Real Estate Investor and CEO at MAK Capital | Luxury Storage Developer | 200+ CRE units | Financial Freedom Mentor

I’m Marc Kuhn and in 1994 I started my construction career with my Dad. I started at $1 per hour and got a $1 raise every year as I worked for my dads construction company. 

In 2010, I left my hourly job with $2,500 in my bank account. 

I started my entrepreneurial path and opened MAK Construction, my first business. I’ve grown the construction company to over $25 million a year. We develop commercial projects both 3rd party and investment projects for our investors. 

Since 2018, we have added over 200 units in the Midwest. The benefits of real estate have given me the freedom of time. My goal is to help investors reach financial freedom through real estate. 

Today I own and operate three successful companies that do eight figures a year. 

https://linktr.ee/marckuhn?fbclid=PAAabPuGTp9yBQf1LtvPMccAGv2W9DDPWjJCYvxn3mKnV12VKxsr7s0g8Lc18

2010: MAK Construction: Build and Manage Construction Projects. 
www.makconstructiongf.com

2020: MAK Capital: Let’s passive investors invest in real estate projects beside us! 
Unfollow the herd newsletter: 
www.makcapitalgf.com

2020: CK Agency: Manages Multifamily and Storage properties. 
www.ckagencyllc.com

Marc Kuhn

He built 480 hotels. One a month for 40 years.

He's North Dakota’s first billionaire: 

Meet Gary Tharaldson.

His wealth didn't come from chasing trends or hype. Just one simple "boring" business, repeated relentlessly.

In 1982, he bought a single Super 8 in Valley City

His business philosophy was a simple mix of grit, playing the long-term game, and perfecting his process for acquiring and operating profitable hotels.

Over four decades, he scaled small, no-frills hotels across the country.

In 2006, he sold 130 of them to Goldman Sachs for $1.2B.

Then he took that money and doubled down:

→ Land
→ Ethanol
→ Commercial development

Now he’s the richest man in North Dakota.

People ask why I don’t chase 20 deals a year. Because I’m not playing the volume game.

I want 4–5 real estate projects a year that:

→ Fit our model
→ Hit our returns
→ Scale with our playbook

That’s how we’ve built MAK Capital and Mega MAK Storage:

Boring, repeatable, high-demand luxury storage facilities where demand outpaces supply.

Tharaldson proved you don’t need to be exciting to build real wealth.

You just need a boring play you can run with discipline for the next 20 years.

What’s your "boring" game?

--

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I was "dumb" enough to drop out of college at 22.

12 credits short. No backup plan.

Dumb enough to start MAK Construction with $2,500, bidding on jobs I wasn't qualified for.

Everyone around me had an opinion about it.

"You need a degree."
"You need more money saved."
"You need a safer plan."

I ignored all of it.

Instead I built a concrete crew from scratch.
Invested every dollar I made back into the company.
Started multiple businesses along the way.
Started investing and developing real estate.
Asked people smarter than me for help.

And kept betting on myself when nobody else would.

That "dumb" kid built a $65M portfolio, an awesome portfolio of companies with amazing people, and a pretty damn good life.

Reminder for anyone betting on themself:

When people project their fears onto your decisions, don't confuse it for good advice.

Take risks.
Bet on yourself.
Unfollow the Herd.

That's my best advice after 15 years of doing this for myself.

What's a decision you made that people called "dumb" for that ended up paying off?

--

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Here's what you'll learn with me:

- How to invest in real estate
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I'm taking on 3 coaching clients in March.

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CEO @ MAK Capital | CRE Developer | Guiding You to Wealth with Passive Investments in Luxury Storage & Multifamily Real Estate

10 years ago, a $200K job felt massive. Today, we do $500K jobs just to stay busy for the month.

That shift didn't happen because I got better at concrete. It happened because I learned to let go.

At 27, I thought I had it figured out.

I was making over $250K a year, building my own house, and finally "successful."

I truly believed that was the peak.

But I was also stuck at $1M in revenue because I was the bottleneck in everything. I had to:

→ Approve every bid
→ Oversee every pour
→ Warm up the skid steer for 10 minutes every morning

Breaking through that $1M ceiling required me to do things that felt completely wrong:

→ Hire foremen, trust them to run jobs without me
→ Pay people who had more experience than I did
→ Let someone else drive the equipment
→ Take on projects I didn't have the track record for yet

At every level, I had to let go of something that got me there. 

That's how it should be.

The version of you that got you here won't get you to the next level.

You have to let that person go.

Have you gotten to this point in your business yet?

A contractor making $120K with 3 rentals is wealthier than a Doctor making $500K with no assets.

The lesson to learn early:

Income stops when you stop working.
Assets don't.

I learned this the hard way.

For the first 5-6 years of building MAK Construction I earned good money and kept almost none of it.

Every dollar went back into equipment, payroll, and materials.

I was funding a business that needed me to show up every day to survive.

The shift happened when I started buying real estate with construction revenue.

Then storage development with real estate cash flow.
Then a drilling company with storage cash flow.

Each asset funded the next.
Each level required me less.

Today MAK Capital manages a $70M portfolio, builds and operates 100k sq ft luxury storage properties, and earns without linearly trading time for dollars.

That progression took 16 years.

But it started with the decision to stop spending what's left and start buying assets first.

How long did it take you to understand the difference between earning money and building wealth?

--

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99.9% of millionaires I meet don't have a podcast.

They own "boring" assets.

A plumbing company in Fargo. An HVAC business that's been running for 20 years. A handful of rental properties they bought when nobody else was buying. A gas station off the interstate that prints money while they sleep.

I cross paths with wealthy people as a construction CEO and developer in the Midwest.

They're not on LinkedIn talking about their morning routine.

