Impact Growth Capital

Chief Operations Officer

Strategic investment and operations leader with over a decade of experience spanning private equity real estate, acquisitions, and portfolio management.

As Co-Founder and COO of Impact Growth Capital, I scaled the firm from inception to $70M in assets under management, leading acquisitions, due diligence, financial modeling, and post-acquisition execution across multifamily and commercial portfolios. I built and led a 43-person team, driving operational turnarounds and delivering strong investor returns.

Earlier in my career, I served 11 years as an Intelligence Analyst in the U.S. Air Force, where I developed advanced skills in risk assessment, data synthesis, and executive-level decision support. This background honed my ability to analyze complex problems, synthesize insights, and deliver actionable strategies under pressure.

I am passionate about helping firms identify opportunities, execute with discipline, and unlock long-term value. I thrive in entrepreneurial, high-growth environments and enjoy building relationships that create lasting impact for investors, partners, and stakeholders.

Would You Sell Your Family's Legacy for 20% More?

This week, the Dealey family faced that exact question.

Two offers came in to buy The Dallas Morning News.
→ $20/share from Alden Global Capital
→ $16.50/share from Hearst

Alden is known for slashing newsrooms and squeezing every last drop from what remains.

Hearst has a long track record of protecting journalism and investing in its future.

If you care only about money, the choice seems obvious.

Take the higher offer.

Walk away with millions more.

Done.

But the Dealey family said no.

They rejected the 20% premium.

And accepted less money.

Because they weren’t just selling a company.

They were protecting a legacy.

The Dealeys have stewarded The Dallas Morning News for over 140 years.

And they made a call most leaders today wouldn't.

They left money on the table, for something more important.

That’s what generational leadership looks like.

Here’s what we can learn from their decision:
→ Values Outlast Valuation
Money fades. Values define what you leave behind.
→ Saying No Is a Power Move
Turning down more cash takes clarity and conviction. Most don’t have either.
→ Think in Decades, Not Quarters


The Dealeys weren’t thinking about today. They were thinking about 100 years from now.

→ Stewardship Isn’t Flashy, But It Matters
Protecting the mission > chasing the biggest check.

In a world addicted to exits and quick wins, this decision is a rare reminder:

Real leadership isn't about what you cash out.

It's about what you pass on.

So let me ask you:
Would you sell for 20% more?
Or would you protect the mission?

Jesse Sells

Transforming Communities Through Impact Investing | CRE & Real Estate Investment Strategist | AI Enthusiast

Real estate financial modeling broke after COVID.

We aren’t just tweaking spreadsheets anymore.

We’re rewriting how we value property from the ground up.

Here’s what that actually looks like in today’s market:
→ Interest rates are double what they were just 3 years ago

That changes everything.

Cap rates, discount rates, cost of capital—every number in your model has to reflect that shift.

If you’re still plugging in pre 2020 assumptions, you’re setting yourself up for a rude awakening.

→ Inflation isn’t just a headline. It is operational chaos

Labor and materials are up.


Service contracts are up.

Annual expense growth can’t just be pegged at 2 percent anymore.
It is unpredictable, and that volatility hits your NOI fast.

→ Transaction volume is down more than 50 percent in many markets

That means comps are almost useless.

You can’t lean on past sales to justify future values.

Forecasting income and rent growth isn’t just hard. It is borderline speculative in some sectors.

Let’s talk about office.

Valuing office space right now is brutal.

Remote and hybrid work didn’t go away. It got baked in.

And the numbers reflect it:
→ Occupancy is down
→ Renewals are flat or falling
→ Demand is skewed toward newer, amenitized buildings
→ Stranded assets, the old mid tier stuff, are sitting vacant with no path forward
→ Office to resi conversions sound great on paper but are expensive, slow, and often unviable

This is not a temporary dip.

Models now have to treat lower occupancy and demand as the new baseline.

Meanwhile, asset class performance has fully diverged.
→ Industrial and data centers are surging

Thanks to ecommerce, these properties are seeing record demand.

Financial models have to price in continued rent growth and tighter supply.
→ Retail and hospitality are split

Some grocery anchored centers are thriving.

Others, especially in urban cores, are limping along.

Same sector, totally different risk profiles.
→ Residential is all about the suburbs now

The donut effect is real.

People want space, not density.

That means valuations and rent assumptions vary wildly from region to region.
If you’re still using pre COVID models, you’re guessing.

Modern financial modeling requires more than updated cells.
It means:
→ Accounting for hybrid work’s structural impact
→ Stress testing for prolonged vacancy and rising rates
→ Pulling in real time data like foot traffic, access card swipes, and migration trends
→ Ditching legacy Excel files for platforms that can actually handle this level of complexity

I’ve been modeling deals for over a decade.

This is the hardest environment I’ve seen, and also the most interesting.

It’s forcing investors to truly understand the assumptions behind the numbers.

The era of copy paste underwriting is dead.

Everywhere I look, the voice of the internet sounds the same.

Clean.

Optimized.

Predictable.

AI is writing everything. Blogs, essays, ads.

And to be honest, it shows.

Yes, AI is efficient.

Yes, it personalizes.

But it also flattens the soul out of a story.
→ Half of consumers say AI-generated ads feel inauthentic. (Forbes, 2024)
→ 70% of people say AI-made books and films make them uncomfortable. (Baringa, 2024)
→ 94% want more transparency around AI in marketing. (StoryStream, 2024)

MIT found something fascinating:

People liked AI-written content until they were told it was AI.

Then they preferred the human version.

That tells you everything you need to know.

The real power of storytelling has never been efficiency.

It’s emotional truth.

It’s human fingerprints.

AI doesn’t have a childhood.

It never lost a parent.

It never got fired, dumped, inspired, or scared.

That matters.

You can use AI to help write.

But if you let it replace the voice, the voice dies.

And with it, the trust.

The goal isn’t to reject AI.

The goal is to remember what it can’t replace.

Curious—have you felt this shift in tone too?

Are we losing something here?

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