The Fort

Brent Beshore is the Founder & CEO of Permanent Equity, a family of companies investing in family-owned companies.  Permanent Equity invests with no intention of selling and with little to no debt.  Brent published "The Messy Marketplace" in 2019 as a resource to "demystify the buyers, the process, and the inevitable emotional journey that is selling a company".  Permanent Equity has been a leader providing valuable content and resources to small businesses all over - especially in the midst of the COVID crisis.  In this episode, Brent and Chris discuss Permanent Equity's navigation through the pandemic, Brent's Safe Harbor project, 'The Small Business Toolbox', outlooks for life after COVID-19, and much more. Enjoy!  For more information on Chris Powers and Fort Capital, visit www.FortCapitalLP.com Follow Chris on Twitter! @FortWorthChris 01:04 — Can you recall the specific moment when you realized how real COVID-19 was? 02:33 — What data are you seeing that’s most alarming to you? 06:24 — How do you invest in a market like this where it’s a win-win right now? 10:48 — Are there any additional filters that you’re adding into the questions for buying a business right now? 13:30 — Can you explain what Safe Harbor is and what interesting things have come of it? 16:13 — What is the 'Small Business Toolbox' and how do you decide what to write next? 18:37 — What is the biggest challenge you’re facing today that you feel you lack wisdom on? 21:03 — If you could consult a crystal ball about the future, what would you like to know so you can change your trajectory? 23:35 — What happens when a business shuts down but needs to start back up again? 28:45 — What's your outlook on the rest of the year? 33:43 — Is there anything you want to see come out of Washington? 36:45 — What do you think is going through Warren Buffet’s head right now? 38:40 — What is your haircut going to be? Books Mentioned:  Living Life Backward by David Gibson The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy by Neil Howe and William Strauss For more on Permanent Equity: www.permanentequity.com The FORT with Chris Powers is produced by Straight Up Podcasts

Cullen Aderhold is the Senior Director of Capital Markets at JLL. JLL is a global commercial real estate service across all major asset classes.  JLL provides tenant-rep/leasing solutions, property management, project design/management, capital markets solutions, and technology/it solutions to companies across the globe.  In this episode, Chris and Cullen discuss the most recent trends in capital markets due to the COVID-19 pandemic, lender strategies, private fund structures vs. REIT structure, hotel & retail loans, and much more. Enjoy! Follow Chris on Twitter @FortWorthChris For more information on Chris Powers and Fort Capital, visit www.FortCapitalLP.com 01:03 — If you had to describe your job, what do you do? How did you get to where you are today? 02:17 — What asset classes do you work with? Are they nationwide? 03:28 — Did you know you would get into this line of work, or did you stumble upon it? 06:20 — Are there certain things that great real estate investors do that set them apart from the rest? 10:27 — What has the last month been like in capital markets as an owner? 13:58 — Did you have a signed deal before this situation started? Did it move forward or could the lender rescind? 16:44 — Is anyone acquiring debt right now? If lenders are moving forward, are they borrower-dependent or asset-dependent? 19:21 — How are lenders pricing right now? 24:43 — Is a private fund structure similar to the mortgage REIT structure? 25:42 — Hotels and retail have been hit hardest—will they be the last loans to come back? 29:39 — What things are people getting loans for that we wouldn't have seen before? 31:15 — Is there a pent up demand for refinancing as soon as things recover? 33:02 — What will happen to loans that were going to be refinanced or sold? 35:40 — Do you or JLL deal with distressed debt situations? What happens to distressed debt that comes to market? 37:05 — Do you remember the moment that the COVID-19 pandemic began to feel very real?

Matt Lasky serves as Managing Partner and Senior Vice President of Equity Velocity Funds. He has advised clients nationally on over 1.3 million square feet of retail, mixed-use, and medical property since 2011. At Equity, he leads a team whose focus is on providing customized analytics and financial solutions to market strategy and capital markets clients nationally. The team brings deep experience in both multi-unit rollouts and acquisition/disposition work. In today's episode, he and Chris discuss lender attitudes during the COVID-19 pandemic, Matt's perspective on working as a principal owner in the medical real estate world, and much more. Enjoy!   For more information on Chris Powers and Fort Capital, visit www.FortCapitalLP.com Follow Chris on Twitter! @FortWorthChris  01:18 — Matt’s Background and His Career Up to This Point 04:41 — What was it about healthcare that intrigued you and brought you to Equity? 05:32 — What is it like focusing on both the service side and principal owner side of the business? 10:34 — How does a deal in this space come together? 13:10 — Is your fund a generalist fund or does each have its own mandate? 16:20 — What are you seeing on the front lines of Retail that you can share? 19:04 — Are lenders changing their attitudes during this COVID-19 crisis vs. the ’08 crash? 20:24 — Are there any best practices for handling rent relief? 23:55 — What is the difference between borrowing from CMBS vs. borrowing from a bank? 26:05 — Is there anything that's been permanently damaging for retailers? 28:33 — What worries you going forward after COVID-19? 32:30 — Are insurers paying receivables quicker to close the gap? 33:09 — Did you go into this pandemic with anything under contract? Has anything with these contracts changed due to COVID-19? 36:03 — Is Equity on pause with acquisitions? What’s would your plan be if a deal presented itself right now? 39:27 — Where do you see the rest of 2020 and 2021 going? When do we get back to ‘normal’? 42:17 — Are you seeing any leasing activity or has it halted? 45:12 — Do you see retail rents taking a huge hit w/ social distancing or will a new player come in and take advantage of it? 47:54 — Is there anything interesting you suspect we might see 18 months from now?   The FORT is produced by Straight Up Podcasts 

