The Fort

On today's episode of The FORT, Chris is joined by Trent and Tyler Leon, Co-Founders of Tilden Capital, which was formed to acquire mineral & royalty assets across the United States. Since its inception, they have acquired 160,000 net royalty acres. Tyler and Trent are also former professional golfers and have been as close as brothers with Chris for nearly a decade. Today they'll discuss their journey into the mineral business, evaluating the worth of minerals, vertical and horizontal drilling, leasing vs. buying minerals, the oil and gas industry in light of the election and COVID, and much more! Enjoy.    Follow Chris on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/FortWorthChris Learn more about Chris Powers & Fort Capital: www.FortCapitallp.com (02:45) - Tyler and Trent’s Story (06:13) - Were oil and gas always part of your life? (07:06) - Was there a moment that The Eagleford came up on your radar as something that would be important? (09:19) - Did you start in the Permian Basin? (10:14) - What triggered you to be in the Delaware Basin? (12:32) - Why was no one else seeing what you were seeing? (13:41) - How do you evaluate what a mineral is worth? (14:32) - How do you find out if and when something will be drilled? (15:56) - Why doesn't it matter to the mineral owner how much it costs to drill? (16:49) - Why can you drill so much more in some areas than others? (17:48) - Do you shoot for things that produce more oil or more gas? (19:56) - What’s the differences between the Permian and Delaware basin? Why do people prefer one over the other? (21:00) - What are the main reasons people will sell their minerals? (24:20) - Do you think Vertical Drilling will make a comeback? (25:20) - Leasing vs. Buying Minerals (27:00) - Three Ways to Make Money in Minerals (28:17) - What happens legally when a person passes away without a plan to transfer ownership of minerals? (29:09) - What’s the difference in buying between Texas and New Mexico? (31:00) - What does the change in The White House mean for the industry? (33:51) - Is there a rush of operators getting a permit to beat the inauguration? (34:13) - How did your partnership with EnCap impact your career? (35:48) - What have you learned since working with one of the best oil and gas PE firms in the world? (37:16) - How has your strategy evolved since 2015? (38:06) - What amount of oil are you getting when you drill? (39:18) - If you’re going to sell, is it better before the first well is drilled or after a year when 80% of the oil is taken out? (41:16) - If you get someone to sell, how do you get the deal to closing? (43:54) - How do you confirm you get every drop of oil that you deserve? (46:58) - What do you think the industry for mineral owners will be going forward beyond ‘buy it, flip it’? (48:33) - Is it fair to say Royalty Trusts have not out-performed in the public markets? (49:43) - What gets capital flowing back into the industry again? (52:09) - Is Wall Street out of touch with how this industry impacts the world? (52:40) - Does it bode well for oil prices that there's a hampering of drilling? (53:29) - What was the peak rig count vs. today? (54:26) - What’s one of the biggest misnomers about the industry? (57:11) - What does ESG mean and why is it a big thing to talk about? (59:01) - Is there a new revolution coming to get more oil out of the ground? (1:00:51) - How has golf impacted your career? (1:03:08) - What’s the best advice you’ve ever received? The FORT with Chris Powers is produced by Straight Up Podcasts

Chris Jackson serves as President for Stream Realty. He oversees the company’s business units and is responsible for the growth and expansion of Stream’s businesses nationally. With twelve regional operating platforms nationwide, over 200,000,000 square feet of commercial buildings under leasing and/or management, and $2.9 billion in transaction volume annually, Stream is one of the fastest-growing commercial real estate firms in the country. On this episode, Chris and Chris discuss the Industrial Real Estate Market, the growth of Stream since Chris J. joined, Stream's process of expanding into new markets, market intelligence, and the explosive growth of data centers. Enjoy. Follow Chris on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/FortWorthChris Learn more about Chris Powers & Fort Capital: www.FortCapitalLP.com   (01:24) - Chris’ Story and Career (02:31) - What was it about Trammell Crow that created inspiration for the next generation of businesses? (03:39) - What's the difference between the industrial market in the 90’s vs. today?  (05:22) - Are you seeing these big bombers being built in the center city or a smaller product being developed? (6:23) - Is it safe to say the industrial market is better in a post-COVID world vs. in Jan and Feb? (07:37) - Where did you go after leaving Trammell Crow? (09:15) - Why do you think Robert Lynn always comes up in conversation as a fantastic Junior Program? (10:08) - What was your first day like at Stream? (11:36) - What has Stream grown to offer since you joined? (12:13) - What markets are you in today and what’s your job like now as President? (13:39) - Where is the hub located? (14:02) - How often do you open in a new market? (14:53) - How do you know it's time to get into a new market? (16:04) - Does each city have its own ownership or do they report back to Dallas? (17:20) - Do you hire from within to expand to keep culture aligned? (19:36) - What does Market Intelligence mean? (21:56) - How would you tell a recent grad to learn a market? (24:19) - What type of technology are you using to get the tons of information you have access to out to people that need it? (26:09) - Were you early to the game in developing Data Centers? How did you get into it? (27:36) - How big of a business is it now? (27:55) - Is it fair to say the anticipated demand for data centers is endless right now? (28:36) -  What makes a great ownership group? What do they all have in common? (29:41) - What do you think about the nationwide real estate industry? How do you manage all of the data you have? (31:47) - The Industrial Business for Stream (33:08) - What will happen to office from your perspective? (35:50) - Are you seeing leasing activity pick up at all or are is it all still on pause for the moment? (37:33) - Comments on Retail (40:19) - Is there any market in the US that people aren't aware could potentially boom? (41:32) - When you’re developing industrial across the country, is it easiest to accomplish in Texas? (42:27) - Development Fees for Markets with Long Lead Times (43:51) - Are you seeing any multi-level projects go up? (44:27) - Cold-Storage Development (46:45) - How big is your marketing team? When did it become apparent how important marketing was for Stream? (48:54) - How do you think about the consolidation of the industry? (51:30) - What did your world look like when COVID hit? (55:57) - Do you have a morning routine? (56:50) - What is the best advice you’ve ever received? (57:50) - If you owned a billboard, what would you put on it? The FORT with Chris Powers is produced by Straight Up Podcasts

Sam Parr, Co-Founder and CEO of The Hustle, joins Chris for round 2 on The FORT. (Listen to Part 1 here) On this episode, Sam explains the process of hiring a new CEO to replace himself, what his role at The Hustle and Trends.co will be going forward, his exodus from San Francisco, the Austin real estate market, the impact of the Trends community and the future of media through the lens of the public's distrust of mainstream news. Enjoy!  Follow Chris on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/FortWorthChris Learn more about Chris Powers & Fort Capital: www.FortCapitalLP.com (01:52) - Why did you replace yourself as CEO? (03:31) - How long between having this realization and actually pulling the trigger? (03:57) - How many people did you interview along the way? (04:39) - Starting vs. Scaling (05:13) - What is the CEO you’re hiring going to do differently than you? (06:20) - What are your growth expectations from a new CEO? (07:20) - In those 14 interviews, how many times did you talk to the person you ultimately hired? (07:41) - Was there a silver bullet that told you this was the one? (08:18) - Who on your team was involved in the process? (08:52) - How is the business structured now? (10:06) - Who reports to who? (10:56) - What would this person say their expectation is of you? (12:19) - When will this hire go public? (12:38) - Can you give any insight as to how you’re paying this person? (13:33) - How do you describe what Trends is? (15:12) - What’s your position within this community? (16:42) - How can people get the most value out of Trends? (18:16) - Is there anything that comes to mind that you didn’t expect to grow out of Trends? (19:38) - Are people pitching deals there or are they just meeting online and then making deals outside of it? (19:51) - The Importance of Facebook Groups & Communities (21:37) - Are you permanently out of SF? (22:18) - Would you consider yourself a remote company? (22:42) - Do you enjoy the new way things are structured? (23:25) - What’s your opinion on the future of SF? (26:10) - Austin & Real Estate (28:59) - Sam’s Spontaneity (30:30) - Sam's Wife (34:00) - The Newsletter Industry (37:20) - How expensive is it to acquire a customer today? (37:39) - Is there anything that keeps you up at night as to what could make the business fail? (39:02) - What do you think about the decline of trust in news media as it pertains to your operation? (47:17) -   Are we about to enter a new wave of media? (48:59) - Is it even possible to build a news station that only puts out good, positive news? Sam’s Twitter The FORT with Chris Powers is produced by Straight Up Podcasts  

