The Walker Webcast

He's on top of his game and has perfected how to invest in success. He is Tope Lawani — the pride of Nigeria who has earned his MIT and Harvard education and is now making waves across the globe as a private equity pioneer. His firm, Helios Investment Partners, is Africa's largest private equity firm, focusing on technology, infrastructure, and sustainability. This special episode of the #WalkerWebcast is an inspiring discussion between Willy and his Harvard Business School classmate. They cover the makings of investing in the world's fastest-growing continent, how advanced digital payment platforms are allowing African nations to leapfrog parts of the western world, and how private capital has created economic and social value throughout the African continent. Tope tells his origin story, which seemed perfect for his immense contributions today. When he was younger, he lived essentially on campus with close to 100 nationalities. Surrounding his home are neighbors from Taiwan, Israel, Korea, Jamaica, Sierra Leone and people he has learned and interacted with from almost all parts of the world. "I grew up in an extremely multicultural environment. From the get-go, I was always comfortable with everyone coming from different backgrounds. I went to school with the kids from all strata of society. They were children of the president, the vice president, all the heads of the armed forces. But equally, a decent percentage of my school kids were probably the first kids in their entire family history ever to go to school. They turn up to school with all their belongings in a sack of rice." Tope adds that his unusual childhood can be difficult to replicate. Working for TPG Capital from 1996 to 2004 has taught Tope to be creative, entrepreneurial, hard-working and empowered. He later moved on and started his own firm, Helios. Raising that first fund exclusively focused on Africa wasn't a walk in the park. "There was some benefit of just naivete, which helped to be honest, because I think a first time fund in a pretty niche market is either impossible or it's easy. There's no such thing as it's in the middle. It's either just it won't happen, or you might stumble into some blind luck, and then it happens." From telecom towers, undersea cables, oil and gas, fintech and more — there's so many to start for Tope where everything he touches seems to turn to gold. His company Helios was named the Firm of the Year for Africa by Private Equity International after winning it in the past consecutive years since 2016. It's amazing how substantial the capital they've raised for infrastructure investments. "There are many great things, and I think better about investing in Africa. We've pioneered and have been first in discovering many things. The economic infrastructure needs to exist at some point, and we have to build it now as opposed to buying it." Tune in to this new episode of the Walker Webcast — Invest In Success with Tope Lawani, Co-Founder & CEO of Helios Investment Partners.GET NOTIFIED about upcoming shows: » Subscribe to our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5jhzGBWOTvQku2kLbucGcw » See upcoming guests on the #WalkerWebcast here: https://www.walkerdunlop.com/webcasts/Listen to the replay!If you have any comments or questions, please reach out to your main Walker & Dunlop point of contact. We are all available to answer questions and provide assistance. Additionally, if you have topics you would like covered during one of our future webcasts, we would be happy to take your suggestions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A special Walker Webcast comes your way as big powerhouses come to share a wealth of experience and industry insights combined in the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) Conference! Join this conversation with friends, former chairpersons and incredibly successful entrepreneurs and leaders in the multifamily industry: > Doug Bibby, President of NMHC > Daryl J Carter Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Avanath Capital Management, LLC, a California-based investment firm that specializes in affordable and workforce communities > David Schwartz, CEO, Chairman, and Co-Founder of Waterton, a real estate investment and property management company specializing in multifamily, senior living, and hospitality > Susan Ansel, President and CEO of Gables Residential, a private REIT focused on development, acquisition, and management of multifamily communities Willy Walker engages these industry greats as they share their reflections on NMHC. As a national organization with more than 1,700 members that has been promoting and advocating for the multifamily industry since 2001. Doug Bibby shares that his sole cause in his successful run of the NMHC was putting people in homes. "That was always a motivator for me. We're putting a roof over people's heads, we're not polluting the environment, and we're not doing bad things. We're actually helping people achieve their dreams." Willie asks Doug to share how he took the rest of his executive team and turned Fannie Mae from being a huge liability to the taxpayers, becoming one of the truly great corporations in America. "We have reinvented what was essentially a government bureaucracy, with 20% of the employees who were civil servants, and there was one product line. It was a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. There were no arms, no multifamily, no embassy. And we were able to reinvent everything." He brought his 16-year experience and excitement to his role at NMHC. Daryl Carter acknowledges the values that Doug had that were instrumental in positively shaping the industry, one in which to accommodate more institutional capital. Starting Waterton in 1995 shows a big difference in scale level and the types of funds they're raising with the whole process transforming