"Inspired to Invest" Podcast

How To Raise Capital For Real Estate The RIGHT Way!

• Serena Holmes • Episode 58

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How To Raise Capital For Real Estate The RIGHT Way!

Master the art of real estate investing and learn how to raise capital effectively with Marcin Drodz from M1 Real Capital.

Welcome back to the 58th episode of "Inspired To Invest". To watch rather than listen, click here.

In this episode, Marcin shares his journey from a novice investor inspired by "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" to becoming a seasoned expert in capital raising and deal structuring.

He candidly recounts his early setbacks and how his relentless perseverance led him to transition from smaller deals to significant roles at private equity firms, specializing in large multifamily acquisitions.

Marcin's first major independent venture—raising an eight-figure fund to acquire medical plazas in Arizona during the 2011-2012 downturn—offers invaluable lessons in selecting the right partners and navigating the gap between theory and practice.

Unlock the secrets behind strategic market decisions and investment criteria with Marcin as we discuss the importance of questioning assumptions and challenging conventional wisdom.

Discover how Marcin’s analytical approach led him to shift investments from Arizona to Texas and his cautious optimism towards the Florida market. Learn how to identify lucrative markets based on factors like population size, net migration, and industry stability, especially focusing on robust blue-collar job sectors less affected by remote work trends. Marcin’s first-principles approach offers a fresh perspective on adapting to different investment cycles.

Building credibility and trust in early real estate deals can be daunting, but Marcin provides a roadmap with six pillars to position yourself as competent rather than desperate.

Understand why capital raising is more about attraction than traditional sales and how leveraging your personal unfair advantage can be a game-changer. Marcin also sheds light on the concept of financial freedom, the elusive work-life balance for entrepreneurs, and the profound satisfaction of helping others achieve their first million.

Don’t miss out on the wisdom from a seasoned expert who is passionate about empowering new investors to succeed.

To connect with Marcin, go to @realmarcindrozdz on social or https://m1.capital online.

Thank you to Honeytree REIT for bringing us this month’s episodes of “Inspired To Invest”. To learn more about them, go to honeytreegrow.ca online & to make your investment, go to: https://invest.atlasone.ca/offers/HNYTRE/about

“Inspired to Invest” is proud to support the Beyond Success Program, a not-for-profit financial literacy program for students, launched by More To Give & MAK Investments. Find out more at @more2give.ca.

Join us again on Aug. 7 to hear from a vibrant real estate investor building her portfolio in Windsor, ON.

“Inspired to Invest” is proud to support the Beyond Success Program, a not-for-profit financial literacy program for students, launched by More To Give & MAK Investments. Find out more at https://instagram.com/more2give.ca & https://more2give.ca/beyond.

Thank you for tuning into “Inspired To Invest”, hosted by @serenaholmesrealtor & remember, "when you invest in yourself, the sky's the limit!"

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To connect with our host, Serena Holmes, go to https://www.linktr.ee/serenaholmes.

To buy a copy of The Accidental Entrepreneur, go to https://www.linktr.ee/serenaholmesauthor and for a free copy go to https://serenaholmes.exprealty.com/ask/f813c4efdfaead4980a467b614d73604 

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Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Inspire to Invest podcast, where we're sharing stories from real estate investors and how investing has changed their lives. This episode of the Inspire to Invest podcast has been brought to you by Honeytree REIT and PropertyCastio. Hi, everybody, welcome to Inspire to Invest. I have Marcin Drodz here with me from M1 Real Capital. Welcome to Inspire to Invest. I have Marcin Drodz here with me from M1 Real Capital. He's the man I'm in partner, where he and his team focus on acquiring value-add multifamily properties, specifically in the Southeast location of the United States, and over the past 18 years, he's established himself as the go-to in the world of capital raising and deal structuring. He has sourced well over nine figures figures, so just a little bit of chunk change to acquire over 1600 units across the US and fund several businesses. And when he's not on the lookout for new opportunities, he's teaching up-and-coming real estate investors how to raise capital, scale the real estate business and also launch their funds. So, with that being said, thank you so much for joining us today. How are you doing? Doing well.

Speaker 2:

Good to be here.

