Reed Goossens has returned to the show with his Best Ever advice for raising capital. Reed is a real estate entrepreneur and Managing Partner of Wildhorn Capital. As a native Australian, Reed moved to the U.S. to pursue his investing career in early 2012. Reed is a qualified chartered structural engineer and project manager. Since 2007, Reed has been involved with large scale commercial construction and real estate development projects, with a combined worth over $500 million; in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the U.S.—highlighted by his work in London in anticipation of the 2012 Olympic Games.
Best Ever Tweet:
“People don’t remember a great pitch, they remember a great conversation” – Reed Goossens
Reed Goossens Real Estate Background:
- Founder of Wildhorn Capital, a large multifamily investing firm
- Host of the podcast “Investing In The U.S.” Best selling author of two books
- Listen to his previous episodes:
- Based in Los Angeles, CA
- Say hi to him at https://www.reedgoossens.com/
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TRANSCRIPTION
Joe Fairless: Best Ever listeners, how are you doing? Welcome to the best real estate investing advice ever show. I’m Joe Fairless. This is the world’s longest-running daily real estate investing podcast where we only talk about the best advice ever, we don’t get into that fluffy stuff.
First off, I hope you’re having a best ever weekend. Because today is Sunday I’ve got a special segment for you called Skillset Sunday. And here is the skill – a lot of you are going to like this – it’s the six P’s of raising capital like a pro. With us today to talk through that, Reed Goossens. How are you doing, Reed?
Reed Goossens: Good day, mate. Thanks for having me back.
Joe Fairless: Yeah, nice to have you back. And as I swig water, because I was choking on a bean that I was eating earlier, I am looking forward to our conversation. And you said, “Nice to have me back” and that is because you loyal Best Ever listeners know this – Reed was a guest on this show twice, actually. One, episode 102 titled “YOUR Blueprint for Getting Started in Real Estate.” And that was a long time ago. [laughter] And then, let’s see. Well, the date — okay, I’m looking at it… It aired December 13th, 2014.
Reed Goossens: Wow…
Joe Fairless: We’ve known each other for a while… And then the next episode, Episode 593. It’s titled “Feeling Re-entitled? GOOD, Because Here is Why it Means Big Business!” and it’s a Skillset Sunday episode.
So today we’re going to be focusing on the six P’s of raising capital like a pro. Reed’s in the middle of his book tour. Reed’s also the founder of Wildhorn Capital, a large multifamily investing firm, host of the podcast Investing in the US, and author of two books. So first, Reed, how about just give us a refresher on your background and your current focus, and then let’s dive right into the six P’s of raising capital.
Reed Goossens: Sure. So for everyone who didn’t listen to those many years ago, I’m originally from Australia, I moved out here in 2012. I just quit my job in Aussie and just wanted to follow a dream; I moved to New York City, I fell in love with an American girl, I fell in love with New York City. I came here, didn’t have a job, didn’t go to school [unintelligible [00:03:22].05] I found a job pretty quickly, and I think within six months of moving to United States, I had purchased my first triplex for 30,000 bucks. The barriers to entry are completely different in Australia than they are here in the US.
My background’s in structural engineering, and since 2012 I now control with my business partner Andrew at Wildhorn a $150 million worth of multifamily real estate, and I’ve been really enjoying the journey. I’ve obviously got my podcast as well and a couple of books out.
So that’s really the focus in the last seven years. And my whole mission and little motto is, “If I can move 10,000 miles across the globe and achieve financial freedom through US real estate, then so can the average Americans. Just gotta get off the fence.” So that’s a bit of the elevator snapshot, pitch, or whatever else you would call that.
Joe Fairless: What’s your latest book about?
Reed Goossens: My latest book is called 10,000 Miles to the American Dream. About three and a half years ago I brought together a group of seven other Aussies – all Aussie blokes – who had made a pilgrimage to come across the Pacific and make a go over here in the United States. And I started a mastermind. Through that mastermind we just did a monthly call at the beginning, we met up a few times, and then we said, “Hey guys, we need to write a book, share our story with the world.” And each one of us wrote a chapter, and that book has just been launched on July 4th, 2019. We just started the book tour in Asheville, and it’s going really, really well. It’s called 10,000 Miles to the American Dream, our story of financial freedom, and again, there’s a lot of Aussie-isms in there. And if Aussie blokes can move halfway across the world and achieve financial freedom, then so can the average American.
Joe Fairless: Are there only eight chapters?
