I’m the CEO of a Major Conglomerate - AMA
I’m the President & CEO of a major finance and RE conglomerate. Ask me anything you want, I’ll try my best to answer all of your questions.
What keeps you up at night?
Many things, and nothing at all at the same time. Nothing financial or serious though. That’s a tough question, I don’t really think about stuff like that I just make sure anything that would keep me up at night doesn’t happen.
Are you successful?
Financially? Yes. I’m happy as well which is how I really define my own successes and/or failures.
If you were to give advice on how to become successful, what would that be? Also what do you think that are similarities/differences compared with other successful people(assuming you interact with many other successful people)?
Did you move from Tech to business or you completed Business degree and got job. I am asking because I am in Tech and looking for c-level job. Ready to complete MBA as well
Well, I started getting into RE early on, like right out of high school. I considered getting an MBA and just jumping into C-Suite jobs as they came along. But after I started buying businesses and commercial RE, my portfolio was growing so rapidly that I was making more than I ever would in a regular C-Suite job. I don’t know how old you are but if you’ve already been working for a while, you’ll probably want an MBA. Unless you’re interested in RE and Businesses as an asset class. If you’re more interested in running a company, get an MBA. If you’re more interested in managing a cash-flow heavy portfolio, start buying RE and businesses with other people’s money.
What is mean by RE?
Hiring? Where are you based?
We’re always hiring, if the company itself isn’t, one of the companies in our portfolio is. We have headquartering offices in Atlanta and NYC, but we own companies across the world.
What if I want to apply ??
Whats your favorite ice cream flavor?
Probably Coffee
TC
Already answered
Does your company invest on behalf of others? As in is it structured like a fund?
Some of our companies do, specifically the major flagships in our portfolio of companies do. We have a RE fund and a private equity fund that operate as funds. Our other companies operate themselves with their own cash flow and aren’t funds.
Is your company llc or corp and where is it set up or operated?
The company itself is a C-corporation. Our subsidiaries are a mix of both C-corporations and LLCs. The funds we operate are all LLCs.
What forums have you found most helpful for developing your networks and growing your career? Do you have a routine for maintaining/growing these relationships?
Probably in-person meetings and events. Before I had people coming to me to invest in my private equity fund, I sat down with big-money investors and talked strategy with them. I did so at very casual events too. Don’t over-do business relationships. Start with a friendship or genuine relationship and then slowly turn that into a business related relationship. I love helping people get started in business, that’s why I invest in private-equity but I can’t stand someone who tries to be very formal in a casual setting. That’s why I don’t like ‘networking events’, they’re too formal. If you see me somewhere and you’re confident and passionate enough to just talk to me, it makes me a lot more willing to work with you and invest in you. That’s something I didn’t understand as much when I started out but has really grown with me and it allows me to see the really stupid mistakes I made early on.
That’s a refreshing view, thank you for sharing. What were some of the mistakes you made?
TC or GTFO
I’m not going to entertain giving you my actual TC. I’ll give you a range though. ($0-$205,000,000). Hope that helps.
Bum