Chris is joined again by Stinson Dean (Founder of Deacon Lumber) as well as Ali Wolf (Chief Economist at Zonda) and Dustin Jalbert (Fastmarkets RISI's Lumber Lead) for another deep dive into the lumber industry with an emphasis on the home building and sawmill side. On this episode, they discuss how the lumber price increase has affected the housing market, labor markets in wood products and residential employment, risks for home building & sawmills, the impact on multi-family, and a ton more. Enjoy! Follow Chris on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/FortWorthChris Learn more about Chris Powers and Fort Capital: www.FortCapitalLP.com Follow Chris on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/chrispowersjr/ Follow Fort Capital on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/fort-capital/ Watch this episode on YouTube (02:55) - Introductions (05:32) - Ali: How has the lumber increase affected the housing market? (08:07) - Regional Trends on Housing Prices Realtor.com (10:05) - Dustin: The State of The Union of Canadian Sawmills and Their Perspective on This Insane Price Jump (12:20) - The Labor Markets in Wood Products and Residential Employment National Association of Home Builders (18:59) - Are home builders going to be building spec homes as quickly as before? (20:29) - Data on Demand for Single-Family Homes Driven by Population Migration Over the Past Year (21:32) - Who’s making all the money with labor shortages in sawmills and do they have incentives to go back to full capacity? (24:12) - What’s the barrier to entry for more people starting sawmills? (27:39) - The Logging Situation in the Pacific Northwest (31:37) - Potential Uses for Southern Yellow Pine (35:28) - How many homes can you project that a new sawmill would be able to supply from the get-go? Idaho Forest Group (41:35) - Builders Dealing with Lumber Thieves (43:05) - Why do the Canadians control everything and why hasn’t private equity jumped into this? Do the Canadians have trade secrets that give them the monopoly? (47:11) - How is risk going to reorient itself in housing? (49:38) - How does the size of the home building companies affect the relationships with lumber vendors going forward? (50:54) - What are the mills saying about risk management and price forecasting? (57:54) - What do builders do with their pricing if lumber prices do come down? (59:12) - Major Publics vs. Regional Builders and Their Ability to Compete with Each Other Going Forward (1:07:06) - Are homes getting smaller? (1:11:13) - How has lumber impacted multi-family? (1:17:01) - How do we get more efficient in home building? (1:23:35) - Why does build time keep taking longer and longer? (1:27:34) - Are there opportunities to buy up these older sawmills and implement technology to get them going again? (1:31:07) - How much of our lumber comes from North America and how much of the globe is using North American Lumber? (1:41:16) - What is your prediction for 1,000 board feet of lumber in 12 months? (Recorded on 5.24.2021) (1:43:18) - Is there a range lumber gets to where it's actually bad for the industry? (1:46:37) - Closing Thoughts The FORT with Chris Powers is produced by Straight Up Podcasts

On this episode, Chris breaks down Fort Capital's strategy of aggregating smaller assets in order to make them more attractive to institutional capital. He defines what would constitute a smaller asset, why institutional capital would be interested in these aggregations, additional margins to be made for the owner, and more. Enjoy! Follow Chris on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/FortWorthChris Learn more about Chris Powers and Fort Capital: www.FortCapitalLP.com Follow Chris on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/chrispowersjr/ Follow Fort Capital on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/fort-capital/ (00:47) - Fort Capital’s Journey Into Aggregation RE #98: How to Assemble & Entitle Urban Land (02:10) - Asset Type and Market in Aggregation (03:11) - What is a ‘smaller asset’? (04:56) - Larger Institutional Interest in a One-Off Deal vs. Aggregation (06:21) - Additional Margin to be Made for the Owner (06:42) - Lowering the Cost of Capital (08:29) - Different Institutional LP-based Scenario - Raising From Non-Profits (10:44) - Institutions Require Operational Efficiencies (12:17) - Wrap Up The FORT with Chris Powers is produced by Straight Up Podcasts

