You can utilize hard money for a BRRR or flip to get into the game. 

I am looking to get into the real estate game early and learn as much as possible, especially about house hacking and possibly short-term rentals.

It does not matter whether you are starting a real estate business, restaurant, car wash, or amazon commerce business - the lender will first look at you and your partner and how much skin you have in the game, your experience and the risk of the loan not getting paid. 

There's plenty of regulation surrounding the STR industry, but it's perfectly legal and welcome here.

It's part of participation trophy society where people get socially rewarded for just being in the game, but that shouldn't apply to real estate.

For inspiration, you can check out sites like Slidebean, PitchDeckHunt, or Canva (I use this personally), which have sample pitch decks and templates tailored for different industries.

The auto guest messaging and guest verification features from Hospitable are a game changer!

Then depending on what's allowed you can speak with a broker who specializes in that type of property (agriculture, industrial, low density residential, etc.) and see what they think the highest and best use could be. 

For the rest I would consider a triple net lease deal or fund in industrial or commercial real estate.  

Maybe you like the service industry and want to run a short term rental on your own.