The Fort

Cody Campbell is the Co-Chief Executive Officer of Double Eagle Energy Holdings III LLC, a partnership formed with Apollo Global Management, and co-founder of Double Eagle Development. Campbell began his business career at Texas Tech University, where he and John Sellers founded a successful commercial real estate development firm. He graduated with honors with a Bachelor’s in finance and economics and a master’s in finance. After graduation, he played offensive guard for the Indianapolis Colts.Campbell is a member of YPO (Young Presidents’ Organization), serves on the Advisory Council for the Rawls College of Business at Texas Tech, and serves as a Board Member of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. He lives in Fort Worth with his wife and four children.On this episode, Chris and Cody discuss: The story of their $6.4B sale to Pioneer. Discussion on current energy markets and policy. Why we need to change the narrative on oil & gas to attract more labor into the industry. We talk about the NCAA & NIL programs and how Texas Tech has built The Matador Club to support athletes. Support our Sponsors:Frank Kent CadillacCRE Daily Newsletter Fort Capital Juniper SquareLearn more about Chris Powers and Fort Capital: www.FortCapitalLP.comFollow 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-keTSQTopics:(4:31) - Selling Double Eagle 3 to Pioneer(8:33) - Why was the industry valuing on a price per acre vs. EBITDA?(10:21) - What do “bits & pieces” mean and how are you able to do it at scale?(13:12) - Have there been 2 types of oil businesses that emerged since the shale revolution?(14:01) - Was there ever a moment during the pandemic when you considered not drilling?(15:00) - When did it become clear that selling was the best option?(19:20) - What blows up a deal like this?(20:13) - Starting back up again(22:02) - What are you seeing in the current state of the energy market?(30:24) - Is there any shift in the capital markets?(32:29) - Why has the Biden Admin shifted its stance on domestic production?(34:49) - How much of an impact does the Russia/Ukraine conflict have?(36:42) - What are you seeing in the labor market for Energy and Oil & Gas?(38:57) - How can the industry change its marketing efforts to encourage people to work in this field?(40:30) - How does this industry bring the rest of the world out of poverty?(43:21) - What’s happening outside of the US as we globally see energy prices spike?(44:47) - Even if we all flipped to a pro-oil stance instantly, how deep are we in the hole already?(47:19) - What are the different acreage tiers in oil fields?(50:16) - If oil is at $92 today, what’s the rate of return for drilling a well?(51:50) - Is there any technology on the horizon that will make it easier to get oil out of the ground?(53:01) - Why did the Kline Shale flop?(54:55) - Why did the Permian basin end up being such a hit?(55:48) - Where do you think we will peak in 2023?(57:02) - What is the NIL within the NCAA?(1:01:29) - The Matador Club at Texas Tech(1:04:33) - Is there a worry that the schools with the most capital secede and create their own league?(1:06:14) - Focusing athletes on their education(1:08:08) - Who’s making the rules for NIL?(1:09:05) - What is it that continues to motivate you?The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Zamir Kazi started his career in Real Estate in 2013 after attending Florida State University buying and flipping duplexes. He formed Berkshire Property Holdings in 2014 (later rebranded to ZMR Capital) to acquire and redevelop multifamily Real Estate. In the past 9 years, as CEO of ZMR Capital, Zamir has acquired over $1.5B of multifamily assets.He has been the recipient of Globe Streets 50 under 40 and is an active investor and board member of multiple early-stage companies. Zamir also contributes significant time and resources to several charities.On this episode Chris and Zamir discuss: How he started his career in real estate. How ZMR Capital creates value in the assets they acquire. How ZMR selects markets to invest in. Current state of the multi-family market. 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-keTSQFollow The Fort on Instagram: www.Instagram.com/TheFortPodcastSupport our Sponsors:Frank Kent CadillacCRE Daily Newsletter Fort Capital CRE ModelsJuniper SquareLinks:Zamir on LinkedInZMR CapitalTopics:(3:52) - Zamir’s background and career(7:05) - What is it about Indian culture that wants their children to become doctors?(9:17) - How were you financing as you began to do bigger deals and turn this into a firm with employees?(11:22) - Did you manage properties yourself?(12:12) - How did you convince people to give you a deal without a track record?