They got their hands dirty, built something real, and quietly stacked assets that cash flow, appreciate, and run without them.

That's the blueprint nobody talks about because it's not glamorous enough to go viral.

Build a business that solves a real problem in your market. Use the cash flow to buy assets. Use depreciation on those assets to lower your taxes. Build systems until the assets make money without you.

Then you're not trading time for money anymore.

A 9-5 gives you a paycheck until it doesn't.

Boring cashflow businesses and a real estate portfolio gives you your life back.

The wealthiest people I know in the Midwest didn't follow the herd.

They just never stopped building.

What's the most quietly wealthy blue-collar business you've come across?

--

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I write weekly guides on building wealth with real estate, blue-collar businesses, and high net worth strategies.

Join 5,800 readers: marckuhn.substack.com

A doctor making $500,000 a year can still be broke.

I don't mean cash poor. 
I mean wealth poor.

Here's the difference:

Income is what hits your bank account when you work. Wealth is what hits your bank account when you don't.

The doctor earns $500K.

But if he stops working tomorrow:

- Income stops
- The mortgage still runs
- The car payments still run
- The lifestyle still runs

He's not wealthy. He's leveraged to his own labor.

I grew up without money.

So when I started making real income in construction, the first thing I did was study the people who had actual wealth.

Not high earners. Owners.

What I found:

→ Wealthy people own assets that produce income
→ High earners trade time for money

The gap between the two isn't income level — it's ownership.

You can earn $500K a year and build zero wealth.
You can earn $80K a year and build a $10M portfolio.

The variable isn't the paycheck.
It's what you do with it.

- Are you buying assets or liabilities?
- Are you building equity?
- Does 100% of your income require your time?

Those questions will tell you exactly which path you're on.

I didn't figure this out until my late 20s.

When did it click for you that income and wealth are two completely different games?

--

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At 30, I said Yes to every real estate deal I could.

At 36, I say No to 15-20+ deals a month.

Grew MAK Construction to $30M revenue saying Yes.
Grew MAK Capital to a $60M portfolio saying Yes.

Yes to building houses.
Yes to the random real estate deal.
Yes to anything that would pay the bills.

That’s how most people start: Hustle Mode

But what gets you from $0 to $10M won’t get you to $100M.

At some point, saying yes becomes a liability.

You say yes to too many things, and suddenly:

You’re busy, but not growing.
You’re working harder, but not wealthier.
You’re stuck in the weeds, missing the bigger picture.

In 2026, I’m saying No more than ever.

• No to building 10 homes (eats time, doesn’t scale)
• No to chasing small deals and shiny objects
• No to being everywhere, for everyone

Instead, I’m doubling down on:

→ Luxury storage developments in markets we love
→ Large multifamily projects, strategic acquisitions
→ Scaling what’s working—without spreading thin

Saying No to 10 small projects so I can say Yes to the 1- 2 large opportunities that move the needle.

Great things are built by doing less, better.

Are you in the Yes phase of your career? 
Or are you in the "less is more" season?

--
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I ran a $20/mo experiment on one land parcel.

It leased our storage units 40% faster:

50% of self storage units = no heat.
Other half the units = climate-controlled.

Same location, development, and marketing.

The climate-controlled units leased up 40% faster and commanded a rent premium that held every single month.

For the extra operating cost of about $20/month per unit in utilities.

That was it.

That one test became the proof of concept for what is now a 500,000 sq ft self storage portfolio.

Not a spreadsheet model. Not a mentor's advice.

A real experiment, with real numbers, on real dirt.

Most people chase asset classes based on what's trending on YouTube.

We built our Mega MAK Luxury Storage product around what I could physically test in my own backyard of Grand Forks, North Dakota.

→ Climate-controlled leased faster than standard
→ Better tenant profile came with the better product
→ Higher rents with almost no incremental expense

That's still how I operate today.

Build. Test. Look at the numbers. Scale what works.

What small tests have led to massive results in your career or business?

--

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DM me "storage" to learn more about investing in the luxury storage asset class.

Buy cool sh*t with cash flow. Not your paycheck.

"If you can't buy it twice, don't buy it once"

Here’s the old American Dream:

→ Go to college
→ Work 40 years
→ Max out your 401(k)
→ Retire when your knees hurt

Then maybe…enjoy life.

I chose a different path:

• Dropped out with 12 credits left
• Started pouring concrete
• Built a construction company
• Used the profits to buy real estate

Now I’m 36.

After 15 years of building on the "uncommon path", I run a $30M+ business portfolio and own $60M+ in real estate.

Flexing on social media is not my thing. 

My hope is that people see a North Dakota guy who built freedom to inspire others so they do the same.

Here’s what I’ve learned:

1) Job security is a myth.

One boss, bad quarter, or VC can remove your income overnight.

2) Trading time for money is a trap. 

Value your time + ownership > salary.

If your plan is to get 3% inflation raises, buy liabilities, stuff 10% in a 401(k) and that's it...you won't hit freedom until you're 70.

3) Climbing the ladder is a treadmill.

High income ≠ freedom. Especially if you inflate your lifestyle, costs, and buy liabilities like the majority of high-earners who never reach freedom.

If you want REAL freedom, start here:

→ Learn a skill that pays well
→ Live lean and don't buy on credit
→ Buy 1 cash-flowing property
→ Reinvest into another
→ Repeat for 10 years

It’s not sexy.
It’s not fast.
But it works.

In Unfollow the Herd newsletter, I broke down "The Dangers of a 9-5 Career Path" for 5,200 people.

Read it free here:
https://lnkd.in/gXdu2FKZ

I didn't fear losing my paycheck in my 20s.

I feared keeping it for too long.