Today's Lesson in Business (LIB) discusses how to properly start a meeting in order to make sure your team is laser-focused on the agenda. Enjoy! Follow Chris on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/FortWorthChris Learn more about Chris Powers and Fort Capital: www.FortCapitalLP.com Follow Chris on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/chrispowersjr/ Follow Fort Capital on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/fort-capital/ The FORT with Chris Powers is produced by Straight Up Podcasts

John Schissler is Founder of J&M Hospitality which was created to open and operate Chicken Salad Chick restaurants in the Fort Worth, TX area. John and his wife Meggie currently own and operate 5 locations in North Texas.On this episode, John and Chris discuss the process of franchising a restaurant. John breaks down what conversations with franchisors & founders look like, financing, finding store locations, the hiring and training process, and operations. John tells some great stories about the realities of a franchisee, growth plans, how he navigated the pandemic, and more. Enjoy!Follow Chris on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/FortWorthChrisLearn more about Chris Powers and Fort Capital: www.FortCapitalLP.comFollow Chris on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/chrispowersjr/John on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/JohnmSchissler(03:12) - John’s Story and Early Career(04:48) - How did the opportunity come up to start franchising Chick Salad Chick?(06:34) - How do you become a franchisee of a restaurant?(09:32) - When did you know that you had found your first location?(10:39) - How did you finance your first location?(13:09) - How do you design locations?(15:23) - How long was it from the day you signed the lease to opening day?(15:38) - What was your and Meggie’s job going to be when you first started?(16:52) - When did you start prepping to hire?(20:01) - Training Staff and Testing Days(20:48) - John’s First Grand Opening Day and Horror Stories(25:33) - What does 200-300lbs of chicken look like and what’s the prep process like?(26:30) - At what point did you know store #1 was going to make it?(27:34) - How long before you moved on to opening stores #2 & #3?(28:59) - Are there any tricks new operators can use to get landlords to pay attention to them when finding a location?(31:16) - How does the relationship work with the franchisor?(32:01) - What resources do franchisors provide to you?(33:45) - Do you ever meet with other franchisees?(35:05) - What do Yelp & Google reviews mean to you?(39:37) - How do you go about getting more stores?(41:44) - How does hiring above-store operators work?(43:53) - How many stores will you open up in the next 24 months?(44:16) - What’s happened in your world since March 2020?(46:24) - How long did it take for you to get to a pandemic way of operating?Good to Great by Jim Collins (49:03) - How did you staff the restaurant?(50:09) - Why are restaurants having trouble hiring?(51:47) - Are you realizing you can run stores leaner than previously thought?(53:20) - Are there certain cleaning practices that will stick around after the pandemic or new regulations you’ll need to abide by?(54:44) - Were you getting any signals early on from other parts of the country that the pandemic was coming?(56:27) - What have you learned about keeping your staff in tip-top shape to be successful?(57:55) - The Realities of Being a Franchisee(1:13:16) - Do you need corporate approval to sell to private equity?(1:13:59) - What are you seeing in the retail market?The FORT #108: Brady Wood(1:17:10) - How do you mitigate the risk of being in a multi-tenant property where your neighbors suck?(1:18:38) - Do you have a childhood experience that shaped who you are today?(1:19:43) - What’s the best advice you’ve been given?(1:21:13) - How do you separate working, parenting, and marriage with your wife?(1:23:16) - How can people support you?www.Chickensaladchick.com/Locationswww.JMHosp.comwww.linkedin.com/company/j-m-hospitality/www.Twitter.com/JohnmSchisslerThe FORT with Chris Powers is produced by Straight Up Podcasts

