Lessons from a Paperboy who built a $13M Company! | James Wahba - E54

**From delivering newspapers in 4th grade to raising millions for real estate and co-founding a thriving co-working space—James Wahba’s journey is nothing short of inspiring.**🚀

In this episode of Funds & Founders, James shares:

✅ How his childhood paper route taught him business fundamentals 📈

✅ Raising $13M at 25 for real estate development 🏗️

✅ Building one of NYC’s most iconic co-working spaces 🚀

✅ Lessons from working alongside startups like Uber, Instacart, Stripe, Airbnb

✅ Why co-founder conflicts are one of the biggest startup killers 😨

If you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, real estate investor, or startup founder, you don’t want to miss this one!

Timestamps:

00:00 - Welcome to Funds & Founders!

00:20 - James Waba’s entrepreneurial journey begins

01:14 - Growing up in Connecticut and learning business from a paper route

02:18 - The business lessons from his first job 📜

03:14 - Learning about customer retention and revenue at a young age

05:10 - From paper route to film school & shooting concerts 🎥

06:35 - Starting one of the first online streaming sites (before YouTube!)

07:54 - Partnering with Microsoft & early struggles of internet startups 💻

09:12 - Raising funds & the early days of NYC tech

12:22 - Competing in the pre-YouTube era—how streaming was built back then

16:04 - Shutting down the startup and pivoting to real estate development

17:08 - Converting industrial property to high-value waterfront real estate

19:52 - Raising $13M for a real estate project at 25

22:11 - The 2008 market crash hits—what happened next?

25:46 - Lessons learned: How to survive market crashes

28:49 - Bootstrapping vs. raising VC: What should startups do?

31:07 - The reality of investor expectations & startup funding

32:55 - Pivoting from real estate to co-working spaces 🏢

35:49 - How James built one of NYC’s top co-working spaces

39:32 - Uber, Instacart, and Airbnb worked here—what was it like?

41:14 - Why taking equity over cash would have been the best move

44:08 - The rise and fall of the co-working space model

46:50 - How to build a real, engaged community (not just a Slack group)

49:21 - Challenges of managing a co-working space & scaling it

51:34 - What James is building in Austin & his new boutique hotel project

54:45 - Rapid fire Q&A: Advice for founders, resources, and more

58:07 - Best books for entrepreneurs 📚

1:00:39 - What’s missing in the Austin startup ecosystem?

1:01:34 - Final thoughts & where to connect with James