Welcome to the Big Exit, where we discuss startup acquisitions with the founders who lived it. Overnighted packages might take a week or so if youre lucky, standard mail might take weeks, and trying to get a package from the mainland - well, hold on - that might be 2-3 months. You know, not only are you raising money from people who now, you know, you dont want to lose anyones money, but also just in terms of mindset, you know, that theres the freedom that you think youre going to have may not necessarily be there. If thats the case, figure out what you need to do to change. I didnt have a co-founder, I didnt have any partners. Given the choice, I decided to pivot and change course. Almost a lifetime ago - 18 years today - I officially marked the founding of BiggerPocketsStarting a hobby website while working as a full time teacher was one thing.Two years later taking the risk to quit my job to become a full time startup founder was the craziest and smartest thing I ever did. Fast forward to yesterday, I had some of those symptoms. Dan Daugherty: You know, this is, as you were talking, all of the significant life changing moments that occurred not just in your life, but just in our own individual lives, tends to be even if its really, really bad, or really, really good, it tends to be a catalyst for something even bigger, and not all the time, but even from listening to you, it sounds like different things that happened within your life, almost had a purpose or a reason that got you to where you are today. I realized that like, thats not healthy, you know, its healthy to be balanced, its healthy to spend time with downtime and so, you know, tried to create operating manuals around that, you know, eventually that became like, my Wednesdays, you know, in the year, call it year and a half leading to the exit, my Wednesdays, I didnt go into work. For two years I taught and in my free time I coded and built this budding hobby into something that trickled in tiny advertising checks. We launched a book business. I eat well - seriously cutting back on sugars, eating lots of fruits and vegetables. And so we said, hey. Adventurer. Just at the time when things were starting to go from big to bigger, Joshua had to take time off to take care of his daughter's medical emergency. I believe the program is available for all Amazon users, so even if you arent Prime, you can partake. How do I hire? And so I, you know, on the side, nights and weekends, while teaching, for the first two years, just started building this platform. I realized that over the past fourteen years as CEO and sole founder of BiggerPockets, I sought out success, fame, fortune and accolades, as most people do, but despite achieving all of those things, I just wasnt fully happy. She drove me and dropped me at the door of the ER and I spent the next 4+ hours getting tested. I mean, whatever it is. It was time for me to step down, bring in partners, and move on from the day to day running BiggerPockets. Josh Dorkin and Brandon Turnerlongtime hosts of the worlds #1 real estate podcast, The BiggerPockets Podcastgive you an insiders look at the many different niches and strategies that exist. w !1AQaq"2B #3Rbr Brandon Turner is an author, entrepreneur, and active real estate investor with more than 1,000 rental units under his belt. I you know, I think another way of saying is, you know, putting yourself in a position to dot dot dot. I recommend it to everyone. You know, from a sheer depression, man in the year before my exit, in the year and a half before my exit I had Id never had this before, but I had three like full on panic attacks. And, you know, Ive, you know, when I get back into it, you know, occasionally I give it a kick start. I always wanted to kind of be here, be oh, I used to call bi-coastal, would be like New York and Cali. You know, we started producing video, we created podcasts, we created books, you know, we wanted to be where the listeners and viewers were versus thinking, hey, theyre going to come to us. Why I left BiggerPockets is a little more complicated. I hope to share that journey with you all via this blog, and perhaps through other forms like video or a podcast. Thirteen years ago, Joshua Dorkin's friends teased him about starting a website that seemed to have no future.\r\r \"I would get calls from my buddies who would literally call me on my cell phone [and say] 'Hey Josh, we just walked past a penny on the ground. Josh Dorkin: So it must have been 07 maybe that that we connected and you and I were talking about, you know, you were thinking about buying different companies, and we were just chatting about that, and that didnt go well for me. If you're not satisfied with your purchase, you can return your book for a full refund within 30 days. And you know, the kids can go out and do physical stuff. q=q >s@U8F qNU