Reed Goossens: There’s only eight chapters, but it’s quite dense.
Joe Fairless: Those are big, big chapters?
Reed Goossens: They’re dense chapters.
Joe Fairless: How did you all divide and conquer? Are they chapters that stand alone or is there a flow to it?
Reed Goossens: Good question. Surprisingly, we all had our different niches in real estate. So one of the guys is into real estate technology. He came out here and started a real estate technology firm in Silicon Valley. Another guy is into mobile home park investing, another gentleman has started a complete fix and flip business in Texas, I’m also involved in multifamily and a bit about branding and raising capital… There’s a few other people who know about the philosophy of growing wealth and how to grow wealth… So really just different aspects. There’s a hotel investing chapter in there as well, because one of the gentlemen is in hotels in San Francisco… So a really wide range of stuff, but in and around my story of how I brought everyone together and really was just like, “Okay, let’s have a beer”. Being an entrepreneur’s kind of lonely, so I want to surround myself with other Aussies who are doing the same thing, so that’s what we did.
Joe Fairless: You are on your book tour now, you have a presentation, and that is the six P’s of raising capital like a pro.
Reed Goossens: Yep.
Joe Fairless: I would love to learn that.
Reed Goossens: Sure. So through just observation, when I first moved to United States, I saw all these people, including yourself, Joe, just emulating these six P’s. And I sort of sat down and wrote an eBook, and I actually started with four P’s, and then I added two more to them. So without further adieu, let’s just dive into it.
The six P’s are as follows – it’s Professionalism, Pitch, Practice, Profile, Platform and Patience. And I’ll go through them one by one. The professionalism part, the first P, is really about being professional. A lot of people are concerned and have these mindset barriers that “I can’t get involved in real estate because I don’t have all these years of experience.” Well, I mean to tell you that no one is born with 10 years or 15 years’ worth of real estate investing experience. We all have a story, we all have a journey… And that is where you have to lean on past careers or past journeys to bring a professionalism to the table that people are gonna wanna invest in. And that really starts by just rocking up, being punctual, dressing correctly, being on time, making sure you’re articulate in trying to get across a message. [unintelligible [00:06:40].13] people, one that some people tend to overlook, and it’s in and around mindset. The second P–
Joe Fairless: Well, a question on the professional part and dressing appropriately. So should everyone wear suits and ties, or really fancy dresses? …I don’t know, what women wear to make them look professional, but business pants or whatever?
Reed Goossens: No. It’s uniquely you. This whole six P’s is about unearthing what is you, and really looking deep into yourself, and looking deep into what your brand is going to be, to then emulate it to the world. You obviously don’t look like a slob, but look at the Mark Zuckerbergs of the world. They coined the fashion of just wearing a hoodie and jeans on stage. So definitely, we live in a world where professionalism means a different bunch of things, and looking one way is just one part of being professional. Obviously, the way in which you host, your presence, being communicative with your audience, with your investors, and really laying the foundation to be a thought leader in your sphere.
Now, you don’t have to go out and be the next Tony Robbins or the next Joe Fairless, but you can be a key person of influence within your sphere, and that’s what you have to realize – that we’re all standing on a mountain of value, and that value needs to be shared with your sphere, and people will come to you as being the real estate expert, and that’s really the whole purpose of the first P.
Joe Fairless: Okay. Pitch.
Reed Goossens: Pitch. Awesome. So pitch is – I love this – pitching effectively is really quite hard, and in the chapter that I wrote, it’s all about pitching effectively. I’ve coined this little phrase – Pitching, there’s three levels of pitching… There’s social pitch, there’s a scheduled pitch, and then there’s a sales pitch. A social pitch is where you deliver that in a social setting. People never think when they leave a networking event or anything like that, that “Oh, geez! That was a really good pitch!” A really good pitch is really a good start to a conversation.
So the way in which I’ve formed the pitching formula is really quite simple. When you’re in a social setting, you want to have your social pitch ready, and we’ll talk about that in 30 seconds… But then, from a social pitch you want to get out your phones, and you want to get on a scheduled pitch, which is maybe a coffee or a beer, or get on the phone together… And that will be at some later point in time. And in that intermediary time, you’ve got to send them the pitch deck, a little bit of data about yourself, maybe direct them to your website…
And then the final pitch is the sales pitch, where you have a live deal and you’re answering investor questions and objections or whatever that might be. So pitching effectively and the whole ecosystem of pitching is really going from social pitch to scheduled pitch to sales pitch. And when we’re in a social setting, the whole Martin Luther King pitch, the “I have a dream”, you’re not going to change someone’s mind with one pitch, and your pitch will need to be practiced thousands and thousands of times. And like with Martin Luther King, he practiced it many, many times across the South before it became on the Washington Monument. And that’s the way we all have to pitch as well.
