Learn more about Chris Powers and Fort Capital: www.FortCapitalLP.com Follow Fort Capital on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/fort-capital/ Follow Chris on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/FortWorthChris  Follow Chris on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/chrispowersjr/  Subscribe to The Fort on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ Chris goes solo to hit hard on a critical aspect of operations that has played so well to the success of Fort Capital: Incentives. On this episode Chris discusses: Why operations are important and how to incentivize them. A relevant scenario to think about when setting incentives. Incentivizing the process, rather than just the outcome. Topics: (1:42) - What is a great operator? (2:38) - Incentivizing the process, not just the outcome The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Michael currently serves as the Founder and CEO of Garden City, a purpose-driven holding company that buys, grows, and permanently holds family-owned companies. Once acquired, Garden City seeks to grow them through culture, technology, and sales. Most recently, Michael was an early employee & executive at DocuSign, serving as Global Vice President, General Manager, and Chief of Staff to the CEO. DocuSign has now achieved a $30B market cap with 5,000 employees. In 2016, he founded MAV Ventures, a venture capital group that has invested in over 100+ companies and multiple funds. Michael also co-founded New Story, a non-profit that has built 2,000+  homes in developing countries and is recognized for creating the world’s first-ever 3D Home Printer. He graduated from the University of Alabama with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Management, and he lives in Atlanta with his wife and three children. Mike is a follower of Jesus and seeks to honor God in everything he does. On this episode, Chris and Mike discuss: His story and how he learned to be world-class at sales. (He was the #1 CutCo Knife salesman in the US) How Garden City values and ultimately transacts on businesses. How Garden City creates value for the companies they acquire.  Why he chose a permanent capital structure.  Learn more about Chris Powers and Fort Capital: www.FortCapitalLP.com Follow Fort Capital on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/fort-capital/ Follow Chris on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/FortWorthChris  Follow Chris on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/chrispowersjr/  Subscribe to The Fort on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ Michael on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MikeArrieta Garden City: https://www.joingardencity.com/ (2:10) - Michael’s career and background (4:51) - What did you do that made you the top Knife salesman in the country? (9:45) - What can get someone to believe in their product or company? (12:46) - What does a Chief of Staff do? (16:58) - Why do you have an affinity for boring SMB’s? (19:50) - What led you to the realization that you wanted to start acquiring businesses? (23:30) - What are you tangibly doing to make people the focus of the businesses you buy? (29:21) - What’s your filter for red flags in businesses you look at acquiring? (32:19) - In what capacity do you want the previous owner involved after an acquisition? (33:49) - What do the first 90 days look like post-acquisition? (37:11)  - How do you find the line between letting the business run and being very hands on as owners? (40:20) - When an owner doesn’t stay on, how quickly do you have to get on with replacing the CEO? (43:06) - What are most of these SMB’s lacking generally from a technology standpoint? (46:17) - How do you find someone who is going to be really accountable for making sure tech is adopted? (48:50) - How do you approach Sales training? (53:45) - Why did you choose to pursue Permanent Capital? (57:01) - How do you think about the platform of being able to help people when you’re a business owner? (1:00:58) - Is it possible to instill this mindset in an already existing business? (1:02:33) - How does Permanent Capital work? (1:04:46) - How do you think about cash flowing out of the businesses you own? (1:07:06) - Do you have an example of a Christian Business owner who is killing it in both their career and their faith? Sacred Pace by Terry Looper: https://amzn.to/3qxTMtV (1:10:17) - Why did you consciously decide to slow down? What have been the consequences of that decision? Becoming a King by Morgan Snyder: https://amzn.to/3Lq7GYV The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer: https://amzn.to/3ddXrtR The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts

The podcast delves into the world of search funding, discussing the evolution of the industry and what makes a successful searcher. It explores the qualities needed for a CEO to effectively manage a business, the importance of trust in business relationships, and the challenges of cash distribution and growth funding. The guest also faces a thought experiment, choosing between supporting Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos based on their leadership traits.

