00:00:00:01 - 00:00:27:20
Matt Shields
I actually never went to college, never went to university or anything like that. I actually started as an electrical contractor. I went to an electrical apprenticeship program that led me into doing energy management projects. So we were controlling buildings, HVAC systems and lighting systems back in 2005 before anyone really was doing any of that type of thing. And then 2008 hit and my electrical contracting company basically kind of fell off.

00:00:27:20 - 00:00:39:08
Matt Shields
So at that same time was when the first iPhone came out. So I said, Well, let's give apps development, let's give that a go, right? So we developed some of the first apps that were in the App Store, and that's kind of morphed into what we do today.

00:00:39:08 - 00:01:08:02
Matt Haycox
This has only come up recently, over last few days for me, actually, when I was asked to go on record something on TV back in the UK a couple of days ago, which was a debate about the pros and cons of of using university for the stepping stone to the career path that was guys. Matt Haycox here, welcome to another episode of the Matt Haycox show where I've got a great guest with today, Super excited to be talking to Matt Shields.

00:01:08:08 - 00:01:28:12
Matt Haycox
This is actually also the first time we've recorded this in a studio and in Zoom at the same time. So I'm kind of already looking between two cameras and not knowing exactly what I'm going to say, even if I don't know what I'm going to say. We're going have a great conversation with an entrepreneur, a business owner, a tech expert, a podcast host, and an owner, an investor in multifamily real estate, too.

00:01:28:16 - 00:01:31:27
Matt Haycox
So, Matt, thanks a lot for being here and I'm really excited to get talking to you.

00:01:32:03 - 00:01:37:06
Matt Shields
I am as well. Thanks for having me and I'm glad to hear that I'm the first person in the studio here. That's exciting.

00:01:37:18 - 00:01:45:20
Matt Haycox
I know. I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing, though. I feel like my my head's like one of those bobbleheads, you know? Yep, exactly where I look.

00:01:45:20 - 00:01:46:06
Matt Shields
Where do I look?

00:01:46:17 - 00:02:06:11
Matt Haycox
Computers. A computer. Listen, you and I were having a brief chat before we started recording this, and an already in the three or 4 minutes that we were talking. I've already got so many avenues I want to go down and. And some really interesting things, but like, just, just set the scene for the guys watching and listening to this about who you are, how you got here, and then I'm going to dig deep on some questions I've got for you.

00:02:06:14 - 00:02:35:12
Matt Shields
Sounds good. Yeah. So I would say that I have an eclectic background. I actually never went to college, never went to university or anything like that. I actually started as an electrical contractor, so I went to an electrical apprenticeship program and started there. That led me into the doing energy management project. So we were controlling buildings, HVAC systems and lighting systems back in 2005 before anyone really was doing any of that type of thing.

00:02:35:12 - 00:02:56:24
Matt Shields
And then 2008 hit and my electrical contracting company wasn't doing as much volume anymore, basically kind of fell off. So at that same time was when the first iPhone came out. So I said, Well, let's give application apps development, let's give that a go, right? So we developed some of the first apps that were in the App Store, and that's kind of morphed into what we do today.

00:02:56:24 - 00:03:17:24
Matt Shields
So we help companies digitally transform their company. So, you know, again, if they've got some type of analog process, maybe they're building manila folders and those folders are getting passed from person to person. We basically help digitize all of that. And of course, when COVID happened and everybody was working remotely, everyone was looking to take their old process and bringing it online.

00:03:17:24 - 00:03:39:01
Matt Shields
So it's worked out well. And then we also have a number of real estate investing companies that we run and own. We've got significant, significant lifestyle communities which invest in large multifamily real estate. Then we have significant property management which manages that real estate and then no small ideas construction, which also manages all the construction work for each one of the projects.

00:03:39:01 - 00:03:42:16
Matt Shields
So in a nutshell, that's that's pretty well where I'm at today.