By the time I was 20, I knew I didn't want to take the “safe path” that I saw ahead of me in life:

• Work 60 hours a week
• Stack liabilities with no assets
• Take a 2% annual raise, maybe a bonus
• Retire when I'm too old to enjoy it

So I made a choice, and it led to starting multiple companies and becoming a commercial developer.

"Do I keep playing the game I was handed? Or learn the game wealthy people actually play?"

Along the way, I figured out that anyone can learn how to build wealth if you knew where to look...

• I found operators. People who owned real businesses. They showed me how to build companies that could run without me grinding 24/7.

• I studied the wealthy. Real estate. Ownership. The tax code. Entity structures. Leverage. The things no one teaches in school, but wealthy families teach at the dinner table.

• I learned by doing. Made mistakes. Lost money. Said yes before I was ready. Every deal, every hire, every tough call made me sharper.

You don’t need to quit tomorrow.
You don’t need the perfect plan.

You just need to start studying the right game.

• Follow the people who own assets
• Learn how they operate, invest in relationships.
• Build or invest for equity—not just a paycheck.

Figuring this out unlocked a whole different part of my brain. When I was a kid, growing up some of the time in a trailer park, you don't think "I can build wealth"

But turns out, it's possible if you reprogram your mind to believe it and put reps over many decades.

What forced you to get serious about building your own path as an entrepreneur or investor?

Fear of being broke is a common one.

Marc Kuhn

Everyone's chasing Austin. Phoenix. Charlotte.

Why are we investing in rural North Dakota?

The numbers make more sense than anything I've seen in a sunbelt market.

Land in the Midwest runs 60-70% cheaper than coastal metros.

Permitting is faster. Local politics are predictable.

And the premium tenant we need for luxury storage are everywhere.

- HVAC contractors who need climate-controlled space
- Electricians and plumbers storing equipment
- Small business owners who can't afford industrial leases
- RV owners who want real security — not a padlock

They're not just in big cities. They're in every mid-sized market in America.

That's where we build.

Not because it's flashy.
Because the math works.

→ Lower land cost means better YOC from day one
→ Less competition means faster lease-up
→ Business-friendly states = fewer regulatory surprises

Everyone piling into the same sunbelt corridors is competing for the same land, the same permits, the same tenants.

We're in markets where we're often the only luxury operator in town.

You stop following the crowd to where the hype is.
And you start going where the numbers are.

What's a market everyone else is ignoring that you think is underrated right now?

--

DM me "storage" to learn more about the Midwest luxury storage opportunity.

A friend called me and asked if I could install a ceiling fan for $300. Saying Yes changed my life.

That night I told my wife: "I think I could actually make some money doing this."

I was 21. Recently fired from my W2.
We'd just sold her car to cover bills.

The next move: ask my future mother-in-law to co-sign a skid steer loan.

She handed me the paperwork and said: "This is the last time you ever ask me."

That was the last time I asked anyone for a handout.

Here's what happened after that $300 fan installation:

- First winter: grinding snow removal
- Chelsie suggested a home show (almost skipped it)
- Walked out with 70+ leads
- Booked out for a full year
- Hit $1M in revenue

Then I started a concrete division.
Then upsells and better clients.
Then real estate investing.
Then luxury storage development.

16 years later, multiple companies, a team of 50+, growing real estate portfolio, and growth ahead for MAK Companies.

→ It all started with a $300 job I wasn't qualified to do
→ The first step was embarrassingly small
→ The compounding took 16 years to show up

You can't build anything great (company, real estate portfolio, wealth) from a standing start.

You build it from wherever you are right now with whatever you have right now.

Even if that's a borrowed truck and a ceiling fan you Googled how to install.

What was your version of the $300 fan installation — the embarrassingly small first step that led to where you are now?

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My first luxury storage build proved the model.

63 units. 56K sq ft. Grand Forks, ND.

• $45,000 gross income every month.
• $13,500 cash flow after debt service.
• 28% expense ratio.
• 90-100% occupancy.

That one facility gave me the confidence to build our next six Mega MAK Luxury Storage properties.

Most people think luxury storage means Porsches and exotic cars.

Our tenants are HVAC contractors, Shopify operators, and small business owners storing $50,000-$75,000 in equipment.

They don't negotiate rent.
They don't default.
They don't leave.

When your equipment is your livelihood, you pay on time every month without being asked.

That insight changed everything.

The right tenant doesn't just improve your collections.

It changes how the asset performs through every part of the cycle — good markets and bad.

We took that same playbook and built it into a $70M portfolio across North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and more U.S. locations to come.

It started with one experiment on one parcel in Grand Forks.

Have you ever had one experiment that lead to one of your biggest long-term wins?

--

DM me "storage" to learn our process for building, operating, and investing in this asset class.

The hard truth about financial freedom:

The world wasn't designed for it.

If you want to pay your bills, build wealth, and step off the 9-5 hamster wheel to buy your time back...

You'll first have to understand it the system you were raised by wasn't designed to make you financially free.

Not grade school.
Not high school or college.
Not most well-meaning life advice.

None of them are focused on teaching you how to become free.

It was designed to get you to:

- Trade your time for income
- Spend that income on a lifestyle
- Save whatever's left (if anything)
- Give your best years to a company
- Retire when you're too tired to enjoy it

It's designed so you help build toward's someone else's goals.

Your labor builds someone else's equity.
Your spending builds someone else's revenue.
Your savings sit in instruments someone else manages for a fee.

I grew up in a house that never talked about assets, equity, or leverage.

But I watched people around me spend 40 years doing everything right by conventional standards...and end up with almost nothing they actually owned.

That was enough.

The one thing that changes the math:

Ownership.

Ownership of something that produces value whether you show up or not.

→ A business with systems that run without you
→ Real estate that generates rent while you sleep
→ Equity in assets that appreciate while you work on the next thing

I'm not special.