James Camp is the founder of Nano Flips, which helps people learn how to buy and sell websites. On this episode, James talks about his young career overseas when he decided to pack up and move to Malaysia, the cannabis industry, and his work in digital strategy before his work in website acquisitions.  Then, James dives into the world of website flipping. He talks about what kinds of sites stick out to him, how he sources sites to buy, the due diligence process when buying sites, and changes he implements to make his sites more profitable. Enjoy! Follow Chris on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/FortWorthChris Learn more about Chris Powers and Fort Capital: www.FortCapitalLP.com Follow Chris on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/chrispowersjr/ James on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/JamesonCamp James' Website & Newsletter: www.nanoflips.com (02:24) - James’ Background and What Led Him to His Current Career Google Launch Pad  (06:03) - How did you end up picking Malaysia and what were you doing while overseas? (08:53) - What does digital strategy for a McKinsey entail? (10:41) - What’s the state of Cannabis today and how big of an opportunity is it over the next decade? (14:32) - Do you have any insight as to when it becomes federally legalized? (15:42) - What do you do in the world of “Website Flipping”? (19:29) - Can you frame what a really good business looks like to you? (24:05) - James’ Focus on E-Commerce Businesses (26:14) - Are you buying the website that facilitates 3-commerce or the business that only operates online? (30:39) - How do you find the businesses you want to acquire? Flippa Empire Flippers FE International  Quiet Light Product Hunt (33:09) - What does a typical contract look like? (35:34) - Is there hard earnest money when buying a website? (37:36) - What’s the due diligence process to get you comfortable with a deal? (40:29) - If you’re buying a $50k website, how much of your attention is required as the new owner in order to make sure it’s functioning properly? (43:41) - Is it risky to buy something where the new owner is taking over the content creation? (45:40) - What’s a dream $100k website for you? (48:31) - Is there any risk in Google or Amazon deciding to cut revenue unannounced through policy change? (51:42) - What kind of due diligence needs to be done on the code of these websites you’re buying? (53:30) - What transfers in terms of ownership beyond the domain name? (55:19) - In a situation with $1m EBITDA and employees in a 60-day closing period, how do you underwrite the people in a short manner of time and determining their future post-close? (1:00:14) - Do these companies have founder-like people or does all responsibility fall on the FTEs? (Full-time employees) ClearCo (1:03:39) - How do you get your message across to teams in terms of what you want implemented without becoming a day-to-day worker in the business? (1:06:17) - How are deals being financed? (1:09:35) - How can the average person find low-hanging fruit to improve the online marketing of a website? Google Analytics www.NanoFlips.com Codie Sanchez  (1:15:16) - What’s the biggest risk to buying a website at a $100k level with no employees? (1:23:10) - Media Reccomendations The Exit - Flippa Podcast Thrasio (1:26:20) - Contacting James Twitter: www.Twitter.com/JamesonCamp Hi@nanoflips.com The FORT with Chris Powers is produced by Straight Up Podcasts

Our second LIB dives into the concept of 'The Flywheel.' Chris reads a short excerpt from Jim Collins' book 'Good to Great', walks through Fort Capital's Flywheel, gives a personal example of flywheels in his life, and a quick challenge for listeners at the end. Enjoy! Good to Great by Jim Collins Follow Chris on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/FortWorthChris Learn more about Chris Powers and Fort Capital: www.FortCapitalLP.com Follow Chris on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/chrispowersjr/ Follow Fort Capital on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/fort-capital/ The FORT with Chris Powers is produced by Straight Up Podcasts