+HrQ-&pp9Q#b5H8kz{04rs~PRdyC 14Z'= :O+OIQG{^[gFN28JR`9X, r cvhwc61@S*JL1M$d|H8v:Rp= sE) Dan Daugherty interviews Josh Dorkin who founded BiggerPockets in his living room with $12 bucks. And look, we get to go and you know, go out on the beach and not be near people. There were books, but like, you know, the books were pretty general, they didnt really say, what do you do when your tenant is stealing electricity from the building next door? Yesterday that reality came a little too close for comfort for me. Josh Dorkin: I thought I was having a heart attack. You know, what are you doing and deal with that situation. And anything thats stressing me out, you absolutely have to dissect it, and then figure out what the root cause is and that opens up everything else because then you figure out ways, again, Ill use the term operationalize it, is because then it allows you to leverage different tools, maybe you have to delegate more, maybe you dont have to respond within an hour of every single email that comes in, whatever it might be. The company, by the way, is the largest real estate investing media company and community out there. Dan Daugherty: Well said. Dorkin failed to account for costly evictions, irresponsible tenants, inattentive property managers, and unforeseen repairs, such as mending a three-foot-wide hole cut through a kitchen floor. And so as we were going through this situation with my daughter, little by little she was getting better. His vision for the site and its future brought national press attention to both Mr. Dorkin and to BiggerPockets. Beyond that, weve helped transform neighborhoods, built communities and so much more.It has been almost 4 years since exiting the day to day and stepping away. So Ive got a book journal where Ive literally broken my life down into segments, physical fitness, health, I separate them, physical fitness and health, business and work, wife and love, my kids and you know, some people may put faith in there, whatever it is. And I think the way you live your life, and your happiness is going to be determined by your outlook on that. He started BiggerPockets to help democratize the real estate investing landscape for himself and others, aiming to make it . Doing so otherwise would leave me a nervous wreck. It was a blast, but by year 12, 13, 14 my job changed. And hopefully, you know, hopefully, somebody listening takes something away from it, I, you know, entrepreneurship is challenging, its really, its really, really tough. Is this going to be, is this the prelude to a book? But its fantastic. . But, you know, I think the key was just persevering through those in order to come out at the end. . Theres so much. There were personality clashes, bad hires, and everything else you could imagine. But, you know, if anybody who tries to grasp these things, theyre so big and scary, well then break it down into little steps. For returns, refunds, or the status of your order, you can contact. And I didnt want, I just didnt want to do that. In my case, the two things most searched are my net worth and why I left BiggerPockets. Find which one works best for you, your resources, and your goals. So you know, whether its that or, hey, Im stressed about money, well, you know, you got to then go and break down your budget, and you got to figure out why youre stressed about money. I cant really describe in words what everything looked like, but it didnt feel right. But yeah, what else you got? doesn't own much property. Julie was in California and I was home alone with the girls. many things and create so many threats, and theres got to be a better way. As always, I charged on despite my body and subconscious screaming as loud as possible to stop. Because, man 2020, nobody feels good anymore, man, we dont feel good anymore. We are all faced with challenges as we go through our lives and they can either break us or just be another thing we deal with. So what I started doing, I was spending hours and hours on the phone every day, constantly and thats part of my job, right? It's time to stop just thinking, talking, or dreaming about the future real estate investing can give you. He started BiggerPockets to help democratize the real estate investing landscape for himself and others, aiming to make it accessible for everyone, regardless of income or education. You know, part of my job and one of the things that I pressed upon my staff was, you know, if youre not spending significant time every day learning, youre not going to grow, youre not going to get better, youre not going to be competitive with other people across your area of expertise. A lot of people can at least. What you may not know is Joshuas journey in founding, building, scaling, and finally leaving BiggerPockets. (Where the hell have you been Josh?!? I wasnt, however, happy with what I had spent my time doing. For me, I realized that if Im going to run this company, Ive got these kids that I love and my wife and I had spent so long not taking vacations, not taking days off, I worked eight years without a single day off, which is incredibly stupid. And I had just swarms of competitors coming out of the woodwork trying to take me down and so there was threat everywhere, right, theres threat everywhere. That was all I was allowed to do on Wednesday. And Im excited to have you on board to really tell the story of how you went from zero to an exit without ever raising a single dime of outside capital. I got through it, thank goodness, and, again, it was another one of those moments for us where were like, you know, what are we doing? I mean, we were able to do that in Colorado, but you know, youre on a trail youre, you know, running across people without masks, you know, its just the, you know, the whole debate, were not going to get into it, but either