I didn't have connections, capital, or a college degree.

I just decided that ownership was my goal and said I'd learn whatever skills I needed to in order to achieve it.

Ownership of my time.
Ownership of my future.
Ownership of my work.

Yes, ownernship in assets that paid me and grew in value. But even moreso the ownership of my life and where I wanted it to go.

Was there a moment you decided you were going to own your future — and changed your actions to get there?

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What's the difference between making $10,000 in your 9-5 job and $10,000 from real estate?

$10K paycheck:

• Taxed at 40–50%
• Trades hours for dollars
• Stops when you stop working

$10K from a real estate deal:

• Taxed close to zero with depreciation
• Keeps paying you while you sleep
• Grows equity in a real asset

Most people spend 40 years chasing the paycheck.

But freedom is on the otherside of ownership.

I learned this in my early 20s. Started trading my time pouring concrete, building a construction company.

But the smartest thing I ever did was buy my first office building and lease out the unused space.

"Holy sh*t I didn't know you could do this."

The tax benefits in the first year alone were enough to get me hooked and eventually start MAK Capital in 2020, going all in on multifamily and luxury storage.

Since then, we’ve built and acquired $60M in commercial real estate across the Midwest.

And every time we pay out investors from a property we own...

I’m reminded: 
That $10K from a real estate deal is more than money.

It’s time back with my wife and kids.
It’s leverage for creating generational wealth.
It’s doable to go from $0 to millionaire with time.

Don't get caught in the earn a lot, spend a lot game.

Use a paycheck to buy assets and become an owner. 

That's the game.

What was your first “aha” moment that made you realize real estate was the path to real wealth?

--

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Public Storage doesn’t own 100% of its facilities.

Marriott owns less than 6% of its hotels.

These $50b+ companies see the biggest opportunity in:

• Owning the brand.
• Controlling the operations.
• Licensing and franchising.

This is where we’re taking MAK luxury storage inside our development company.

For years, self-storage was a commodity business.

• Cheap facilities
• Little to no branding
• Premium options were hard to find.

But we saw something different in 2019 when we broke ground on our first luxury storage development.

• Business owners needed contractor shops.
• E-commerce sellers needed fulfillment space.
• People need secure, climate-controlled storage for their boats, RV, and assets.

But the crappy tin can storage units didn't serve their needs.

So we built the Mega MAK Storage brand and started talking about it on podcasts, LinkedIn, and with our investors.

We're not just building a business, we're leveraging a brand and blueprint that lasts for generations.

Our goal is to build 5-10 million square feet of luxury storage by 2035.

My biggest lesson so far?

Don't wait for opportunities to come to you.
You're better off creating them for yourself.

What opportunities are you creating for yourself in 2026?

--

Want to learn how we're expanding the luxury storage space in 2026?

Read today's update in Unfollow the Herd: https://lnkd.in/gwSmVgcm

What percentage of 401k accounts have at least $1,000,000? (I'll tell you): 
 
1.6%. 
 
I recently ran across this number in an article that analyzed 401(k)s at Fidelity 
 
I knew the number of "401(k) millionaires" in the U.S. was low — but I didn't realize it was that low. 
 
And the crazy thing? 
 
The article talks about how that number was "surging"...all the way up to 1.6%. 
 
And then the kicker: 
 
Another Fidelity study showed that workers estimate they'll need ~$1.8M to retire comfortably. 
 
So by those numbers, about 98.4% of Americans won't be able to retire comfortably with their 401(k)s. 
 
𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴: 
 
The number of 401(k) millionaires is so low because wealthy people build it through businesses and real estate. 
 
→ 401(k)s won't give you cash flow 
→ 401(k)s won't give you depreciation 
→ 401(k)s won't give you 1031 exchanges 
 
If you're relying on your 401(k) alone... 
let this be a wake-up call. 
 
It's a tool, not the complete plan. 
 
This is why I diversify with real estate 
(using a self-directed IRA). 
 
So should you. 
 
-- 
 
P.S. Are you an accredited investor? 
 
DM me "storage" and I'll share how our LPs diversify with commercial real estate

He turned $400,000 into a $1 trillion empire.

Stephen Schwarzman didn’t wait for perfect timing.

In 1985, he walked away from his Wall Street job with a mentor, a whiteboard, and $400,000 in seed capital from his own pocket.

No AUM.
No name recognition.
Just conviction.

But two years later, his dream of building the best investment firm in the world was almost destroyed.

Black Monday hit on October 19, 1987.

The Dow Jones fell by 22.6% in a single day—the largest one-day percentage drop in its history.

Markets crashed.
Wall Street panicked.

But Schwarzman raised Blackstone’s first $800 million fund during the chaos.

In 2025, Blackstone is now the largest alternative investment firm in the world—owning real estate, private equity and credit across the globe.

If Schwarzman was like the average investor, turning a market crash into an excuse to stay on the sidelines, Blackstone wouldn't exist today.

→ $1 trillion in assets
→ Dozens of billion-dollar deals
→ A personal net worth of around $43 billion

He didn’t build in the boom. He built through the biggest crash in history at the time.

The lessons for all entrepreneurs:

You don’t need perfect timing. You need a playbook and skills that work in any market conditions.

What skills are you building that can outlast any market downturn?

--

♻️ Repost to inspire an entrepreneur in your network
📌 Reach out if I can be a resource Marc Kuhn

I took on debt to grow my company and real estate portfolio in my 20s with a wife and baby.

Some LinkedIn guru would call that reckless.

I call it the best financial decision I ever made.

We've been trained to believe stability comes from employment.

But true stability comes from ownership.

A job is a single point of failure with someone else's finger on the trigger.

