Building Our Capital Raising Toolkit

Adding investor events to Thesis Driven's capital raising and intro to development courses

Our next Fundamentals of Capital Raising bootcamps kick off soon, with our next online cohorts starting February 24th (final call) and our next live cohort on March 18th-19th in NYC. Sign up here.

Thesis Driven’s value is as much about community as it is content.

That’s why we recently announced our first Pitch Night to connect the accredited investors in Thesis Driven’s network with the graduates—and innovation—coming out of our Thesis Driven Capital Raising programs.

Every quarter, we’ll pick 12 of the most interesting sponsors and concepts from recent Capital Raising and Development cohorts, and they’ll each get seven minutes to present their concept (and live deal, if applicable) to real estate investors.

Thesis Driven is taking no vig here. We see the forums that exist for tech entrepreneurs to get in front of venture investors—accelerators, incubators, pitch nights, and more—and we believe new real estate operators should have that too.

The sponsor spots for the upcoming Pitch Night are full, but we’ll be choosing new presenters for our Q2 Pitch Night from the upcoming online and live Capital Raising courses.

About the Fundamentals of Capital Raising Course

The bootcamp takes a case-based learning approach around a capital raise for Washington Place, a fictional 20-unit multifamily project in an up-and-coming neighborhood in “Big Apple City”.

It is designed to help new & emerging real estate entrepreneurs quickly develop the diverse set of skills required to raise capital for real estate projects—along with learning how and where to find investors.

The course consists of six 1-hour lectures, plus Q&A sessions:

• Investor Types: Breaking down high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs), family offices and institutional investors and how they think about real estate investing

• Picking the Right Investment Vehicle: Designing the right fee structure and legal framework for different project types and investor targets

• Marketing Materials & Storytelling: Highlighting key financial metrics in your model and bringing them to life through marketing materials and pitches

• Sourcing Debt: Sourcing and pitching lenders, and using debt term sheets to validate your financial model for investors

• Investor Lists & Outreach: Customizing an investor list and outreach plan that best fit the project, and strategically phasing the process to maximize interest

• Closing the Deal: Negotiating and competing term sheets to get the best terms while planning for future capital raises

It will follow the trials and tribulations of Sam–the sponsor buying the property– as he identifies, markets to, and eventually raises money from five different types of investors:

• Allie, the Accredited Investor

• Fred, the Family Office Investor

• Ralph, the Real Estate Private Equity Investor

• Hazel, the Hedge Fund Investor

• Philip, the Pension Fund Investor

Clockwise from top left: Sam the Sponsor, Allie the Accredited Investor, Fred the Family Office Investor, Philip the Pension Fund Investor, Ralph the Real Estate Private Equity Investor, and Hazel the Hedge Fund Investor

The first half of the course (or first day of the live course) will introduce students to different investor types, deal structures and the sponsor’s preparation of underwriting and marketing materials to go out to market for capital.

The second half will walk students through the process of sourcing debt, running the outreach process to equity investors and negotiating a term sheet with an institutional investor.

At the end, students will design and present their own capital raising campaign—and later be provided access to an ongoing online community for students to continue networking, exchanging notes and sharing wins.

The online course is hosted in 5-week cohort programs, which include 1-hour of live Zoom discussion and Q&A each week. Live in NYC courses are hosted at Industrious’s training center at 3 World Trade Center. Both online and live cohorts will be personally taught by Thesis Driven’s Brad Hargreaves and Paul Stanton.

Brad Hargreaves and Paul Stanton personally teach the courses

You can go here to sign up and learn more about the course.

What does it cost?

The live bootcamp in NYC is $1,500 (and limited to 25 students). The online cohort is $999, and discussion groups are limited to 8 students. Sign up here.

—Paul Stanton and Brad Hargreaves