Sparks (literally) flew as the Best Ever Conference festivities wrapped up on day 3. After the final round of pitches for the Verivest Pitch Slam competition, two winners were selected to share in $600K in investment commitments. Ashcroft Capital co-founder, Joe Fairless, also sat down for a Q&A to discuss the details of his organization’s journey from entrepreneurial to institutional, closing out the conference by leaving attendees with his best ever advice.
At the Best Ever Conference’s first-ever Verivest Pitch Slam, 16 early-stage private real estate sponsors and sponsor service providers pitched their opportunities in front of 1,200+ CRE operators, investors, and influencers for a chance to win a share in $600K in investment commitments.
After three days of competition and anticipation, the first prize and a $400K investment were awarded to Neil Wahlgren of MAG Capital Partners. Sief Khafagi from Techvestor took home the second prize and a $200K investment.
Joe Fairless
Co-Founder, Ashcroft Capital
Matt Faircloth of The DeRosa Group and Andrew Cushman of Vantage Point Acquisitions sat down with Joe Fairless of Ashcroft Capital to discuss his advice for multifamily operators who want to scale their businesses in 2023.
“The richest people in the world build a network, and everyone else looks for work,” Joe said. He advises focusing on building a network if your goal is to scale because building relationships with other people creates opportunities to learn.
“The interviews that I did — the first 2,000 interviews of my podcast — that’s 2,000 conversations with real estate investors who certainly in the early days had much more experience than I had,” Joe said. “It’s an unofficial master’s degree in real estate.”
Once Ashcroft had accumulated 7,000 units, they realized that third-party property management companies weren’t operating as well as Ashcroft likely could on its own. Joe’s partner, Frank, built out their own in-house property management business, which eliminated a considerable amount of red tape and the potential for price gouging.
“Vertical integration has been really beneficial and has helped us scale and be more efficient,” Joe said, “Which also helps us win more deals.”
Joe started the Thoughtful Project as a way to connect with people in his circle in a meaningful way. While traditional methods of communication like Christmas cards can often get overlooked, Joe chooses instead to send thoughtful gifts to people whenever they share exciting accomplishments on social media, in person, etc. This gesture is often unexpected and leaves a lasting impression.
Joe’s best ever advice is to take all the free advice you can get, then decide what you want to do with it.
More from BEC2023:
Best Ever Conference Recap: Day 1
Best Ever Conference Recap: Day 2