Think about what you actually own at a W2:

- Your employer can eliminate your role tomorrow
- Your income stops if your body stops
- Your raises are decided by someone else's budget meeting
- Your retirement depends on a market you don't control

That's not stability. That's outsourced financial control dressed up as a benefits package.

I'm not saying quit your job tomorrow.
I'm saying understand what you're actually trading.

You're trading ownership, upside, and control for the feeling of security.

Meanwhile the people signing the front of your check are compounding equity you'll never see.

→ The risk of building something is real but finite
→ The risk of building nothing compounds forever
→ Playing it safe is the longest path to being broke

I started with $2,500 and a mother-in-law who co-signed one loan and told me never to ask again.

Today MAK Companies and our real estate assets are worth close to 9 figures 16 years later.

The riskiest thing I never did was keep that W2.

At what point did you stop seeing a job as security and start seeing it as a ceiling?

--

♻️ Repost to spread the wealth with your network

Follow Marc Kuhn for daily posts on ownership, real estate, and building real wealth.

When you start buying RE: "How can I afford this?"

When you scale (100+ units): "How can I structure this?"

After my first few rental properties, I realized another duplex wasn't the move. 

I wanted more scale, large multifamily and commercial properties. Ground up developments leveraging our construction company.

But first, I had to make a mindset switch that every new real estate investors goes through (if they want to scale their portfolio).

I stopped asking if I could afford a 20% down payment.

I started asking how I could structure it with seller-financing and other strategies the top 1% of investors were using.

Early in my career I looked at deals the way most people do.

• Do I have the down payment?
• Can I qualify for the loan?
• Is this the right time?

That thinking kept me smaller than I needed to be.

Then I started studying how deals actually get done.

Not how banks want you to do them.
How operators actually do them.

Seller financing, creative loan structures, joint ventures, capital from people sitting on cash earning 3% in a money market.

In 2025, I bought $4,700,000 in real estate for $17,957 out of pocket.

Not because I was lucky.

Because I stopped asking "can I afford this?" and started asking "how do I structure this so I can?"

→ Conventional thinking produces conventional results
→ The right deal structure creates value
→ Creative financing is a skill

The people I know who built real portfolios that pay their bills every month weren't smarter than everyone else in the room.

They just asked different questions.

What's the deal you almost didn't do — and what changed when you looked at it differently?

--

♻️ Repost to spread the wealth

Follow me Marc Kuhn for daily posts on ownership, real estate, and "boring" businesses.

Raised $30 MM in capital for real estate through LinkedIn and Guest Podcasting | Posts about Real Estate, Writing, and Audience Building

Most fund managers treat visibility like a campaign.

Raise.
Deploy.
Go quiet.
Raise again.

And every cycle starts from zero.

That model caps scale.

I work with growth stage real estate and private equity sponsors ($50M–$150M AUM) to build durable investor visibility so capital conversations don’t start cold and raises compound over time.

This isn’t about going viral.

It’s about building signal, credibility, and allocator familiarity before you need the capital.

If you're a $50M–$150M sponsor ready to build the visibility that compounds into your next raise, apply below.

Matthew Baltzell 🌴

Most people think AI is replacing jobs.

But that’s not the real shift.


Look at this photo.

In the 1940s, a “computer” wasn’t a machine.

It was a person.

Rooms full of people doing calculations by hand.

Then machines replaced that work.

Humans started using computers.

Now something strange is happening again.

Computers are starting to use other computers.

AI tools.
Agents.
Automation.
Software running software.

Work that used to require departments can now be handled by one operator with the right systems.

And it’s creating a new divide.

Not...

People vs AI.

But...

Operators with leverage
vs
Operators doing everything manually.

In real estate and private equity this is becoming very obvious.

The sponsors raising capital the fastest aren’t necessarily the smartest.

They’re the ones building distribution systems.

Content.
Investor pipelines.
Automated outreach.
Deal narratives.
Investor updates.

Things that used to take a team of analysts and marketers can now be done by one operator with the right tools.

Which means the next generation of sponsors won’t just raise capital with relationships.

They’ll raise it with leverage.

Matthew Baltzell

$20M+ Raised | Investor Visibility for $50M–$150M Real Estate & PE Sponsors | Capital Raising Systems for Serious Sponsors

I saw this chart and immediately thought of my mom.

She never paid full price. Ever.

Coupons. Sales. Negotiating at the register.

If she got a deal — it was a good day.
If something was expensive — it was a ripoff.

She wasn’t wrong.

She was playing the game she was taught. Perfectly.

I remember her driving 25 minutes to Costco to save $4.
Arguing over a $7 coupon.
Skipping the better option because it “felt expensive.”

And sometimes that worked.

Until it didn’t.

The cheapest option saved money.

It didn’t always save reputation.

Cheap isn’t a flaw.

It’s a survival skill.

It just stops working above a certain altitude.

This chart doesn’t show good people vs bad people.

It shows different rules for different environments.

My mom mastered hers.

What rules are you still playing by?

I drove home after visiting my grandma and felt sad. She's 92. I don't see her enough.

This Christmas my wife and I went to her assisted living home for their holiday party. 

Nothing fancy. Just showing up. Sitting with her. Talking to her friends.

When we walked in, she looked at us like we were the whole world. Her friends did too.

She still gets her nails done every week. 
Still wants to look pretty. 

92 years old and young at heart in every way that matters.

What makes her eyes light up isn't much. Just family walking through the door.

And I keep thinking about how many of those moments I've let slip by. 

Too busy. 
Too distracted. 
Too much in my own head.

I don't have a big lesson here.

Just a reminder to myself...

Show up. Not just physically — but in the moment.

Matt Damon said Netflix has to repeat the plot 3–4 times because people are on their phones (Now apply that to investors.)



If you think...

