirty-Four Commercial, she was previously a Principal at Peloton Commercial Real Estate (acquired by JLL in 2019) and an Associate at Transwestern. Sarah graduated from Miami University before relocating to Dallas, Texas in 2003. Sarah focuses her life on wellness and balance. In 2018, she obtained a 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training Certification. Sarah enjoys spending time with her husband and children, as well as traveling whenever their schedule allows. On this episode, Chris and Sarah discuss: her career stories and the lessons she learned along the way her view of the current office environment and where we go from here how to lease Class A Office buildings how she leased a Class AA office building from the ground up how she manages a growing family and business Links: Thirty-Four Commercial The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren Topics: (3:21) - Sarah’s career & background (30:11) - What did you learn selling gym memberships that translate to any sales position? (33:01) - What does good training look like for people early in their RE career? (37:53) - How do you build trust with owners? (47:50) - How would you describe the office market today? (59:40) - What’s your process of working in development? (1:01:40) - Where do people waste money in office development? (1:07:53) - How do you approach marketing? (1:11:22) - When are you able to start leasing a building? (1:16:36) - Is there a point where you realize a deal isn’t going to get done? (1:18:43) - What’s your role once a new building is fully leased? (1:20:08) - What needs to happen for a lease to turnover? (1:23:05) - How do you balance building a family and a business?

Anthony “Pomp” Pompliano is an entrepreneur and technology investor. He has built and sold numerous companies, ran Product & Growth teams at Facebook, and manages a portfolio valued at more than $500 million in early-stage tech companies. He currently runs his family office, which makes private investments and owns majority stakes in several operating businesses. Anthony also hosts popular conversations on “The Pomp Podcast,” which has been downloaded over 50 million times. Pomp also writes a letter that more than 225,000 investors read each morning. Lastly, Pomp’s interests lie at the intersection of finance, technology, entrepreneurship, and economics, which he tweets about extensively to his more than 1.6 million followers. On this episode, Chris & Pomp discuss: lessons Pomp learned from serving in the army and running product/growth teams at Facebook the benefits and downsides of being a public figure with large social following what is bitcoin and why is it important and his understanding of current crypto market what happened with FTX and its implications on crypto market Learn more about Chris Powers and 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/ Subscribe to The Fort on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ Support our Sponsors: Frank Kent Cadillac CRE Daily Newsletter Fort Capital Links: Pomp on Twitter PompLetter.com The Pomp Podcast (3:40) - Pomp’s time in the Army and lessons learned (9:18) - Experiences working at Facebook (12:31) - Tech company bloat (15:49) - Elon vs. Apple and if there’s a “they” out there (23:53) - How did you build your online presence? (28:19) - Have you self-censored since growing this massive audience? (32:39) - Pomp on shutting down The Best Business Show (35:47) - Is there a pathway that gets us to an internet that doesn’t incentivize ridiculousness? (37:49) - How did crypto enter your life? (41:02) - What is Bitcoin? (47:43) - Is there any version of the “promise” of Bitcoin that is playing out right now? (49:30) - Is there a point where the volatility of Bitcoin stops? (54:32) - Cryptocurrencies and Governments (1:00:13) - How would you pitch Bitcoin to governments? (1:08:05) - Breaking down the FTX fiasco (1:16:59) - Pomp’s experience at a LIV Golf Event

Jon Altschuler is the founder of Altschuler and Company and has been involved in all phases of the firm’s development since its founding in 2009. He started his career with Trammell Crow Company and was the president of Stream Realty Partners. Jon is the chairman of the SMU Dedman College executive board. Jon is a graduate of Southern Methodist University where he was elected Phi Beta Kappa. Jon earned his MBA from the University of California, Berkeley. On this episode, Chris and John discuss: The current state of the office market and forward-looking thoughts. Best practices for building a successful career in real estate. Future of co-working and office leases. What will happen to Class B office properties? Learn more about Chris Powers and 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/ Subscribe to The Fort on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ Support our Sponsors: Frank Kent Cadillac CRE Daily Newsletter Fort Capital Links: Jon on LinkedIn Altschuler + Co. Topics: (3:18) - Introducing Jon (4:50) - What is it about Trammel Crowe that creates so many all-start caliber RE people? (6:36) - Jon’s career in RE (8:25) - What was your perspective on the GFC? (10:41) - What does Altschuler + Co. do? (11:20) - What was the narrative back in ’07 vs. ’09 from the building-owner perspective? (14:09) - How would you describe the current market for Office? (18:37) - Tech-Giant Sub-leases (20:39) - Stranded Buildings (22:26) - Do you have any insight on the mounting developer debt? (23:33) - What do you predict for development? (24:23) - What are we experiencing in DFW? (26:21) - What does a great future for Office look like? (27:11) - Are you seeing any clustering of businesses similar to Old Parkland? (28:05) - Thoughts on co-working (30:02) - What’s the difference between a great leasing agent and a terrible one? (32:47) - What should tenants with 2 years on their lease left be thinking about? (34:46) - Are there any new amenities that are making buildings more competitive? (36:08) - What markets pique your interest? (37:10) - How does your job change as the tenant gets larger? (38:57) - How are tenants thinking about risk of leasing spaces that aren’t ready? (41:05) - What are you seeing in capital markets for Office? (41:45) - What’s the narrative for Dallas? (42:49) - What would you tell new people in the industry as we stare at a potential downturn? (44:02) - Who developed your marketing strategy? (45:14) - How are you preparing your team for the next 2-3 years? (45:52) - How did you develop your knack to outwork everyone? (48:28) - Becoming a Global Citizen (55:11) - What can Fort Worth do better to attract businesses?

Kevin Lackey is the President and CEO of Freedom Powersports, a dealership group based out of Fort Worth, Texas with 13 locations spanning three states. His career in the powersports industry started in 1998 where he worked his way up from a porter to manager to general manager and now owner and operator. Through strong leadership skills, dedication to operational excellence, and commitment to the industry he helped grow Freedom Powersports from $34.8M in sales in 2012 to a project of $157M in sales for 2021. Outside of Freedom Powersports, Kevin is on the Board of Directors for First Financial Bank, Motorcycle Industry Council, Yamaha Financial Services Council, BRP Dealer Advisory Council, Yamaha Financial Services Dealer Council, Texas Motorcycle Dealers Association, YPO Fort Worth Chapter Member and is on the Advisory Board for National Center for Middle Market. In 2019 Kevin was named the Entrepreneur of Excellence for the category of retail for Fort Worth Inc. Magazine and in 2016 he was named to the 40 under 40 by the Fort Worth Business Press. With continued growth on his mind, he has also become an active member of his community in Aledo, TX, started a podcast, and is always looking for the next opportunity. On this episode Chris and Kevin discuss: Deepdive into powersports industry since COVID. Best practices learned over the years that helped build a great team and business. What he’s glad he did for the business so that it was easier to sell. (Sold to Rumble On.) Why Kevin has built a life that balances his family life with a demanding work schedule. Links: Kevin on LinkedIn Episode #4 of The Fort with Kevin Lackey The House that Built Me by Miranda Lambert Support our Sponsors: Frank Kent Cadillac CRE Daily Newsletter Fort Capital Topics: (3:25) - Reminiscing (4:54) - How would you describe your business? (6:02) - What happened to Powersports during Covid? (9:20) - Why does focus matter so much? (12:05) - The power of EOS (17:15) - How did you navigate the Pandemic? (30:23) - Is there anything you learned in the early months that will serve you the rest of your life? (32:58) - When did you start to consider the process of selling the business? (45:29) - What are the things you’re happy you did to get the business ready for a successful sale? (49:27) - How did you delegate duties to your CFO? (51:34) - Net Working Capital (1:02:16) - Are there things you wish you’d done to get the business ready for a successful sale? (1:04:22) - The experience of closing on the sale (1:09:09) - The importance of Fatherhood

David Senra is the Founder of Founders Podcast. David has devoted his career to learning from history's greatest entrepreneurs. David is on a mission to document the best ideas from the life and work of history’s most formidable people —and share those lessons through his podcast so others can benefit. He lives in Miami with his wife and two children. On this episode, Chris and David discuss: His story and the challenges he faced growing up that shaped who he is today. Building his pod – a peak inside what an average week looks like. A deep dive discussion on founder characteristics and everything he's learned from reading hundreds of auto-biographies on the world's most extraordinary founders. A discussion on the economics and business of podcasting. Learn more about Chris Powers and 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/ Subscribe to The Fort on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ Support our Sponsors: Frank Kent Cadillac CRE Daily Newsletter Fort Capital More on David Senra: David on Twitter Listen to Founders Podcast Links to Books, Apps, Websites, etc. Mentioned on this episode: Sam Walton Autobiography Paul Graham essays Jocko Podcast The Everything Store Kanye West Netflix documentary Michael Arrieta on The Fort (Garden City) Trader Joe’s Autobiography Readwise App Becoming Steve Jobs Charles Kettering Biography A Man For All Markets Dark Genius of Wall Street Topics: (3:58) - Introducing David (6:11) - David’s background (15:32) - David’s passion for reading (17:00) - Reflecting on how we are shaped by our past (22:37) - Do you think it’s possible to build a generational business without childhood trauma? (30:20) - What led to you starting the podcast? (43:36) - What kept you going during your first 2 years when the show wasn’t profitable? (1:06:55) - What does a week in the life of David Senra look like? (1:15:07) - What was it about your appearance on ‘Invest like the Best’ that exploded the show? (1:20:09) - How big is the opportunity for podcasting? (1:50:46)- Of everyone you have studied, who is the #1 person in your eyes? The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Cody Campbell is the Co-Chief Executive Officer of Double Eagle Energy Holdings III LLC, a partnership formed with Apollo Global Management, and co-founder of Double Eagle Development. Campbell began his business career at Texas Tech University, where he and John Sellers founded a successful commercial real estate development firm. He graduated with honors with a Bachelor’s in finance and economics and a master’s in finance. After graduation, he played offensive guard for the Indianapolis Colts. Campbell is a member of YPO (Young Presidents’ Organization), serves on the Advisory Council for the Rawls College of Business at Texas Tech, and serves as a Board Member of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. He lives in Fort Worth with his wife and four children. On this episode, Chris and Cody discuss: The story of their $6.4B sale to Pioneer. Discussion on current energy markets and