A weekly series on the AI tools and workflows reshaping real estate capital raising — starting with how to build an investor database in hours, not weeks.
A data-driven approach to unit mix, layouts, amenities, and marketing helped one Gowanus Wharf project lease faster and at higher rents in a crowded market
Our next cohorts kick off Monday, July 14. Sign up here.
In every coaching call we’ve hosted since launching Fundamentals of Capital Raising last year, one question always freezes upstart GPs:
“If you put yourself in an LP’s chair today, would you wire money to your own deal?”
The silence that follows isn’t about competence—it’s about readiness. Most sponsors know their market, know their numbers, even know which investors in their networks might care. What they lack is a finished go-to-market (GTM) plan that can stand up to investor scrutiny the moment it leaves their laptop.
When our last cohort wrapped, the feedback was clear: great theory, now help me ship the thing. So we rebuilt the course with a focus on interactive work and tangible outcomes. This summer’s cohort is a five-week sprint whose single promise is simple:
Thirty-five days from kickoff you will graduate with an LP-ready capital-raising kit—built, reviewed, and road-tested.
How the Sprint Works
Each Monday you unlock a concise module—case based, as always—then spend the week converting that lesson into a tangible asset. By Friday we meet live to review it together and tighten the bolts. Stack those sessions end-to-end and you leave with:
A curated investor target map. In Week 1 we use a short exercise to narrow the universe of PERE funds and family offices to the handful that actually care about your strategy—and write down why.
A sponsor & deal profile that passes the partner-meeting test. Week 2 forces you to articulate edge, track record, and project in one page an associate can drop into Monday’s deck without edits.
A three-slide programmatic JV pitch. Week 3 supplies the template; you supply the story. By Thursday night the deck is real enough to forward to a mentor for gut checks.
A four-touch email sequence that goes out Monday morning. Week 4 turns copywriting into automation: subject lines drawn from campaigns that pulled 35% open rates with family offices, scheduled in your inbox before the weekend.
A red-lined PERE term sheet—your terms, not theirs. In Week 5 we walk clause by clause so your first markup hits outside counsel looking thoughtful, not combative.
Plug-and-Play Resources & Community
Behind every successful capital campaign is an invisible stack of spreadsheets, templates, and feedback loops that most emerging GPs spend months piecing together. We’ve done that work for you. From day one of the cohort, you’ll have a complete starter kit that lets you skip the administrative grind and focus on the conversations that move money.
Investor CRM starter file. Airtable and Excel versions, pre-tagged with 250 verified contacts sorted by check size, geography, and mandate.
The capital-raising data-room blueprint. Folder tree, naming conventions, and diligence checklist that stop investors from asking, “Can you send that again in a cleaner format?”
Cold-email swipe file. Copy-and-paste outreach that has already booked LP meetings.
Pitch Night. Access our cohort-only dress rehearsal where mentors and peers stress-test your full GTM plan before real money ever sees it.
Lifetime Circle community access. An alumni network for swapping decks, term sheets, and off-market intel long after the cohort ends.
Template library. Marketing-deck frameworks, waterfall calculators, outreach calendars, and more, refreshed as the market evolves.
Everything is plug-and-play because every hour spent wrestling Canva, Airtable, or a blank Outlook page is an hour not spent courting capital.
Logistics & Investment
The cohort meets live on Fridays and modules land in your Circle portal Monday morning so you can set your own pace. We cap the cohorts at 12 participants—enough brainpower in the Zoom, not enough bodies to hide.
Kickoff: Monday, July 14, 2025
Duration: Five weeks
Tuition:$1,299 (payment plans available)
Application deadline: Friday, July 11—or when the seats are gone.
Who should apply
You’re the right fit if you’ve got a real estate deal—or a pipeline of them—and a hunch that your current materials need polish before landing on the desk of a PERE executive or family-office CIO. Allocators looking to level-up before leading their first raise are welcome too.
Note that while there may be some transferrable lessons, this course is not intended for entrepreneurs looking to raise venture capital.
—Brad Hargreaves and Paul Stanton
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Paul Stanton is a Partner at PTB, a boutique investment bank focused on joint ventures, capital raising, and M&A transactions. Paul is a Teacher and Writer at Thesis Driven, developing and growing next-gen real estate & proptech concepts.