So I’ve come up with this little way of– it’s a little form. It’s called Name, Same, Claim to fame, Goal of the Game. And I’ll repeat that, again, its Name, Same – so I’m Reed Goossens, I’m a real estate investor. My claim to fame originally when I first moved to United States was that I moved across the world, quit my job in Australia, and I moved to the United States to follow a dream. My goal is that I want to help 10,000 International folks realize the benefits of investing here in the United States in order to become financially free. So there is an effective pitch. It’s less than 30 seconds, it engages someone in a way that they wanna have a follow up conversation.
You never want to be pitching in a way where in Australia (or the British way) they pat you on the shoulders, and go “Well done. Good luck.” You want to evoke emotion. So when you’re pitching at someone, people like to hear something big and bold. Like the Martin Luther King “I Have a Dream” speech. It was emotive, it got people — it stirred emotions within someone. And you can have obviously positive and negative emotions, but you want to be able to become emotive, so people are engaged in what you’re trying to do in order to get to a scheduled pitch, to then get to a sales pitch.
Joe Fairless: I love the fame part, because it really makes us think about what makes us interesting to other people. And if we’re interesting to other people, then people will tend to gravitate to us. Quite frankly, we’ll just be in a more enjoyable conversation, because your journey is interesting – I’m sure you enjoy talking about your journey – and other people will find interesting as well. What’s something that people mess up on within the pitch category?
Reed Goossens: So over the weekend, I just did a whole-day seminar on it, and people waffle. And the whole idea of name, same, claim to fame, goal of the game – it’s about getting that waffling to a very concise 30-second opener. Essentially, you’re trying to open a conversation to lead into “Oh, so you moved halfway across the world? What’s that all about? Why?” People don’t remember a great pitch, they remember a great conversation, and that’s really what you want to have. A lot of people waffle on for too long and people are standing there who are receiving a pitch, scratching their head like, “What are you? Are you an investor?” You never want to be pitching someone and they’re scratching their head going, “I don’t know what you do or what you are.” So the name, same, claim to fame, goal of the game is a concise way of getting to the point really quickly.
Joe Fairless: Cool. Practice? Is that next?
Reed Goossens: Sorry. Professionalism, pitch, profile… Would you want to talk a little bit about– it’s 2019. You’re going to be on Google. People are going to Google you. So that is where people are going to have to say, “Okay, well, I’m going to invest with this person”, so I’m gonna have to have a website. I’m gonna have to professional images taken of myself – headshots, logos. All that stuff contributes to bringing that professionalism across to the table.
It’s not a really massive P, but it’s a P that is sometimes overlooked, and making sure that your profile is coherent across all different social medias – LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram – that your message is the same is really important… And making sure you have something to say on your website, so when people come and want to find a little bit more about you, they know where to go. And for whatever reason, people like to see things written down.
We live in a day and age where a website is essentially the new business plan. So people want to go to your website, they wanna find out who you are, they want to read a little bit more about you, they want to read some blogs that you might have done, your thoughts on x topic. So it’s really important to have a coherent profile, and that starts with headshots, logos, websites and stuff like that.
Joe Fairless: Okay, it makes sense.
Reed Goossens: Next one is the platform… The platform being about how you’re going to get your message out to people. Right now we’re talking on a podcast, and I know Joe you taught me in back in the day that you can leverage certain mediums like YouTube or iTunes. or you can leverage writing articles. Whatever you do, you have to be consistent and you’ve got to choose a platform in which you’re good at.
For me, I didn’t particularly like writing, so when I started my podcast – audio always came really quite naturally to me. I tried videos, videos were okay… But whatever platform you do choose to communicate with your investors with, you have to be consistent. So whether you choose just to do a simple monthly newsletter, with a couple of blogs that you’ve written – fantastic. But you have to be consistent with it. I think the biggest thing people fail is they start something like a podcast or a blog, and they just give up after six months. And Joe, you know this, after doing 700-800 episodes, how important consistency is, and choosing that right platform and medium to get across your message to your audience. So that’s the platform P.
Joe Fairless: Have you started anything from a platform standpoint that fizzled out and you took a different direction?