Speaker 1:

Good to be here as well, so I'm excited that we're finally having the chance to talk, and even though we talked about in your bio that you focus on the US, you're from Toronto, is that right?

Speaker 2:

I'm a Canadian yeah.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so we'll dive into how you decided to shift south of the border, but maybe you can give us a little bit of background in terms of how you got started and what life looked like before real estate.

Speaker 2:

Sure, yeah. So like so many people 20 plus years ago, I read Rich Dad, poor Dad. I'm like I can do that. The book makes it sound pretty easy, right? So?

Speaker 2:

you know, me and a buddy of mine. We went out, we bought our first rental property and, you know, very quickly learned about negative cashflow. Apparently, my real estate agent didn't didn't have everything figured out as I thought he did. Yeah, it wasn't even the half a percent rule, and I was. I was really talented to screw that up 20 years ago, right? So yeah, so we bought the house. What started as a rental turned into a flip. We we did quite well on it. The real estate bug obviously bit me pretty hard. And then somewhere along the line, while I was in school, I made way too much fun with real estate and business and entrepreneurship and all that stuff. So I started buying properties, got recruited by a private equity firm and, as luck would have it, they were focused on large multifamily. So that was kind of the transition.

Speaker 1:

So then how did that work in terms of you acquiring your own portfolio? So you're working with this private equity firm? Obviously you're learning, you know the landscape and stuff like that. But what did your first deal look like? And then how did you continue to grow and scale from that point and how long did that really take? In essence, Well, yeah.

Speaker 2:

So I mean there were lots of little I say little deals, I guess tongue in cheek, because no deal is a little deal, especially when you're starting out but lots of individual properties. Early on, even when I worked at the PE firm, we were buying smaller properties on my own and doing stuff. And it was kind of like moonlighting, doing my own thing while trying to learn the big thing and what. But I think the first big transaction or big deal I did was when I left the PE firm. I set up a fund, we did an eight-figure equity raise and we were buying medical plazas in Arizona. So this was back in 2011, 2012, 2010, 2011, 2011,. Somewhere around then. It was 2011, 2012, somewhere around the bottom, if you remember, back then our dollar was par, which was fantastic. We were going down to the US and we were looking like rock stars and people weren't really spending money in the US. So it was like the Canadians were basically running a few markets like in.

Speaker 2:

Florida and parts of Arizona, and so we were one of those groups who went down. Uh, we were buying medical plazas and we did a fair bit of that and what attracted you to that, like that specific market and also that asset costs.

Speaker 2:

Well, for me, I've always made decisions based on people, not things. So for me I had a really good operating partner at the time that was patient enough with me because again I'm you know, I'm approaching my forties now. I was in my mid twenties then. So you know, I had somebody who was very bought into me and what I could do post working in the PE space and we worked together. He was more of the operating guy, I was more of the capital guy, the deal structuring guy, because that's what I understood, and he had a very compelling investment thesis that I bought into. Also, I was familiar with Arizona because the multifamily stuff we did was down there. So it was people. It was a people driven decision, more so than than the opportunity. But you know, the opportunity made sense too, obviously.

Speaker 1:

So what would you say? You know as you were learning and growing like what would you say is the biggest challenge or obstacle that you faced early on.

Speaker 2:

Not knowing what you don't know. Not knowing what you don't know. You know Alex Ramosi calls it ignorance debt and I've heard that said a few other times. So in other words, you know, your ignorance debt is the difference between what you want to make and what you do make. That per year amount is your ignorance debt.

Speaker 2:

So for me at the time I was like, wow, wouldn't it be great if we raised, I don't know, 10 or $20 million or whatever it was. Well, up until that point I had done it for other people. So my gap between what I knew how to do and where I was at was so big. So that first fund, I mean I spun my wheels. Oh man, I'm talking to lawyers three times over, I'm making notes, I'm I'm trying to draw a diet Like I'm just trying to figure out which way is up. You know, when you play a new sport the first time and you're like, wait, so so we all go that, okay, now we go that way, and then now we go. So you're, you're just trying to pick up the rules of the game, right? So not knowing what I didn't know early on was probably the most expensive learning curve for me so what would you have done differently, looking back at that journey?

