Well, the reality is, we are all running out of time. And so I, you know, on the side, nights and weekends, while teaching, for the first two years, just started building this platform. It was a very unpleasant experience, very scary again, you know, I was fairly uncertain I would get through it. Instead of getting my hands dirty building product or testing some new landing page or campaign, I was overssing someone else that was. Josh Dorkin: No, thanks, man, I appreciate it. A life-long adventurer, Brandon (along with his wife and daughter) splits his time between his home in Hawaii and various other destinations around the globe. What you may not know is Joshua's journey in founding, building, scaling, and finally leaving BiggerPockets. You know, from a sheer depression, man in the year before my exit, in the year and a half before my exit I had Id never had this before, but I had three like full on panic attacks. Ive always followed the same mantra - work hard, hustle, grind. Purchases from the BiggerPockets Bookstore can only ship within the United States. and what what happen if things went wrong. Second phase was when I took it serious, quit my job and really spent all my time on it. In November 2017 one of my daughters went through a terrible trauma that was initiated by a surgery - something called conversion disorder. When I started Bigger Pockets it was, I was teaching special ed. And, you know, I think theres a lot of people who are willing to. You know, Im not without stress, and headaches. As Founder and CEO of BiggerPockets, I created the vision and strategy for the business and bootstrapped the company until . And inevitably, you know, I really struggled through those difficult times. The company is one that I founded almost 18 years ago and left back in November 2018 after undertaking a recapitalization via McCarthy Capital, a private equity shop out of Omaha. JoshuaDorkin.com linktr.ee/jrdorkin Posts Reels Videos Tagged Show More Posts from jrdorkin But, you know, I didnt do a lot of that, you know, I didnt want to share my feelings necessarily in those early years, because I thought it was a sign of weakness. But that's OK. What regrets does he hold? It was a hard decision for Joshua to leave, but thanks to his amazing team, he was able to (even during a time of tribulation in his personal life . He convinced a slew of real estate players, such as veteran house-flippers and rental-property investors, to contribute their know-how to BiggerPockets educational blog; added a marketplace for lenders and others to pitch their services; and installed analytic tools such as a calculator that crunches everything from local property taxes to vacancy rates to determine whether that split-level ranch will make for a profitable rental investment. Copyright 2019 Joshua Dorkin. Was it 2009? Denver, Colorado, United States. I recommend it to everyone. Well, what do you need to do to change it? Lets just do it. But, you know, if anybody who tries to grasp these things, theyre so big and scary, well then break it down into little steps. We had kids at that point. vMs=+C>xZ_/>iZg>XA~! I was, I went to college, you know, all these things, and bought property thousands of miles away, which would normally be a challenge, but I didnt really do my homework. So, I looked at our total budget for the project, made some adjustments, grabbed some floor and wall tile for the newly conceptualized (on the fly in my head) shower and went on my way. And I immediately thought of you, because youve bootstrapped Bigger Pockets from I remember your Washington Park house where we met to really a multi-million dollar organization. I was happy to have three amazing children, food on the table, and a safe place to live. The real estate industry is huge, and often complicated, but this book clears away the fog and uncertainty in a fun, easy-to-read manner. Today, I think its a sign of necessity and strength, to be self-aware enough to know. %&'()*456789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz The two of them promised me that they would take care of the company in my absense and they certainly did that and I am of course, eternally grateful. You know, I couldnt breathe. Bye. Dan Daugherty: Yeah, I mean, lets start from the very beginning. It's time to stop just thinking, talking, or dreaming about the future real estate investing can give you. The list of accomplishments goes on and on, but with this growth came the need to hire, and that we did. BiggerPockets has also added a publishing arm, which released Set For Life on April 23just in time for the height of house-hunting season. Dan Daugherty: And well, first off, Im so happy that your daughter is healthy now. unit you let me know well do it whenever. Joshua Dorkin didnt have to go to