policy. Why we need to change the narrative on oil & gas to attract more labor into the industry. We talk about the NCAA & NIL programs and how Texas Tech has built The Matador Club to support athletes. Support our Sponsors: Frank Kent Cadillac CRE Daily Newsletter Fort Capital Juniper Square Learn more about Chris Powers and 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/ Subscribe to The Fort on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ Topics: (4:31) - Selling Double Eagle 3 to Pioneer (8:33) - Why was the industry valuing on a price per acre vs. EBITDA? (10:21) - What do “bits & pieces” mean and how are you able to do it at scale? (13:12) - Have there been 2 types of oil businesses that emerged since the shale revolution? (14:01) - Was there ever a moment during the pandemic when you considered not drilling? (15:00) - When did it become clear that selling was the best option? (19:20) - What blows up a deal like this? (20:13) - Starting back up again (22:02) - What are you seeing in the current state of the energy market? (30:24) - Is there any shift in the capital markets? (32:29) - Why has the Biden Admin shifted its stance on domestic production? (34:49) - How much of an impact does the Russia/Ukraine conflict have? (36:42) - What are you seeing in the labor market for Energy and Oil & Gas? (38:57) - How can the industry change its marketing efforts to encourage people to work in this field? (40:30) - How does this industry bring the rest of the world out of poverty? (43:21) - What’s happening outside of the US as we globally see energy prices spike? (44:47) - Even if we all flipped to a pro-oil stance instantly, how deep are we in the hole already? (47:19) - What are the different acreage tiers in oil fields? (50:16) - If oil is at $92 today, what’s the rate of return for drilling a well? (51:50) - Is there any technology on the horizon that will make it easier to get oil out of the ground? (53:01) - Why did the Kline Shale flop? (54:55) - Why did the Permian basin end up being such a hit? (55:48) - Where do you think we will peak in 2023? (57:02) - What is the NIL within the NCAA? (1:01:29) - The Matador Club at Texas Tech (1:04:33) - Is there a worry that the schools with the most capital secede and create their own league? (1:06:14) - Focusing athletes on their education (1:08:08) - Who’s making the rules for NIL? (1:09:05) - What is it that continues to motivate you? The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Zamir Kazi started his career in Real Estate in 2013 after attending Florida State University buying and flipping duplexes. He formed Berkshire Property Holdings in 2014 (later rebranded to ZMR Capital) to acquire and redevelop multifamily Real Estate. In the past 9 years, as CEO of ZMR Capital, Zamir has acquired over $1.5B of multifamily assets. He has been the recipient of Globe Streets 50 under 40 and is an active investor and board member of multiple early-stage companies. Zamir also contributes significant time and resources to several charities. On this episode Chris and Zamir discuss: How he started his career in real estate. How ZMR Capital creates value in the assets they acquire. How ZMR selects markets to invest in. Current state of the multi-family market. 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/ Subscribe to The Fort on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ Follow The Fort on Instagram: www.Instagram.com/TheFortPodcast Support our Sponsors: Frank Kent Cadillac CRE Daily Newsletter Fort Capital CRE Models Juniper Square Links: Zamir on LinkedIn ZMR Capital Topics: (3:52) - Zamir’s background and career (7:05) - What is it about Indian culture that wants their children to become doctors? (9:17) - How were you financing as you began to do bigger deals and turn this into a firm with employees? (11:22) - Did you manage properties yourself? (12:12) - How did you convince people to give you a deal without a track record? (15:09) - How were sourcing deals and why did you choose the markets you’re in? (16:40) - Have you stayed 3rd party on Property Management? (22:47) - What is an ideal Class A or B deal and how do you add value? (26:02) - Do you outsource construction & asset management? (27:24) - Do you send PM’s the same chart of accounts or do they each account differently? (28:15) - Do you have a 90-day game plan after closing a deal? (29:29) - How do you raise capital today? (30:25) - How are you thinking about the market right now? (32:52) - Is bridge debt still in the mix for you on deals you’re doing right now? (34:29) - Are rents still moving fast? (37:08) - Is there anything you’re seeing that could cause a major correction in MF pricing? (41:10) - Why are people selling right now given market conditions? (42:30) - How are you thinking about the tailwind given to MF by high mortgage interest rates? (43:50) - What do you see for your business over the next decade? The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Will Churchill is the Owner of Frank Kent Motor Company. Frank Kent Cadillac has been awarded GM Dealer of the Year for 2012 – 2014, an honor given to only the top 2% of GM dealers throughout the country. On this episode, Chris and Will discuss: A deep dive on the auto industry. The current state of the auto industry. What the future of buying cars looks like. DTC, EV cars, Hydrogen?! And more! Support our Sponsors: Frank Kent Cadillac CRE Daily Newsletter Fort Capital More Info: 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/ Subscribe to The Fort on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ Follow The Fort on Instagram: www.Instagram.com/TheFortPodcast Links: The Fort #50 with Will Churchill Email Will: [email protected] Topics: (3:18) - Introducing Will (4:51) - Will’s background in the auto business (7:06) - What’s happened in auto over the past two years? (11:16) - Where are we now with the chip shortage? (13:10) - Thoughts on pricing strategies in the industry (17:53) - Where do people get auto loans from? (20:18) - Is there anything that changed through Covid that will be permanent? (22:37) - Moving the car buying experience online (27:43) - Thoughts on Carvana (31:36) - Focusing on the Wholesale market (34:45) - What do most people do when they’re owing way more than the car is worth? (36:25) - What warranty do people really need? (41:23) - At what point can a car not get a warranty? (42:58) - Why is there a need for car dealerships in the future? (44:41) - Why doesn’t Tesla’s model work for everyone else? (47:03) - Will the Car Dealership look the way it does now in 10 years? (48:50) - What happens if Wall Street moves to a profitability model? (50:23) - Buick’s buyout of their dealers (51:39) - Who dictates investing in a dealership? (53:31) - The process of opening a new dealership (56:33) - What’s the pathway to becoming a dealer? (1:02:25) - Thoughts on the EV revolution (1:08:12) - What happens to the new cars that got wrecked from the recent hurricane in Florida? (1:10:09) - Where do cars go to die? (1:11:29) - Do you see the industry moving to cars-as-a-service rather than traditional ownership model? (1:12:52) - How are auto loans performing right now? (1:13:35) - How many catalytic converters have been stolen from you and are manufacturers looking to fix this? (1:14:33) - How’s the auction market looking right now? (1:15:16) - What’s the single most impactful thing a dealer can do to improve the car buying experience? (1:17:13) - How has ride-share impacted the auto world? (1:18:43) - Final thoughts The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Holt Lunsford is the Founder & CEO of Holt Lunsford Commercial, a Dallas-based full-service commercial real estate company. They talk about luck in business, the process of finding and hiring great people, and Holt's advice for fathers. Enjoy! Support Our Sponsors: Juniper Square: https://www.junipersquare.com/ Frank Kent Cadillac: https://www.frankkentcadillac.com/ Learn more about Chris Powers and 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/ Subscribe to The Fort on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ (3:08) - Holt’s background and career (5:30) - The Great Trammel Crowe generation of Texas Real Estate Operators (19:26) - How much of business success is luck and how much are things that you can control? (21:28) - Holt’s Growth standards (24:22) - How long was the business going until you started making hires (25:24) - What were things you weren’t doing well that people could learn from? (28:55) - Holt on building relationships with the people he works with and loyalty (31:21) - Holt on the culture of people moving jobs constantly and attracting the next generation of employees (36:21)- What within Real Estate has changed dramatically since starting in ’86? (38:33) - Chris and Holt on life balance (43:02) - What did you give your kids for their 18th birthday? (46:19) - What advice would you give your 21-year-old self

On this episode Chris talks about the fundamentals that drive Class B Industrial: Growing demand and no new supply? Could that be?! The types of tenants that occupy Class B Industrial How we think about Cap Ex & TI. And more! Support Our Sponsors: Juniper Square: https://www.junipersquare.com/ Frank Kent Cadillac: https://www.frankkentcadillac.com/ Learn more about Chris Powers and 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/ Subscribe to The Fort on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ Topics: (2:52) - What is Class B Industrial? (4:59) - They aren’t building more of this stuff (7:07) - Serving the function of a business (9:43) - The asset class in 2022 (11:57) - Tenants in Class B Industrial (14:05) - Being close to the customer (15:33) - Predictability of Expenses (16:31) - Class B as Covered Land Plays (17:22) - Leasing (19:58) - Final thoughts on Class B Industrial The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Chris sits down with his longtime friend Rayne Austin, to do a deep dive into the Cattle Business. Rayne walks Chris through the multiple phases of the life cycle for cattle, how each phase makes money, the "Big 4" packers, and how the pandemic exposed a major bottleneck in the industry. Enjoy! Learn more about Chris Powers and 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/ Subscribe to The Fort on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ (3:11) - Rayne’s Background (5:08) - What are the phases of a cow's life and how do you move from one to the next? (8:07) - Do the calves only live off of their mother’s milk or are they consuming feed in the first phase? (9:17) - Do cows sell for less if they haven’t been weened? (9:39) - How much money are people trying to get from selling in the calf/cow phase? (10:22) - How do you transfer 10,000 calves to the stockyard? (11:30) - How many calves fit in a truckload? (11:49) - What’s the purpose of the stockyard? (13:25) - How big are you trying to get the cows to become in the stock phase? (13:45) - What’s the pricing model for cattle? (37:05) - Does the climate and location of feed yards change what the cow will look like? (39:20) - Are the majority of these legacy companies just growing to a point where the barrier to entry is more difficult? (41:06) - What’s the day to day like for someone like your grandfather working in the field 7 days a week? (44:00) - How many cattle are there per acre in America? (44:56) - How many cattle are there in America? (45:49) - Who’s the largest cattle rancher in the country? (46:21) - Have genetics improved vastly over time? (47:31) - What about cattle genetics has improved? (48:23) - What’s the rating system for cattle? (50:31) - Why would someone go through you for doing deals? (51:47) - What’s a shrink and slide? (53:54) - Why do cuts like Wagyu and Kobe sell for so much more? What about grass-fed beef? (55:15) - Why are Midland steaks so much better than other companies? (56:25) - How long does a cow live and how often can they give birth? (58:24) - What are the different breeds of cattle? (1:00:27) - Is the fake meat industry putting a dent into the business? (1:03:31) - Are there other false narratives that folks should know about in the cattle industry? (1:04:29) - How has technology progressed in