Speaker 2:

I would have. Probably well, not probably I would have. I should have probably asked for help earlier in the process rather than just typical you know hardheaded Eastern European man, you know I'll figure it out Right, and it's just just plowing through crap. I did, I did plow through stuff, but what took me two years, probably, probably, probably could have taken me six months or three months, with mentorship, with guidance, with, with a little bit more of a receptive attitude, and that that would have I'm not saying anything concrete, but that that was as real as it would have been for me. That would have saved me a lot of heartache.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, no, I think that makes perfect sense. Now, when you look at those lessons, like is there anything that you would pass along to someone that's? You know they're starting out now and they're trying to figure these things out, like you say mentorship, but like more specifically and organically, like how can they get the answers to these questions that they may not even realize exist?

Speaker 2:

So I'll give you the answer, serena, in the context of something we have in common, which is little kids, right? So my daughter comes up to me and she asks me well, she's in her why phase now, right? So she goes, you know, she asked me a question. I'll say, well, because of this, and she'll say why, and then I'll answer the question. Then she'll ask me why, me why. And after three or four explanations I'm getting into like deep rooted, like meaningful conversations to keep explaining away my assumptions of why we can or can't do whatever we're doing. So the best thing for new people, whether it's capital raising or deal structuring, is literally ask the question why several times over. So, case in point, somebody will say something to you like you can't do this and oh, oh, that's probably the best example. In capital raising, I had so many people tell me well, you can't do it this way yeah and initially it was like, okay, I can't do it, so I'm immediately thinking of a different way.

Speaker 2:

But what I should have done is said okay, well, why? Well, because the rules are set up for this. Yeah, okay, which rules and why? And just digging into some of the assumptions that people have, because a lot of times we take whatever our lawyers and accountants say is gospel and fair enough, you should. They're there to protect you, but there's nothing wrong with questioning their thought process, because a lot of times the answer isn't the reality of the situation, it's just the reality they've created for themselves and their clients based on how they do business. So and there's nothing wrong with that I mean a lawyer and accountant. Their job is to, you know, maximize their earnings based on their hours, and if they don't have to spend another 20 hours learning something new, then they're not going to do it. Yeah, but you know, really digging into the assumptions of why things are done the way they are is the opportunity that you know, even today, as we continue to innovate, that's really the opportunity for being able to do it.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, now you obviously talked about starting in Arizona. I know just from you know keeping tabs on you and stuff like that that you shifted over to Texas. Can you talk a little bit about why that market is so attractive to you and you know how it kind of caught your attention initially? Sure, yeah.

Speaker 2:

So I look at what I do more of a first principles basis. So it's not so much that Arizona is the best place or Florida is the best place or Texas is the best place. There's a different strategy for a different season in in the investing cycle. So, for example, I really love Florida, I'm bullish on Florida, but I'm a little bit more, a lot more cautiously optimistic on Florida today than I am on other markets. So at the and, for example, I've done we bought a couple hundred units in Tennessee. I've been, I was trying to buy stuff in Florida and we're bullish on Texas. But but the reason why I got to where I got to is because I'm typically looking for a few things. So, number one I'm looking for a market where you have a fairly large MSA. You have enough people living there. You know, in the US you like to have a million plus people living in a market. That's usually very helpful. It improves lending, it improves a lot of things.

Speaker 2:

I look for net migration. So are people coming or going? That's usually the first indicator. So, whatever market I look for, so, for example, I have people that are like hey, I like fill in the blank Midwestern town or Midwestern state and I go, okay, they're like, well, what do you think? I'm like, well, I wouldn't invest there. Like why not? They're like, well, it's so cheap. I'm like that's great, but there's no one moving into this town or this municipality or whatever it is.

Speaker 2:

So yeah it's cheap, but who's going to live there? You need people. So net migration is the first one. The second one for me is industry. So I look generally for very strong blue collar type industries, the kind that you know. You can't have a bunch of engineers just close up their laptop and go away and you know that's it. Yeah, cause those jobs pay well but they're not really rooted in any given market.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

You know, look at what happened in California, with everybody bugging off to Austin and now from Austin to. You know, like it's because they have a laptop, they close the laptop, they take their Wi-Fi and their Starbucks membership.