Trump University to learn a difficult lesson about real estate investing. We always wanted to be, you know, in Hawaii and Colorado. Just at the time when things were starting to go from big to bigger, Joshua had to take time off to take care of his daughter's medical emergency. because I felt that I had to succeed, and because in reality, I was STUCK IN MY BUSINESS instead of working ON MY BUSINESS. Dan Daugherty: All right. And, you know, Ive been investing, you know, since my exit, in different things, looking for, you know, startups to get involved with, looking for boards to become a part of, looking to advise, Ive been advising some small companies kind of off the books. Maybe not crazier than moving to California to dive deeper into the entertainment business, but I digressWhile I struggled for quite a long time before the business really took off, I was able to live my life on my own terms. For me, I realized that if Im going to run this company, Ive got these kids that I love and my wife and I had spent so long not taking vacations, not taking days off, I worked eight years without a single day off, which is incredibly stupid. http://biggerpockets.com/moneyshow42Real estate is a hot topic right now, and who better to talk about the subject than BiggerPockets founder Joshua Dorkin a. Knowing I was in for a long visit to Home Depot yesterday, I made sure I had my list together and set out to pick up all the materials I needed to renovate our guest bathroom. And you know, the kids can go out and do physical stuff. I coasted through the store with the ease of a professional, choosing items that would look great together and which would stand the test of time. } !1AQa"q2#BR$3br His wife and three daughters wouldnt take too kindly to sharing their space. Instead, Joshua and I focus on the harsh realities of growing an digital empire.\r\r Enjoy!\r\r \u0026nbsp;\r\r You can find more information in the show notes at http://podcast.affordanything.com/episode99 And lifes too short, man. I began to feel hopeful and knew at some point wed all be able to move on - no matter the outcome. Zf|Gy}dN1,2,qY\ s#sK~?>#W]CYq~Z6btV37 g)v3[# kG:_jJ/0Cr[-I\7{\t_LkL,K'4'Mm+"Pd60|q!?jO7S9h,P-WwS/. A lot of people can at least. You know, if youre not spending significant time every day learning, youre not going to grow, youre not going to get better, youre not going to be competitive with other people across your area of expertise. https://www.biggerpockets.com/show421Many avid members of the BiggerPockets forum, listeners to the podcast, or readers of our articles may know our founder, Joshua Dorkin. (Where the hell have you been Josh?!? What's my secret? So what I started doing, I was spending hours and hours on the phone every day, constantly and thats part of my job, right? . Is it impressing other people? Is that a good statement to say? As you know, Im like a scrawny dude. %PDF-1.6 % Over the months and months that I spent caring for her, I had something I had never previously had in my adult life - time. JFIF ,, C You know, we are not residents yet, you know, were doing our trial balloon now so to speak. After spending an amazing day with my girls, out of the blue one of my eyes went blurry. We are all faced with challenges as we go through our lives and they can either break us or just be another thing we deal with. This book provides a comprehensive overview of real estate investing strategies whether buy and hold to short-term rental and everything in between. many things and create so many threats, and theres got to be a better way. Welcome to the Big Exit, where we discuss startup acquisitions with the founders who lived it. Josh tells his story of wanting to quit, having 3 nervous breakdowns, and eventually selling to a private equity company. And what happens inevitably, and I think you and Ive seen this countless times, you know, you raise the money, and now you have bosses and those bosses are telling you how to run the business and now you dont get to run the business the way that you actually thought you were going to run the business, because you have bosses and youre not working for yourself anymore. I make a list of everything thats stressing me out, all the stressors, from big to small, and then I start to knock them off. What lessons did he learn along the way? Yesterday that reality came a little too close for comfort for me. All you need to do is go to https://smile.amazon.com/ and youll have the option to select a non-profit of your choice to give to. Weve climbed mountains, traveled, explored and journeyed, surfed, skied and have never stopped seeking out a full and rich life. Do what you need to do to take care of your health. Of course I was happy to have an amazing loving family and a successful business. Whether it is the