this industry to create better margins? (1:07:11) - Have numbers shown that people will pay more for the meat of a cow that’s lived a ‘better life’? (1:08:27) - 1031-ing in the Cattle Business (1:10:28) - The JBS Cattle Company (1:10:57) - Who are the Big 4 in Cattle? (1:11:23) - What did the government do for cattle ranchers during COVID? (1:12:35) - How far out can you hedge? (1:13:51) - Since you’ve been around, what’s been the best year to be in this business? (1:15:23) - Do the major packers dominate the industry or does it revolve around the cattle rancher? (1:16:01) - How would you value a cattle operation? (1:18:09) - The U.S. Beef Trade Deal with China (1:19:15) - If you had 100 million dollars and you had to invest in the cattle business, where would you put it? (1:29:24) - How far are we from a point in time where there are not enough people in the industry? (1:30:07) - What’s your favorite cut of beef & what’s the best advice you’ve ever received? The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Learn more about Chris Powers and 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/ Subscribe to The Fort on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ Chris goes solo to hit hard on a critical aspect of operations that has played so well to the success of Fort Capital: Incentives. On this episode Chris discusses: Why operations are important and how to incentivize them. A relevant scenario to think about when setting incentives. Incentivizing the process, rather than just the outcome. Topics: (1:42) - What is a great operator? (2:38) - Incentivizing the process, not just the outcome The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Michael currently serves as the Founder and CEO of Garden City, a purpose-driven holding company that buys, grows, and permanently holds family-owned companies. Once acquired, Garden City seeks to grow them through culture, technology, and sales. Most recently, Michael was an early employee & executive at DocuSign, serving as Global Vice President, General Manager, and Chief of Staff to the CEO. DocuSign has now achieved a $30B market cap with 5,000 employees. In 2016, he founded MAV Ventures, a venture capital group that has invested in over 100+ companies and multiple funds. Michael also co-founded New Story, a non-profit that has built 2,000+ homes in developing countries and is recognized for creating the world’s first-ever 3D Home Printer. He graduated from the University of Alabama with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Management, and he lives in Atlanta with his wife and three children. Mike is a follower of Jesus and seeks to honor God in everything he does. On this episode, Chris and Mike discuss: His story and how he learned to be world-class at sales. (He was the #1 CutCo Knife salesman in the US) How Garden City values and ultimately transacts on businesses. How Garden City creates value for the companies they acquire. Why he chose a permanent capital structure. Learn more about Chris Powers and 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/ Subscribe to The Fort on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ Michael on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MikeArrieta Garden City: https://www.joingardencity.com/ (2:10) - Michael’s career and background (4:51) - What did you do that made you the top Knife salesman in the country? (9:45) - What can get someone to believe in their product or company? (12:46) - What does a Chief of Staff do? (16:58) - Why do you have an affinity for boring SMB’s? (19:50) - What led you to the realization that you wanted to start acquiring businesses? (23:30) - What are you tangibly doing to make people the focus of the businesses you buy? (29:21) - What’s your filter for red flags in businesses you look at acquiring? (32:19) - In what capacity do you want the previous owner involved after an acquisition? (33:49) - What do the first 90 days look like post-acquisition? (37:11) - How do you find the line between letting the business run and being very hands on as owners? (40:20) - When an owner doesn’t stay on, how quickly do you have to get on with replacing the CEO? (43:06) - What are most of these SMB’s lacking generally from a technology standpoint? (46:17) - How do you find someone who is going to be really accountable for making sure tech is adopted? (48:50) - How do you approach Sales training? (53:45) - Why did you choose to pursue Permanent Capital? (57:01) - How do you think about the platform of being able to help people when you’re a business owner? (1:00:58) - Is it possible to instill this mindset in an already existing business? (1:02:33) - How does Permanent Capital work? (1:04:46) - How do you think about cash flowing out of the businesses you own? (1:07:06) - Do you have an example of a Christian Business owner who is killing it in both their career and their faith? Sacred Pace by Terry Looper: https://amzn.to/3qxTMtV (1:10:17) - Why did you consciously decide to slow down? What have been the consequences of that decision? Becoming a King by Morgan Snyder: https://amzn.to/3Lq7GYV The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer: https://amzn.to/3ddXrtR The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Tim is a Partner at Majority Search, a private equity firm focused on helping top mid-career professionals pursue entrepreneurship through acquisition (EtA). He is a veteran search fund investor who has backed over 80 search funds and first-time CEOs since 2007 and purchased three companies directly. Before Tim began investing in search funds, he was an executive at a diversified real estate company, consulted with Arthur Andersen and a middle-market manufacturing company, founded two online publishing companies, and held positions with Dell and a venture-backed start-up. Tim graduated from The College of Wooster, received his MBA from the University of Michigan, and lives in San Diego with his wife and two teenage children. On this episode, Chris and Tim discuss: A deep dive into the search fund industry and how it matured over time. What Tim has learned from interviewing hundreds of CEOs. How Majority Search structures deals that align incentives. Lessons from valuing 1000’s of small businesses. Learn more about Chris Powers and 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/ Subscribe to The Fort on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ Links: Majority Search: https://www.majoritysearch.com/ Tim on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tsludwig SearchFunder.com: https://www.searchfunder.com/ Who by Geoff Smart: https://amzn.to/3x0vQmD The Threat of a Reference Check: https://bit.ly/3ARu9sH Topics: (2:51) -Tim’s background and career (17:28) - What is a Search Fund in traditional vs. self-funded? (25:42) - How do deal structures work when you begin a Search? (29:25) - How big is the Search Fund community and how can people get in? (32:47) - EBITish on Discord (34:08) - What are some characteristics of a successful Searcher? (45:46) - Is there a way to sense if someone has common sense and judgment? Chris now acts as the Searcher for the remainder of the episode (52:40) - What are the best practices for finding businesses to buy? (59:43) - What are some industries or business types that really excite you? (1:03:42) - What does the process look like once we’ve got an LOI between a Searcher, Search Fund, and Seller? (1:10:11) - Is there any one reason that causes deals to fall apart? (1:12:14) - Do you prefer if the seller stays on in some capacity during the transition to new owners? (1:15:35) - What kind of returns are you looking for to determine if an acquisition was a success? (1:18:56) - What are some low-hanging fruit new owners can capitalize on to grow a business they’ve acquired? (1:23:07) - Do you care if owners implement some kind of EOS or other operating systems? (1:24:08) - What should an owner expect to see in their first 30-60 days on the job? (1:27:41) - What does the owner’s relationship look like when working with someone like Majority Search? (1:31:46) - How are returns made throughout the life of an investment? (1:34:23) - What’s the balance between the portfolio owner and the CEO creating ideas for growth? (1:35:57)- How do you handle unexpected hyper-growth? (1:39:19) - How do you think about the wave of Baby Boomer business owners headed for retirement? (1:41:46) - Who would you back if they came to you as Searchers: Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos? The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Wyatt is the founder and CEO of UpSmith, a technology company on a mission to combat America’s skilled worker crisis. UpSmith partners with employers to identify high-demand gaps in their labor force, then sources and screens candidates to fill them. Where necessary, UpSmith connects candidates with affordable, fast, high-quality training to qualify them for placement. Prior to UpSmith, Wyatt led business development for Elevate, Uber’s aerial ride-sharing business unit. He served as a consultant with McKinsey & Company and as a corps member with Teach for America, receiving the 2013 Sue Lehmann Award as a national teacher of the year. Wyatt holds an MBA with Distinction from Harvard Business School and a BS in Human & Organizational Development and Political Science from Vanderbilt University, where he served as student body president and as a young alumni trustee on the Board of Trust. On this episode, Chris and Wyatt discuss: An in-depth view of the emerging blue-collar labor crisis in America and how we got here. The benefits of blue-collar work and why it is worthwhile work. Upsmith’s plan to employ more blue-collar workers. Why college isn’t for everyone. Learn more about Chris Powers and 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/ Subscribe to The Fort on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ Follow The Fort on Instagram: www.Instagram.com/TheFortPodcast (2:43) - What is the labor crisis we are facing right now? (7:40) - Was there an inflection point where we changed the way we look at the trades? (9:02) - Is this labor crisis attributed equally across all blue-collar work? (10:40) - Are we losing people in the trades due to a lack of training from small businesses? (15:33) - Why is it not obvious that people should look into the trades for a viable career? (18:39) - Does the federal government offer financial aid to attend a trade school? (19:55) - How much of this is a laziness problem? UpSmith (21:25) - Wyatt’s launch of UpSmith (24:27) - How are you pitching high school students to have them consider this vs. College? (34:04) - What are the implications for the families of those who choose to enter the trades? (37:30) - Why are you attracted to the words ‘dignity’ and ‘purpose’? (39:57) - Renaming Blue Collar as “The Builder Class” (41:10) - What takes place in the initial 8 weeks of a cohort? (44:13) - What problem is a company having that drives them to UpSmith for candidates? (47:40) - What’s the line when it comes to blue-collar work and candidates with criminal records? (50:30) - Other than pay, what are some non-obvious benefits of a career in trades? (53:40) - Is the path for people to eventually own their own business or just have a steady income? (57:50) Is anyone on social media making this work sexy? @BuildersOfInsta Mike Rowe's Dirty Jobs The Make It Movement (1:00:48) - Are city crews looking to UpSmith for help with public infrastructure? (1:01:16) - What does our world look like if we fail to fill these blue-collar positions? HBR Future of Work Initiative (1:05:24) - Where have all these workers gone since Covid? The Mom Project (1:08:41) - Is there a certain characteristic that stands out in high-performers in the trades? (1:09:47) - Where do you envision UpSmith in 5 years? (1:11:40) - What are employers in home health care looking for from UpSmith candidates? (1:13:22) - What’s one thing you've never predicted since you started this business? (1:14:46) - How can people get in touch or partner with you? Forge NOW The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Mike Vellano is the CEO of Vortex Companies – a trenchless technology company focused on