1. Why did you choose Private Lending?

I started my career in 2003 working for a commercial real estate private equity company called Buchanan Street Partners located in Newport Beach, CA.  After the housing collapse, I started my own company in Orange County, CA, that purchased SFR assets at trustee sale. That predecessor company expanded with affiliate companies focused on brokerage, title/escrow, and construction. We brought all aspects of the business in-house and bought and sold 2,500 homes totaling over $1.5 billion nationally.   Given our principal experience, Easy Street Capital and private lending was a natural evolution beginning in 2015. I chose to evolve the platform to private lending to 1) take advantage of industry fragmentation, 2) scale efficiently, and 3) provide our investors with the best risk adjusted return available. 

2. What is your current role and what do you do day-to-day?

My efforts focus on short/long-term strategy, capital structuring, and overall economic performance of the company across all divisions. Easy Street stays nimble to continually meet the ever-changing demands of the market. Therefore, it’s important for me to outline a high-level vision while maintaining an “in the trenches” understanding of the day-to-day challenges.

3. What excites you about your role today?

I’m excited about the potential of the Easy Street team!  I referenced this quote at our all-company meeting this past December from the book Good to Great. “If you have the wrong people, it doesn’t matter if you discover the right direction; you still won’t have great company. Great vision without great people is irrelevant.” We have an exceptional team at Easy Street Capital, and we are dedicated to building a debt platform structured for the long term. We are excited to be investing heavily in technology/software to create greater efficiency while continuing to maintain a personal relationship with our borrowers.   

4. Can you explain a time where you faced adversity or had struggles early on in your career? Where did it all begin? How did these experiences mold and shape you into the leader you are today?

I was working in commercial real estate private equity during the financial crisis of 2007-2008 which created significant adversity. Lots of panic, layoffs, and real estate investors losing everything they had built. At that time, exuberance was off the charts and people believed housing values would never go down. I remember attending industry conferences in 2006 where attendees convinced themselves that the real estate market had experienced a paradigm shift. There is always the temptation to believe that today’s market is different from the past, causing complacency and excessive risk taking. “History doesn’t repeat, but it often rhymes.” As a fiduciary for our Easy Street investors and secondary market partners, it has been important to capitalize our balance sheet conservatively.

5. Is there anything that you wish you could go back and tell yourself at the beginning of your career?

Trust your gut! When you’re younger, it’s easy to be influenced by other people’s opinions. You tend to defer and believe that somebody else knows better than you do. Trusted advisors are important, but ultimately have confidence in your convictions.

6. Who is someone that has had a significant effect on your career and why?

Too many to list! I have been fortunate to have several investors provide a significant amount of capital and guidance to Easy Street over the last 15 years.  I want to mention my old business partners, John Schafer and Tom Rakow, for exemplifying the importance of consistency and character. Additionally, Carl Neuss, who runs a large home building company in CA and is heavily involved in reforming our nation’s college campuses (Harvard, Cornell, and others). Carl is a force to be reckoned with and has provided unwavering support and guidance. It cannot be underestimated the importance of having mentors and partners that believe in you. I attempt to pay this forward through investment and support of younger entrepreneurs that I believe in.   

7. What has been your favorite aspect of being in private lending over the years?

Working with my business partners Casey Denton and Scott Townes. At the end of the day, it is about relationships, and I could not have asked for two better business partners. We’ve been working together for 15+ years and our similar worldview has minimized conflict and made working together highly rewarding!   

8. What would you consider to be the highlight of your career thus far?

Some recency bias, but we held our 2023 year-end meeting and holiday party in Newport Beach, CA, for our 100+ person team. The 3-day event was a culmination of back-to-back years producing over $1 billion+ in volume and a celebration of our team and growing company. We look forward to more highlights to come!

9. What do you enjoy most about your job? Least?

Favorite part – recognizing and financially rewarding Easy Street’s standout contributors.  As time goes by you appreciate more and more the company superstars who infuse an organization with relentless enthusiasm and determination.  Least favorite – well, if you don’t enjoy doing it, delegation is a beautiful thing! 

10. Is time or money more valuable and why?

Time is certainly more valuable – the one thing you can’t buy. If you improve an organization incrementally day after day, the progress you can make over time is remarkable. The economics will take care of themselves. 

11. How do you make sure your company stays ahead in this industry?

Industry involvement and connectivity is certainly one aspect. Frankly, that’s probably one area where we historically have fallen short but are attempting to course correct. We have operated more independently within the industry but are working to broaden our relationships and brand visibility.  Industry engagement can certainly spark ideas and cultivate that competitive spirit to stay ahead!

12. What tools do you use to aid you in your role to be most efficient, organized, and focused?

No fancy tools or technology hacks. Over time, I meet in-person with every member of the team regardless of seniority and attempt to get frank and transparent feedback. What do we do well and where can we improve? I’ve found that, most of the time, people know what the solutions are, but don’t share them because they don’t believe their voice will be heard or that they have the power to affect outcomes. We attempt to eliminate that. This allows the organization to be informed with a “bottom to top” approach, which allows us to react in real-time, create efficient solutions, and focus on what is primarily driving the business. See the trees and the forest.

13. Has your role changed significantly to address the current environment?

Our conservative approach to the business has allowed us to weather the interest rate volatility of the past 24 months better than most. We have grown the Easy Street team significantly and see increased opportunity in 2024 growing production, geographies, and products. Regardless of environment, I focus on first principle thinking. For Easy Street, that means leading the organization based upon our fiduciary to investors as the top priority.     

14. What advice would you give to someone who has just started out in private lending?

1. Conservatism – Capitalize your organization conservatively. Raise significantly more equity than required, and if you utilize leverage, assume regular secondary market dislocation.

2.  Accountability – Originate all loans assuming it’s your personal capital and will stay on your balance sheet.  “I can sell it” or “the appraiser signed off” is not a sufficient or defensible reason to fund a loan.  Never adopt an underwriting attitude where you outsource the responsibility.           

3. Competitive Advantage(s) – What do you offer that is different from the competition? Product, service, speed, etc. Define what you can sell and market accordingly.

15. How will private lending change to adapt to the current market trends?

We are still in the early stages of regional banks dealing with the reality of their exposure to office and ongoing liquidity concerns. This will continue to impact warehouse line availability but will also provide an opportunity for private lenders to access new regional bank borrowers. Demand for high-yield assets is increasing, and that seems to be reflected in late 2023 and early 2024 securitization pricing. Increased liquidity will continue to put downward pressure on yields, and we expect robust competition.  Overall, lots of reason for optimism despite a very complicated global macroeconomic picture.