materially. Sue Ansel attributes her involvement with NMHC as very helpful to her growth. As CEO of a major real estate corporation and chairwoman of NHMC, the experience of picking the brains of impactful executives in other large organizations affects her own leadership. "Those are some of the really unique opportunities that we get in these roles and a huge chance of a lifetime." David Schwartz enumerates the highlights of being NMHC chairman growing in servant leadership, emotional intelligence, authenticity, and trust. He covers how being underbuilt as an industry puts us behind for over a decade that we're just not building enough housing, resulting in this rent inflation. Daryl Carter is all praises for the culture that has been built at NMHC. There may have been "a lot of work, but also a lot of joy". One of the interesting things is the relationships between the people who work like brothers and sisters, serve in the industry and fight for the common goal of house affordability.GET NOTIFIED about upcoming shows: » Subscribe to our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5jhzGBWOTvQku2kLbucGcw » See upcoming guests on the #WalkerWebcast here: https://www.walkerdunlop.com/webcasts/Listen to the replay!If you have any comments or questions, please reach out to your main Walker & Dunlop point of contact. We are all available to answer questions and provide assistance. Additionally, if you have topics you would like covered during one of our future webcasts, we would be happy to take your suggestions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You are selling every day — whether you realize it or not. Whether you're a CEO or a stay at home mom, you have to sell your ideas to people. What matters first is asking yourself, have you bought into your vision for yourself, your life, and your business? Legendary sales coach Jack Daly shares that many people perish without achieving their purpose because they lack direction tied to one's priorities and values. In this new episode, Jack joins Willy to explore the crucial lessons he learned in a 30-year career in sales and as an executive by building six companies into national platforms, developing proven systems and processes to grow revenue and profitability and building a winning company culture. On top of his incredible career – he's accomplished numerous personal feats only a few can match: playing the top 100 golf courses, competing in over 93 marathons and more. Willy opens the conversation by sharing how listening to Jack speak in 2007 changed the trajectory of Walker and Dunlop. "There were two things that you said in that presentation that stuck with me: the first one you said was, 'if you have a vision for your company, you need to make sure that everybody in your company aligns with that vision. And if you have anybody who doesn't align with that vision, they can't be on your team because they are cancer inside your organization.' The other one, which was, I would say, the most impactful thing I have ever been told was if you aren't answering that question 'Where are we going?' for your team every single day, you are failing as a CEO." Willy asks Jack why implementing strategies like the money bag, and handwritten notes will never go out of style. Jack's book The Sales Playbook covers the story of how he made millions of dollars by building relationships over the years. Another book, Hyper Sales Growth, teaches the importance of systems and processes in the sales side of the house and connects to the analogy he gave on why "sports teams run better than most businesses." His new book Life By Design tells Jack's own success of living his life to the fullest, creating goals each year to help achieve everything on his long bucket list. With meticulous care, Jack plans, tracks, and compares key metrics of his travel, health, and personal aspirations to control performance and hold himself accountable. Tune in to this new episode of the Walker Webcast — Selling Smarter, Not Harder with Jack Daly, Professional Sales Coach. GET NOTIFIED about upcoming shows: » Subscribe to our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5jhzGBWOTvQku2kLbucGcw » See upcoming guests on the #WalkerWebcast here: https://www.walkerdunlop.com/webcasts/Listen to the replay!If you have any comments or questions, please reach out to your main Walker & Dunlop point of contact. We are all available to answer questions and provide assistance. Additionally, if you have topics you would like covered during one of our future webcasts, we would be happy to take your suggestions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan is determined to bridge the political divide. As one of only two Republican governors to be re-elected for a second term in Maryland's 242-year history, Governor Hogan is creating change and “making the most out of every day.” On this new episode of the Walker Webcast, Willy and Governor Hogan explore an engaging conversation on the state of politics in America, the future of the Republican Party, leadership during Covid-19, the importance of integrity, and his battle with stage 3 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Willy opens the conversation asking if Governor Hogan ever considered following in his father's footsteps, Congressman Larry Hogan, Sr., a lawyer turned FBI agent turned politician. The governor shares he wanted to be a basketball coach when he was younger and is a late bloomer in politics. He cites his father's most important lessons on integrity and public service. Hogan Sr. was the first Republican member of the House Judiciary Committee to call for the impeachment of President Richard Nixon. He showed independence as a political leader, putting the country above the party and insisted on a fair and transparent process. The younger Hogan embodies these in his brand of politics, recognized