- “I already explained the deal”

- “They saw the deck”

- “We covered this on the last call”

You’re overestimating attention.

Investors are scanning, not studying.

They’re comparing you to 5 other deals this week.

They remember patterns, not paragraphs.

That’s why the best sponsors:

- Repeat the thesis

- Reinforce the why now

- Reanchor the risk story

- Restate the downside protection

Same message.
Different format.
Every touchpoint.

Call.
 Deck.
 Email.
 Podcast.
 Follow-up.

If Netflix needs repetition to keep viewers…
...You need it to move capital.

If your deal feels “obvious” to you,

it’s probably still unclear to them.

After 25+ conversations with real estate sponsors about raising capital, one pattern kept repeating.

When it came to capital…

It was feast or famine.

There was almost no middle ground.

Sponsors fell into two groups.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲𝗱

Their LP pipeline was already full.

Deals oversubscribed.
Investors waiting for allocations.
Capital ready when a deal appeared.

Blah, Blah, buttttt....

They were still looking for more investors.

Because experienced sponsors understand something most people miss:

The best time to raise capital isn't when you need capital. 

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗭𝗲𝗿𝗼 𝗣𝗶𝗽𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲

Dry LP pipeline.

No consistent investor flow.
Starting from zero every raise.
Scrambling for investor conversations in hubspot at midnight. 

Every deal becomes a fire drill.

The stress.
The pressure. 
The cursor blinking at you waiting for your next email blast!

No bueno. 

The takeaway...

There were very few sponsors in the middle.

You either have:

A machine that attracts investors

or

You start from zero every time you raise and are left holding the empty bag. 

The sponsors in the oversubscribed category all had something in common.

They were building investor relationships long before they NEEDED capital.

The most common pattern I saw..

A podcast.
A strong LinkedIn presence.
A newsletter.
Consistent content documenting their deals, their thinking, and their process.

Not selling.

Just showing up.

By the time an investor discovered them, through a post, an episode, or a piece of content, they already felt like they knew the sponsor.

That's the difference between a cold ask and a warm conversation.

Raising capital isn’t something you switch on.

It’s something you build.

Alex Rodriguez made $441,000,000 playing baseball.

He parlayed it into $300M+ in real estate.

Here’s how he did it:

He LEARNED from the BEST.

• A-Rod didn’t just spend. He studied.
• Sat in rooms most athletes never see.
• Treated investing like a second career NOT a hobby.
• Learned underwriting, capital stacks, deal structure.
• Built a relationship with Barry Sternlicht (Starwood Capital).

That became the foundation.

He TOOK ACTION.

• Started investing in multifamily while still playing.
• Focused on cash-flowing assets, not headlines.
• Built A-Rod Corp as an investment platform.
• Partnered with experienced operators.

He transitioned from athlete…

To operator.

To allocator.

Most of us won’t sign a $275M contract.

But anyone can:

• Study capital allocation.
• Learn from serious operators.
• Binge watch Landman on the treadmill. 
• Build relationships above their weight class.

The shift isn’t talent.

It’s identity.

Income is temporary.

Ownership compounds.

P.S. The real question everyone wants to know?

Was the $252M Yankees contract…

Or the first apartment deal…

The better investment?

"When we had a deal."

That was their entire investor relations strategy.

They were raising $15M.

I audited 12 operators last month. This wasn't the only one.

Good deals. 
Credible sponsors. 
Empty pipelines.

The raises weren't broken. The systems were.

Here's what I saw:

→ No investor CRM (pipeline = inbox + memory)
→ No nurture engine (deal email → silence for 6 months)
→ Two had zero post close reporting cadence
→ Raising in 60 day sprints instead of building a 12 month engine

The real problem:

Raising $5M isn't about finding investors.

It's about becoming investable.

Operators at the $5M–$25M level don't struggle because deals are bad.

They struggle because LPs wire on:

→ They've seen you before
→ They trust your process
→ They respect your reporting
→ They've been hearing from you for months

Not excitement.

If you're raising $5M+ and have $25M+ AUM…

I'll audit your capital system.

Direct feedback.

DM me "AUDIT."

𝗣.𝗦. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗶𝗽𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵?

Started learning guitar 6 months ago. Turns out being bad at something is good for business. Here’s why…

I decided to post proof.

This video confirms I’m still not good.

And that’s the point.

No leverage.
No shortcuts.
No AI saving my rhythm.

Just reps.

Most adults won’t start something new because they don’t want to look average.

In business it’s the same.

They over plan.
Over edit.
Overthink.

All to protect their ego.

Protecting your ego is the most expensive habit in business.

You focus on fundamentals.
You get fast feedback.
You improve.

Six months in, I’m not great.

But I’m better.

Sidenote: Background audio courtesy of two tiny humans who also don’t care that I’m a beginner.

What are you learning right now that you’re not good at yet?

An 18% IRR deal fell apart in 60 seconds.

All I did was paste the OM into ChatGPT.

It rewrote the deal in plain English.

That’s when the cracks showed.

• 18% IRR… assuming exit cap compression
• Rent growth projected at 2x the submarket
• “Value-add” mostly cosmetic upgrades

Nothing dishonest.

Just optimistic.

There’s a difference.

AI doesn’t get impressed by glossy decks.

It asks one question:

“What has to go perfectly for this to work?”

Great decks sell.

Great underwriting survives.

Big difference.

Most people say they want freedom.

But very few want the discipline required to get it.

That’s why most people stay employees.

Half of your LPs might never invest with you again.

And it probably has nothing to do with your returns.

Two operators.
Same market.
Similar returns.

One has 47% LP reinvestment.
The other averages 84%.

The difference isn’t the deal.

It’s discipline.