Speaker 2:

Yeah yeah, they set up at a Starbucks in another city and they're good to go, right. So it's that's great that that hundred thousand or two hundred thousand dollar employee is there while they're there, but they're not rooted there. So I really like blue collar jobs that are, you know, rooted in industrial, heavy CapEx, big financial investments where you're not going to pick up. So, for example, I'd invested in Tennessee by the FedEx airport. Well, fedex is a multi-billion dollar conglomerate. They're not going to move their airport somewhere else, so all those jobs by the airport are not going anywhere. Those were my customers at the time.

Speaker 1:

It's now a stupid question, but I'm sure people are wondering it what resources are you using to compile all of this information Like? Is there a specific website where you go to, or your team is just out there scouring stuff or chat GPT? What's the? Goal to get to that stuff or chat, gpt.

Speaker 2:

You know what's the goal to get to that stuff. Well, I mean, once you're on in the business long enough, eventually you have some pretty good background data on the different parts of the US and you and you start to understand things like infrastructure and where the buses are manufactured or where planes are going and come. So there's, there's that background knowledge, because that stuff really doesn't change much. But in terms of websites, I mean, look, one of the major reasons I love the US is because there's so much more data online. Like with Canada, you know, trying to find stuff is like pulling your you know, pulling teeth right.

Speaker 2:

So the US, there's dozens of websites Also getting on broker lists with people that are selling large multifamily or commercial or whatever you're doing. They typically will spoon feed you data on why to invest in a certain market. And if they don't do that, you can literally then go to every city. Every state has their economic development bureau. They have something that's meant to promote the city of Houston, the state of Texas, whatever it is. So they'll curate that data for you.

Speaker 1:

Okay, yeah, I just figured. We want to make sure it's clear for people that have never done this before, but it's intriguing to them and something that they want to do just to help them understand that path. Now, in terms of your successes, what would you say you're most proud of when you look back at the last 20 years?

Speaker 2:

I think the thing I'm most proud of is probably the thing people wouldn't really think about until you're 20 plus years into the business, and that's been my ability to just stay resilient and consistent and, you know, never have, because, look, you're going to have ups and downs, you're going to have situations where deals don't work, partnerships fall apart. You feel like you've been betrayed, you feel like you've been screwed. People talk behind your back, they talk in front of your face and I think what I'm most proud of is just the consistency to be able to not just weather the storms but become a better version of myself every time something happens. Because I think about the things that I deal with today and I think 15-year-old, 15-year-old, 25-year-old me would probably, you know, crawl under a rock and and you know cause people are mean. People say things online, things happen.

Speaker 2:

Business deals don't work out you know things cost money 10 times more than you expect. You have disagreements, you have legal matters, but you know you just. You become a better version of yourself through that. So I'd say, first and foremost, that's probably what I'm most proud of.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, no, that's great. I mean, it's kind of like the quote we talked about each new level is going to require that different version of yourself, right? So we'll talk a little bit more about that when we come back. We're just going to take a really quick break for a word from our sponsors Looking for a safe and stable opportunity to invest Own. The future of hospitality Tourism is changing. Introducing Honeytree Real Estate Trust, a revolutionary opportunity offering a stable investment and strong, targeted returns. Hotels designed for the future of travel with automated check-in, extended stay hotels and robust amenities. Grow your real estate portfolio with Honeytree. The journey has just begun, seeking $25 million in equity to acquire and approve licensed short-term rentals. Cash and registered funds are accepted. Key fund benefits include quarterly income, capital appreciation, registered funds, diversified risk and a drip at 2% discount. This opportunity is open to eligible and accredited investors only. Invest in the next generation of short-term accommodation and hospitality asset ownership with Honeytree Real Estate Trust.

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Speaker 1:

Hi everybody, welcome back to Inspired to Invest. I have Marcindrots with me today. He is the founder and partner of M1 Real Capital and we're talking about his journey as a capital raiser and getting to 1,600 units across the United States. So before the break, we were talking about some of the resources that you look into to explore demographics and things like that to ensure that you've got a sound investment One of the things I'm really curious about and I always love to ask people is what would you say is the craziest thing that's ever happened to you as a real estate investor?