Moses Kagan, CEO of Adaptive Realty, joins Chris for his second appearance on The FORT Podcast. In this episode, they discuss how COVID-19 has affected the real estate market in Los Angeles. Moses gives his perspective on best practices providing rent relief to tenants, the effectiveness of Adaptive's all-cash buying strategy in this environment, capital markets, financing, opportunity zones, and much more. Enjoy! Follow Chris on Twitter @FortWorthChris For more information on Chris Powers and Fort Capital, visit www.fortcapitallp.com. 01:00 — Multifamily and COVID-19 in Los Angeles 02:30 — How is Los Angeles handling this compared to other parts of the country? 04:45 — How are you offering relief to tenants? 06:36 — What does “you don't have to pay rent” really mean? 07:23 — What could others learn from the way you’re providing rent relief? 11:35 — Now Until July: Worse, Better, or Same? 13:21 — What does the leasing experience look like now? 13:51 — Will this situation lead to an influx of tenants who were originally planning to buy? 15:03 — Did you have anything under contract prior to the pandemic? 15:54 — With an all-cash purchase strategy, has financing worked in your favor? 16:58 — What are you seeing in capital markets right now? 20:13 — How does getting a loan look different now versus 60 days ago? 22:08 — Has your underwriting process changed in terms of becoming comfortable with a price? 26:10 — 15% Drop in Rent vs. Purchase Price 27:08 — What does your equity environment look like? Are you currently raising capital? 31:29 — What are you doing in opportunity zones? 33:15 — Is there a specific time frame when capital needs to be deployed into an opportunity zone? 34:55 — If a deal walked in today, what would it have to look like for you to pursue it? 38:00 — Are you making distributions to investors or are you holding back to create a safety margin? 40:08 — What is different between now and ’08-’09? 43:11 — Are you changing your focus at all with hotel and retail becoming so cheap? 46:06 — Is there anything you're hoping to hear from Washington that you haven’t already? 49:24 — If you had to make a bold prediction for the end of 2021, what would most people not agree with you on? The FORT with Chris Powers is produced by Straight Up Podcasts

In this episode, Chris sits down with Rob Gandy—the Founding Principal of Cielo Property Group in Austin, TX. Rob is responsible for capital market engagement, financing, and acquisitions for Cielo. Prior to founding Cielo, Rob built a $60 million commercial real estate loan portfolio as a banker and previously served as a Vice President for Sandler O’Neill and Partners in New York where he traded municipal debt, agency debentures and collateralized mortgage obligations. They discuss Cielo's massive development in downtown Austin, entitlement risk in real estate deals, the effect of COVID-19 on Austin, and much more. Enjoy! Follow Chris on Twitter @FortWorthChris For more information on Chris Powers and Fort Capital, visit www.fortcapitallp.com. 01:44 — Founding Cielo Property Group and Rob’s Background 05:31 — A Single Tenant Focus 06:07 — Chapter 380 Development: Was Sam’s Club a distress deal? 09:02 — What should an owner think if the borrower knows there is an issue with the bank? 11:56 — Were you living in Austin during this deal? 13:59 — What was your source of capital? 16:23 — What was the original intent of the Austin Music Hall development and how did it become this ‘creative office’? 22:38 — What data gave you the confidence to build a spec office building? 26:22 — Are there any indicators that Austin is being over-built? 30:55 — When you buy a deal like this, is it fully-entitled or are you taking on the risk? 33:15 — Is single-tenant NNN something you’ve always done? 34:20 — What is the status of leasing / transacting in Austin right now? Is it paused due to COVID-19? 36:49 — How are retail tenants responding to the current climate? 38:54 — Are office tenants responding any differently? 40:12 — What are your best practices for providing rent relief to tenants? 42:04 — What is your outlook for the remainder of 2020? Is Cielo going to be actively seeking opportunities? 43:48 — When do you see normal activity resuming?