water and sewer infrastructure. As CEO and Founder, Mike's primary focus is fulfilling the corporate mission and ensuring Vortex delivers on its promise of being a solutions-focused, cost-effective trenchless products and services provider ranging from consulting and project management services to the delivery of products, training, and installation. Formerly, Mike was Vice President of Sales and Marketing for one of North America's largest privately held trenchless underground contractors. His primary responsibilities included overseeing all business entities' sales, marketing, and product development functions. He was also in charge of forging strategic business alliances as part of the company's vision of providing its customers with the widest selection of environmentally friendly, trenchless underground repair solutions. During his five-year tenure, Mike used his vision and leadership to help measurably grow the company's revenue. From 2001 to 2009, Mike worked for Albany, New York-based Vellano Brothers, where he rose from the ranks from local Branch Manager to Vice President. He helped streamline operations, grow accounts, and increase sales exponentially during his tenure there. Mike resides in Houston, Texas, with his wife Lettie and two daughters. On this episode, Chris and Mike discuss: What trenchless technology is, why it's essential, and what markets the technology serves. A fantastic story of how he built his company, took on private equity, and continued to acquire company after company. Lessons learned from integrating each company. Learn more about Chris Powers and 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/ Subscribe to The Fort on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ Vortex: https://vortexcompanies.com/ (2:36) - Mike’s background & career (4:54) - What is the ‘Trenchless’ industry? (9:50) - Are your customers government contractors or private companies? (10:54) - How old are some of these pipe systems and how much has their design changed over the years? (14:23) - Is there anything Trenchless can do for a city like Austin? (17:04) - Are there areas in the US where your business typically does better? (21:08) - How did you build Vortex? (29:48) - How did you finance your way to $40mm in Revenue? (32:25) - Do you operate as a Holdco or does every acquisition get rolled up under the Vortex brand? (35:34) - What mattered to you when finding capital partners? (44:44) - What’s your playbook for integrating new acquisitions into your company? (49:01) - Do you care if the leaders of an acquired business stay or post-close? (50:27) - How much impact is the Russia-Ukraine situation having on your business in Europe? (52:25) - Does your technology scale well into residential? (53:25) - Why do you think executives have it easy? (54:28) - How do you see the labor market over the next 20 years? (57:56) - Why is family so important to you? The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Twitter Anon "The Wolf of Franchises" aka @franchisewolf on Twitter, is an expert in the franchise industry. The Wolf of Franchises is a franchise industry professional who has helped match top franchise brands with competent owners and operators and source emerging franchisors for investment opportunities. The Wolf is currently building a media organization via Workweek; an Austin-based media startup focused on empowering individual creators. Through The Wolf's newsletter, podcast, and website, he aims to be the most trusted and transparent (as well as entertaining) resource for information on franchises. On this episode, Chris and Wolf discuss: An in-depth analysis of how franchising works What makes a great franchise business How to create a franchise Years of lessons learned from the franchise industry 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/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ Follow The Fort on Instagram: www.Instagram.com/TheFortPodcast Wolf of Franchises on Twitter WolfOfFranchises.com WorkWeek Franchise Empires Podcast - On Apple - On Spotify Spaulding Decon American Family Care The Joint In N Out on Expanding East of Texas Sun Holdings The Flynn Group (1:13) - Building an anonymous Twitter account (4:19) - How are you building a business around your Twitter account? (6:27) - What is a franchise? (9:03)- How does a business owner convert their model to a franchise? (11:19) - Is there a certain level of stores you need to have before a franchise makes sense? (12:29) - How long does it take to put the business on paper that’s ready to franchise? (13:26) - What big questions should franchisees be thinking about as they go through the process? (16:20) - Are a lot of the people applying to be franchisee’s first-time operators? (21:05) - How would you structure a franchise deal? (24:13) - Is it upon the franchisor to determine the size of an operator’s territory? (25:43) - The Subway Franchise Model (27:43) -How do Franchisors vet potential franchisees? (30:46) - Is there any data on the franchisee being a passive owner vs. working in the business? (33:46)- How do you typically finance a new franchise? (35:40) - How do you do due diligence on a franchisor? (38:30) - How long is the typical franchise agreement? (39:47) - What does the agreement look like when a franchisee approaches a franchisor with a buyer for their locations? (44:23) - What franchises do you love if you were going to go buy a franchise? (50:59) - Are there any tips for finding the right location for a customer-facing franchise? (52:30) -What would you stay away from? (55:08) - What’s the craziest business you’ve seen become a franchise? (55:58) - What’s the best healthcare franchise? (57:53) - Does Real Estate play into someone’s decision to get into franchising? (59:34) - How does an operator get a franchise into a new state? (1:02:37) - Why wouldn’t franchises with cult followings like In-N-Out be in every state? (1:04:16) - Is the nightmare scenario a Franchisee is doing really well but a Franchisor is screwing it up? (1:08:46) - What’s the best way to buy out a franchisee? (1:10:34) - Who’s the largest franchisee in the country? The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Twitter Anon M. Stanfield aka @mu2myoc on Twitter is an expert in affordable housing. Over the past 18 months, his firm has acquired $200M+ in affordable housing projects in Texas. They buy distressed value-add deals and spend a pile on CapEx. Before launching his own fund two years ago, he had developed over 3,000 units of affordable housing in multiple states. Prior to that, he was an affordable housing broker. On this episode, Chris and M. Stanfield discuss: An in-depth analysis of the affordable housing industry and how it operates. Stories as a landlord of some of America’s toughest affordable housing communities. How his firm creates value and win/win situations for all involved. Learn more about Chris Powers and 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/ Subscribe to The Fort on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ M. Stanfield on Twitter M. Stanfield's Newsletter (1:47) - The culture around people living in low-income housing (13:06) - What are you buying and what issues are you walking into when looking at a deal? (17:26) - Low Income Housing Tax Credit process (22:18) - Thoughts on Section 8 housing (32:30) - What drives you to work in this asset class? (39:41) - Serendipitous opportunity vs. “working for it” (43:59) - How do you turn these properties around from a physical perspective and a resident perspective? (54:58) - Is there any real solution to helping low-income housing? (59:40) - Re-tenanting a property Twitter Questions (1:09:20) - What 2-3 levers can you pull that drive 95% of returns? (1:16:07) - What’s your take on the market right now? The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Jilliene Helman is the Founder and CEO of RealtyMogul, an online real estate marketplace that gives everyday investors access to institutional-quality commercial real estate deals in dozens of markets across the country. Since 2012, RealtyMogul members have collectively invested over $850 million into $4.7 billion of real estate nationwide (as of March 31, 2022). Jilliene holds Series 7, 24, and 63 investment licenses and is a Certified Wealth Strategist. She’s been featured as an expert on startups and real estate investing on Bloomberg, CNBC, The New York Times, Yahoo! Finance, and Entrepreneur. On this episode, Chris and Jilliene discuss: A 10-year overview of how crowdfunding has evolved and the tailwinds driving it Building a two-sided marketplace with sponsors and LP’s. How crowdfunding works from a high level What to expect from the crowdfunding industry over the next decade. Learn more about Chris Powers and 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/ Subscribe to The Fort on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ (2:02) - Jilliene’s career and background (4:48) - What did crowdfunding in the RE space look like when you got started in your career? (8:29) - If you had to go start a new 2-sided marketplace today, would it be harder to do? (11:47) - Was there an inflection point in the industry where crowdfunding became more mainstream? (15:07) - How distributed is the money coming from crowdfunding? Are there ever a couple of individuals that carry the bulk of a fund? (17:20) - What’s the path forward to become a top brand name over the next decade? (20:12) - Is there any agreement that states the LP needs to go to you instead of the GP for questions or investments? (21:39) - How do you approve and vet sponsors? (24:57) - Have you seen institutional or family office capital get into crowdfunding? (25:55) - How do your REITs work? (29:09) - Is the push to have a more built out secondary market for LP’s something on your radar? (30:55) - How do you approach Capital Call situations? (33:24) - What data are you looking at to prove the massive tailwinds for crowdfunding? (35:33) - Do you have to own a controlling position in the LP stack? (36:17) - How are you seeing most people show up in a deal? (37:44) - What’s something you think deeply about that you want to see in the industry? The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Steve Robinson is the former CMO of Chick Fil A. and is currently a consultant, author, and speaker on organizational culture design & leadership, brand strategy development, marketing planning, and distinctive advertising principles. He is the former Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Chick-fil-A, Inc., 1981-2015. Before joining the company, Steve was the director of marketing for Six Flags Over Georgia theme park in Atlanta, Georgia. This role was preceded by marketing positions at two other Six Flags properties and communications manager at Texas Instruments. After beginning his career at Chick-fil-A as director of marketing, Steve went on to serve as vice president of the department before becoming chief marketing officer. In his most recent role, he was responsible for overseeing marketing, advertising, brand development, menu development, and hospitality strategies. In addition to serving on Chick-fil-A’s board of directors from 2016-2018, Steve serves on several boards for organizations and ministries, including FamilyLife, Fellowship of Christian Athletes of Atlanta, Links Players International, and Atlanta Hall Management & College Football Hall of Fame, and the National Football Foundation. He holds an associate degree in business administration from Faulkner State Junior College, a Bachelor of Science in marketing from Auburn University, and a master’s in advertising from Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Steve and his wife, Dianne, have two children and four grandchildren. In this episode, Chris and Steve discuss Why every company should have a purpose for existing. Hint: it's used to make decisions ;) The incredible story behind Chick Fil A's growth and the thriving culture that got them there. Hire people through a lens that "you'll work with them forever." Chick Fil A cows, "My Pleasure", and more. And more! Purchase Steve’s Book here Learn more about Chris Powers and 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/ Subscribe to The Fort on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ Follow The Fort on Instagram: www.Instagram.com/TheFortPodcast (2:04) - How Steve got to Chick-fil-A (8:55) - What’s your response to the fast-paced hiring processes of today’s businesses? (11:37) - The purpose statement of Chick-Fil-A (23:21) - Why doesn’t every company have a purpose statement? (27:59) - What do you tell to already established companies who want to totally rebuild their culture? (32:09) - Do you have an example of a major decision that was made or not made based on the company’s purpose statement? (37:40) - Is there something different about today’s culture that would make a culture like Chick-Fil-A’s much harder to implement? (40:14) - Can selflessness be taught? (43:54) - Turnover is the #1 enemy of cultural sustainability (46:00) - How did the cows become the mascots? (53:41) - The CFA operator model (1:06:06) - The origin of “My Pleasure” The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Ryan Broderick is the Co-Founder & CEO of Darwin Homes. Darwin Homes is a real estate investment management platform focused on the single-family rental opportunity, enabling investors to invest anywhere simply with confidence. Darwin has raised just under $50m in venture capital from Khosla Ventures, Camber Creek, Fifth Wall, Canvas Ventures, Tony Xu, Ryan Graves, Ryan Roslansky, and other technology leaders. Prior to founding Darwin Homes, Ryan was part of the founding team at DoorDash. During his tenure at DoorDash, he built and led the first Launch team, which was tasked with scaling the DoorDash operation from Silicon Valley to over 250 cities in the US. He then went on to build the Merchant Team responsible for Business Development, Sales, Merchant Products, and Merchant Operations. Before DoorDash, Ryan worked at JUMP Investors, an early-stage VC firm led by Randall Kaplan, the Co-Founder of Akamai Technologies. Ryan holds a B.S from the University of Southern California and an MBA from Pepperdine University. In this episode, Chris and Ryan discuss: Lessons learned from being early at DoorDash and how he applied those principles to property management How they enter a market and all that happens How they've approached single-family property management from first principles to building revolutionary tools for owners Future opportunities that can be done when Darwin hits scale, including new resident monetization strategies Learn more about Chris Powers and 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/ Subscribe to The Fort on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ Follow The Fort on Instagram: www.Instagram.com/TheFortPodcast (2:58) - Ryan’s early career with Doordash (16:40) - What was the initial thesis for Darwin Homes? (26:55) - What does scale give Darwin that the local PM will never have? (30:55) - What do you mean by the Surface Area in Property Management? (32:40) - What does a great engineering culture look like? (36:13) - How does the best idea win when you’re first building a product that needs to 10x? (38:58) - What happens from Day 0 of entering a new market? (42:22) - How do you source vendors in a market? (48:00) - What makes a good city for Darwin to enter? (49:22) - Darwin’s Build-to-rent operation (50:12) - Why do you have an acquisitions team within a property management company? (56:38) - Ryan’s vision for Darwin (1:01:30) - How big is the SFR & BFR market getting? (1:04:53) - What do institutional owners care about and what do retail owners care about? (1:08:11) - Are we moving to a world where people rent homes sight unseen? (1:11:38) - Resident Monetization (1:15:10) - Is there room for managing homes for homeowners? (1:19:31) - Do you have any desire to buy property managers in other markets? (1:21:06) - Are the people you’re hiring already in the PM industry? (1:23:11) - Thoughts on construction (1:27:03) - What are you seeing going on in VC given everything happening in the economy? (1:36:29) - Thoughts on Blue Collar work (1:47:19) - Shooting the shit and bouncing business ideas off each other

Josh Young is the Founder & CIO of Bison Interests. Josh has built his career concentrating on deep value opportunities for investors. He has over 15 years of experience in investment management, 10 of which were focused on publicly-traded oil and gas securities. Josh became Chairman of the Board of RMP Energy in 2017. After refreshing the board and management team and rebranding the company (Iron Bridge Resources), it was bought out at a 78% premium in 2018. Josh is the author of numerous articles on oil & gas investments and the guest speaker at various energy industry conferences. He graduated with honors from the University of Chicago in economics. Josh was a management consultant to Fortune 500 companies and private equity firms, and then an investment analyst at a private equity fund. Josh worked as an energy investment analyst for a multi-billion dollar, single-family office, which was nominated as Institutional Investor's Single Family Office of the Year in 2008 On this episode Chris and Josh discuss: A historical overview of energy markets from 2014 - present Macro themes that are emerging in the global energy markets A bull case for oil & gas What it will take to rebuild the oil & gas industry in America 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/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ Follow Josh on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Josh_Young_1 Bison Interests: https://bisoninterests.com/ (2:11) - Josh’s career and background (7:38) - How big is the investable universe of companies within Oil and Gas? (9:22) - Where is your focus within the industry? (10:54) - What was happening in the world after the crash in 2014? (20:54) - Are the Saudis the largest producers in the world? (21:18) - What do countries like Iran and Venezuela do with their oil when they are shut out of OPEC? (24:53) - What started happening in the market in 2015? (31:48) - As you think about that period of time, how much of it was driven by a lack of fracking knowledge? (36:25) - Market overview from 2018 through the pandemic (44:43) - How underinvested is the industry today? (52:25) - Thoughts on the ESG movement (1:00:39) - Is there anything on the horizon that the narrative around O&G will change either for the better or worse? (1:03:18) - How much impact is the Russia-Ukraine conflict having on the oil markets? (1:05:51) - What are your predictions for the next 4-5 years? (1:19:37) - Thoughts on the current O&G market The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Apurva Mehta is the Managing Partner of Summit Peak Investments. Apurva graduated with a B.B.A in Finance from The George Washington University. From 2001 to 2004, he was a Senior Investment Analyst for Citi Institutional Consulting in Washington D.C, where he focused on asset allocation and manager due diligence for endowments, foundation, and pension funds. From there, Mehta went on to become a VP at Lehman Brothers in the Investment Banking and Investment Management Divisions, focusing on Global Business Planning and Strategy until 2008. For the next three years, Mehta was the Director of Portfolio Investments at the Juilliard School in New York City. For the next eight years, he was the Deputy Chief Investment Officer at Cook's Children's Health Care System in Fort Worth, Texas, where he oversaw the management of the portfolio across all asset classes, including strategic and tactical asset allocation, investment manager selection, manager performance evaluation, and operational oversight. Additionally, he led the buildout of the Private Investment portfolio and spearheaded the Venture Capital program. Moreover, in 2012 and 2013 Mehta was named one of the "Top Forty Under Forty" by CIO Magazine and recognized as “Fresh Talent at the World’s Largest Asset Owners”. He was also named a “Rising Star” of Foundations and Endowments and a “Rising Star” of Hedge Funds by Institutional Investor in 2013. Currently, alongside being a managing partner at Summit Peak, Mehta is also on the board for Interstride. In this episode, Chris and Apurva discuss venture capital's current market environment and analyze Summit Peak's strategy for investing in Pre-See, Seed, and Series A Managers. They also discuss what will matter for starup's going forward and how valuations will be set, Paypal Mafia stories, and more. Enjoy! Learn more about Chris Powers and 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/ Subscribe to The Fort on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ Apurva on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mehtaaapurva Summit Peak Investments: https://www.summitpeak.com/ (2:32) - What was your experience working at Lehman Brothers in 2008? (6:06) - Apurva’s career and founding Summit Peak Investments (7:40) - How have you chosen to approach Venture? (16:04) - What qualities do you look for in early-stage investors? (24:07) - What’s happening in the market & VC in your opinion? (39:55) - How often do companies need to renegotiate capital agreements when markets become volatile? (44:54) - Do you predict investors will only look for the most logically profitable businesses going forward? (49:39) - What’s happening in the world of Series-A, Seed, and Pre-Seed investing? (55:25) - What factors would determine a phenomenal seed company in this market? (58:33) - Thoughts on the PayPal Mafia (1:03:12) - What is your mindset heading into the next 5 years? The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Brad Hargreaves is the Founder and CEO of Common, the nation’s leading residential brand that designs and manages multifamily apartments with more than 6,000 residents in over 10 markets across the country. On this episode, Chris and Brad discuss how co-living works and why it's more affordable, how Common works with owners and developers to drive returns and what makes for a great location/market when deciding to develop co-living. Enjoy! Learn more about Chris Powers and 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/ Subscribe to The Fort on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ Common: https://www.common.com/ Brad on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bhargreaves (2:04) - Brad’s journey into co-living (3:17) - When did co-living get its label and become a true asset class? (4:33) - What does Common do & what is the definition of Co-living? (5:48) - How do your management & lease agreements work? (9:01) - Why are developers approaching you over traditional Property Managers? (10:57) - - How do you think about designing to separate yourself from other MF developers? (15:29) - What’s the trigger in these jurisdictions that gets you classified into co-living? (17:53) - SRO: Single Room Occupancy dwelling (19:46) - Why are jurisdictions somewhat against co-living? (21:09) - What makes a great market for co-living & how do you decide which markets to pursue? (25:56) - Factors that impact the viability of co-working (30:03) - Understanding the customer (31:38) - What’s your revenue model for a ground-up development? (35:47) - Who is the target customer for co-living? (41:05) - Are you furnishing the co-living units? (43:02) - How does the dynamic of 4 strangers living together work? (47:38) - At what point does management have to get involved in tenant disputes? (49:43) - How much customization can a tenant take upon themselves? (52:09) - How do leases & evictions work? (53:59) - How Common approaches Staffing (55:45) - How do you think about advertising? (56:50) - What are your most common unit configuration and square footage? (57:32) - Thoughts on retrofitting existing structures (1:00:06) - Is there an opportunity for converting office buildings? (1:01:13) - Are there any big needle movers that will have an impact on affordable housing & co-living happening right now? The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts

If there was ever a leader to celebrate it is Will Friend. Chris and Will became good friends over the years and talked frequently about the opportunities and challenges in their business and across the real estate industry. Will was an infectious leader who cared deeply about the success of the people around him. He will be dearly missed. In 2019, we were able to record an episode together that is timeless and provides an amazing lesson for us all to learn from. Will was the CEO of Bisnow, an online real estate publication and event firm, where he implemented an incredible culture through Bisnow’s Mission, Vision, and Values. Will and Chris discuss the journey of becoming the CEO of a company and why there's no "step-by-step" process, company structure as a family versus a team, why it is important to love what you do, and Chris reflects on this conversation and his role at Fort Capital. 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/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ (01:50) — Will’s Journey Before Bisnow, Growing Up in the UK, The Desire for the American Dream, and Moving to America (09:23) — The Journey to Becoming a CEO at 27 Years Old (16:50) — How do you see your experience as CEO so far? (19:33) — What did you expect to be part of the role as CEO that actually are not? (22:22) — Level Up Talent (23:20) — How can you know if you’ll keep the role? How do you evaluate yourself and the organization? (24:10) — Team vs. Family (26:40) — Were these values already set or was it an “ah-ha!” moment? (31:05) — Deciding on a Vision and Values for Bisnow (40:50) — How do you make your Vision and Values a habit? (46:15) — Are these open to be debated and changed? (47:54) — How is a private equity buy-out a learning experience for everyone? Is this the right thing for everyone? (52:40) — What do private equity firms do for family-owned businesses? (53:04) — 3 Failures That Changed the Way Will Thinks (1:00:50) — How does culture affect a company’s bottom line? (1:04:00) — Hitting a Sales Mark (1:08:50) — What does it take for an issue to make it to your desk? (1:12:42) — What is it like to run a sales team? What makes a successful salesperson? (1:16:46) — What do you say to people who are not doing what they love? (1:19:49) — What advice would you give to your 21-year-old self? What is your favorite interview question? (1:27:20) — How Chris Critiques Himself and What Makes a Company's Mission, Vision, and Values Work The FORT is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Wesley Mabry is an experienced Cost Segregation Consultant with over 15 years of experience in the industry across a wide range of asset classes. Mr. Mabry founded 1245 Consulting in 2017 and services all of the United States. Wes has performed thousands of Cost Segregation Studies analyzing over 8 billion dollars of real estate improvements throughout the United States. His experience includes working closely with Accountants, CPAs, EAs, REITs, Corporations, Partnerships, and individual investors. On this episode, Chris and Wes deep dive into cost seg and how they work, why different asset classes offer different depreciation possibilities and the implications of selling a property with accumulated depreciation through the life of ownership. They also discuss pending legislation and impacts on real estate/cost segs and much more. Learn more about Chris Powers and 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/ Subscribe to The Fort on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ Follow The Fort on Instagram: www.Instagram.com/TheFortPodcast Follow Wes on Twitter: https://twitter.com/1245consulting 1245 Consulting: https://www.1245consulting.com/ (03:59) - What is a Cost Segregation Study? (05:20) - How is it different from straight-line depreciation? (06:45) - Is there any reason why someone shouldn’t do a Cost Seg? (08:42) - Can you do this on your own or do you need to hire a professional? (09:34) - Can this be done only on investment properties? (09:57) - Do the rules for Cost Segregation vary from state to state? (10:48) - What happens from the day I call you to get a Cost Seg to the day you send me the report? What then do I do with what you give me? (17:01) - An Industrial Deal example for Cost Segregation (20:13) - Are there any materials or components of a building that fall into gray areas? (22:26) - What are some asset types that receive the most benefit from Cost Seg? (26:24) - Do you want to do a Study before you do improvements to the property or after? (28:23) - What is a recapture tax? (32:47) - What do owners who are long-term holders do once their depreciable amortization schedule expires? (34:23) - Is there any ongoing legislation that people should be aware of? (36:05) - The importance of Land Value (39:39) - Is everything predicated on the year the Study is done? (40:51) - Can you do another Cost Seg to an office building that you convert to residential? (44:03) - Wrap up and final thoughts The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Beth Azor is the founder and CEO of Azor Advisory Services (AAS), a leading commercial real estate advisory and investment firm based in Weston, Florida. As its principal, Beth currently owns and manages six shopping centers in Florida valued at over $100 million. She travels the U.S. consulting with, brokering deals for, and training associates in the commercial real estate industry. On this episode, Beth discusses how to drive the most value to a leasing center through leasing best practices, Impulse vs destination tenants, and the best practices for structuring a retail lease from decades of practice. Chris and Beth also chat about what makes the best deal for landlords and a lot more! Learn more about Chris Powers and 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/ Subscribe to The Fort on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ Follow The Fort on Instagram: www.Instagram.com/TheFortPodcast Beth on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Bethazor1 Beth on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bethazor/ Beth on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethazor/ (03:07) - Beth’s Career in Real Estate (14:54) - Why was it so tough to bring in talent horizontally? (18:15) - Where did you develop this leadership style? (19:34) - How do you define canvasing & prospecting? (21:48) - Do most tenants already want to expand when you prospect or do you need to sell them on the idea? (22:52) - What are the critical components of an amazing leasing agent? (25:21) - What’s your solution to someone who is afraid to go talk to a stranger? (28:19) - What are the main reasons a tenant is happy where they are or unhappy where they are? (33:15) - Impulse Tenants vs. Destination Tenants (40:53) - What is Dwell Time? (43:14) - “Your leasing competitor across the street is your best friend” (45:53) - What would be a reason you don’t provide TI knowing the leasing agent across the street does? (47:29) - What is Occupancy Cost Ratio? (49:59) - Sales Reporting in Leases (50:58) - Percentage Rent Deals (53:54) - Relocation Clauses (55:51) - Grace Periods to Pay Rent (58:24) - What else have you learned are must-haves in a lease? (1:00:48) - Are there any lease clauses that linger post-covid? (1:03:22) - Why would a great property be okay with a pop-up shop? (1:08:12) - Is there ever a time when a tenant brings too much traffic? (1:10:38) - How does the delivery economy (Uber Eats, DoorDash) impact shopping centers? (1:14:42) - What is the Circular Economy? (16:02) - What gets you to a quick no when you’re buying a property? (18:17) - Do you have tenants on the hook before you develop a property? (1:19:08) - Are you doing Triple Net leases or Gross? (1:19:26) - What are you responsible for as the landlord that is unique to the asset class? (1:20:48) - Is it true that grocery stores pay less rent? (1:20:58) - Why don’t you like CoStar? Are there any online tools that you do like? (1:22:43) - How do you conduct a market survey? (1:24:26) - Why is traffic count so important? (1:25:12) - How do you respond to the media accusations that retail is dead? (1:29:15) - How can people engage with you online? The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Mike Boyd is an Australian Entrepreneur, CEO & Investor. Mike started his entrepreneurial career at age 11 selling lost golf balls and didn’t look back, going on to cofound no less than 7 businesses before the age of 25. Mike is a relentless innovator and is always trying to find new ways to innovate and solve problems using technology. Mike now dedicates a portion of his time to managing investments in alternative assets via the family's investment vehicle, Mudbrick Capital, and running The Business of Family Podcast. On this episode, Chris and Mike uncover best practices for building a successful multi-generational family and discuss the work that goes into planning for a successful family – it takes work! They also chat about how wealth is transferred from generation to generation without creating entitlement and deep dive into how the Founding Generation interacts with Generation 2. Enjoy! Learn more about Chris Powers and 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/ Subscribe to The Fort on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ Follow The Fort on Instagram: www.Instagram.com/TheFortPodcast (02:41) - Mike’s Background and Career (06:15) - Living and Working Abroad VroomVroomVroom (07:59) - How did you get into the digital side of entrepreneurship? Yellow sunglasses party guy (12:22) - What are trends are you seeing in travel right now? (15:25) - Did Australia provide some kind of governmental assistance during the pandemic? (16:59) - Mike’s ‘The Business of Family’ Podcast (21:21) - Why is this something your are passionate about? (5:17) - Does 3rd generational wealth ever happen by accident? (29:23) - If wealth usually dies in the 3rd generation of a family, how long does it typically take for the next founder generation to come along? (30:41) - Is the loss of generational wealth solely based on an increased number of members in a family? (34:38) - When a family gets to a size of a public company, do decisions still get made within the family, or are there outside decision-makers at play? (36:57) - What are the mechanisms you’ve seen work or not work when a clash within the family happens? (40:41) - Does the legacy operating business normally come from the founder wanting to pass the business down or from the 2nd generation wanting to take over? (43:04) - What are best practices for first-generation families to do if their hope and desire are for the kids to take over the business? Family Wealth by Jay Hughes Jr. (51:03) - When’s the best time to start telling your children that you’re wealthy? The Family Board Meeting by Jim Sheils (58:16) - Do you include your parents in the family enterprise or are you resetting the culture? (1:02:59) - How do you guarantee that the second generation will fail? (1:06:00) - How have you seen families handle an outlier child that is suffering due to drugs or other problems? (1:10:02) - Generational resiliency through divorce (1:12:25) - What’s the best way to set guidelines for the next generation’s behavior that is tied to an inheritance? (1:12:25) - How important is it that the founding patriarch and matriarch are aligned? (1:14:11) - What are the best practices for introducing your children into your business? (1:17:32) - In a situation with multiple kids who are qualified to be the leader of the enterprise, what do you do? (1:20:07) - What would you recommend for people who want to do this for their own families? (1:22:47) - How can people get in touch with you? The Business of Family podcast thebusinessoffamily.net Mike on Twitter The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Barrett is a founding partner of Savoy Equity Partners and oversees the capitalization and structuring of the company’s investments along with deal sourcing. Born and raised in Dallas, he has spent 17 years in the real estate industry crossing multiple product types and service lines. Barrett started investing in real estate in 2012 and enjoys learning about esoteric strategies which can be implemented to create excellent risk-adjusted returns. He has owned over 1,000 units and specializes in transactions with complex structures such as historic tax credits, opportunity zones, low-income restrictions, as well as the deconversion of fractured condos. On this episode, Barret and Chris deep dive into how opportunity zones work for LPs & GPs, the Tax implications of opportunity zones, and chat about different types of opportunity zone structures. They also take a look inside a specific project they are working on in Dallas, TX, and much more! Learn more about Chris Powers and 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/ Subscribe to The Fort on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ Follow The Fort on Instagram: www.Instagram.com/TheFortPodcast CRE Models: https://www.cremodels.com/ (01:52) - Barrett’s Career in RE (07:02) - What was the world like in ’09-’10 when we were just getting back on track? (09:55) - Who were the folks who were still able to borrow during the ’08 crisis? (11:10) - Barrett’s Transition into Buying Deals (15:49) - The Lake Cliff Deal: How Complex Deals Come Together (24:57) - What headaches were you able to avoid with Dallas’ Master Overlay Zoning? (27:14) - How to Develop RE Without Having to be the Developer (30:10) - Now that you own the land and partnered with a developer, what’s your role? (34:08) - What is an opportunity zone? (37:36) - What’s an Opportunity Zone Fund? (43:35) - How long do you have to invest a capital gain into an OZ fund and how long do you have until the capital in the fund needs to be deployed? (50:40) - New Proposed OZ Legislation (53:00) - Do you know if Governors will be able to legislate new OZs in the future? (56:47) - Is everything you’ve bought all listed under one entity? (57:55) - What do you have to do once you’ve acquired a vacant building to get the benefits of an OZ? (1:00:07) - What do you need to do to a piece of land to get the benefits of an OZ? (1:02:19) - What do you have to do once you’ve acquired a decrepit building to get the benefits of an OZ? (1:03:56) - What if you already owned property in an OZ before getting a CO, do you qualify? (1:05:25) - What can people do if they’ve already paid their tax and decide they’d rather start an OZ fund? (1:06:08) - What is the breakeven point from OZ Fund fees and paying the capital gains tax and investing elsewhere? (1:09:52) - How does a GP take advantage of OZ’s? (1:12:02) - The Disguised Sale Rule (1:12:51) - What’s driving the value for your Lake Cliff deal? (1:14:30) - Thoughts on the Dallas Market The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Rob Chadwick, Founder of Holdfast Security Group, a consultation and training company, specializing in helping organizations and private individuals understand how to stay safe in today's uncertain world. Rob recently retired as the head of the Tactical Training Program for the FBI. He started as a police officer in 1994 before joining the FBI in 2001. His first assignment for the Bureau was working against Colombian Drug Cartels in Miami. Following assignments to several other cities, Rob served as an Agent In Charge of Attorney General William P. Barr's protection detail. His final assignment was as Chief of the Tactical Training Unit at the FBI Academy where he was responsible for ensuring the operational readiness of all FBI employees. He has traveled the world providing training for local, state, federal, and international law enforcement officers. On this episode, Chris and Rob discuss the background story of his career in the FBI and other law enforcement roles. They chat about best practices for securing your home or business, data on criminal activity around the US, and the current state of Law & Order in America. 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/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ Follow The Fort on Instagram: www.Instagram.com/TheFortPodcast Holdfast Security Group (01:59) - Rob’s Career and Background (05:56) - What’s the difference between the police and the FBI? (8:17) - How the FBI changed after 9/11 (9:32) - How are federal agencies able to gather such massive amounts of intelligence? (12:23) - Is there more physical violence risk or cyber risk in today’s world? (14:16) - Why is it so hard to combat drugs coming over the border? The Fort with Tegan Broadwater (17:11) - What were the core competencies you were teaching in your tactical program at Quantico? (20:15) - Working Security at The Masters in 2021 (25:07) - How Policing Has Changed Since George Floyd The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker (35:35) - What should people know about personal security that matters most? Master Lock Door Security Bar (45:29) - What’s the most common time of day people’s homes are broken into? (47:18) - Do most burglars go in prepared to be violent? (48:45) - How much time is spent in the planning process for burglarizing a home? (50:09) - Where will a burglar usually enter the home? 3M Window Security (52:09) - Do most burglars act solo or work in teams? (53:13) - Who is the clientele who you work with? (58:00) - How do the civil suits around deadly force usually pan out? (1:06:12) - The Anti-gun Sentiment (1:07:56) - What is the biggest deterrence to those who want to break into your home or business? (1:13:55) - The Current State of Policing and Law Enforcement in the United States The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Part 2 of the exciting webinar session that Nick Huber had with Chris Powers on The Nick Huber Show. They talk about current events, highlights of our acquisition process, the market for GP, and many more! Learn more about Chris Powers and 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/ Subscribe to The Fort on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ Follow The Fort on Instagram: www.Instagram.com/TheFortPodcast Listen to #209 for Part 1 of this episode Topics: (01:46) - If you were a 25-year-old interested in Small Business, what would you do right now? (03:24) - Acquisition Strategies (09:51) - What’s the biggest mistake you’ve made in the first 12-24 months of your Real Estate career? (14:33) - How have you identified buildings that are likely to sell? (17:54) - What are the 3 highest-leverage activities in your business? (20:05) - How do you want to maximize your impact on the world? (22:09) - How can a beginner in RE buy a property into their no-history LLC? (25:42) - Can the minimum investment be lowered to allow unaccredited investors to invest with Sweaty Startup or Fort Capital? (26:23) - What would you be betting on over the next 10 years? The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Robert Prather, Jr, has been with Vision Research for more than 15 years and brings more than 23 years of relevant experience to the team in his role as a member of the senior research staff and President. Vision Research is an independent equity research firm that provides hedge funds with investment ideas. On this episode, Robert discusses his process for uncovering a short idea and what he looks for, why SPACs have recently done so poorly, and the incentives that currently drive them. Chris and Robert also chat about how a short works (Shorting 101) and how he was able to see something off with Enron before the general market did. 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/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ Follow The Fort on Instagram: www.Instagram.com/TheFortPodcast Vision Research: https://www.visionro.com/ (01:43) - Roberts’s Career and Background (03:53) - When $50m is missing, where is it? (04:45) - Is it fair to say that people blindly trust public companies for the numbers they put out? (05:47) - Discussions with Leaders in Public Companies vs. Private Companies (0 7:25) - Robert Uncovers the Enron Fraud (14:03) - Robert’s career today in research and shorting equities (22:10) - Deciphering whether a company is going to go to 0 or is simply worth less than its stock price (26:16) - When do CEOs find out about the research you’ve done on them? (29:56) - How does shorting work? (32:19) - Meme Stocks (39:13) - What happens if everyone takes you up on your ideas at the same time? (40:33) - Thoughts on Tesla (43:01) - How often have you shorted a company and then changed your mind about it? (45:23) - SPACs (1:12:03) - How long does someone predicting a short have to be right? (1:18:16) - What do you predict will happen in the near future? (1:24:22) - Robert’s mantra: Helping others help themselves The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts

On this episode, Chris chats with Twitter's Anonymous @StudentRentPro on every trick in the book for how to strategically manage student rental properties. They deep dive into the economics of how to put together a profitable student housing deal, what matters in a student lease, and funny stories from the trenches of managing students. Enjoy! Learn more about Chris Powers and 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/ Subscribe to The Fort on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ Follow The Fort on Instagram: www.Instagram.com/TheFortPodcast Follow Student Rental Pro on Twitter: https://twitter.com/StudentRentPro Support our Sponsors: Juniper Square: https://www.junipersquare.com/ Lex Markets Corp: https://www.lex-markets.com/fort (03:15) - Student Rental Pro’s background and RE portfolio (05:12) - How did you get into student rentals? (07:50) - What makes a great location for a student rental? (10:58) - What’s your process for leasing a house for the upcoming school year? (13:31) - What are the big things that matter in a student housing lease? (15:54) - Why do you not include parental guarantors in the lease? (18:59) - Do you do any kind of due diligence or application on the students who want to lease? (20:13) - How do you handle parent complaints & work orders? (26:05) - What’s the process of turning the house over from previous tenants to new tenants? (30:40) - What amenities do you provide? (32:48) - What are the tenants allowed to do in terms of drilling into the walls, painting, etc? (34:35) - Pets or no pets? (35:21) - Do you provide appliances? (36:26) - How do you think about deposits? (50:44) - How do you deal with police being called over a party? (53:23) - How do tenants communicate with you and what is your manager’s job during the year? Appfolio (58:47) - What’s the process of selecting a tenant to be “House Manager”? (59:43) - What stands out to you when looking at properties that will maximize rent? (1:05:55) - Who does the yard work? (1:07:35) - What are the most common maintenance issues you see and are there any preventative measures you take? (1:11:10) - What’s the % increase you’re getting on rent with students as opposed to traditional tenants? (1:13:28) - What’s the direction of your portfolio? Twitter Questions: (1:15:05) - Do you compete against institutional capital? (1:16:20) - What would you prefer if you were to extend into a new market: A college-town or a town with a college in it? (1:20:23) - SRP’s MF acquisition was based on listening to the podcast (1:24:35) - Storytime w/ Student Rental Pro