Low reinvestment operators:

• Update LPs when they need something
• Late reports
• Silence between raises
• Investor relations = reactive

High reinvestment operators:

• Monthly updates
• Proactive communication
• Clear forward narrative
• Investor relations = compounding system

The math:

50% re-invest = rebuild half your book every raise.
85% re-invest = replace 15% and scale.

Most sponsors don’t have a deal problem.

They have a relationship infrastructure problem.

If you don’t know your LP reinvestment rate, that’s the first red flag.

I’m running a Capital Raising Infrastructure Audit for sponsors actively raising $5M+.

We look at LP retention, communication cadence, visibility, and raise velocity.

Comment “AUDIT” and I’ll send details.

Everyone’s arguing about housing.

But almost nobody is talking about the real driver..

Capital.

Young buyers want cheaper homes.

Homeowners want prices to keep rising.

Politicians promise affordability.

But the housing market isn’t driven by hopes or politics.

It’s driven by capital flows.

Demographics.
Interest rates.
Credit availability.
Institutional money.
Government incentives.

When capital is cheap, assets inflate.

When capital tightens, deals stop penciling.

And right now we’re watching the system try to do something impossible:

Make housing cheaper...

...while protecting the trillions of dollars already sitting in residential real estate.

That’s not how capital markets work.

Asset values don’t reset politely.

They reprice when capital conditions change.

So if you’re under 40 and waiting for someone to “fix housing”…

Good luck.

Because the housing market isn’t a fairness system.

It’s a capital market.

The real move?

Understand how capital flows into assets.

Build skills that compound.

Create income that scales.

And get ownership exposure as early as you can, even if it’s uncomfortable.

Because the people who win aren’t the ones complaining about the system.

They’re the ones who understand how money moves inside it.

Agree or disagree?

I spoke with a 30 year operator managing $50,000,000 in assets who realized he couldn’t scale without visibility.

Great track record.
Strong returns.
Solid local reputation.

But he hit the Friends & Family ceiling.

And here’s the uncomfortable truth:

Most $50M sponsors aren’t stuck because of performance.

They’re stuck because no one outside their zip code knows they exist.

He knew he needed RIAs and Family Offices.

That requires trust at scale.

Not another lunch meeting.

We mapped the strategy.

Then it stalled.

Why?

Infrastructure.

No real investor relations support.
No systemized follow-up.
No capital discipline.

And the quiet fear:

“If this works… can we even handle it?”

Marketing feels risky when your backend is fragile.

Fragile doesn’t scale.

Visibility compounds.

But only if the machine behind it can absorb demand.

Otherwise, you don’t have a marketing problem.

You have an operator problem.

What’s harder:

Finding investors?

Or becoming the firm that can handle them?

I reviewed a 92 unit apartment deal this week.

On paper it looked great...

Nice looking property.
Good market.
Classic value add play.

The story was simple:

Buy the property.
Renovate units.
Push rents.

On paper, it all works.

But after looking at a lot of deals lately, I keep coming back to the same three things.

3 things I always look at now:

𝟭. 𝗥𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀

• The plan here was roughly $150–$200 rent increases
• That’s where most of the investor returns come from

But the real question is simple:

Will tenants actually pay those rents?

𝟮. 𝗗𝗲𝗯𝘁

• Interest rates matter more than people want to admit
• Refinance timing can change the entire outcome of a deal

A property can perform well…

…and still struggle if the debt is wrong.

𝟯. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿

This one matters more than anything.

• Leasing strategy
• Tenant quality
• Renovation execution

A good operator can fix a mediocre deal.

A bad operator can wreck a good one.

The more deals I look at, the more I realize something:

Most deals don’t fail because of the property.

They fail because of assumptions.

TLDR, 

When you look at a real estate deal…

What's the first thing you check for?

I’ve audited 3 capital raises last week.

The pattern is consistent.

Operators who close don’t rely on better decks.

They build better infrastructure.

Here are the 3 things that separate operators who close from operators who stall:

𝟭. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗻𝘂𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹

Sponsors who close fast started conversations 6–12 months before the deal.

Sponsors who stall?
First touchpoint is the deal email.

LPs don’t wire on excitement.
They wire on familiarity.

𝟮. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗱

Average check size.
Re-investment rate.
Time from first conversation to close.

If you can’t answer those in 10 seconds, you’re guessing.

Guessing doesn’t scale past $10M.

𝟯. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀

Monthly updates.
Documented process.
CRM with real pipeline visibility.

Most operators treat IR like an afterthought until they need to raise again.

The best ones treat it like asset management.

Across every raise I’ve looked at, the pattern holds:

Infrastructure beats pitch.

𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 $5𝘔+ 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘐’𝘮 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩.

I thought the whole world was using AI already.

Then I zoomed out.

And noticed something nuts about this chart.

Do you see it?

Almost the entire thing is grey.

That grey represents billions of people who have never used AI.

Not once. Zip. Nada.

No ChatGPT.
No image generation.
No automation.

Nothing.

Meanwhile online it feels like the opposite.

Every day you see:

• a new AI model launch
• someone automating their company
• a teenager building a startup that tracks calories from photos

It creates the illusion that everyone is already miles ahead.

They’re not.

(Sorry, Aunt Debbie.)

Most people still think AI is:

“that thing that makes weird pictures”

or

“the robot that writes comments on LinkedIn.”

They’ve never seen what it looks like when AI becomes leverage.

The tiny corner of this chart?

That’s the group experimenting with it every day.

The builders.
The operators.
The people quietly compressing 10 hours of work into one.

Just out there making it happen.

And that’s where the real shift is happening.

Not in hype.

In workflow.

AI doesn’t have a competition problem yet.

It has an awareness problem.

Most of the world hasn’t even stepped onto the field.

Which means the edge right now isn’t technical brilliance.