Wyatt is the founder and CEO of UpSmith, a technology company on a mission to combat America’s skilled worker crisis.  UpSmith partners with employers to identify high-demand gaps in their labor force, then sources and screens candidates to fill them. Where necessary, UpSmith connects candidates with affordable, fast, high-quality training to qualify them for placement. Prior to UpSmith, Wyatt led business development for Elevate, Uber’s aerial ride-sharing business unit. He served as a consultant with McKinsey & Company and as a corps member with Teach for America, receiving the 2013 Sue Lehmann Award as a national teacher of the year. Wyatt holds an MBA with Distinction from Harvard Business School and a BS in Human & Organizational Development and Political Science from Vanderbilt University, where he served as student body president and as a young alumni trustee on the Board of Trust. On this episode, Chris and Wyatt discuss: An in-depth view of the emerging blue-collar labor crisis in America and how we got here. The benefits of blue-collar work and why it is worthwhile work.  Upsmith’s plan to employ more blue-collar workers. Why college isn’t for everyone. Learn more about Chris Powers and Fort Capital: www.FortCapitalLP.com Follow Fort Capital on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/fort-capital/ Follow Chris on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/FortWorthChris  Follow Chris on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/chrispowersjr/  Subscribe to The Fort on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ Follow The Fort on Instagram: www.Instagram.com/TheFortPodcast (2:43) - What is the labor crisis we are facing right now? (7:40) - Was there an inflection point where we changed the way we look at the trades? (9:02) - Is this labor crisis attributed equally across all blue-collar work? (10:40) - Are we losing people in the trades due to a lack of training from small businesses? (15:33) - Why is it not obvious that people should look into the trades for a viable career? (18:39) - Does the federal government offer financial aid to attend a trade school? (19:55) - How much of this is a laziness problem? UpSmith (21:25) - Wyatt’s launch of UpSmith (24:27) - How are you pitching high school students to have them consider this vs. College? (34:04) - What are the implications for the families of those who choose to enter the trades? (37:30) - Why are you attracted to the words ‘dignity’ and ‘purpose’? (39:57) - Renaming Blue Collar as “The Builder Class” (41:10) - What takes place in the initial 8 weeks of a cohort? (44:13) - What problem is a company having that drives them to UpSmith for candidates? (47:40) - What’s the line when it comes to blue-collar work and candidates with criminal records? (50:30) - Other than pay, what are some non-obvious benefits of a career in trades? (53:40) - Is the path for people to eventually own their own business or just have a steady income? (57:50) Is anyone on social media making this work sexy? @BuildersOfInsta Mike Rowe's Dirty Jobs The Make It Movement (1:00:48) - Are city crews looking to UpSmith for help with public infrastructure? (1:01:16) - What does our world look like if we fail to fill these blue-collar positions? HBR Future of Work Initiative (1:05:24) - Where have all these workers gone since Covid? The Mom Project (1:08:41) - Is there a certain characteristic that stands out in high-performers in the trades? (1:09:47) - Where do you envision UpSmith in 5 years? (1:11:40) - What are employers in home health care looking for from UpSmith candidates? (1:13:22) - What’s one thing you've never predicted since you started this business? (1:14:46) - How can people get in touch or partner with you? Forge NOW The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Mike Vellano is the CEO of Vortex Companies – a trenchless technology company focused on water and sewer infrastructure. As CEO and Founder, Mike's primary focus is fulfilling the corporate mission and ensuring Vortex delivers on its promise of being a solutions-focused, cost-effective trenchless products and services provider ranging from consulting and project management services to the delivery of products, training, and installation. Formerly, Mike was Vice President of Sales and Marketing for one of North America's largest privately held trenchless underground contractors. His primary responsibilities included overseeing all business entities' sales, marketing, and product development functions. He was also in charge of forging strategic business alliances as part of the company's vision of providing its customers with the widest selection of environmentally friendly, trenchless underground repair solutions. During his five-year tenure, Mike used his vision and leadership to help measurably grow the company's revenue. From 2001 to 2009, Mike worked for Albany, New York-based Vellano Brothers, where he rose from the ranks from local Branch Manager to Vice President. He helped streamline operations, grow accounts, and increase sales exponentially during his tenure there. Mike resides in Houston, Texas, with his wife Lettie and two daughters. On this episode, Chris and Mike discuss: What trenchless technology is, why it's essential, and what markets the technology serves. A fantastic story of how he built his company, took on private equity, and continued to acquire