Bryan Perkins joins Chris for his second appearance on The FORT Podcast. Bryan is the CEO of Novaria Group, a manufacturer in the aerospace industry that makes parts for airlines and government defense groups—an industry that has clearly been hit hardest by COVID-19. Bryan is offering great insight into how Novaria has responded, the landscape his industry finds itself in right now, Bryan's recent sale to KKR, the future of M&A in the airline industry, the Boeing situation, and more. Enjoy! For more information on Chris Powers and Fort Capital, visit www.fortcapitallp.com. Follow Chris on Twitter @FortWorthChris 01:46 — How has COVID-19 impacted your world and your industry? 03:55 — How does this impact compare to the impact of 9/11? 04:33 — How does this impact an airline? 06:44 — What has the transformation been in new aircraft transactions? 09:24 — Have you seen any declines in the defense industry? 11:26 — What have you seen, in terms of making new parts, over the last 30 days? 13:48 — Selling the Business to KKR 16:16 — How did you pick a banker to lead the charge on the deal? 18:00 — With KKR as a partner, is this situation more strategic and agile? 22:24 — What does KKR provide that allows you to obtain more robust data? 24:10 — What is the role of people who are solely finding lean solutions? 26:24 — What will the M&A landscape look like for Novaria as you navigate COVID-19? 31:08 — You were optimistic in ’09, do you have that same outlook now? Are sellers more interested in selling now because of this environment? 33:35 — If I was a seller, how long would it take me to sell my business to Novaria? 34:33 — Is the Boeing 737 MAX issue less impactful because of the current environment? 37:36 — With this paradigm shift in consumer behavior, are people going to figure out that they don’t need to fly as often? 40:44 — What are your thoughts on private aviation? Will it be the last to come back? 43:53 — Do you see an opportunity from this situation that will strengthen the aviation industry? 46:37 — What information does the public need to hear in order to become comfortable flying again? 49:52 — What did you tell everyone after you won the Gilbert W. Speed Award? 51:50 — How have you shifted operations in a manufacturing factory to practice social distancing? 53:21 — How are you, as a leader, communicating with your team throughout this?

In this episode, Chris is sharing his thoughts about commercial real estate as we cross the 30-day mark with Coronavirus. He talks about his experience coming to terms with this new reality, offers advice on working with banks, the impact across different asset classes, his predictions for the future of Industrial, and much more. Enjoy—and stay safe.  For more information on Chris Powers and Fort Capital, visit www.fortcapitallp.com.  Follow Chris on Twitter! @fortworthchris  00:00 — Chris’ Personal Experience Coping with the Outbreak 07:00 — Living in a Zero-Demand World 08:22 — Capital Markets for Real Estate 09:09 — Low Interest Rates 10:16 — The Halt of All Transactions 11:22 — Advice on Working with Banks 17:58 — Property Taxes & Real Estate Valuation 18:43 — How Different Asset Classes Are Impacted 30:30 — Buying a Home in 2020 31:17 — The Need for a Standard Office 34:48 — The Strong Industrial Asset Class 39:44 — Senior Housing, Student Housing & Fundraising 43:15 — Construction & Technology in Real Estate 48:30 — Why Landlords Can’t Be the Liquidity for American Businesses 51:11 — Closing Thoughts Mentioned Resources: — Read Tom Barrack's article on Preventing COVID-19 From Infecting the Commercial Mortgage Market at https://bit.ly/mentioned-article. — Email Chris for more information on Property Tax Relief at TheFortPodcast@gmail.com.

Will Churchill is the Owner of Frank Kent Motor Company, as well as several restaurants in Fort Worth, including Heim BBQ. Frank Kent Company 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. In this episode, Will and Chris discuss the family history of Frank Kent, how the automotive industry has been hit by COVID-19, how Frank Kent has battled the pandemic's effect, the specific impact on Fort Worth, and more. Enjoy and stay safe! For more information on Chris Powers and Fort Capital, visit www.fortcapitallp.com. Follow Chris on Twitter! @fortworthchris 02:08 — How did you become involved with Frank Kent and the automotive industry? 03:25 — Did you always know you would get into the industry, or were you forced to join the family business? 04:22 — Can you shed some light on what a car dealership would've been like in the ‘20s and ‘30s? Were the leading manufacturers the same? 06:33  — What are some of the manufacturers that you own and operate? 07:20 — What is the process of becoming ‘worthy’ to take on a new car brand? 08:50 — Can you shed some light on accessories / distribution and how you’ve become successful with that side of the business? 10:35 —When did you begin to see demand decline due to COVID-19? 13:28 — Are cars still selling? 16:05 — Do you have a person in charge to monitor changes from COVID-19? How do you distribute information to your team? 17:23 — Has demand actually decreased? Is the automotive industry included in the stimulus package? 18:45 — Is there a difference between the 2008 recession and the current situation? 21:27 — If more people are buying online, do you think this will permanently change the car buying process? 25:10 — How do car dealerships make money? 28:06 — The Lack of Auto Technicians 30:16 — You were Chairman of the Cadillac Dealer Council and sat on the GM Dealer Advisory Group Board, what did you learn through that experience? 33:04 — Are there silver linings in this situation that will make the auto industry better? 35:10 — There was a $1B acquisition that fell through today, do you expect automobile mergers and acquisitions to be on hold? 36:43 — What are you looking for that will indicate the industry is picking back up? 38:08 — What makes a great car salesman? What makes the best, the best? Why does that role get a negative reputation? 41:43 — Is the car dealership postcard actually effective? How often does someone show up to a dealership to browse and end up leaving with a brand-new car? 45:53 — The food and beverage industry is on life support, can you shed some light on what you’re hearing? 49:21 — How many of these restaurants do you think will close indefinitely from this pandemic? The FORT with Chris Powers is produced by Straight Up Podcasts.