Dr. Julie Gurner is an Executive Performance Coach who has been compared to Wendy Rhoades of 'Billions' by The Wall Street Journal. Dr. Gurner works with tech giants, real estate executives, and professional athletes to help identify and understand the patterns of behavior, daily decisions, and incremental wins that catapult a small fraction of the population to the very top of their fields.On this episode, Dr. Gurner discusses her background in psychology and working in the maximum-security prison system before getting into Tech Advising and launching her career as an Executive Coach. Then, Chris and Dr. Gurner discuss what makes the top 1% in their field successful, what her clients are looking for when they work with her, building confidence, curing burnout, and more. They wrap the conversation discussing the industry of executive coaching and how they contribute to some of the largest companies in the world. Enjoy!Follow Chris on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/FortWorthChrisLearn more about Chris Powers and Fort Capital: www.FortCapitalLP.comFollow Chris on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/chrispowersjr/Connect with Dr. Gurner: www.drgurner.com/Follow Dr. Julie Gurner on Twitter: www.twitter.com/drgurner(02:15) - Dr. Gurner’s Background and Career(04:15) - When did you know you wanted to be in the psychology field?(05:26) - What does ‘advising products in Tech’ mean?(05:57) - Dr. Gurner’s Experience Working with Prisoners(09:44) - How would you describe Performance Coaching?(10:47) - Who’s your clientele and target market?(22:59) - Is there a pattern of thought, behavior, or action that threads the top 1% in their field that can be reverse-engineered?(25:00) - Characteristics Between Successful Men and Women That are Similar and Different (27:38) - Nature vs. Nurture(28:43) - Do you see successful people having a great network they can be vulnerable with?(29:38) - Why Money Doesn’t Equal Happiness(31:20) - How often does ego play a factor in people’s issues?(32:32) - Do people come to see you to identify blind spots in their life?(33:57) - Dealing With ‘Yes-People’ and Opening Up Feedback Loops(34:52) - Do having habits like a morning routine matter for success?(37:35) - Is there any science or data between people who work early in the morning or late at night?(39:37) - Making the Most of Your Day and Determining What You’re Best at for Leaders(41:19) - Do your international clients struggle differently than Americans?(42:51) - Do people often drift back to old problems?(44:10) - Do you often see identity crises with folks whose business is their whole life?(46:08) - ‘Unwrapping’ Yourself When Your Identity is Your Job(48:26) - How Brain and Body Functionality Lasts With Age as Folks Continue Working and How It Slows Down When They Stop(50:18) - How much has social media impacted the population in positive or negative ways?(52:58) - What can people do to deal with anxiety and decompress?(54:36) - Do you have clients that are similar to Bobby Axelrod?(54:53) - How did the Wall Street Journal Comparison to Wendy from Billions change your career?(56:53) - Do most hedge funds have full-time performance coaches?(57:54) - How much would someone like that make per year?(58:34) - What happens if someone confides that they are committing illegal activity during a session?(1:00:17) - Are there ever situations where you’re working with a risk-averse client that needs to make a specific trade and you have to nudge them to actually do it?(1:11:31) - Has your line of work made you a better investor?(1:13:27) - Who does a performance coach go to if they need a performance coach?(1:14:16) - Books to Challenge Yourself48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene The FORT with Chris Powers is produced by Straight Up Podcasts

On this episode, Chris discusses Real Estate Syndication. He describes the differences between a syndication and a fund, the pros and cons of syndication, breakdowns of GPs and LPs, deal structures, fees, and Twitter questions from listeners. Enjoy! Follow Chris on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/FortWorthChris Learn more about Chris Powers and Fort Capital: www.FortCapitalLP.com Follow Chris on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/chrispowersjr/ Follow Fort Capital on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fort-capital (00:58) - Real Estate Syndication (01:52) - Syndication vs. a Fund (03:20) - Syndicating vs. Investing Your Own Capital (03:43) - How a Syndication Works (04:24) - General Partners  (06:14) - Limited Partners (08:27) - Advantages of Syndicating (10:17) - Advantages from a GP Perspective (11:25) - Advantages of Syndicating vs. a Fund (12:45) - Setting Terms As a GP (13:59) - Working With Institutional Capital (15:16) - Disadvantages for General Partners (16:43) - Disadvantages of Syndicating (19:09) - What LP’s Should Be Looking For in a General Partner (20:54) - Questions to Ask Potential General Partners (25:17) - Best Practices for Finding a Co-GP (27:59) - Types of Deal Structures and Their Merits (35:28) - Raising from Multiple Investors (36:42) - Creating Liquidity for LPs (43:48) - How Money is Made in the Syndicating Industry (46:56) - Type of Fees You Might See Out of a Syndicator (50:40) - How to Keep Alignment Between the GP & LP (51:50) - How do terms change between acquisitions and a development deal? (53:24) - Lenders  (56:35) - The Fort Capital Investor Onboarding Process  (1:02:54) - Technology Impacts as a Syndicator if You Decide to Use a Software Like Juniper Square (1:07:23) - Biggest Tailwinds in the Industry (1:12:15) - Data and Stats on How GPs and LPs are Looking at the World as it Relates to Syndicators (1:14:28) - Twitter Questions: Adjusting Acquisition and LP Return Criteria Given the Market (1:16:52) - What part of your structure has changed the most over time? (1:18:29) - What's the most surprising thing that investors are interested in? (1:20:25) - Wrap Up & Contact The FORT with Chris Powers is produced by Straight Up Podcasts