nationally as a strong, independent leader who consistently delivers real results and achieves common sense, bipartisan solutions. Governor Hogan recalls the funny story of how he "rebelled" by supporting Ronald Reagan while his father was for Gerald Ford as a college kid. Governor Hogan looks to what the Reagan presidency stood for that guided him throughout his political career. With how the government operates now, Willy asks what it's like to compare the state and national levels. Governor Hogan shares, "Most people in America want to elect leaders, regardless of their party affiliation that are willing to work together, to focus on solving problems. And unfortunately, that's not what's happening in Washington, where we're just at the state Capitol here in Annapolis, we're 30 miles down the road from the nation's capital, and we couldn't be more different, working together and getting things done on any number of issues." Willy and Governor Hogan recall his first campaign in 2014. As a small businessman who had never held elective office, he ran with a small budget to address massive problems with lack of jobs, high taxes and the opioid crisis. "Nobody was even paying attention to our race as if we had no chance at all. But as I traveled around the state, I saw the struggling middle-class families were suffering, and small businesses were being hurt. We just went out with a grassroots campaign. I started a group called Change Maryland. I went all across the state just talking to people. We had very little funding. We weren't expected to win. It was a big shocker because I pulled off the biggest surprise upset in America in 2014." GET NOTIFIED about upcoming shows: » Subscribe to our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5jhzGBWOTvQku2kLbucGcw » See upcoming guests on the #WalkerWebcast here: https://www.walkerdunlop.com/webcasts/Listen to the replay!If you have any comments or questions, please reach out to your main Walker & Dunlop point of contact. We are all available to answer questions and provide assistance. Additionally, if you have topics you would like covered during one of our future webcasts, we would be happy to take your suggestions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brace yourselves. The future is gearing towards the Metaverse, cryptocurrency, and tech stock investing. Tom Gardner, CEO and Co-Founder of the Motley Fool presents his insights on where these innovations will take us in 2022. On this new episode of the #WalkerWebcast, Willy opens the conversation in establishing some truths and updates as we face inflation, rising interest rates, and increasing geopolitical tensions in today's market. Willy and Tom explore the core tenets of investing and holding onto stocks for a minimum of five years or longer. Historically, the average person in an average situation is better off putting in more money in periods of volatility. “It’s better to step away and look at other things in your life if you’ve got a good game plan: adding money, diversification, and a long-term five-plus-year time horizon.” Tom chooses patience and recognizes metrics such as softer issues (corporate leadership, insider ownership, company culture, etc.) when selecting companies to bank on. Though being methodical in decision-making brings benefit, Tom also lets go of the fear of taking risks. “I don’t have the luxury of sitting back and investing for ten years.” He also quotes Warren Buffet, “You get the investors you deserve.” For Tom, success boils down primarily to the leadership commitment to all stakeholders as only less than 10% of public companies like his deliver a decade of great results. As the episode comes to a close, Tom shares his thoughts on Sin stocks and The Motley Fool's opinions on cryptocurrency. He states that there needs to be a grand debate on whether the benefits far outweigh the potential harm these new changes bring. Tune in! GET NOTIFIED about upcoming shows: » Subscribe to our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5jhzGBWOTvQku2kLbucGcw » See upcoming guests on the #WalkerWebcast here: https://www.walkerdunlop.com/webcasts/Listen to the replay!If you have any comments or questions, please reach out to your main Walker & Dunlop point of contact. We are all available to answer questions and provide assistance. Additionally, if you have topics you would like covered during one of our future webcasts, we would be happy to take your suggestions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We are on the verge of massive change where innovations in mobile, digital money and machine learning are changing how we move money and manage our finances. An expert on these technologies is Alex Rampell, who plays a significant role in building the future of financial services. A General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, Alex also serves on the board of Branch, Brightside, Descript, Divvy, Earnin, FlyHomes, Loft, Mercury, PeerStreet, Point, Propel, Sentilink, Super Evil Mega Corp, Transferwise, and Very Good Security. Alex additionally led the firm's investments in OpenDoor ($OPEN), Plaid, Quantopian (acquired by Robinhood), and Rival (acquired by LiveNation). Prior to joining the firm, Alex co-founded multiple companies, including Affirm ($AFRM), which he co-founded with Max Levchin, FraudEliminator (acquired by McAfee in 2006), Point, TrialPay (acquired by Visa in 2015), TXN (acquired by Envestnest in 2019), and Yub (acquired by Coupons.com in 2013). Join Willy Walker and Alex Rampell on this week's Walker Webcast as they explore the ins and outs of fintech, the right mindset in approaching investments, censorship-resistant technology, lessons from a dental software story, the future of financial services, and so much more. Willy invites Alex to share his Andover boarding school experience, getting to Harvard and starting his