(15:09) - How were sourcing deals and why did you choose the markets you’re in?(16:40) - Have you stayed 3rd party on Property Management?(22:47) - What is an ideal Class A or B deal and how do you add value?(26:02) - Do you outsource construction & asset management?(27:24) - Do you send PM’s the same chart of accounts or do they each account differently?(28:15) - Do you have a 90-day game plan after closing a deal?(29:29) - How do you raise capital today?(30:25) - How are you thinking about the market right now?(32:52) - Is bridge debt still in the mix for you on deals you’re doing right now?(34:29) - Are rents still moving fast?(37:08) - Is there anything you’re seeing that could cause a major correction in MF pricing?(41:10) - Why are people selling right now given market conditions?(42:30) - How are you thinking about the tailwind given to MF by high mortgage interest rates?(43:50) - What do you see for your business over the next decade?The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Will Churchill is the Owner of Frank Kent Motor Company.  Frank Kent Cadillac has been awarded GM Dealer of the Year for 2012 – 2014, an honor given to only the top 2% of GM dealers throughout the country. On this episode, Chris and Will discuss: A deep dive on the auto industry. The current state of the auto industry. What the future of buying cars looks like. DTC, EV cars, Hydrogen?! And more! Support our Sponsors: Frank Kent Cadillac CRE Daily Newsletter  Fort Capital  More Info: 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 Links: The Fort #50 with Will Churchill Email Will: willc@fk1935.com Topics: (3:18) - Introducing Will (4:51) - Will’s background in the auto business (7:06) - What’s happened in auto over the past two years? (11:16) - Where are we now with the chip shortage? (13:10) - Thoughts on pricing strategies in the industry (17:53) - Where do people get auto loans from? (20:18) - Is there anything that changed through Covid that will be permanent? (22:37) - Moving the car buying experience online (27:43) - Thoughts on Carvana  (31:36) - Focusing on the Wholesale market (34:45) - What do most people do when they’re owing way more than the car is worth? (36:25) - What warranty do people really need? (41:23) - At what point can a car not get a warranty? (42:58) - Why is there a need for car dealerships in the future? (44:41) - Why doesn’t Tesla’s model work for everyone else? (47:03) - Will the Car Dealership look the way it does now in 10 years? (48:50) - What happens if Wall Street moves to a profitability model? (50:23) - Buick’s buyout of their dealers (51:39) - Who dictates investing in a dealership? (53:31) - The process of opening a new dealership (56:33) - What’s the pathway to becoming a dealer? (1:02:25) - Thoughts on the EV revolution (1:08:12) - What happens to the new cars that got wrecked from the recent hurricane in Florida? (1:10:09) - Where do cars go to die? (1:11:29) - Do you see the industry moving to cars-as-a-service rather than traditional ownership model? (1:12:52) - How are auto loans performing right now? (1:13:35) - How many catalytic converters have been stolen from you and are manufacturers looking to fix this? (1:14:33) - How’s the auction market looking right now? (1:15:16) - What’s the single most impactful thing a dealer can do to improve the car buying experience? (1:17:13) - How has ride-share impacted the auto world? (1:18:43)  - Final thoughts The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Holt Lunsford is the Founder & CEO of Holt Lunsford Commercial, a Dallas-based full-service commercial real estate company. They talk about luck in business, the process of finding and hiring great people, and Holt's advice for fathers. Enjoy! Support Our Sponsors: Juniper Square: https://www.junipersquare.com/ Frank Kent Cadillac: https://www.frankkentcadillac.com/ 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 (3:08) - Holt’s background and career (5:30) - The Great Trammel Crowe generation of Texas Real Estate Operators (19:26) - How much of business success is luck and how much are things that you can control?  (21:28) - Holt’s Growth standards  (24:22) - How long was the business going until you started making hires  (25:24) - What were things you weren’t doing well that people could learn from?  (28:55) - Holt on building relationships with the people he works with and loyalty  (31:21) - Holt on the culture of people moving jobs constantly and attracting the next generation of employees  (36:21)- What within Real Estate has changed dramatically since starting in ’86?  (38:33) - Chris and Holt on life balance   (43:02) - What did you give your kids for their 18th birthday?  (46:19) - What advice would you give your 21-year-old self  

