The Fort – Details, episodes & analysis

Chico West is a LPC therapist, coach, and consultant.  He works with on-site programs and for Construction companies and has a private practice with over 34 years of continuous sobriety. We discuss: - Common themes around addiction - Marriage - Therapy and Counseling in the C-Suite We'd appreciate you filling out our audience survey, so we can continuously work on providing relevant content to our listeners.  https://www.thefortpod.com/survey Links Chico West Counseling Chico on LinkedIn Topics (00:00:00) - Intro (00:02:06) - Be a Buffalo, not a cow (00:03:19) - Life before sobriety (00:13:03) - Believing in Jesus (00:16:58) - Common themes around addiction (00:22:23) - Following a higher power vs. following Christ  (00:24:33) - What does your work look like today? (00:27:34) - What do you tell people who want to quit booze? (00:31:20) - How do you deal with the weight of when people fail at this work? (00:37:28) - Men & Women (00:42:20) - Is addiction nature or nurture? (00:45:37) - Gordon Highlander (00:55:16) - Is mental health overplayed? (00:59:59) - Closing advice Support our Sponsors Relay Human Cloud: https://bit.ly/3sjQcaY Fort: https://bit.ly/FortCompanies Follow Fort on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fort-companies/ Chris on Social Media: The Fort Podcast on Twitter/X: https://x.com/theFORTpodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefortpodcast LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/45gIkFd   Watch The Fort on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3oynxNX Visit our website: https://bit.ly/43SOvys Leave a review on Apple: https://bit.ly/45crFD0 Leave a review on Spotify: https://bit.ly/3Krl9jO  The FORT is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Jason is the General Partner and Co-Founder of Highmount Capital, a unique investment firm focused on growth stage and middle market investments in transformative technology and other growth-related platforms. He is the former Managing Director and founding member of Koch Disruptive Technologies (KDT), the venture and growth arm of Koch Industries, the largest privately-held company in the US with over $130B in revenue. Jason was responsible for helping KDT grow to billions in AUM across 40+ companies. We discuss: - What makes a great venture partner - What venture firms look for in late-stage companies - The process of making a $100mm investment in DudePerfect We'd appreciate you filling out our audience survey, so we can continuously work on providing relevant content to our listeners.  https://www.thefortpod.com/survey Links: Dude Perfect Highmount Capital Jason on X Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:05:23) - Jason's Early career (00:10:03) - What makes a great venture partner  (00:13:23) - Joining Koch Industries (00:15:18) - Building the venture framework for Koch (00:19:48) - What does a great late-stage company look like in the eyes of a venture firm? (00:26:40) - Founding Highmount Capital (00:29:56) - Building a great origination engine (00:35:44) - Investing in Dude Perfect (00:40:18) - The craving for family-friendly brands (00:44:10) - How do you think about your role post-investment? (00:46:44) - What are unique ways to make money in the creator economy? (00:54:14) - Are the Dudes a technology business or technology-enabled business? (00:57:34) - How do you find a CEO for a company like DudePerfect?  (01:01:18) - How is Highmount structured? Support our Sponsors Vesto: https://www.vesto.com/fort Better Pitch: https://bit.ly/42d9L0I Fort: https://bit.ly/FortCompanies Follow Fort on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fort-companies/ Chris on Social Media: The Fort Podcast on Twitter/X: https://x.com/theFORTpodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefortpodcast LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/45gIkFd   Watch The Fort on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3oynxNX Visit our website: https://bit.ly/43SOvys Leave a review on Apple: https://bit.ly/45crFD0 Leave a review on Spotify: https://bit.ly/3Krl9jO  The FORT is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Don Tepman runs a real estate fund that focuses on buying neighborhood strip centers throughout the United States and also runs the 'StripMallGuy' account on X and LinkedIn. Mr. Tepman started his career in 2002 and led his first strip center purchase in 2006. He has completed 40 purchases and raised over $150M in LP capital. We discuss: Don’s career and mentors What makes a successful strip mall acquisition Building @stripmallguy and the future of the brand We'd appreciate you filling out our audience survey, so we can continuously work on providing relevant content to our listeners.  https://www.thefortpod.com/survey Links StripMallGuy on X Resquared Topics (00:00:00) - Intro (00:04:56) - Don’s upbringing and career background (00:08:40) - The dynamics of suburban retail (00:12:42) - Don’s mentor & learnings (00:21:25) - Restaurants in strip centers (00:26:35) - Tenant mixes (00:30:20) - TI (00:35:41) - Where do folks waste money on exteriors? (00:37:18) - Drive-thrus (00:38:36) - Don’s hold period strategy (00:42:39) - Why do you stick to smaller deals? (00:45:26) - What is your approach to entering a new market? (00:53:02) - Why does Price per foot matter so much? (00:53:44) - Leasing (00:59:41) - Taxes and insurance (01:01:19) - StripMallGuy (01:08:45) - Working a deal through the system (01:12:44) - Thoughts on the market (01:18:22) - Luxury retail (01:19:53) - Meeting Charlie Munger (01:27:08) - Plans for SMG in the future Support our Sponsors Better Pitch: https://bit.ly/42d9L0I Juniper Square: https://bit.ly/45yiYUq Fort: https://bit.ly/FortCompanies Follow Fort on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fort-companies/ Chris on Social Media: X: https://bit.ly/3BYIjcH LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/45gIkFd   Watch The Fort on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3oynxNX Visit our website: https://bit.ly/43SOvys Leave a review on Apple: https://bit.ly/45crFD0 Leave a review on Spotify: https://bit.ly/3Krl9jO  The FORT is produced by Johnny Podcasts

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