little software business when students are prohibited from doing it from their dorm room. "It was a part-time thing, but I used to sell software on the internet in the 90s when this was not really a mainstream thing, which ironically made it much easier to do because you were not competing with millions of software developers around the world." From being an undergrad to jumping right into entrepreneurship, Alex attributes luck, common sense, and not being afraid to fail as his ingredients of starting a company in college and making his way to success. Alex emphasizes the importance of empathy and a grounded understanding, especially in venture capitalism. He brings this mindset and experience to Andreessen Horowitz as an outstanding investor. He also uses an example of looking at the video of Tiger Woods as a kid hitting his 25-yard drive. "One can think, hey, I'm 40, I can hit a drive much further than that little kid, I'm much better than him." or "Wow if that kid keeps it up, he could win 15 majors in the future." In a venture mindset, you have to default to that latter category and realize that you're not looking at Baby Tiger Woods; you're looking at something that will not work. But you can't judge it on the present because it is an extraordinarily easy way to never really win." Tune in to this new episode of the Walker Webcast — FinTech and Venture Capital Alex Rampell, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

American business leader, bestselling author, and patriotic philanthropist David Rubenstein proves that if you can live your legacy, the greater your impact. In this special episode of the Walker Webcast, David and Willy share the screen to discuss how private is the private equity world, living a legacy and why he thinks he won't ever pick up golf! Willy opens the conversation by introducing David with the remarks of Harvard University's Former President Drew Faust: "David Rubenstein's acumen in finance, his experience both in leading a complex organization and then serving as an institutional trustee, his capacious intellect and global outlook, his devotion to universities and to the arts and culture, and his capacity to inspire generosity in others, all promise to serve the corporation and the university well. He has served on a remarkable range of nonprofit boards, reflecting his equally remarkable span of interests — in higher education, the arts, public policy, medicine, international affairs and American history and culture." This sums up David's remarkable undertakings and contributions. Harvard Corporation is the oldest corporation in the Western Hemisphere, chartered in 1650, of which David is a member despite not having gone to Harvard. Willy mentions how David has also been very supportive of his alma mater, Duke University, and contributing with a rare book library, the art center, the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Institute, the School of Public Policy, The Freeman Center for Jewish Life and more. David shares that his parents didn't have a high school and university education. He is grateful to have received scholarships to go to Duke and University Law School. He feels very indebted to them and repays what he can after achieving his massive success. Willy poses how David finds the time and energy to be able to put energy in so many endeavors and as co-founder and co-chairman of the private equity firm The Carlyle Group. "I find organizations that I think are doing good jobs that I feel indebted to, and I want to stay involved with them if I feel they're doing a good thing for our country. Secondly, I don't play golf, which saves many hours and a lot of frustration. And then generally, I love doing this, so it's not work for me." Willy explores common themes that David outlined in his book How To Lead. David shares that luck was a significant factor in finding his two co-founders of the Carlyle Group, William Conway Jr. and Daniel D'Aniello. The desire to succeed also led to starting small as an investment firm in the buyout area in Washington, and riding through a massive failure during the Great Recession made the company what it is now. His philanthropy work makes up a considerable portion of David's life. He is an original signer of The Giving Pledge and continues to persuade people to give money for worthy causes and give away a huge chunk of his own net worth. As a celebrated interviewer hosting The David Rubenstein Show and Bloomberg Wealth with David Rubenstein, David was able to see the wisdom behind the successes of many accomplished entrepreneurs and game-changers and what cohort he discovered to seem to be the happiest or most content with their lives. GET NOTIFIED about upcoming shows: » Subscribe to our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5jhzGBWOTvQku2kLbucGcw » See upcoming guests on the #WalkerWebcast here: https://www.walkerdunlop.com/webcasts/Listen to the replay!If you have any comments or questions, please reach out to your main Walker & Dunlop point of contact. We are all available to answer questions and provide assistance. Additionally, if you have topics you would like covered during one of our future webcasts, we would be happy to take your suggestions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's never too late to return to an unfulfilled dream. Keira D'Amato tells the story of what it's like to leave the sport that she loved after sustaining an immobilizing foot injury. On this Walker Webcast, host Willy and guest Keira discuss the incredible tale of how it's never late in life to do it all! In her late 30s, Keira started prioritizing her health. Unexpectedly, the little step she took turned out to be a huge turn towards qualifying for the Olympic Trials. She just pushed herself a little further and further and found herself hitting new records again and again. She just kept saying: "What's the next goal? And the next? Let's keep going." Such incredible feats for a real estate agent, mother of two, and the fastest American woman to ever run a marathon – at age 37! On January 16, Keira won the Chevron Houston Marathon at 2:19:12, beating the competition by over ten minutes and breaking the US marathon record set in 2006. Tune in to this new episode of the Walker Webcast — Going The Extra Mile With Keira D'Amato, Athlete & Record-Breaking Marathoner.GET NOTIFIED about upcoming shows: » Subscribe to our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5jhzGBWOTvQku2kLbucGcw » See upcoming guests on the #WalkerWebcast here: https://www.walkerdunlop.com/webcasts/Listen to the replay!If you have any comments or questions, please reach out to your main Walker & Dunlop point of contact. We are all available to answer questions and provide assistance. Additionally, if you have topics you would like covered during one of our future webcasts, we would be happy to take your suggestions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How do you get the sales you need in today's ever-evolving landscape? Dr. Frank Cespedes graces the Walker Webcast to drop the essential sales strategies and techniques that you need to maintain a thriving and game-changing enterprise. Frank's vast experience spans his work with many companies on go-to-market and strategy issues, and he has been a Board member at consumer goods, industrial products, and services firms. He teaches at Harvard Business School while serving as Managing Partner at a professional services firm for 12 years. He is the author of six books, including Aligning Strategy and Sales, which was cited as "the best sales book of the year" (Strategy & Business), "a must-read" (Gartner), and "perhaps the best sales book ever" (Forbes). His newest book is Sales Management That Works: How to Sell in a World That Never Stops Changing. Willy opens the discussion on how the book covers the lessons on how Jack Welch, considered the greatest leader of his era who took GE from a billion dollars to 10 billion a year of yearly profits, had a horse race to decide his successor. Today finding sales talent is still the hard part for companies. The conversation leads to why Frank emphasizes how CEOs should not only set the foundational conditions for business development in their company but never lose their connection with customers. "Once they become CEOs, the rest of the organization conspires to "protect" them against customers. As a result, they're often making decisions based on an obsolete vision of what's really going on out there. And that's been Frank’s experience that when companies fail in terms of tens and hundreds of billions in shareholder value, you just can't point to one person to take the blame. It's a variety of other factors." This calls to discuss how sales have changed because of digital transformation. Willy cites one data point Frank brings up in his book: that people's impression of online media, online sales versus brick and mortar, is completely distorted. Numbers show that despite what many of us think, an Amazon and UPS-driven economy is "overhyped," "misunderstood", and can affect companies. To drive the point further, Frank reminds us that the most important thing about sales now and in the future is always the buyer and not the seller. Auto sales is a good example of how the vast majority of buys that comprise 96% still occur in the dealership. This was confirmed during the pandemic as well. Tune in to this new episode of the Walker Webcast — Getting The Sales You Need with Dr. Frank Cespedes, Harvard Business School Professor.GET NOTIFIED about upcoming shows: » Subscribe to our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5jhzGBWOTvQku2kLbucGcw » See upcoming guests on the #WalkerWebcast here: https://www.walkerdunlop.com/webcasts/Listen to the replay!If you have any comments or questions, please reach out to your main Walker & Dunlop point of contact. We are all available to answer questions and provide assistance. Additionally, if you have topics you would like covered during one of our future webcasts, we would be happy to take your suggestions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We get up close and personal in an inspiring conversation with Australian Open commentator and four-time Grand Slam winner Jim Courier. He shares the backstory of choosing whether to pursue baseball or tennis at age 13, what it's like being friendly and competitive with fellow tennis legends, and the future he expects for upcoming American players. Jim Courier reached the #1 world ranking, was a member of two winning United States Davis Cup teams and is one of sixteen men in the history of tennis to reach the finals of all four major championships. He is a member of the International Hall of Fame and proudly served as Captain of the United States Davis Cup Team from 2011-1018. Jim remains active in the tennis world today, working in TV as an analyst at the premiere tennis events. He co-founded Courier’s Kids, which supports after school tennis programs, and InsideOut Sports & Entertainment, which has produced over 200 tennis tournaments and exhibitions since inception. Jim resides in Los Angeles with his wife Susanna and their two sons. GET NOTIFIED about upcoming shows: » Subscribe to our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5jhzGBWOTvQku2kLbucGcw » See upcoming guests on the #WalkerWebcast here: https://www.walkerdunlop.com/webcasts/Listen to the replay!If you have any comments or questions, please reach out to your main Walker & Dunlop point of contact. We are all available to answer questions and provide assistance. Additionally, if you have topics you would like covered during one of our future webcasts, we would be happy to take your suggestions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices