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 Fundamentals of Real Estate Development 5-week bootcamp kicks off next Monday, February 2nd, with an evolvedfocus on launching a career in development in an AI-enabled world.
It’s designed for ambitious professionals who want to break into real estate—but not just as employees or passive investors. As entrepreneurs.
This course follows the journey of a first-time real estate entrepreneur taking her first deal from idea to execution. Through her story, students will learn the real-world process of sourcing, underwriting, financing, and building a real estate project—without needing deep experience or capital. Learn more.
Dana doesn’t want a job—she wants a business.
She’s two years into law school, top of her class, with two six-figure offers lined up. But something doesn’t feel right.
Every day on her way to class, she drives past Berrett Street—an emerging neighborhood in Big Apple City where old buildings are being transformed into new restaurants, lofts, and social spaces. She sees it changing in real time. And she wants in.
Dana doesn’t want to be the one writing leases or closing deals for someone else. She wants to be the one putting the deal together—meeting with partners, talking to architects, walking the site, pitching the vision, and building something that’s hers.
But like many first-time entrepreneurs, Dana faces real doubts:
She doesn’t have deep pockets
She doesn’t come from a family in real estate
She doesn’t know where to start
This course was built for people like Dana—smart, motivated, and ready to take the leap into real estate entrepreneurship, but unsure how to begin.
Welcome to Thesis Driven’s Introduction to Real Estate Development
Through Dana’s journey, the course will teach a step-by-step framework for turning a small real estate idea into a real project—one that builds equity, ownership, and long-term upside.
Each week, you’ll learn a new piece of the entrepreneurial process:
How to identify and evaluate real estate opportunities. Understand the local market, compare asset types, and assess risk/reward
How to underwrite a project and evaluate its feasibility. Learn to build a basic pro forma, estimate costs, returns, and financing needs
How to raise equity and secure debt. Explore how entrepreneurs fund projects creatively—with limited capital of their own
How to negotiate win-win partnerships. From landowners to investors to contractors, learn to build a team that shares the upside
How to navigate permitting, zoning, and public approvals. Master the soft skills needed to work with cities and communities
How to deliver the finished product. Get from spreadsheet to cash flowing asset—and learn what it means to actually bring a project to life
By the end, you’ll not only understand the real estate development process—you’ll have a business plan for your first (or next) project.
Note that following the course, all students will have access to the online course resources and community, where you can continue to grow and learn along your entrepreneurial journey.
Brad is the founder and editor of Thesis Driven (www.thesisdriven.com), a publication covering innovation in the built world. Over the past decade he has co-founded General Assembly and Common which generated a combined $500M+ in enterprise value.
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.