Patrick Coddou is the Founder and CEO of Supply, a men's shaving and grooming direct-to-consumer business, who appeared on Shark Tank in late 2019. This Part 2 episode recaps Patrick's experience on the show (or at least what he can share!) and how the show has radically helped his business. Chris and Patrick also discuss the power of Shopify, pulling products off Amazon, the power of Facebook and SEO. Enjoy!  For more information on Chris Powers and Fort Capital, visit www.fortcapitallp.com.  Follow Chris on Twitter! @fortworthchris Follow Patrick on Twitter @SoundslikeCanoe 02:24 — How far in advance was your Shark Tank episode filmed and how hard was it to keep it a secret? 04:56 — How long does it take to perfect the pitch for the Sharks? 06:24 — What was the day of the pitch like? 10:29 — How long was the pitch to the Sharks? 11:21 — Was there a point where you doubted getting a deal? 16:04 — What did you do to celebrate? 17:12 — How did you prepare your site and supply chain prior to the episode airing? 19:55 — What was the immediate aftermath of the airing? 22:15 — Did you have any issues with the site during the rush of sales? 23:37 — Did you close the deal with Robert the Shark? 25:36 — Has the Coronavirus affected your business? What are you hearing from a supply chain/e-commerce perspective? 27:40 — What makes Shopify so great? 29:28 — Why is Shopify better than other platforms? 31:00 — Why did you stop selling on Amazon? 35:27 — Why are you more worried about Facebook than Shopify? 36:04 — How do you reach customers on the internet? How do you utilize SEO tools? 39:03 — What does the rest of the year look like? How has your strategy changed since going on Shark Tank? 41:07 — Did other investors reach out after Shark Tank? The FORT with Chris Powers is produced by Straight Up Podcasts 

Travis Heim is the founder and pitmaster of Heim Barbeque, one of the most successful barbeque restaurants in Fort Worth! Heim was also recently voted as having the "Best Ribs in Texas" by Food Network. In this episode, Chris and Travis discuss how Travis discovered his passion for cooking, starting out selling brisket from the trunk of his '99 Civic, the 'Impossible Meat' trend in his industry, opening up a Dallas location and more. Enjoy!  For more information on Chris Powers and Fort Capital, visit www.fortcapitallp.com. Follow Chris on Twitter! @fortworthchris  02:05 — Travis’ Background and The Story of Heim BBQ 03:02 — How did you realize you were great at cooking BBQ? 05:44 — What were your previous jobs before you started Heim? 13:13 — Chris’ First Brisket from Travis in a Dive Bar 14:48 — Travis’ Wife Joins the Team 15:25 — How long did it take to create a full menu beyond brisket? (Ft. The invention of Bacon Burnt Ends) 16:22 — What was the first day of business like? (Selling BBQ out of the back of a ’99 Civic) 20:40 — When did you meet your business partner, Will Churchill? 24:00 — Heim has been incredible at Marketing, especially on social media. Did someone teach you this or how did it come about? (You can follow Travis on Twitter @HeimBBQ) 27:50 — What does a day look like running the food truck? 31:11 — How has your day-to-day changed in the last 5 years? 34:53 — How do you keep your IP a secret, especially with employees leaving? 38:39 — When you opened the truck, were you sourcing the meat you have now? What's the process of selecting the meat you serve? 45:26 — How far in advance do orders need to be placed? 47:22 — What do you think about the ‘Impossible Meat' phenomenon? 48:56 — What trends are you seeing from delivery apps vs. coming into the store? 51:26 — If someone was starting a restaurant, what are some words of wisdom you would have for them? 54:25 — What's the biggest brisket mistake you can make and the easiest way to improve your brisket? 56:36 — Do you have a mentor that has helped you along the way or someone that you haven’t met that you’d love to meet? 59:55 — Do you have a favorite interview question?  The Fort with Chris Powers is produced by Straight Up Podcasts