Reed Goossens: Yeah, videos. I had a YouTube channel, it’s not very popular… But I tried to go once a week on the top of Culver City Hill and try to set up a camera and try to not have bags under my eyes… It was a lot.
Joe Fairless: [laughs]
Reed Goossens: It was just like, “Oh, this is such a pain… And then I’ve gotta edit the bloody thing…” It was just too much, so I now just record some video with my podcast, and I just drop the podcast… But it just didn’t work out as successfully as I thought it would. It just takes a lot more effort with the video space, so I niched into being more in the audio space.
Joe Fairless: Okay.
Reed Goossens: So we’ve got professionalism, pitch, profile, platform… Practice. So the practice is about going out and doing that scheduled pitch with your investors, in a circle of people who know you best, so your friends and your family. It’s sitting down for coffee and presenting them a pitch book or a pitch deck. Essentially, it’s a business overview of what you’re trying to achieve. In real estate we are trying to invest in whatever the specific asset class that you’re in, so it might be multifamily, it might be mobile home parks… Whatever that is, there’s something that if you hand a pamphlet or a brochure to an investor over coffee, it makes it real for them. And it really is taking that website that you’ve already created and putting it into a pitch deck, and outlining you core values, your mission statements, what you’re trying to do in terms of your investment strategies, how the investment’s gonna work out for the investor, and maybe some structuring questions, maybe a hypothetical or an actual case study if you’ve been involved in any deals… And that is where you sit down and you practice with it. And you practice, practice, practice, practice.
And I remember when I raised my first bit of money with you, Joe, I thought to myself, “Geez, I’m gonna raise half a million bucks” or whatever it was, and I went out and approached 50 people, and only three people invested. And it showed how much I need to double down on getting to grow my audience. But it was a real cold shower in terms of that practice part of it. You have to be consistent with it. If you think “I’m going to approach 20 people and I’m going to get all 20 people to invest”, well, you’re wrong. It’s gonna take a couple hundred of people for maybe three or five percent of those people to actually invest in your deal. So having that mindset going on the front end… And that’s the practice part of it.
Joe Fairless: And lastly?
Reed Goossens: Patience, my friend.
Joe Fairless: But we want it now! We want it yesterday!
Reed Goossens: Of course, right? We always want it yesterday. But like anything… Tony Robbins famously says, “You overestimate what you can achieve in a year, but you underestimate what you can achieve in a decade.” And ten years ago, I picked up the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad. Now I’m living halfway across the world and I control $150 million worth of real estate. I don’t say it to boast, I say it because it’s wow. I pinch myself every day. I work for myself. I’m like, “Holy crap. This is incredible.”
So patience is a virtue, and it takes time and it’s a snowball effect, and combining with the five other P’s, it will take time and it will slowly build. You’ll feel like you’re pushing a boulder up a hill, but you will get to the top. Then once you get to the top, it will just cascade down the other side.
Joe Fairless: On the patience front, how do you know if you should exercise the patience or you really are being a lot slower than where you should be?
Reed Goossens: Yeah, it’s good question. We’re all trying to run our own race. With the social media age, we’re looking at other people and going, “Oh, I wish I was doing that. I wish I was doing this.” It is about running your own race, it is about looking at your own situation and understanding “Okay, well, I’ve got a full time job. I’ve got a family to take care of. I can squeeze in a little bit of real estate investing or building my brand, say ten hours a week.” Whatever that is, you have to be consistent with it.
So that’s the patience part of it, the patience side of it, because life happens. You’ve gotta keep food on the table, you’ve gotta keep a roof over your head. For many years I had a W-2 job plus trying to do deals on the side, plus trying to find investors… At one stage, I thought, “Jesus, it’s never going to happen”, but I had to have that mindset that it will take time. And anything worth building will take time. So that’s really the patience part of it.
Joe Fairless: Thank you so much, Reed, for sharing the six P’s of raising capital, and best of luck on your book tour. I have really enjoyed our friendship and looking forward to continuing to– I’ll interview you in five more years. That way, we’ll have our ten year anniversary of when your first interview aired.
And really, truly, thank you for being on the show. I hope you have a best ever weekend. How can the Best Ever listeners learn more about what you’ve got going on?
Reed Goossens: Easy. Jump over to reedgoossens.com. And Joe, thank you so much for allowing me to come back on the show.
Joe Fairless: Have a great weekend, and we’ll talk to you again soon.
Reed Goossens: Bye.