struggle to communicate at checkout while you and the cashier are donning masks, or the untrusting looks from everyone around you, the entire experience is less pleasurable for all of us. Josh Dorkin: So you know, weve always wanted to come to Hawaii. And Im. Where else can we dive into this? What are the things that I need to do to be better within all these personal domains? I was kind of tired, I was kind of ready for the next thing. And not difficult. Its, instead of drinking soda and orange juice, and, you know, coffees and energy drinks, Im just going to drink water, because water is healthy, water cleanses you, water does this, you know, thats not that big a step. and they hold the #1 real estate podcast on iTunes. They live in Grays Harbor, Wash. It is big enough that youre not doing everything, but small enough that you can still get your hands dirty when you want. 27 quotes from Joshua Dorkin: 'Today I get 100 times more done with 100 times less effort. Shopping these days is just a little less fun. This caused a shift in Joshua's reality, so he dropped everything. Star Wars: Thrawn. It was time for me to step down, bring in partners, and move on from the day to day running BiggerPockets. I still get a lot of my great information from the community and the network. We have a guy named Josh Dorkin. We launched amazing products like the podcast, which today is still one of the top 10 business shows in the world. This caused a shift in Joshuas reality, so he dropped everything. I spent countless hours caring for her full time - feeding, moving, and working with her to accomplish tiny wins like the movement of a single finger or opening an eye. So there you go. We just wanted to find a place where we can go, where we could just normalize our lives, where my kids could, you know, get up and not be all stressed out where, you know, we knew that the government was doing a lot to mitigate the situation. something that I used to think gave me hustle street cred, but today I realize was just a formula for burnout. Check it out below and hopefully you learn not only a little more about me, but you also pick up some tidbits about business, entrepreneurship, work-life balance, family, and important time-management habits. You need to change your diet, you need to do some exercise. As the message board gained a following, Dorkin quit his teaching job, moved to Denver (for quality of life reasons), and focused on the website full time. It was excruciatingly slow and frustrating, but we never let up. But I got to this point where Id just run myself ragged, really, you know, stupidly worked way, way, way, way too hard. And I ran across a blog, and they talked about they called it serendipitous mindset, where you leave your mind open and as you see these different things that happen to you serendipitously, whether its the people that you have met five years ago, just like how you and I met many, many years back. A few months back I had the blurry thing, but without the other stuff, and of course, went to visit Dr. Google. There are few things worse than seeing your child suffer and this period was easily the worst of my life. I mean, we were able to do that in Colorado, but you know, youre on a trail youre, you know, running across people without masks, you know, its just the, you know, the whole debate, were not going to get into it, but either way, it you know, it presented an opportunity for us to find some kind of, to find some peace and to find a place where everybody just could feel good. The couple also has a son named Wilder. I learned to stop being a cadet and start being a general.', 'life is too short to be stuck in a job you hate. I you know, I think another way of saying is, you know, putting yourself in a position to dot dot dot. And from a bootstrap perspective, you know, bootstrapping, you have a lot less support than you do when you raise money. Its fabulous. I know far too many people who live the non-stop life and many, if not most, are unhappy. Im on the board. Keep in mind that full time in this case means 80-100 hours a week, with no days off, no vacations, no respit. What are you waiting for? But yeah, just finding different ways to tweak the way youre doing things, right, if what youre doing personally with your family, and Ive also done that. No, very few people do exactly what you just said and thats actually something that I do as well, I break it out. Josh Dorkin: Absolutely. Some people dont see that, its almost like when you get a new car, and then you start seeing other similar cars that are the same color that you never saw before. And I had spent so long not taking vacations, not taking days off, I worked eight years without a single day off, which is incredibly stupid. Podcaster. He was wrong. Josh Dorkin: Yeah, yeah, I think for me, the book, The One Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan, was one of the most impactful in just, you know, helping me kind of break things down. And so once you start tackling them, its amazing how your load gets lighter and lighter and lighter. I taught myself how to code a number of years before back in college, and just started to run with it. Weve cut down on meat, and work hard to avoid the tempting desserts and snacks I used to be addicted to. Where previously competitors were weary of one another, we helped people learn that coopetition was a better model - one where people could compete AND cooperate for mutual benefit. Whether its in business, you know, I want to be a better CEO, I want to learn how to become a CEO, so I went and read lots of books on it. This keynote speech goes deep into what really matters most. After about six months since transitioning out of the role of CEO of BiggerPockets to advisor, I thought it was time to kick off my own personal platform, this site. I thought I was having a heart attack. Nearly 30 people work out of the companys RiNo office. . [j:^h%m-dm0 \G/#f?IXv\I:$W2i|IO]K}3R+_D_P{_zZ`uu I\bY]_|[ J'|#W} t_g%=5+nnsN@ W ~xSf&+|r i44u{]Im|0S>gX}^jK9$m0BR8Y]?\fry5l |E~x7~'&xa PE""X WHr;.7=1k I had a budget and time crunch, and was not going to be able to get what I needed on budget or in time. Mr. Dorkin's vision for BiggerPockets helped to propel it into becoming one of the top real estate destinations online. We were all about trying to help people build wealth, learn how to build wealth through real estate investing. Wednesday was about thinking, networking and not doing. C X" You are also, obviously Bigger Pockets continues to grow, still the top everything, the community, the podcast. For those of you that are truly curious, wait no longer . And I had just swarms of competitors coming out of the woodwork trying to take me down and so there was threat everywhere, right, theres threat everywhere. And if you want to grow and thrive, you have to become seriously adept at it. Is this going to be, is this the prelude to a book? And I think the way you live your life, and your happiness is going to be determined by your outlook on that. This terrifying situation broke us, but didnt defeat us. You know, we cant ignore SEO, we cant ignore these things. Joshua Dorkin BiggerPockets Founder Maui, HI 28K FOLLOWERS 5 FOLLOWING 346K CONNECTIONS I am the Founder, former CEO (2004 - 2018), former podcast host, and current board member of BiggerPockets. And its interesting, you know, as you and a stressor might be, I come in every day, and I look at emails for three or four hours, and Im stuck in email. We were thinking about picking it up and mailing it to you.\"\r\r At the time, Dorkin had just launched BiggerPockets, a then-nascent website about real estate investing. And anything thats stressing me out, you absolutely have to dissect it, and then figure out what the root cause is and that opens up everything else because then you figure out ways, again, Ill use the term operationalize it, is because then it allows you to leverage different tools, maybe you have to delegate more, maybe you dont have to respond within an hour of every single email that comes in, whatever it might be. It was a blast, but by year 12, 13, 14 my job changed. Josh Dorkin's Blog BiggerPockets Turns 18 Years Old! I could still make things out, but barely. x337R0 B],s@(PH(Y I choose to deal with them as they come using logic and working through like I would any game or problem. These facts can either break you or teach you that you simply have no control of things beyond yourself. And you know, continue to love Bigger Pockets and love how its impacting peoples lives. Dan Daugherty: Thats right. Just at the time when things were starting to go from big to bigger, Joshua had to take time off to take care of his daughters medical emergency. When the time came to pick out the shower, I realized that there werent any that matched the size we needed. As I sat there trying to relax, things didnt improve and I knew I needed to go in. And so thats what I do in my book, and I literally will break all these mega tasks into little micro steps. q=q >s@U8F qNU +HrQ-&pp9Q#b5H8kz{04rs~PRdyC 14Z'= :O+OIQG{^[gFN28JR`9X, r cvhwc61@S*JL1M$d|H8v:Rp= sE) I was teaching high school in Los Angeles. Its fantastic. Josh Dorkin: Man, so Ive started and stopped the book probably 50 times. From a life experience, it sounds like youre doing the same thing. You know, theres just the, I mean, its everywhere, right? I immediately stepped back from the day to day at work and handed charge to my number two at the time, Scott Trench in coordination with Brandon. And I was helping other people get rich, and I was broke.