company after company. Lessons learned from integrating each company. Learn more about Chris Powers and Fort Capital: www.FortCapitalLP.com Follow Fort Capital on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/fort-capital/ Follow Chris on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/FortWorthChris  Follow Chris on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/chrispowersjr/  Subscribe to The Fort on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ Vortex: https://vortexcompanies.com/ (2:36) - Mike’s background & career (4:54) - What is the ‘Trenchless’ industry? (9:50) - Are your customers government contractors or private companies? (10:54) - How old are some of these pipe systems and how much has their design changed over the years? (14:23) - Is there anything Trenchless can do for a city like Austin? (17:04) - Are there areas in the US where your business typically does better? (21:08) - How did you build Vortex? (29:48) - How did you finance your way to $40mm in Revenue? (32:25) - Do you operate as a Holdco or does every acquisition get rolled up under the Vortex brand? (35:34) - What mattered to you when finding capital partners? (44:44) - What’s your playbook for integrating new acquisitions into your company? (49:01) - Do you care if the leaders of an acquired business stay or post-close? (50:27) - How much impact is the Russia-Ukraine situation having on your business in Europe? (52:25) - Does your technology scale well into residential? (53:25) - Why do you think executives have it easy? (54:28) - How do you see the labor market over the next 20 years? (57:56) - Why is family so important to you? The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Twitter Anon "The Wolf of Franchises" aka @franchisewolf on Twitter, is an expert in the franchise industry. The Wolf of Franchises is a franchise industry professional who has helped match top franchise brands with competent owners and operators and source emerging franchisors for investment opportunities. The Wolf is currently building a media organization via Workweek; an Austin-based media startup focused on empowering individual creators. Through The Wolf's newsletter, podcast, and website, he aims to be the most trusted and transparent (as well as entertaining) resource for information on franchises. On this episode, Chris and Wolf discuss: An in-depth analysis of how franchising works What makes a great franchise business How to create a franchise Years of lessons learned from the franchise industry Follow Chris on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/FortWorthChris  Follow Chris on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/chrispowersjr/  Subscribe to The Fort on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ Follow The Fort on Instagram: www.Instagram.com/TheFortPodcast Wolf of Franchises on Twitter WolfOfFranchises.com WorkWeek Franchise Empires Podcast - On Apple - On Spotify Spaulding Decon American Family Care The Joint In N Out on Expanding East of Texas Sun Holdings The Flynn Group (1:13) - Building an anonymous Twitter account (4:19) - How are you building a business around your Twitter account? (6:27) - What is a franchise? (9:03)- How does a business owner convert their model to a franchise? (11:19) - Is there a certain level of stores you need to have before a franchise makes sense? (12:29) - How long does it take to put the business on paper that’s ready to franchise? (13:26)  - What big questions should franchisees be thinking about as they go through the process? (16:20) - Are a lot of the people applying to be franchisee’s first-time operators? (21:05) - How would you structure a franchise deal? (24:13) - Is it upon the franchisor to determine the size of an operator’s territory? (25:43) - The Subway Franchise Model (27:43) -How do Franchisors vet potential franchisees? (30:46) - Is there any data on the franchisee being a passive owner vs. working in the business? (33:46)- How do you typically finance a new franchise? (35:40) - How do you do due diligence on a franchisor? (38:30) - How long is the typical franchise agreement? (39:47) - What does the agreement look like when a franchisee approaches a franchisor with a buyer for their locations? (44:23) - What franchises do you love if you were going to go buy a franchise? (50:59) - Are there any tips for finding the right location for a customer-facing franchise? (52:30) -What would you stay away from? (55:08) - What’s the craziest business you’ve seen become a franchise? (55:58) - What’s the best healthcare franchise? (57:53) - Does Real Estate play into someone’s decision to get into franchising? (59:34) - How does an operator get a franchise into a new state? (1:02:37) - Why wouldn’t franchises with cult followings like In-N-Out be in every state? (1:04:16) - Is the nightmare scenario a Franchisee is doing really well but a Franchisor is screwing it up? (1:08:46) - What’s the best way to buy out a franchisee? (1:10:34) - Who’s the largest franchisee in the country? The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Twitter Anon M. Stanfield aka @mu2myoc on Twitter is an expert in affordable housing.  