I'm not gonna lie.

My success is 95% attributable to running with the right people and being in the right place at the right time.

A THREAD on how most real estate folks structure deals with outside investors.

Most people utilize the "preferred equity" structure when they raise money from outside investors. They "syndicate" deals.

Here's the basics:

The person (or team of people) putting the deal together is the "sponsor". Also called general parter. Referred to on twitter as the GP.

They find the property, do all the work, hire the management company and take fees. They often co-sign debt and always secure the financing.

The investor is generally passive, doing no work and putting in cash. This is the "limited partner". Referred to on twitter as the LP.

They don't co-sign debt. They simply read reports and ask the sponsors questions and cash checks every month (if the deal is going well).

There are two equity classes.

"Preferred equity" belongs to the LPs. Cash talks, so this is a higher class of shares. They are first in the "capital stack" behind the debt (bank loan).

"Common equity" belongs to the sponsor. They are generally last in the capital stack.

Sponsors generally co-invest. That means they hold both equity classes. A 10% co-invest is standard.

That means the GP has skin in the game. His 10% co-invest makes him both an LP and a GP.

A hill I'll die on:

95% of entrepreneurs should forget about technology (a few big fish and a lot of sophisticated fishermen) and focus on small business (small fish everywhere and really crappy fishermen).

A THREAD:

Be like water.

Take the path of least resistance.

The goal of every entrepreneur should be:

#1. Gain financial freedom

and

#2. Maximize probability of achieving #1

Because when you have financial freedom your world opens up.

You can start doing what makes you happy.

And you can positively impact a lot more people with project #2, 3, 4 etc. You're in a position to try to change the world if you have financial freedom.

So why don't more folks think about opportunities with more weight added to #2?

The odds part. The risk. The probability.

The amount of small businesses in America that absolutely print money and still do business like it’s 1985 is astounding.

A thread on how to turn $100 into a lot more:

People are spending a lot of money on their homes right now. Its time to go get some of that money and help out some of these people.

Sound silly? Good.

It really is this simple sometimes.

Lets go 👇

Get on your computer and buy a web domain.

Get a freelancer (upwork or fiverr) to make you a logo/flyer and get $45 worth of flyers printed at your local print shop.

Buy a box of sidewalk chalk if you really want to grind and get gritty.

Go downtown with the sidewalk chalk and write “pressure washing and home cleaning 888-555-1234” as many times as you can in high traffic areas.

Go to a middle class or high end neighborhood and hand out flyers on porches and wherever else.

Get creative. You might get ran off but its low risk. Target those with dirty payment.

Your cell phone will start ringing. Book all of the jobs for Saturday.

Rent a power washer Saturday morning with the other $50 and go make $300 in one day.

Do the same thing the next weekend and then buy a power washer. Then put $200 into a website and nurture a Google My Business location.

Get reviews, upload photos, make it look nice. 50% of your biz will come through here.

THREAD: The top 0.1% of ideas I’ve stumbled upon on the internet.

The rabbit holes (without the distractions).

1. Directional Arrows of Progress

“Study the undeniable arrows of progress.” - @wolfejosh

• The future is kinda like a crossword puzzle.

• Nobody is going to spell out for you - but clues exist.

• Wolfe uses the trend line of history as clues for the future.

• E.g. Look at this directional arrow of progress

• Every time the computer gets more powerful, smaller and closer to our bodies.

• Wolfe used this trend line to bet that Brain-Machine interfaces will be huge and started funding companies in the space.

2. The Cobra Effect

”When a measure becomes a goal, it ceases to become a measure” - @G_S_Bhogal

• British colonialists tried to reduce the snake population in India.

• They offered bounties for dead cobras with cash given out to the killers

• The incentives back-fired...

• The local population started breeding cobras & killing them.

• When the government discovered this, the reward program was scrapped.

• The cobra breeders then released their $0 snakes into the street, making the problem much worse.

9 biggest business lessons

I built a 7 figure business with 0 experience

I went from being dirt broke to running a company that feeds 250 families.

