What we’re learning from investors (and building into CapitalStack)

When we launched CapitalStack last month, the idea was straightforward: create a database of investors that was actually useful to real estate sponsors. But what’s surprised us most since launch is the positive response to our shorthand investor call notes–which we post in the CapitalStack community throughout the week. 

To make this database and community valuable, we’ve been talking on the phone with real estate investors—family offices, PERE firms, RIAs—and we’ve been sharing those notes directly inside the CapitalStack community. Taken together, they’re starting to form a living picture of how capital is moving in today’s market.

Here’s what we’ve learned so far:

• Family offices are overallocated and cautious. Many are still waiting to exit deals from 2018–2021 and are leaning into pref structures they believe are “risk-free.” (They’re not.)
• Niche strategies are driving attention. Flex housing, data centers, senior living—and even oddball concepts like postpartum hotels or embryo storage—are getting airtime.
• Secondaries are coming into focus. Larger PERE firms are raising funds to give LPs liquidity and pick up quality portfolios at discounts.
• GP capital is a growing theme. Investors are warming up to GP stakes, co-GP deals, and even dedicated GP funds.
• Local knowledge still matters. From the Sun Belt to European resi, investors want to back managers who know their markets on the ground.

These are not headlines you’d find in the trades. They’re candid takeaways from investors themselves, shared in real time. And they’re reshaping how we think about connecting sponsors to capital.

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Building features for investor matching & intelligence

This intelligence is exactly why we’re building CapitalStack differently. We want to be able to start matching subscribers to the investors we’re speaking with. 

And the good news is—investors are open to it! 

But what they don’t want is a blind deck landing in their inbox without context. They want sponsors to understand their mandates first: what they’re focused on, where they’re allocating capital, and what kinds of structures they’ll actually consider. That’s why we started publishing call notes—to give you that context—and why, beginning in October, you’ll be able to reply directly to those notes with a customized pitch and your sponsor profile.

• Direct replies to call notes. Starting in October, subscribers will be able to reply to investor call notes with a customized pitch and their sponsor profile—putting deals directly into the flow of the conversation.

Other new features:

• Family office geo-filters. We’re adding the ability to filter family offices by their nearest MSA, making it easier to pitch those who know and understand your market.
• Investor news integration. We’re connecting news stories to investor profiles so you can see not just who they are, but what they’re doing right now.
• Sponsor spotlights via Buy Box. We’re showcasing CapitalStack subscribers on our growing investor media platform, Buy Box, putting your story in front of a broader network of capital.
• Monthly AMAs. We’re hosting monthly AMAs with Thesis Driven partner Paul Stanton to discuss trends & happenings across the real estate capital markets.
• Investor search by name. Ability to search for investors by name (pairs well with Investor Call notes - read note in Circle, go look up in database).

Note to investors

For investors, we’d love to hear from you! 

One of our goals with CapitalStack is to make it easier for you to educate the market on your investment mandates & interests, so that relevant, better qualified deals flow in your direction (saving you from blind deck forwarding and a bunch of spam).

By sharing your focus areas through our investor call notes, you’ll educate the sponsor community on what you’re really looking for, and in return we’ll curate deal flow that actually fits. If you want to engage with the CapitalStack community this way, get in touch–we’d be glad to include your voice.

Why this matters

The truth is that raising capital has always been about more than just names and emails. It’s about education and storytelling—helping investors understand your market, your strategy, and why you’re the right partner.

By pairing investor intelligence (call notes, news, themes) with tools for storytelling (sponsor profiles, spotlights, direct replies), CapitalStack is becoming the bridge between sponsors and the capital they need.

And we’re just getting started.

— Brad & Paul