Today Chris chats with Brandon Laughridge, President of North Terrace Property Management (NTPM) located in Kansas City. Brandon is accountable for doubling the business' units since acquiring the business in 2017. On this episode, he and Chris discuss Brandon's background working in SEO, starting a digital marketing firm, his process of acquiring NTPM, the explosive growth of Kansas City, and some property management horror stories. Enjoy!  Follow Chris on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/FortWorthChris Learn more about Chris Powers & Fort Capital: www.FortCapitalLP.com (02:39) - Brandon’s Background (05:27) - Did you have any SEO experience walking into that first job? (06:00) - When you left in 2009, did you start your own company or move into another job? (08:03) - How did you come to the decision that it was right to walk away from the business at such a young age? (09:00) - What was Spread Effect? (10:25) - How long after you stepped away from the business did you decide to sell? (11:16) - What did you learn from that experience? (13:21) - Why did you decide to buy a property management company? (20:32) - How big was the business at the time you bought it? How did you value it when deciding what to pay? (22:32) - What was the first day like after you purchased the business and stepped in as the operator? (25:06) - What was it like surprising everyone as the true undercover boss? How were you able to smooth things over with folks who might've been resentful? (26:40) - Did the owner have an earn-out of any kind? (26:56) - Was the previous owner engaged for those last 9 months? How did that relationship pan out? (28:18) - What is the size of the business today? (28:25) - Why is managing a single-family home harder than managing multi-family units? (29:37) - Has it been organic growth or was there a strategy in place? (31:15) - Are most of your clients professional investors or would they be 'mom and pop' style? (32:02) - Do you take a long-term approach when buying? (34:30) - Is there any technology you’ve implemented that is making the business more profitable? (37:28) - Is there anything that COVID has presented that forced you to either temporarily or permanently shift? (40:38) - How do you think about the business for the next ten years? (42:34) - Do you have a property management horror story? (45:11) - Are you on the Kansas or Missouri side of KC? (45:54) - Why do people choose to live on one side or the other? (46:37) - Why is Kansas City experiencing the success that it has lately? (50:00) - Is there a main industry that is the draw to that city? (51:23) - Do you have a morning routine? (53:10) - What’s the best advice you’ve ever received? (55:38) - Do you have a book you’d recommend? Book: King of Cash - Christopher Winans (56:33) - What's the best way to contact you?  Brandon's Twitter   

John joined Airshare as CFO in 2016 and became President and CEO in March 2018. He originally fine-tuned his consultative skills and financial acumen working in progressively higher roles at State Street, Accenture, and KPMG. On this episode, Chris and John discuss the industry of private aviation, misnomers about flying private, aviation throughout COVID, what the next ten years might look like, technology making aviation more affordable and safer, and John's career path. Enjoy!Follow Chris on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/FortWorthChrisLearn more about Chris Powers & Fort Capital: www.FortCapitalLP.com(02:07) - John's Story(05:58) - What was your life like in the consulting role?(06:28) - Why do you have a passion for the organizational and operational side of business?(07:07) - What was the series of events that landed you in the CEO role?(07:51) - How would you describe AirShare?(10:07) - What are the advantages of a JetCard?(11:03) - What are some advantages to fractional ownership?(12:08) - What are the ongoing costs once you’ve bought a fraction of a plane?(14:50) - How did you choose the Phenom 100 & 300?(16:19) - Do pilot licenses allow you to fly multiple types of planes?(16:50) - How many jets do you have?(17:09) - Do plane owners that allow you to manage their aircraft let you lease it out to shareowners?(17:36) - If I owned 100% of a Phenom 300, what does it cost to maintain it per year?(18:18) - What are the most common maintenance issues aircraft owners will run into?(19:14) - How are you set up around the country with where you can land and store planes?(20:04) - How many customers do you have? (20:57) - What do you tell someone not located in density that wants to be a customer?(21:19) - What’s the market like for a private pilot? What are their rates?(21:46) - Where are your pilots coming from?