Speaker 2:

I don't know if this is the craziest, but I think it'll qualify and it'll be relatable for a lot of people. In my early years, when I left the PE firm, we were still buying small, multifamily, little deals in Canada. I was in Winnipeg at the time, actually way back when and I remember I had one month where I was supposed to close on three properties and I had one investor for all three deals to close on three properties and I had one investor for all three deals and the guy calls me a few you know, maybe a few. It was maybe two weeks before we were supposed to close and he tells me he's not going to write the check for all three of the deals.

Speaker 1:

So well, I mean, you know, was it?

Speaker 2:

whether it was seven days or 12, I don't remember, but it was really tight and the closing date was supposed to be on Halloween, december. I think it was October 31st, right? How fitting, right. So that's not even the crazy part. The crazy part is my lawyer's office was in my building and it was down the hall from mine and he was my closing lawyer. So he'd done lots of transactions with me, so it never even occurred to him that I didn't have the equity. He just he walked over once. He's like hey, just so you know, we have this closing that you I just recently met, and I literally get on the phone. I'm like hey, just so you know. Like full disclosure, here's what happened, here's the deals, what do you think? Well, let's talk about it.

Speaker 2:

One of these guys came by the office and we're meeting and we're talking about it, and as we're meeting, there's like six days left before closing or whatever. It's even less days now, right. And we less days now, right, and we're meeting in my office and because my lawyer was down the hall as I'm meeting with this other individual, all I hear in the reception area is where is marston? Where is he? And my receptionist goes. Well, mr so-and-so, he's just me. I don't care. He's this older, he's retired now by now. But he's just like this no-nonsense lawyer. That's why I loved him.

Speaker 2:

Walks in, looks at me, looks at the desk, throws down a box full of keys, with all the keys for all the units, right, and he goes. He goes. I have all the keys. You know what I don't have? I'm like hello, mr So-and-so. He goes, doesn't even, doesn't even break a sweat. He goes. You know what I don't have? I go. What's that? He goes instructions. Where are my instructions? As in, where am I getting? You know, know, the equity? Right, and it's not a cup of coffee either, right? So I look at him, I go. I know I'll be right over, I'll. I'll talk to you about it in a few minutes. He walks out. You gotta remember the investors sitting over in front of me. I'm sitting here.

Speaker 2:

You just literally saw these theatrics right, yeah and because I was so candid with the investor, I told him exactly what was going on. It's not like I was trying to whatever I just hear. Here's what's going on. The lawyer walks out. I look at the investor, I look at the keys. I look at him. I'm like so what do you think? And he just starts laughing Wow. So he said yes, and it was a great deal, but just the time Right. And he says yes, so I literally followed him to the bank.

Speaker 1:

Oh my gosh. Wow yeah, no pressure Right.

Speaker 2:

After the meeting I literally followed him, stood beside him in line. I'm like okay.

Speaker 1:

Wow, yeah, that's. That's definitely crazy. What would you say? Like is probably your biggest closing technique? Like I know a lot of the times. You know people want to do business with people and it's a lot about like how you present a deal, not what the deal is Like. Are there any top line tips that you would kind of pass along that you? You find that, just over and over again, always seem to work out well for you.

Speaker 2:

I think I think the best thing to keep in mind when you're, when you're looking, obviously raise money legally, make sure you have the right paperwork, and all this with your lawyers.

Speaker 1:

But well, yeah.

Speaker 2:

I mean, obviously, make sure you work with lawyers. Capital raising is regulated, so make sure you do it right. But look above and beyond everything else. The best framework I think I'll share with you here is it's not so much techniques or tactics, it's maintaining this frame where you're creating an environment where people are wondering how much and when they're going to invest, not if and if. You can help people get over the if part so that when they meet with you, it's when and how much, not if. Then you're already miles ahead, because everybody in their mind is thinking, if they trust you, you know if they can trust you, yeah, and trust is probably one of the biggest things right now.

Speaker 1:

Like I know we were talking beforehand just about how things have changed and how quickly they've changed. Like what would you say is the best way you've got your track record now, but early on, like, how do you say, how do you get someone to trust you when it's your first deal or your second deal or a much bigger deal?