On this episode Chris talks about the fundamentals that drive Class B Industrial: Growing demand and no new supply?  Could that be?! The types of tenants that occupy Class B Industrial How we think about Cap Ex & TI. And more! Support Our Sponsors: Juniper Square: https://www.junipersquare.com/ Frank Kent Cadillac: https://www.frankkentcadillac.com/ 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 Topics: (2:52) - What is Class B Industrial? (4:59) - They aren’t building more of this stuff (7:07) - Serving the function of a business (9:43) - The asset class in 2022 (11:57) - Tenants in Class B Industrial (14:05) - Being close to the customer (15:33) - Predictability of Expenses (16:31) - Class B as Covered Land Plays (17:22) - Leasing (19:58) - Final thoughts on Class B Industrial The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts  

Chris sits down with his longtime friend Rayne Austin, to do a deep dive into the Cattle Business. Rayne walks Chris through the multiple phases of the life cycle for cattle, how each phase makes money, the "Big 4" packers, and how the pandemic exposed a major bottleneck in the industry. Enjoy! Learn more about Chris Powers and Fort Capital: www.FortCapitalLP.comFollow 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(3:11) - Rayne’s Background(5:08) - What are the phases of a cow's life and how do you move from one to the next?(8:07) - Do the calves only live off of their mother’s milk or are they consuming feed in the first phase?(9:17) - Do cows sell for less if they haven’t been weened?(9:39) - How much money are people trying to get from selling in the calf/cow phase?(10:22) - How do you transfer 10,000 calves to the stockyard?(11:30) - How many calves fit in a truckload?(11:49) - What’s the purpose of the stockyard?(13:25) - How big are you trying to get the cows to become in the stock phase?(13:45) - What’s the pricing model for cattle?(37:05) - Does the climate and location of feed yards change what the cow will look like?(39:20) - Are the majority of these legacy companies just growing to a point where the barrier to entry is more difficult?(41:06) - What’s the day to day like for someone like your grandfather working in the field 7 days a week?(44:00) - How many cattle are there per acre in America?(44:56) - How many cattle are there in America?(45:49) - Who’s the largest cattle rancher in the country?(46:21) - Have genetics improved vastly over time?(47:31) - What about cattle genetics has improved?(48:23) - What’s the rating system for cattle?(50:31) - Why would someone go through you for doing deals?(51:47) - What’s a shrink and slide? (53:54) - Why do cuts like Wagyu and Kobe sell for so much more? What about grass-fed beef?(55:15) - Why are Midland steaks so much better than other companies?(56:25) - How long does a cow live and how often can they give birth?(58:24) - What are the different breeds of cattle?(1:00:27) - Is the fake meat industry putting a dent into the business?(1:03:31) - Are there other false narratives that folks should know about in the cattle industry?(1:04:29) - How has technology progressed in this industry to create better margins?(1:07:11) - Have numbers shown that people will pay more for the meat of a cow that’s lived a ‘better life’?(1:08:27) - 1031-ing in the Cattle Business(1:10:28) - The JBS Cattle Company(1:10:57) - Who are the Big 4 in Cattle?(1:11:23) - What did the government do for cattle ranchers during COVID?(1:12:35) - How far out can you hedge?(1:13:51) - Since you’ve been around, what’s been the best year to be in this business?(1:15:23) - Do the major packers dominate the industry or does it revolve around the cattle rancher?(1:16:01) - How would you value a cattle operation?(1:18:09) - The U.S. Beef Trade Deal with China(1:19:15) - If you had 100 million dollars and you had to invest in the cattle business, where would you put it?(1:29:24) - How far are we from a point in time where there are not enough people in the industry?(1:30:07) - What’s your favorite cut of beef & what’s the best advice you’ve ever received?The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts

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 Arrieta, Founder and CEO of Garden City, shares his journey from Cutco Knife salesman to leading a holding company focused on family-owned businesses. He discusses the importance of personal boundaries in business and how to effectively grow acquired companies through culture and technology. The conversation dives into the concept of permanent capital and its advantages for long-term value creation. Arrieta also highlights the need for tech in traditional sectors, emphasizing a people-first approach in business management.

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