(22:34) - When is a good time for a business owner to consider private aviation?(26:33) - How long do you keep a plane in the fleet?(27:13) - Who’s the typical buyer on the way out?(28:05) - What’s your ownership structure at AirShare?(28:48) - How do you think about growth?(30:59) - Do you host customer events?(31:57) - Having Patrick Mahomes as a Client(32:49) - Can you charter something by the day for a larger group?(33:53) - What's the difference between AirShare and Warren Buffet’s NetJets?(36:04) - What were the first few months of COVID like for the private air industry?(38:02) - Is there a permanent shift of people flying private?(40:03) - Are there states that are harder to fly into than others right now?(40:33) - Is there anything you’re watching for economically that will give people hope in the coming months?(41:57) - Is a COVID vaccine the key to opening everything back up?(48:24) - What do you think the industry will look like in 10 years?(50:34) - What do your gas contracts look like?(51:00) - How much fuel do you buy per year?(51:24) - Are there any other risks you look out for besides a crash?(1:02:54) - Do you plan on being part of the consolidation of the industry?(1:05:18) - How does a Maintenance Contract work?(1:05:55) - Reading Habits(1:06:35) - If you could put anything up on a billboard, what would you say?Contact John at www.flyairshare.com

As CEO of Midway, Jonathan Brinsden guides the overall business strategy and operations which have led to the company’s creation of a $2B portfolio of core mixed-use assets. On this episode, Jonathan and Chris talk about Jonathan's journey up to joining Midway, they discuss the Houston market as it navigates the COVID crisis, where retail and hospitality will go in the future, and Jonathan's experience with ULI and the Midway Foundation. Enjoy! Follow Chris on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/FortWorthChris Learn more about Chris Powers & Fort Capital: www.FortCapitalLP.com (02:50) - Jonathan’s Background and Journey to Midway (06:54) - Can you describe how the Town & Country Village deal came about and what the last 15 years of working on that project have been like? (10:29) - What was the draw to this property back in 2004? (12:12) - When you bought it, did you have to force the tenants out or let their leases run dry? (14:00) - How do you arrive at a 'final plan’ with a deal that big?  (17:11) - Where do you stand today with Town & Country Village? (17:51) - How do you program the experiential factor of your properties? (20:55) - What makes an amenity have longevity? (22:34) - How is Houston holding up in a post-COVID world? (24:03) - Is Houston as dependent on oil and gas today as it was 20 years ago? (24:54) - Is it ultimately a good thing for developers that the city of Houston doesn’t have a lot of zoning Laws? (26:37) - What are you seeing in retail now and how has it progressed since March? (28:56) - The Hospitality Side of Retail (30:08) - Are tenants out in the market or is everything just dead? (31:18)  - Is there anything you’re seeing in lease proposals that you hadn’t seen before? (32:36) - Are Houston office tenants going back? Is there permanent damage to office usage with the realization of WFH? (38:09) - Is there anything in terms of new technology that will make things safer for the next few years? (39:55) - Will you be aggressively looking to acquire if the opportunity presents itself? (41:57) - What's the state of new development for retail and hospitality projects? (42:52) - Are your developments public/private or just private? (45:35) - In a public/private partnership, which side is the first to approach a project and present to the other side for consideration? (49:00) - Do you have any opinion on the rising property taxes in TX? (51:05) - What has ULI meant to you and why do you think it’s important? (53:41) - What’s the Midway Foundation? (57:48) - Do you have a morning routine? (59:43) - What's the best advice you’ve ever been given? (1:02:25) - If you could put any message on a billboard, what would it be? The FORT with Chris Powers is produced by Straight Up Podcasts