Speaker 2:

Well, so one of the things we teach and one of the things I encourage everybody to focus on is really getting very clear on your unfair advantage and your personal unfair advantage.

Speaker 2:

We, we, we break that up into six pillars and there's six components to things with you personally that allow you to position yourself from a position of competence, as opposed to somebody who's literally just trying to like scrounge some cash together to do a deal. So so how do you take that frame again, that that expert frame? Now, I'm not saying you, you represent yourself as an expert in something that you're not. But whether you've been a gym teacher for five years or you've been a real estate investor for the last 10, you have some form of credibility from some positioning, and taking that and applying it to what you're doing plus, potentially, partners and things like this, will give you a lot of you know, a lot of credibility to build that trust. Now you know, in my experience, people that are writing six, seven figure checks. They don't need to be closed, they need to buy in. So, in other words, you want to create a vibe where people are lining up to be part of what you're doing, as opposed to you pushing things onto them.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, and making it feel really exclusive, like kind of creating that FOMO experience. You talked a lot about mentorship and learning and stuff like that. What would you say is some of the best advice that you've been giving? And I know you did talk a little bit about, you know, paying to get that further ahead, but maybe is there something else that you haven't touched on.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so. So two things come to mind. One is when, when things are going really well, you know you're never as smart as you think, and when things are going to hell in a band handbasket, you're you're never as dumb as you think, so you know that that's probably good to keep in mind, especially as people go through some tough times and and and. The other thing is when you're, if you're talking about raising capital, I'll tell you right now, the most important thing to remember is if you chase money, it will run from you. So what I literally mean by that is if you try to apply the same methodology that maybe you did in sales as a real estate broker or somebody who sold equipment or sold cars or whatever it is, those methodologies don't work for capital raising. It's the exact inverse of that equation, because capital raising is an attraction business, not a selling business.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, that's really great. That's actually something I haven't really heard quite like that, but I think that's really powerful In terms of financial freedom. Obviously you've been on this journey, building this big portfolio. What would you say that means to you? Is it a particular number of doors, cashflow, work-life balance?

Speaker 2:

so I I don't know about you, but this whole work-life balance thing, I think it's a way to sell employees on becoming entrepreneurs. You convince them that this thing exists when, when. Really, I think entrepreneurship is more a function of sprinting and resting, because there's moments where it's time to sprint and there's times where it's time to rest. I, you know, 20 years at it. I don't ever think I've said I'm going to work 37.5 hoursa week because no, it's never as structured as that.

Speaker 2:

No, but so I don't really strive for that. I you know, at this point in life I think for me it's a function of like, I almost look at myself as like a hero in my own story and ultimately, as my daughter and hopefully future kids grow up, they see that and they're proud of their father. You know my wife's proud of her husband. My kids are proud of their father and I never want to do anything that would put me personally, from my family's perspective, at risk in that regard. So that's my starting point.

Speaker 2:

So you know, beyond there, I mean, look, whether you have a hundred grand in the bank or a million in the bank or 10 million in the bank, there's a point of diminishing returns after a certain point. And for me now what I really do like is when that sparkles off in people's eyes, whether it's partners or clients or students or whatever it is. And you know they're able to because somebody who has nothing and they generate their first million in net worth, that's a big deal. Somebody who already has 10 million net worth and they add another 10 million, I mean that's exciting. But what are you going to do with the extra 10 versus that first million that somebody creates for themselves?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, I mean, when I had my own business, I remember someone said to me your first million will be your hardest right. So I think it's just conquering that achievement. Said to me your first million will be your hardest right. So I think it's just conquering that achievement which makes it so exciting, right? When you look back now at everything you have achieved and where you want to go, like, how do you think real estate investing has changed your life? And is there a particular goal in terms of like number of students, even that you want to empower or teach through your course and your coaching program?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so our clients I guess students is a good way to refer to them. They've raised about a quarter billion dollars to do their own deals, to do about a billion dollars plus in deals. So that's pretty cool to be able to help people.