\"\r\r Dorkin spent the next 8 years working mostly as a one-man operation as he tried to monetize a fledgling website.\r\r \"We were struggling and scrapping by on every AdSense check that we could collect,\" Dorkin says. Choosing a selection results in a full page refresh. I take care of myself. She drove me and dropped me at the door of the ER and I spent the next 4+ hours getting tested. Beyond that, weve helped transform neighborhoods, built communities and so much more.It has been almost 4 years since exiting the day to day and stepping away. It was a hard decision for Joshua to leave, but thanks to his amazing team, he was able to (even during a time of tribulation in his personal life). Horrifying, scary. But, you know, Ive written a book before with Brandon on real estate. But he came in and was instrumental to advancing the business. You know, I felt like, something needed to change for me personally. COVID you know, your kid gets sick. While they sat in shocked silence, I wept for what seems like an hour as I tried to explain what we were dealing with - barely getting the words out mostly just crying out loud uncontrollably. Why I left BiggerPockets is a little more complicated. And, you know, Ive, you know, when I get back into it, you know, occasionally I give it a kick start. Yeah. "Dorkin and Turner have really laid out a clear, straight-to-the-point guide to achieving success through real estate investing. I had purchased a few rental properties and needed some help dealing with all the questions I had, but couldnt find a place where I could get answers without having to deal with solicitations and promotions of these self-proclaimed gurus who dominated the scene at the time. Why I left BiggerPockets is a little more complicated. And come 2007, I went through this very difficult personal time, one of my kids had a medical trauma that led to some really scary stuff, a paralysis in a nine year old. Last month I had the opportunity to speak at the Denver Founders event for Colorado entrepreneurs and had a fantastic Q&A with my friend Chris Franks. Weve replaced iced teas, sodas and juices with water in the last decade, and rarely, if ever will I drink alcohol. All things Colorado delivered straight to your inbox. Not a magic formula. I mean, whatever it is. Host Joshua Dorkin is an entrepreneur, most notably the Founder & former CEO of BiggerPockets. Dan Daugherty interviews Josh Dorkin who founded BiggerPockets in his living room with $12 bucks. How do we do this better than everybody else? In this conversation. This was not like, something that everybodys like, Oh, this is going to be the greatest thing since sliced bread. I put on my headset and Id walk around the neighborhood and I easily got my 10,000 steps. Theres a lot of, you know, Colorado just, you know, still a lot of chaos. I mean, nights, weekends, you name it, seven days a week. Many of you already know my story, but it is always a privilege to have the opportunity to share it with other entrepreneurs in person, at events, and of course, via podcast conversations. Today, BiggerPockets is the premier real estate investing website online with . Author. Joshua Dorkin is the founder and former CEO of BiggerPockets, launched on October 22, 2004. I mean, I went up against tremendous opposition. . Of course, it took many more months of work and ultimately several years for her to get back to 100%, but with time, energy, an amazing team, and unlimited love, she has since fully recovered from the incident. Not the way I wanted to spend my Saturday . He tried to solve his problems by reading real estate how-to manuals, but they made no mention of the real-life issues landlords facelike what to do when someone cuts a three-foot hole in the kitchen floor. And yeah, so were here. But Im not currently on it. Is it all the material stuff? Youre operationalizing your life and that has allowed you to kind of be more open. And what advice would he share with other aspiring online entrepreneurs?\r\r We don't talk about real estate investing in today's episode. Rethinking my decision to leave Wordpress. You got to deal with them. For locals, by locals. And I did it without freaking out or getting stressed because doing so doesnt help. You know, I was in an industry where there were entrenched interests that wanted me destroyed from the get go. He started BiggerPockets to help democratize the real estate investing landscape for himself and others, aiming to make it accessible for everyone, regardless of income or education. Plus, he doesn't own any rental properties outright anymore, simply because BiggerPockets requires too much of his attention. JOSH DORKIN: But it gave me the time to really think about life. Its not money, its not success, but its something that matters