It’s curiosity.

Open the tools.
Use them daily.
Experiment.

You don’t need to understand neural networks.

(Trust me… I don’t.)

You just need to be slightly earlier than the crowd.

And right now, the crowd is still figuring out what AI even is.

So the real question is…

Are you experimenting with AI in your work yet…

or still watching it happen from the sidelines?

Everyone’s debating whether this coffee shop’s AI surveillance is ethical...


Anna: 20 cups.
Olga: 3 cups.
John: Where is he?

Coffee. Customers. Company.  

Everything tracked by the minute. 

3.7 million people have opinions.

Meanwhile…

LPs writing $250K–$5M checks into $50M–$150M funds still get:

• Quarterly PDFs
• Retroactive performance
• Carefully worded updates

No real time visibility...
...No capital level transparency.

We can track barista productivity down to every Oatmilk Shaken Espresso.

But not investor capital down to the dollar?

Hmmmm...

The tech exists.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗽 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆. 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆.

And the sponsors who close Fund II effortlessly?

They understand that visibility compounds trust.

P.S. Would you walk into a coffee shop that hides how it operates?

If I were a $50M+ sponsor using LinkedIn DMs to connect with investors, here's how I'd approach it.

𝟭. 𝗡𝗼 𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁. 

A connection is a doorway, not a closing argument.

Most sponsors burn their first impression trying to explain the opportunity in 300 characters.

Serious operators build familiarity first.

𝟮. 𝗡𝗼 𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲.

I'd start with positioning.

"Appreciate the connect. We're active in [strategy] and expanding relationships with investors aligned with that thesis. Are you currently allocating into opportunities like that, or mostly observing this cycle?"

That does three things:

• Establishes what you're building
• Signals growth (not need)
• Qualifies without begging

Positioning first. Question second.

Not the other way around.

𝟯. 𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱𝗻'𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁.

If every DM is tied to a live raise, you're negotiating from urgency.

Serious sponsors build repeat touch points:

• Thoughtful content
• Market commentary
• Occasional investor updates

So when a deal is live, the conversation isn't cold.

𝟰. 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄-𝘂𝗽 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿.

Not: "Just checking in."

Instead, I'd add signal.

An update. A shift in thinking. A market observation. A closed deal. A deal we passed on.

Investors don't respond to pressure.

They respond to thoughtful operators.

Because capital doesn't move toward need.

It moves toward clarity, consistency, and conviction.

And here's the filter:

If you're uncomfortable reaching out to investors without a live deal…

You don't have a capital strategy.

You have a dependency.

The sponsors who scale capital treat outreach like a system.

Not an event.

If you're building that system and want a second set of eyes on your outreach DM me.

No pitch. Just a real conversation.

I went looking for a dive bar in Prague and ended up here...


Back in 2015 my brother got married in London.

After the wedding my family decided to extend the trip and visit Prague.

The group:

My grandma
My mom and dad
My Aunt Deb
And me, the young buck in his 20s

Day one we did the usual tourist stuff...

Charles Bridge.
Cinnamon strudel.
Cobblestone streets.

Then around 7 PM everyone went to bed.

Trip over.

I thought… there’s no way this is how Prague ends.

So like any guy in his 20s, I went searching for the coolest dive bar I could find.

After about an hour of digging through Yelp I found a place called Anonymous Bar.

The name alone hooked me.

Hidden.
Exclusive.
Mysterious.

(I’m game.)

I screenshotted the location on my iPhone 4 and headed out.

Started asking people.

Liquor store owner?
No idea.

Random locals?
Never heard of it.

Finally a hotel doorman pointed down a street and said in a thick Eastern European accent:

“Milstroff Street.”

Three minutes later I was walking down a dark alley under a massive stone arch between two dilapidated buildings.

No people.

Just a faint fluorescent streetlight on its last flicker.

At this point my gut instincts were saying…

This might be a bad idea.

But curiosity won.

Then I saw a guy wrestling wooden crates out of a rusted red hatchback.

I pointed and asked:

“Anonymous?”

He nodded.

Behind him were seven tea lights leading to a hidden door.

Inside?

A full 1920s speakeasy frozen in time.

Bartenders with waxed mustaches twisted to sharp points.
Candlelight flickering off copper fixtures.
Bossa Nova bleeding softly through the room.

The bartender handed me a DVD case.

Inside was a drink menu written entirely in code.

So, I pointed to something that looked like whiskey.

He made the drink with flames, smoke, and a full show.

Then he placed it in front of me…

Put a V for Vendetta mask on my face…
Pulled out a Polaroid camera…
And took this photo.

That photo exists because I went looking.

That’s it.
That’s the lesson.

Go looking.

P.S. What's the last thing you did just because curiosity won?

Floyd Mayweather made $1,000,000,000+

So why is he still chasing checks?

Because income isn’t infrastructure.

It’s about operators who confuse one big year with a durable system.

In capital raising, this shows up fast.

You close a $20M fund.
Fees hit.
Confidence spikes.

Then 12 months later…

Your “pipeline” was three warm relationships and a conference badge.

LPs invested… and forgot you exist.

Now you’re back in scramble mode.
Taking meetings you wouldn’t have entertained last year.
Stretching timelines.
Softening terms.

You weren’t compounding.

You were sprinting.

Raising capital without systems is like winning one fight with no camp.

Feels powerful.

Until the market punches back.

The sponsors who last don’t just close.

They:

Stay visible between raises.
Nurture LPs before they need them.
Build deal flow before they announce it.
Track capital velocity like it’s oxygen.

Because when you stop hunting…
…does money still move?

That’s the difference between a high earner
and a real operator.

Don’t celebrate the purse.

Build the machine.

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The Battle

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Marc Kuhn's LinkedIn Performance

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