Over the past 18 months, his firm has acquired $200M+ in affordable housing projects in Texas. They buy distressed value-add deals and spend a pile on CapEx. Before launching his own fund two years ago, he had developed over 3,000 units of affordable housing in multiple states. Prior to that, he was an affordable housing broker. On this episode, Chris and M. Stanfield discuss: An in-depth analysis of the affordable housing industry and how it operates. Stories as a landlord of some of America’s toughest affordable housing communities. How his firm creates value and win/win situations for all involved. Learn more about Chris Powers and Fort Capital: www.FortCapitalLP.com Follow Fort Capital on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/fort-capital/ Follow Chris on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/FortWorthChris  Follow Chris on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/chrispowersjr/  Subscribe to The Fort on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ M. Stanfield on Twitter M. Stanfield's Newsletter (1:47) - The culture around people living in low-income housing (13:06) - What are you buying and what issues are you walking into when looking at a deal? (17:26) - Low Income Housing Tax Credit process (22:18) - Thoughts on Section 8 housing  (32:30) - What drives you to work in this asset class? (39:41) - Serendipitous opportunity vs. “working for it”  (43:59) - How do you turn these properties around from a physical perspective and a resident perspective? (54:58) - Is there any real solution to helping low-income housing? (59:40) - Re-tenanting a property Twitter Questions (1:09:20) - What 2-3 levers can you pull that drive 95% of returns? (1:16:07) - What’s your take on the market right now?  The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Jilliene Helman is the Founder and CEO of RealtyMogul, an online real estate marketplace that gives everyday investors access to institutional-quality commercial real estate deals in dozens of markets across the country. Since 2012, RealtyMogul members have collectively invested over $850 million into $4.7 billion of real estate nationwide (as of March 31, 2022). Jilliene holds Series 7, 24, and 63 investment licenses and is a Certified Wealth Strategist. She’s been featured as an expert on startups and real estate investing on Bloomberg, CNBC, The New York Times, Yahoo! Finance, and Entrepreneur. On this episode, Chris and Jilliene discuss: A 10-year overview of how crowdfunding has evolved and the tailwinds driving it Building a two-sided marketplace with sponsors and LP’s. How crowdfunding works from a high level What to expect from the crowdfunding industry over the next decade. Learn more about Chris Powers and Fort Capital: www.FortCapitalLP.com Follow Fort Capital on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/fort-capital/ Follow Chris on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/FortWorthChris  Follow Chris on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/chrispowersjr/  Subscribe to The Fort on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ (2:02) - Jilliene’s career and background (4:48) - What did crowdfunding in the RE space look like when you got started in your career? (8:29) - If you had to go start a new 2-sided marketplace today, would it be harder to do? (11:47) - Was there an inflection point in the industry where crowdfunding became more mainstream? (15:07) - How distributed is the money coming from crowdfunding? Are there ever a couple of individuals that carry the bulk of a fund? (17:20) - What’s the path forward to become a top brand name over the next decade? (20:12) - Is there any agreement that states the LP needs to go to you instead of the GP for questions or investments? (21:39) - How do you approve and vet sponsors? (24:57) - Have you seen institutional or family office capital get into crowdfunding? (25:55) - How do your REITs work? (29:09) - Is the push to have a more built out secondary market for LP’s something on your radar? (30:55) - How do you approach Capital Call situations? (33:24) - What data are you looking at to prove the massive tailwinds for crowdfunding? (35:33) - Do you have to own a controlling position in the LP stack? (36:17) - How are you seeing most people show up in a deal? (37:44) - What’s something you think deeply about that you want to see in the industry? The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Steve Robinson is the former CMO of Chick Fil A. and is currently a consultant, author, and speaker on organizational culture design & leadership, brand strategy development, marketing planning, and distinctive advertising principles. He is the former Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Chick-fil-A, Inc., 1981-2015. Before joining the company, Steve was the director of marketing for Six Flags Over Georgia theme park in Atlanta, Georgia. This role was preceded by marketing positions at two other Six Flags properties and communications manager at Texas Instruments. After beginning his career at Chick-fil-A as director of marketing, Steve went on to serve as vice president of the department before becoming chief marketing officer. In his most recent role, he was responsible for overseeing marketing, advertising, brand development, menu development, and hospitality strategies. In addition to serving on Chick-fil-A’s board of directors from 2016-2018, Steve serves on several boards for organizations and ministries, including FamilyLife, Fellowship of Christian Athletes of Atlanta, Links Players International, and Atlanta Hall Management & College Football Hall of Fame, and the National Football Foundation. He holds an associate degree in business administration from Faulkner State Junior College, a Bachelor of Science in marketing from Auburn University, and a master’s in advertising from Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Steve and his wife, Dianne, have two children and four grandchildren. In this episode, Chris and Steve discuss Why every company should have a purpose for existing. Hint: it's used to make decisions ;) The incredible story behind Chick Fil A's growth and the thriving culture that got them there. Hire people through a lens that "you'll work with them forever." Chick Fil A cows, "My Pleasure", and more. And more! Purchase Steve’s Book here Learn more about Chris Powers and Fort Capital: www.FortCapitalLP.com Follow Fort Capital on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/fort-capital/ Follow Chris on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/FortWorthChris  Follow Chris on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/chrispowersjr/  Subscribe to The Fort on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ Follow The Fort on Instagram: www.Instagram.com/TheFortPodcast (2:04) - How Steve got to Chick-fil-A (8:55) - What’s your response to the fast-paced hiring processes of today’s businesses? (11:37) - The purpose statement of Chick-Fil-A (23:21) - Why doesn’t every company have a purpose statement? (27:59) - What do you tell to already established companies who want to totally rebuild their culture? (32:09) - Do you have an example of a major decision that was made or not made based on the company’s purpose statement? (37:40) - Is there something different about today’s culture that would make a culture like Chick-Fil-A’s much harder to implement? (40:14) - Can selflessness be taught? (43:54) - Turnover is the #1 enemy of cultural sustainability (46:00) - How did the cows become the mascots? (53:41) - The CFA operator model (1:06:06) - The origin of “My Pleasure” The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Ryan Broderick is the Co-Founder & CEO of Darwin Homes. Darwin Homes is a real estate investment management platform focused on the single-family rental opportunity, enabling investors to invest anywhere simply with confidence. Darwin has raised just under $50m in venture capital from Khosla Ventures, Camber Creek, Fifth Wall, Canvas Ventures, Tony Xu, Ryan Graves, Ryan Roslansky, and other technology leaders. Prior to founding Darwin Homes, Ryan was part of the founding team at DoorDash. During his tenure at DoorDash, he built and led the first Launch team, which was tasked with scaling the DoorDash operation from Silicon Valley to over 250 cities in the US. He then went on to build the Merchant Team responsible for Business Development, Sales, Merchant Products, and Merchant Operations. Before DoorDash, Ryan worked at JUMP Investors, an early-stage VC firm led by Randall Kaplan, the Co-Founder of Akamai Technologies. Ryan holds a B.S from the University of Southern California and an MBA from Pepperdine University. In this episode, Chris and Ryan discuss: Lessons learned from being early at DoorDash and how he applied those principles to property management How they enter a market and all that happens How they've approached single-family property management from first principles to building revolutionary tools for owners Future opportunities that can be done when Darwin hits scale, including new resident monetization strategies Learn more about Chris Powers and Fort Capital: www.FortCapitalLP.com Follow Fort Capital on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/fort-capital/ Follow Chris on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/FortWorthChris  Follow Chris on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/chrispowersjr/  Subscribe to The Fort on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ Follow The Fort on Instagram: www.Instagram.com/TheFortPodcast    (2:58) - Ryan’s early career with Doordash (16:40) - What was the initial thesis for Darwin Homes? (26:55) - What does scale give Darwin that the local PM will never have? (30:55) - What do you mean by the Surface Area in Property Management? (32:40) - What does a great engineering culture look like? (36:13) - How does the best idea win when you’re first building a product that needs to 10x? (38:58) - What happens from Day 0 of entering a new market?  (42:22) - How do you source vendors in a market? (48:00) - What makes a good city for Darwin to enter? (49:22) - Darwin’s Build-to-rent operation (50:12) - Why do you have an acquisitions team within a property management company? (56:38) - Ryan’s vision for Darwin (1:01:30) - How big is the SFR & BFR market getting?  (1:04:53) - What do institutional owners care about and what do retail owners care about? (1:08:11) - Are we moving to a world where people rent homes sight unseen?  (1:11:38) - Resident Monetization (1:15:10) - Is there room for managing homes for homeowners?  (1:19:31) - Do you have any desire to buy property managers in other markets?  (1:21:06) - Are the people you’re hiring already in the PM industry? (1:23:11) - Thoughts on construction (1:27:03) - What are you seeing going on in VC given everything happening in the economy? (1:36:29) - Thoughts on Blue Collar work (1:47:19) - Shooting the shit and bouncing business ideas off each other