Speaker 2:

You know, move the needle and I'm sure we created a few millionaires or multimillionaires in there and you know, maybe created is the wrong word because ultimately they did it, but we helped empower them to have the tools Right. So so that's been. That's been a lot of fun. I think I want to get to a point where our clients have raised over a billion to do God knows how many billions in deals that. I think that's going to be a really cool milestone.

Speaker 2:

And then, from a from a personal level, I mean real estate. Real estate gives you options. Real estate gives you the ability to say you know, screw you, here's my two weeks. The real estate gives you the ability to just close everything down for a few weeks and, I don't know, go travel the world. It gives you lots of options, but more so for me than just real estate. The real skill that I've developed over 20 years is deal structuring and capital raising. Real estate is my favorite form of artwork, so to speak. But I bought operating businesses. I funded all kinds of different things. You know I own a publication company. We have a few different things that we own and run outside of real estate, but real estate for most people that are looking at their first way of creating some stability and, you know, financial security, then real estate is. You know it's the best place to be.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, no, absolutely. Now, obviously, the name of this podcast is Inspired to Invest. I always like to ask my guests if they have a particular quote that really motivates them or gets them going.

Speaker 2:

I'll share with you what one of my mentors told me when I first started working in the space. He said to me he goes, I don't care about the return on my investment until you can show me the return of my investment. So in other words, he doesn't care. Don't get too caught up in how much you could make. First focus on how you get your money back and then you can compare the risk of getting your money back to the potential return on your money and then you can actually purely assess whether that risk is worth the return.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I think that's really wise advice, based on the current climate where people are struggling to see their principles back, and it wasn't really a question that I had lined up. But to that point, what would you say that investors should be looking at when they are talking to a company about their exit strategies and just when it comes to due diligence, so that they are protected?

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So some of the major issues that I've been seeing in the space over the last call it, two years now was people were using very aggressive assumptions for growth, so they were assuming that the future would be rosier than the past, which is always the wrong premise to use as a starting point. Secondly, most people are married to one exit strategy. So in other words, their only exit strategy is to do X, y, z, like here's the process and we're going to make it work no matter what. Okay, I get that, but let's assume one of these things doesn't line up. Where does that leave us? So having multiple exit strategies is important.

Speaker 2:

And then the third thing is I always look for skin in the game. So for a lot of times that could be as simple as financial. But for some people maybe they don't have a net worth yet and they can't even put 10 grand into a deal. That's fine. That's not the be all, end all. But they have to be all in with their sweat equity if they're not putting in any money, because I've seen too many times where people will go and raise some money. They have no personal skin in the game or no time invested, or really no, you know nothing tying them to that. And then what happens is they go off to chase something else that's shiny, and then this thing goes to you know nothing tying them to that. And then what happens is they go off to chase something else that's shiny, and then this thing goes to you know, you know the story.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, no, I think that's really really helpful. So thank you for giving us some insights on that. In closing, if anyone does want to reach out or learn more about your coaching program or your opportunities, what is the best way for them to connect with you?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, marcin, at Marcindrosecom is my email, or just Marcindrosecom the website. And you know, serena, what we do with M1 isn't a fit for everyone. It's for people that are already doing something. They just want to scale. So there's a lot of really good intro programs out there. We're not that. We're for people that are, and the reason why I called it M1 is because literally the first million is the hardest. So for people that are looking to raise, we have seven figure, eight figure, some nine figure guys that are raising capital. That's great, but it's more for people that have already done some stuff and they're like, hey, I'm hitting a wall, I need to scale. And that's where we really helped.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, no, that's amazing. So we appreciate all of that. We'll include your information in the show notes below, of course. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to be with us for today and for anyone that is watching or listening. Thank you for tuning in. If you have enjoyed this episode, make sure that you have subscribed below and you're following along at Inspired to Invest podcast on social, and remember, when you invest in yourself, the sky's the limit. Thanks again, thank you to Honeytree REIT and PropertyCastio for bringing you this episode of Inspired to Invest. The views represented on this podcast are for general information only and does not constitute investment or other professional advice or an offering of securities. The host and guests featured on Inspired to Invest make no representations as to the performance of any particular investment. Should you decide to make an investment, you are responsible for conducting your own review and analysis. It is recommended that you obtain independent legal accounting and tax advice from licensed professionals.