even more: fulfillment and family.Be sure to give Joshua a follow on Twitter at @jrdorkinCheck the full show notes here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/show421 But I think from a mindset perspective, you really, I think, if you have a learning mindset, a mindset where Hey, I always want to learn, I always want to get better. I had time to wonder, time to wander, and time to contemplate my life and my happiness. We needed to get this done and time was not on our side. Then I got a little nauseous and dizzy with a very minor headache. You know, not only are you raising money from people who now, you know, you dont want to lose anyones money, but also just in terms of mindset, you know, that theres the freedom that you think youre going to have may not necessarily be there. Problems dont go away. But COVID hit, and we got sick in March and it was, you know, it was tough and I was very, very, very sick. be helpful, you know, seek out advisors in your field and you know, work towards it. \"The business really wasn't making serious money for probably getting close to a decade.\"\r\r The story has a happy ending. Or just shut it down. And so thinking about the things you go through, look, we all go through good stuff and we all go through bad stuff. Choose a career that makes you excited to wake up in the morning, energized through the day, and content when you fall asleep at night.', and 'remember: provide value.' Exclusive bonus content provided after checkout, 2021, BiggerPockets Bookstore Powered by Shopify, Only available in Ultimate Package and offsite, , Super Bowl 50 Champion and real estate investor, How to invest in real estate while working a full-time job, How to earn more at work (or on the side) so you can invest more, How to get your spouse on board with real estate investing, Eight unique property types you can invest in today, Eleven powerful strategies for building wealth through real estate, Twenty-eight tested methods for finding great real estate deals, Details on partnerships, BRRRR investing, and other creative ways to fund your deals. Many avid members of the BiggerPockets forum, listeners to the podcast, or readers of our articles may know our founder, Joshua Dorkin. Ive used that technique, and that has helped me dramatically. That's why two of the biggest names in the real estate world teamed up to write the most comprehensive manual ever written on getting started in the lucrative business of real estate investing. I hope to share that journey with you all via this blog, and perhaps through other forms like video or a podcast. (BTW - Ill certainly talk more about working on a business at another time). And for me in that period, you know, when I realized I wanted to be healthier for example, and by the way, I didnt have to lose weight. He later transitioned to building a team, starting with the BiggerPocket Podcasts very own host, Brandon Turner.This later snowballed into more hirings, with the BiggerPockets growing faster and faster, and being able to scale larger and larger. Dorkin, 41, won't be hacking houses anytime soon. If you dont take the time to find moments for yourself - moments to be present with the world around you, you might be missing some of the best opportunities for personal happiness. I created this site in 2004 to create a place where investors could learn, network, market and make deals in a safe online environment. Here youll have a chance to follow me via this blog and to explore the ideas, products, services, books and many other things that influence me. Wed launched the publishing business, I mean, you know, the company grew and grew, he will allowed me to think about the business from a holistic standpoint, strategic, and over time, we grew, we scaled, we hired dozens of people. But thats OK. Hes still well on his way to becoming a mogul just less Donald Trump and more Rupert Murdoch. This caused a shift in Joshua's reality, so. And, you know, my goal was to figure out how do I get myself, how do I change things? Start shopping! How to Invest in Real Estate: The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Getting Started is written by Brandon Turner; Joshua Dorkin and published by BiggerPockets. I want to, I listened to experts on it. Copyright 2019 Joshua Dorkin. Given the choice, I decided to pivot and change course. Mind you, in order to survive in business, the pivot is one of your most powerful tools. Thats a really weird thing to say, especially since I loved the company. So give me give me the motivation and Ill get out there and do it. Like, I mean, you wouldnt know the difference between her and any other kid. Just work, keep working, be dynamic, pivot and you know, a lot of luck out there. I didnt have a co-founder, I didnt have any partners.