Lloyd was a successful real estate developer and owner of luxury senior housing facilities when his idea of success changed dramatically, and his life’s focus shifted to second-half significance. Together with his mentor, the late Bob Buford, Lloyd helped launch the Halftime Institute, a global team that teaches, coaches, and connects successful men and women in pursuit of significance. For over 20 years, Lloyd has helped leaders make their second half their best half. He has clocked over 20,000 hours of coaching and has taken this message around the world. On this episode, Lloyd and Chat chat about what it means for high capacity leaders to finish well, preparing to live the 2nd half of our lives with significance and best practices early in life and career to set yourself up for success later in life. Enjoy! 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/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ Follow The Fort on Instagram: www.Instagram.com/TheFortPodcast Support our Sponsors: www.FortCapitalLP.com (02:15) - Lloyd’s Background and Career (16:28) - Partnering with Bob Buford Halftime by Bob Buford Managing oneself by Peter Drucker (20:37) - What are things you’ve witnessed folks have done early in their life that set them up for success or failure in the second half of their life? (26:46) - Why do we not naturally gravitate toward focusing on the “priceless” things in life? (30:55) - The Crash and Burn Lots of People Experience in the Second Half of Life The Sigmoid Curve (36:15) - How do you begin to decouple yourself from tying your identity to your work? (41:49) - What are some practices or success stories where you’ve seen folks reinventing themselves within their own business? (48:30) - What does The Halftime Institute do? (50:51) - What are some characteristics of leaders who finish well? (56:17) - Are there best practices for finding what your next calling will be? (1:09:25) - What are the characteristics of people who can build a great business and a great family? What I want my children to know before they leave home by Lloyd Reeb The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Connor Haley founded Alta Fox in 2018 and is responsible for managing all aspects of the firm’s investment process and strategy. He has over ten years of investing experience and a passion for investing in small-cap equities. Before founding Alta Fox, Connor was an Analyst at Scopia Capital Management LP in New York. Connor is a top-ranked investor on MicroCapClub.com1 and a member of the ValueInvestorsClub.com. Connor was an active investor in college: he was the President of Harvard’s largest undergraduate financial club and led the club to its highest-ever annual return. On this episode, Connor and Chris chat about how Alta Fox performs DD and reaches conviction on a new investment thesis, the benefits of activism and why it's more important than ever before, and the DNA of an exceptional business. Lastly, Connor shares his thoughts on the current investing landscape. 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/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ Follow The Fort on Instagram: www.Instagram.com/TheFortPodcast Learn more about Alta Fox: Altafoxcapital.com Connor on Twitter (01:53) - Connor’s Background and Career in Investing (5:40) - Winning Investing and Trading Competitions at Harvard (8:33) - Connor’s Hedge Fund Experience in College (10:25) - What did working on the trading floor do to shape your knowledge in investing? (11:45) - What is your investment philosophy? (13:29) - Activist Investing (15:02) - Alta Fox (16:13) - What does a typical day look like for you? (17:57) - How do you know what to focus on? (22:39) - How quickly do you get to a “no”? (24:40) - Are you contacting a management team before buying their stock? (25:51) - Do public companies have to take a meeting with you? (27:47) - How do you rank your priorities for investments? (29:53) - How many ideas are you usually working on at a given time? (31:25) - Do you have Billions-style idea meetings? (32:18) - What categories are you weighing your decisions on? (34:17) - What are some common characteristics of great CEO’s? (37:59) - What is Capital Allocation and what makes someone good at it? (41:30) - What’s your goal once you’ve decided to buy stock in a company? (44:18) - How long do management calls usually last and do you have a favorite thing to ask them? (47:14) - How has the size of your business and focus changed over the years? (50:37) - How do you decide to sell stocks in your portfolio? (54:09) - What was going through your mind during the first 30 days of Covid? (58:07) - Deep Dive on Activism (1:06:23) - Thoughts on ESG (1:08:45) - How are you thinking about the market right now? (1:11:30) - How do you think we can curb inflation? (1:12:55) - What do you think Warren is thinking right now? (1:14:06) - Do you have an investing idol? Joel Greenblatt's Columbia Business School Notes on Investing (1:16:54) - Why did you choose Fort Worth to run your Hedge Fund? (1:19:29) - Connor’s Case Studies The Makings of a Multibagger (1:21:47) - Thoughts on Trading Options (1:23:20) - What is cheap vs. expensive volatility? (1:24:26) - Betting Against Warren Buffet on Hedge Fund Performances (1:26:33) - Thoughts on the Meme Stock Revolution (1:31:55) - Connor’s Distaste for sushi (1:32:39) - How can people find you? The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Stephen Bailey, Senior Managing Director at JLL, joins Chris again to discuss the current state of capital markets and the ideal situation for sellers going to market - hint: Low WALT. They also dive into land prices, forwards, and cost to construct and how the demand continues to rise, despite the volatile market. Enjoy! Learn more about Chris Powers and 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/ Subscribe to The Fort on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ Follow The Fort on Instagram: www.Instagram.com/TheFortPodcast (03:15) - The State of the Market Post-2022 and Where Stephen Sees the Opportunity (07:15) - When did you start noticing volatility in the market? (08:59) - How are capital flows reacting to this? (12:03) - Are Lenders getting hesitant? (14:40) - The State of the Capital Markets (15:50) - How many buyers are shifting their focus to industrial from other assets? (18:45) - What due diligence do you conduct on a buyer? (20:23) - What Are Some Interesting Terms You’re Seeing in Leases (23:17) - How is Texas performing compared to other hot markets? (24:32) - Thoughts on Amazon (27:17) - Thoughts on Large Industrial Tenants & Development (33:09) - Land Prices (34:49) - Construction & loan rates (35:44) - Class B Industrial (37:06) - Forwards (38:04) - Thoughts on Industrial Outdoor Storage (41:11) - What happens to debt when you get above a certain purchase price? (42:39) - How Fort Capital is Applying What Stephen is Seeing (54:29) - Final Thoughts The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Aaron Graft is the Founder, Vice Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of Triumph Bancorp, Inc. and its subsidiary TBK Bank, SSB. He also serves as a Director and Vice Chairman of The Bank of the West of Thomas, Oklahoma. Before establishing Triumph, Mr. Graft served as the Founder and President of Triumph Land and Capital Management, LLC. On this episode, Aaron shares the story of how he bought Triumph Bank as a 28-year-old during the GFC. Chris and Aaron deep dive into the trucking industry, how truckers get paid, and building factoring technology that will change the future of the trucking industry. 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/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ Follow The Fort on Instagram: www.Instagram.com/TheFortPodcast (01:14) - Aaron’s Backward Entrance Into the Banking Industry (12:40) - Why did you say a bank should always generate cash flow? (14:42) - What was your original thesis behind acquiring a bank? (19:26) - Would you be approved to buy a bank if you were in the same situation again today? (20:55) - What was your experience on Day 1 as the CEO? (24:29) - How were you offloading assets during your first year of ownership? (25:49) - Buying a Trucking Company (32:02) - Why did it make sense to buy this business inside of a bank as opposed to another venture? (37:31) - How have you scaled the business to where it is now? (40:34) - Are you really a bank? Or are you a transportation company? (42:53) - When did you start building technology for the bank? (45:58) - Would you consider yourself a visionary? (47:49) - The Back-Office Offering For Truckers (50:26) - Is the trucking industry heading towards consolidation? (52:24) - Do you help truckers determine what to charge? (54:16) - Do you finance trucks? (54:40) - How does Triumph Pay work? (1:05:23) - How is Amex different from Visa? (1:06:13) - Do truckers keep deposits with Triumph? (1:07:00) - Do you trade like a bank or a fintech company? (1:08:21) - Why did you go public, to begin with? (1:11:10) - What are you buying these days? (1:12:49) - Why are shipments slowing down? (1:15:04) - How does the trucking industry change in size as more people buy things online? (1:16:48) - Is there anything that keeps you up at night about the trucking industry? (1:20:38) - Is there any other industry you could model what you’re doing in? (1:22:21) - What do you predict for your company in 10 years? The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Drew Pearson, Managing Partner at Pearson Partners, began his commercial real estate career at Latter & Blum in Baton Rouge in 2008. He moved to a boutique firm named Waters & Pettit in 2011 and within a few years became a top-selling agent there. To date he has sold over $100MM dollars of investment property in more than 15 states. In 2015, he began to work at the real estate private equity firm Promanas in Ann Arbor, MI. There he served as head of acquisitions helping the firm to grow to over $250MM of real estate asset value. He considers his time at Promanas instrumental in his growth and development process. On this episode, Drew and Chris sit down for a live mentoring session on how to build a REPE operating company. They discuss how to go from 4-5 people to 20, the benefits of bigger deals over smaller deals, and how to create leverage in your business. Drew ends this session by asking Chris the things he would teach himself 5 years ago. Enjoy! Learn more about Chris Powers and 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/ Subscribe to The Fort on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ Follow The Fort on Instagram: www.Instagram.com/TheFortPodcast Support our sponsors: CRE Models (03:36) - Honoring Friendships (05:28) - Drew’s Evolution Since Meeting Chris (06:29) - What are some major hurdles people have when going from 4-5 employees to 15-20? (11:47) - Setting Goals & Always Refining Your Process (19:22) - The Dark Side of Pursuing Greatness Relentless by Tim Grover (24:05) - Drew’s Background in Real Estate (27:29) - The New Language of the Next RE Cycle (41:03) - What are some roadblocks you see young GPs make as they advance in their careers? (49:58) - What were some big leverage points in your career? (55:37) - How do you cultivate your relationships? (1:00:15) - Thinking and Reflecting vs. Consuming Information (1:06:10) - What’s the biggest challenge you’re facing right now? (1:11:44) - What advice would you give yourself 5 years ago? The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Alex Epstein is a philosopher and energy expert who argues that “human flourishing” should be the guiding principle of energy and environmental progress. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels and the forthcoming Fossil Future. On this episode, Alex and Chris discuss why being against fossil fuels is being against humanity, what happens in a world with fewer fossil fuels, and the impact of alternative energy sources on the world. Alex explains why "Human flourishing" should be the guiding principle of energy and environmental progress and why driving a Tesla isn't changing the environment. Enjoy! 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/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ Follow The Fort on Instagram: www.Instagram.com/TheFortPodcast Alex's New Book: Fossil Future (02:07) - Why did you get into writing about fossil fuels? (05:08) - How long were fossil fuels viewed positively and when did that change? (13:11) - The Chaos That Ensues When We Don’t Have Machines That Work (19:39) - Russia’s Role in the Current Fossil Fuel Debate (23:33) - Why does the USA think it’s better to outsource oil production rather than produce it at home? (26:30) - Why is the cost of fertilizer and agriculture going up in relation to fossil fuels? (31:32) - The Benefits vs. Risks of Oil and Fossil Fuels (35:25) - What is the opposition’s biggest reasoning for hating fossil fuels? The Population Bomb by Paul Ehrlich (40:08) - The Hypocrisy of the Biggest Climate Advocates Apocalypse Never by Michael Shellenberger San Fransicko by Michael Shellenberger (51:33) - Is there anyone on the left changing their tune on fossil fuels? EnergyTalkingPoints.com [email protected] (55:08) - Thoughts on Elon Musk and Electric Vehicles (1:00:06) - Who benefits from the green movement being implemented? People’s Climate March on YouTube The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels by Alex Epstein