way, it you know, it presented an opportunity for us to find some kind of, to find some peace and to find a place where everybody just could feel good. Nearly 30 people work out of the companys RiNo office. Do I hire? But Im not currently on it. It was a hard decision for Joshua to leave, but thanks to his amazing team, he was able to (even during a time of tribulation in his personal life).Youll hear how Joshua was cranking out 100 hour weeks, working 7 straight days, for the first 6 years of BiggerPockets existence. And I guess, you know, if you dont mind me throwing this in there, you know, if you raised money, or if you bootstrap, you know, its fighting for exit is, I think, one way to run a business, I think the other way to run a business is fighting to create an amazing business. (BTW - Ill certainly talk more about working on a business at another time). . And Im. Genealogy profile for Joshua Dorkin Joshua Dorkin (1843 - 1914) - Genealogy Genealogy for Joshua Dorkin (1843 - 1914) family tree on Geni, with over 230 million profiles of ancestors and living relatives. Why do you write like youre running out of time?Write day and night like youre running out of time?Evry day you fight, like youre running out of time. I learned that the sudden eye blur thing could be a sign of a stroke, but I believed it needed to come along with other symptoms. You need to change your diet, you need to do some exercise. Dan Daugherty: And well, first off, Im so happy that your daughter is healthy now. http://biggerpockets.com/moneyshow42Real estate is a hot topic right now, and who better to talk about the subject than BiggerPockets founder Joshua Dorkin a. I was making money, but I was still ready, you know, that desperate to just get out. "I would get calls from my buddies who would literally call me. Whether its in business, you know, I want to be a better CEO, I want to learn how to become a CEO, so I went and read lots of books on it. They have grown to be one of the largest and most reputable real estate community on the Internet with a forum that has over 900,000 posts! You know, we are not residents yet, you know, were doing our trial balloon now so to speak. Joshua Dorkin is the author of The Book on Investing In Real Estate with No (and Low) Money Down (4.20 avg rating, 1854 ratings, 108 reviews, published 2. So, you know, being willing and open to change and being dynamic, I think is one of the most important things. This keynote speech goes deep into what really matters most. Or just shut it down. For locals, by locals. You know, you can work remote, you can do everything remote these days. So that hire, I really believe the business went from hobby to kind of this you know, call it Mom and Pop, you know, sole operator business and then it became a company and very quickly I had to learn how to deal with employees, how to scale and spent the next number of years doing that with Brandon as kind of my copilot. That's why two of the biggest names in the real estate world teamed up to write the most comprehensive manual ever written on getting started in the lucrative business of real estate investing. What are you waiting for? unit you let me know well do it whenever. We build tools, our content, our social presence. Be there for your families. When I founded the company I was teaching full time at a special ed high school in the Los Angeles area. When I started Bigger Pockets it was, I was teaching special ed. It is always interesting to see what kind of things come up when you search for yourself online. How to Invest in Real Estate: The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Getting Started is written by Brandon Turner; Joshua Dorkin and published by BiggerPockets. I bought a bunch of property as a result of my brother encouraging me to do so, and you know, I thought I was a smart guy. Most people do what they can to help others out, and I wanted to share a little tip along those lines that I dont think a lot of people are familiar with. You know, I felt like, something needed to change for me personally. Horrifying, scary. Dan Daugherty: Yeah, I mean, lets start from the very beginning. You know, I was in an industry where there were entrenched interests that wanted me destroyed from the get go. All things Colorado delivered straight to your inbox. All rights reserved. And lifes too short, man. We launched amazing products like the podcast, which today is still one of the top 10 business shows in the world. JFIF ,, C But Ive definitely drafted an outline. But that's OK. Denver, CO 80202. [j:^h%m-dm0 \G/#f?IXv\I:$W2i|IO]K}3R+_D_P{_zZ`uu I\bY]_|[ J'|#W} t_g%=5+nnsN@ W ~xSf&+|r i44u{]Im|0S>gX}^jK9$m0BR8Y]?\fry5l |E~x7~'&xa
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WHr;.7=1k BiggerPockets has also added a publishing arm, which released Set For Life on April 23just in time for the height of house-hunting season. She went through something called conversion disorder, which basically the brain kind of shuts the body down. But I just got caught up in the details, I got caught up in every little detail. Knowing I was in for a long visit to Home Depot yesterday, I made sure I had my list together and set out to pick up all the materials I needed to renovate our guest bathroom. And Im, you know, Im trying to figure out whats next, you know, looking at ideas.