Chris sits down with Stanton Williams, Executive Advisor at Culture Index, a personality profiling system and process that allows leaders to determine where their staff is best suited within an organization as well as hiring the best possible people for a role. On this episode, Chris and Stanton break down every aspect of the Culture Index, Chris elaborates on how much this has helped him personally as well as the Fort Capital team, some experiences Stanton has had in helping organizations move from the 'Start' phase into the 'Scale' phase, and what kind of traits are among folks who are elected to high political office. Enjoy!  Follow Chris on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/FortWorthChris Learn more about Chris Powers & Fort Capital: www.FortCapitallp.com (04:19) - Stanton's Background (11:38) - What is the Culture Index? (13:20) - Who created the Culture Index? (16:44) - Breaking Down the 7 Traits Measured in the Culture Index (17:07) - Autonomy (18:26) - Sociability (19:59) - Pace (22:21) - Conformity (24:15) - Energy Units (24:54) - Logic (25:49) - Ingenuity (26:43) - The Culture Index Survey (28:04) - The Combinations of Traits and Patterns (28:37) - The 4 Types of People (28:51) - Visionaries (29:36) - Technical People (30:25) - Social People (31:15) - Organizational People (31:53) - Complementary People that Should Surround You and What Buckets Pair Up Well Together (33:22) - When you meet with a company for the first time and they hire you, what happens from there? (35:12) - What do you say if people say you’re full of shit? (37:30) - How often do you see people that have reverse polarity? (38:53) - Do you ever see patterns with someone being in the same role in multiple companies and yet they still fall under reverse polarity? (40:03) - Assuming a company is able to scale but stays small, are there common themes that serve as the reason they stay small? (42:06) - What category do inventors typically fall in? (43:44) - What do you tell the person who’s able to start the company but doesn't realize they can't scale it? (45:40)  - Do most small businesses even know what they want? (47:27) - The two types of CEOs: The Starter and The Scaler (49:31) - When does The Starter know that their time is up? (51:33) - The “C Job” (56:18) - The Cost of Turnover (57:26) - Do you have any Culture Index success stories? Book: The Dichotomy of Leadership by Jocko Wilink (1:03:20) - The Personality Traits of a Politician (1:07:55) - Why don’t companies use this? (1:10:35) - Is there really no way for people to change who they are? (1:13:39) - What would you tell someone who says they want to change? (1:14:50) - Do you have a morning routine? (1:16:03) - What's the best advice you’ve ever been given? (1:16:29) - If you had a billboard that you could put anything on, what would it say? (1:17:40) - What is the best way for people to contact you? Email Stanton: swilliams@cultureindex.com The FORT with Chris Powers is produced by Straight Up Podcasts

Zach Aarons & Aaron Block are the Co-Founders of MetaProp VC, the most active early-stage real estate and PropTech investor globally with 125+ investments under their portfolio. On this episode, Chris talks with Aaron and Zach about their journey to becoming partners, the NYC venture capital world, the emergence of PropTech as an investable asset class, their processes for investing in companies, what early-stage founders do well when raising capital, and much more. Enjoy! Follow Chris on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/FortWorthChris Learn more about Chris Powers & Fort Capital: www.FortCapitalLP.com (02:44) - Zach’s Background  (09:52) - Why do you say you weren’t capable of building and scaling a tech company? (13:21) - Aaron’s Background (16:48) - What ultimately led you to raise capital and start a fund? (18:08) - How large was the first fund? What are some things looking back that you didn’t expect? (20:48) - Did Zak Schwarzman have a VC background or institutional money experience? (24:23) - How large was your second fund? (24:28) - How much is being invested in PropTech globally? (25:02) - How many deals do you see per year vs. how many you ultimately invest in? (25:52) - Which things within deals jump out to you that immediately cause you to say 'no'? (29:50) - What are good founders doing well while they’re raising money? (34:17) - Do you require founders to have a co-founder? (36:10) - Do you care if the founder has a real estate background? (39:42) - What would a founder say is the value given to you from MetaProp post-funding? (41:56) -  How often do you communicate with the founders you work with? (46:59) - What's the difference between leading a round vs. just participating in a round? (50:12) - What does a typical project look like for your consulting and advisory side of the business? (51:27) - Is there a certain asset type that is getting more investment than others? (54:02) - What kind of technology is around single-family and multi-family? (55:35) - Is PropTech aiding in the effort to get people back into the office or the WFH situation? (56:33) - Do you think the idea of COVID Cleaning & thermal scanning could be seen as short-sighted? (59:55) - Do you have a crazy 5-10 year prediction? (1:00:49) - Do you have a crazy investment that got away? (1:03:29) - Do you have a morning routine? (1:04:03) - If you owned a billboard on a major highway and could put whatever you wanted on there, what would it say? (1:04:48) - How can people reach you? Email Zach: zaarons@metaprop.vc Book: PropTech101 The FORT with Chris Powers is produced by Straight Up Podcasts

