How Fickle Investors Inadvertently Pave My Way To Success..

[Daray Olaleye]

This is more of a "pre" success story...

I've been fueled with new found inspiration from fickle investors!

I am a 27 year old multifamily syndicator in the Dallas area. My partners and I have landed our first MASSIVE deal (250+ unit complex) and have started the money raising process..

Let me give you a very very quick back story...

To make sure you are as attractive as you can be to a prospective passive investor, you need to have a few thing.. At the top of that list is Credibility and Experience; two things that are pretty hard to attain overnight. 

Here's how I attained both in a relatively short time:

-I worked for a Big 4 Accounting Firm auditing the financial statements of the biggest names in real estate.. This provided me with great accounting knowledge of the industry.. check.

-I consult for a 26 Billion dollar hedge fund and perform thorough analysis of investments and their projections.. This provides me with great finance knowledge of the industry.. check.

-I started investing by buying single family homes.. This provides me with on the ground landlording experience.. check

-I move next to purchasing small multifamily and even brought in an investor who currently gets a 1K check every month.. This provides me with real life investor relationship experience and a success track record.. check

-I started what is now a worldwide podcast interviewing successful real estate investor and entrepreneurs.. this shortened the learning curve and provided me with insights from the best minds in the game.. check.

-I constructed my team to consist of the cream of the crop Property Management Team in Dallas, a partner that owns and operates 200M in Real Estate, and I moved to the city that I invest so that I can submerge myself in the market... super check.

I don't think that the credibility and experience I've amassed is anything special, but I do think that it sufficient enough to entice warm traffic for a conversation about investing with us..

By warm traffic I mean family and friends who have consistently asked that I let them know when I get a deal that they'd be able to participate in (and my goodness what a deal this is). 

I knew it was a no brainer once I crunched the numbers especially because a wise man once said "if you have a great deal, the money will follow". 

Week 1 in my money raising efforts, I quickly realized that the above statement is flawed.. 

Raising money (for your first deal) is not easy - don't let anyone tell you any different. People who have vowed to invest with you will all of a sudden become ghost once the deal is real. 

I created a list of 100 potential investors to narrow down to what I can my "Dream 25". These are the 25 people that will have first dibs on the deals we get in the pipeline.

I love the concept and believe that it will be a well oiled machine after this first major deal.. But in the meantime the adversity has been tremendous.. 

My inspiration after contacting 100 potential investors to create my Dream 25 List is now stemming from all the "Sure, I'll invest with you" a few months back to *ring ring ring* *voicemail* aka *crickets*.

The thing about disappointment as an entrepreneur is that you can re-calibrate and go at it again..

It's so easy to be discouraged, it's so easy to throw in the towel, it's so easy to convince yourself that this may not be your strong suit.. 

But nobody ever said success is easy, so don't think the path to success will be easy either.. 

So guess what, I'm creating a new 100 potential investor list tomorrow and will again make 100 phone calls... Then rinse and repeat until my goal is met..

Failures aren't failures but lessons if you choose to keep going.. Failures manifest into success if you see it through.. 

Mark my words. I will get it done. Then I'll have a true success story to brag (modestly) about and hopefully inspire others coming after me.. 

Daray