Welcome to the first episode in our newest series for The FORT: Lessons in Business (LIB). Our first LIB will cover communicating effectively in Investor Reporting. People love good news, and they're willing to hear bad news, but they hate surprises. Enjoy!  If you have any topic you would like us to cover in future LIBs, please tweet them at Chris or email him at thefortpodcast@gmail.com Follow Chris on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/FortWorthChris Learn more about Chris Powers and Fort Capital: www.FortCapitalLP.com Follow Chris on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/chrispowersjr/ Follow Fort Capital on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fort-capital The FORT with Chris Powers is produced by Straight Up Podcasts

Nick Farris has an extensive background in consulting and market analysis for health care real estate and senior living assets. He has functioned in advisory roles nationally with hundreds of developers, hospitals, health systems, healthcare REITs, and medical operators since 2006.  On this episode, Nick and Chris deep dive into Health Care Real Estate and how MedCore works with physicians to locate areas to develop medical facilities across the country. They also discuss Nick's work developing Senior living campuses, how they first met in college, what's next for the boomer generation, and more. Enjoy! Follow Chris on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/FortWorthChris Learn more about Chris Powers and Fort Capital: www.FortCapitalLP.com Follow Chris on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/chrispowersjr/ Nick on Twitter: (03:15) - Chris and Nick Meeting in College (07:04) - Nick’s Career Path After College Leading up to Today (14:16) - What’s the spectrum of Health Care as it relates to what you do? (19:16) - Where are you gathering all of the data for physicians? (23:44) - What’s the lead time between folks approaching you and when they need to find a place? (25:46) - Are physicians coming to you with a broad brush in mind or specific locations they want to set up a practice? (30:27) - What room is there for a physician in markets where there’s virtually no insurance coverage? (32:37) - What’s an orthopedic surgeon looking for? (35:02) - Data Availability Via Insurance Providers (35:56) - Are you involved in an ortho’s search for finding physicians to work with in an area they want to go to? (39:00) - What are the big drivers for how facilities are built? (41:30) - What is a client in for when they come to you to build a facility? (44:43) - Are physicians signing leases or joining the ownership group? (45:54) - How does the organization make money? (47:14) - How would a deal go south? (48:15) - Scarcity of Medical Facilities vs. Other Types of Real Estate Leasers (49:08) - What’s considered Elective Surgery? (52:22) - What’s a co-morbidity? (54:24) - Senior Housing (1:00:11) - How big are these campuses? (1:01:54) - How do you raise capital? (1:05:28) - What amenities are you adding to these campuses? (1:07:19) - Are memberships covered by insurance or private pay? (1:07:41) - Is the fact that people are living longer good for your business? (1:09:03) - What’s your reason and process for acquisitions? (1:10:16) - Does the government offer loans for financing in this area? (1:10:47) - What’s the next 10 years look like for the boomer generation? (1:14:22) - Do you have a childhood experience that has shaped who you have become? (1:19:34) - Do you have a morning routine? (1:21:46) - What’s the best advice you’ve been given? The FORT with Chris Powers is produced by Straight Up Podcasts