On this episode, Fort Capital CEO Chris Powers outlines the underwriting process on industrial deals from start to finish making it simple to understand whether you’re green or a seasoned veteran. This episode will provide an outline for how these deals get done and the mistakes that a lot of people make along the way so you can deal smarter in the future.  Enjoy!  For more on Underwriting, visit the Fort Capital website here.  Follow Chris on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/FortWorthChris Learn more about Chris Powers & Fort Capital: www.FortCapitallp.com (01:07) - What is Underwriting? (02:14) - Variables that Contribute to the Value in Underwriting (02:40) - Market, Demographic and their Respective Trends (03:50) - Purchase Price (04:15) - Expenses (05:04) - Modeling Expenses Out in a 5-Year Model (05:21) - Taxes & Insurance (06:15) - Tenants (07:03) - Where Rent is Today vs. the Market Rate (07:59) - Tenant Renewal Probability (09:55) - Current Vacancies (10:42) - Capital Expenditure Requirements (11:44) - Tenant Improvement Costs (12:26) - Underwriting the Capital Structure & Refinance Scenarios (13:49) - What does an exit scenario look like? (15:15) - Things People Miss and Mistakes We’ve Missed Along the Way (18:45) - How Fort Capital Thinks About the Process of Doing a Deal (19:59) - How Long the Underwriting Process Should Take (20:42) - Where We Get Most of Our Data (21:12) - Where does information live when underwriting? How is it communicated to the team & non-team? (22:58) - Final Thoughts on Underwriting (23:58) - Writing an Investment Memo (25:10) - What We Think about Presenting in Our Memos (26:12) - Reasons to Acquire (26:38) - Location Overview (27:09) - The Property Itself (27:35) - Tenant Overview (28:10) - Sources and Uses of Funds (29:02) - Financial Summary & What Investors Can Expect in Return (30:22) - Partnership Terms (31:48) - Models & Return Summary (32:17) - Property Photos & Market Map (33:02) - Conclusion & Free Resources from Fort Capital The FORT with Chris Powers is produced by Straight up Podcasts

Barry Davis is the CEO of EnLink Midstream, one of the largest midstream energy companies in the United States. On this episode, he and Chris discuss an emphasis on hard work and relationships in business, the state of oil & gas in 2020, the Better Man organization, as well as the importance of faith in business leadership. Enjoy!  Follow Chris on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/FortWorthChris Learn more about Chris Powers & Fort Capital: www.FortCapitallp.com (02:17) - Barry’s Story (05:14) - How did that early emphasis on hard work and relationships influence your teen years and intro into the business world? (06:22) - How did you go from being a landman to starting your first company? (09:09) - Was there a certain opportunity or experience that made you to take the leap? (10:01) - How would you describe the Midstream business in 2020? (11:08) - What was the outside capital environment? What did the first day in the office look like? (12:32) -  Can you paint a picture of where the company is today? (14:10) - What’s life like as a private CEO vs. a public CEO? (16:25) - Do things like strategy and vision evolve when you go from 50 employees to 1,000+? (17:48) - What's the state of oil & gas today and is this different from cycles in the past? (22:09) - What are the businesses that will survive COVID doing right now? (23:26) - How do you view ESG? (Environmental, Social & Corporate Governance) (25:54) - How Chris and Barry Met and the Significance of this Episode (26:59) - How did thinking about a balanced life and doing things differently from others in business captivate you? (29:25) - How are you able to incorporate faith with business leadership? (32:04) - Are there certain things someone in their 30's can do that will set them up for their 2nd half of life? (34:18) - What is the Better Man organization? (37:52) - What is biblical manhood vs. how manhood is defined by today’s culture? (39:16) - What’s the experience like in the curriculum? (40:54) - When did you get involved with the Halftime Institute and how has it impacted you? (43:17) - How do you plan on spending the 2nd half of your life? (44:38) - Do you have a morning routine? (45:41) - What does ‘do the right thing and you’ll always be able to go back to where you’ve been’ mean? (47:06) - What’s a book you’ve read that has had an impact on you? The Bible Halftime by Bob Beuford 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen Covey Every Good Endeavor by Tim Keller (48:53) - If you had a billboard that you could put anything on for the world to see, what would you put? The FORT with Chris Powers is produced by Straight Up Podcasts