Here are the 9 biggest business I've learned along the way

(Hint: you won't find any of this in any MBA curriculum)

//Thread//

Quick PSA:

When it comes to business

Karma is real

The value you give will 10x the wealth you keep

With that in mind

If you get value from this thread, please share the karma by retweeting ☝ tweet above 🙏

Let's get your business started with Lesson # 1 👇👇

Lesson # 1 Never give up

When I first started I had $0 in my pocket.

I was so broke I had to use the wifi from a nearby coffee shop just to check my emails.

I knocked on 100s of doors and got 100s of "No" and sent 100s of cold emails.

9-5? Mon-Fri?

Don't make me laugh.

It's more like 9am-9pm (often more), 7 days a week

Building a business is a FULL TIME gig.

No different to raising kids.

Because money NEVER sleeps.

You can relax a little once you're established but when you're building?

Be prepared to GRIND and never give up

Next ... 👇

Lesson # 2 You can't do it all yourself

Reason #1313 why business degrees are bullsh!t.

They will teach you about things like "business plans" but they won't teach you practical tips like delegation.

Look.

Building a business is CHAOTIC

One day you're killing it and the...

11 Critical Lessons from Jeff Bezos

// Thread //

1. It's OK to Fail

Bezos helped develop the Fire Phone, one of Amazon's worst failures.

And yet, the Fire Phone led to one of Amazon's biggest successes: Alexa.

“If you want to be inventive, you have to be willing to fail.” @JeffBezos

2. Be Uncomfortable

Before founding Amazon, Bezos worked on Wall Street.

Yet, he left his comfort zone to start an online business.

In 1994, building an online business was incredibly risky.

"One of the only ways to get out of a tight box is to invent your way out" @jeffbezos

3. Your Actions Define You

You are born with strengths and weaknesses.

What you do is what ultimately defines who you are.

It is not your ability that defines you, but your actions and choices.

"It's not an experiment if you know it's going to work" @jeffbezos

4. Embrace Criticism

If someone you trust gives you feedback, decide if their criticism is right.

If yes, then change and stop resisting.

Candid feedback is your ticket to true growth.

"If you can't tolerate critics, don't do anything new or interesting" @JeffBezos

My Productivity Hacks

A thread...

Productivity Hack #1
Not try to remember anything

I consciously and obsessively try to NOT remember things.
So that my mind dispenses the least amount of energy in remembering tasks or even context.

Hence, I carry a notebook with me always.
I take notes like a school student
I put tasks in a calendar
I send myself emails in the future

My mind's energy should be spent in thinking.
Not remembering!

Productivity Hack #2
Document EVERYTHING!

At any point I have 3 notebooks
1. Ideas
2. Todos lists for the day
3. Meeting notes

And I write down things.

Writing helps tell the brain that this is important.
And it helps me not "try and remember" anything.

Productivity Hack #3
I put everything on a calendar

My calendar is my lifeline.
Everything is on my calendar.
Bills to pay, birthdays to remember, threads to write, weekly routines.

The art of cold emailing

A thread...

Cold emailing is the act of sending an email (or a DM) to someone who doesn’t know you (hence the word, cold!)

Every day I get 300+ emails, most from those I do not know, and a shocking number of them are poorly written.

Here are 10 things that work for emails that I reply to

1. A different (but not aggressive) subject line

Ask yourself, what is the most likely subject line that EVERYONE will tend to write.
And then DO NOT write that.

What works?
Personalization (I think Vidur and Uzma will love this)
Intrigue (This is when I first saw you)

What doesn’t work?
Common themes (Seeking investment; Job application)
Aggression (Your content sucks - true story btw. It was used only to catch attention)
Buzzwords (AI/ML startup by Stanford founder)

2. The salutation

It is crazy how this small thing is so impactful.
How do you start your email?

Hi Ankur / Hey Ankur / Good Morning Ankur / Dear Mr. Warikoo etc

Adding harmless emoticons helps (😊)