00:03:42:18 - 00:03:44:14
Matt Haycox
Now tell me, how old are you, by the way?

00:03:44:22 - 00:03:46:16
Matt Shields
I am 45.

00:03:46:17 - 00:04:15:07
Matt Haycox
Okay, cool. So there was a I wasn't just asking. There was a there's a reason for that to set the scene. So I'm 42 and I just want to talk about you're not going to university comments and just go down that hole for a minute because this is only come up recently over the last few days for me, actually, when I was asked to go on record something on TV back in the UK a couple of days ago, which was a debate about the pros and cons of of using university for the stepping stone to the career path that you want.

00:04:15:07 - 00:04:33:07
Matt Haycox
And I was on there as the I guess well as the against the university but not but not yet. But to be clear I'm not against I'm pro open mind pro options. You know I've been very very pro pro education that I came from. You know, I was going to, you know, you or I would have been going to uni in 1998, 99, 2000.

00:04:33:14 - 00:04:54:14
Matt Haycox
And it was a very, very different era to what we're in now, back in back in the in the mid to late nineties and before then as well. You know, if you didn't go to university, it was as good as if you'd been written off for, you know, for any career prospects, certainly working for a corporation. And you know, I guess fast forward to say 20 years before we over the last five, six, seven years, there's been a material shift there.

00:04:54:14 - 00:05:10:07
Matt Haycox
And even even the biggest corporations in the world, the Apples, the Googles, etc., no longer insist on a university or on a college education to be able to get a job. There was, like you say, you go back to the mid-to-late nineties, you probably couldn't get a job as a toilet cleaner in a corporation for that. Now you you've been an apprentice.

00:05:10:07 - 00:05:26:12
Matt Haycox
You know what one of the one of the many routes to the career that you want you know should you not go down the university route. But I mean now you're an employer as well and I guess, you know, you're taking people on in all kinds of different walks of life. What's your take on educational options? You know, the importance of university.

00:05:26:16 - 00:05:32:15
Matt Haycox
I mean, I feel like I've already put too many answers, too many answers to that rather than just framing a question. But you know where I'm going with anyway.

00:05:32:18 - 00:05:51:21
Matt Shields
Yeah, no, I absolutely love that question. It's actually something that I'm pretty passionate about. I'm the same way I personally believe that it depends on what it is that you want to do with your life. Fortunately for me, I pretty well had a good idea what what I wanted to do. I actually started putting roofs on houses when I was maybe ten years old or so.

00:05:51:23 - 00:06:11:20
Matt Shields
I grew up where my dad and I, you know, we put reductions on our house, We did drywall, we did plumbing. So I can honestly say that by the time I was 16, I pretty well knew how to do how to fix almost everything in the house. And the reason why I went into electrical contracting was because that was one of the gray area gray areas.

00:06:11:20 - 00:06:31:08
Matt Shields
We'll see where I didn't really understand any of that. Right. So that was the path that led me down, electrical or to electrical contracting. And my goal was always to invest in at the time, what I thought was I always wanted to invest in houses, right? So buy a house, fix it up, sell it, rent it out, you know, whatever.

00:06:31:08 - 00:06:50:17
Matt Shields
So I just needed I just needed a job that allowed me to be able to qualify for those types of loans. So I mentioned how I had my intellectual contracting company. I did a five year apprenticeship program, and basically as soon as I had enough time in the industry to be able to qualify for my state certification, I went and took that and opened up my own electrical contracting company.

00:06:50:26 - 00:07:15:00
Matt Shields
And I should also say to you, I bought my first house when I was 19 and same thing, fixed it up, flipped it, and that same mentality, that same process was how I went through the electoral contracting company. I kind of kept that that mindset throughout the entire process where we would buy houses if the electrical contracting was slow, I would have the guys go over there and work on those houses, so they kind of fed into one another.

00:07:15:00 - 00:07:35:16
Matt Shields
Right. So getting back to your question, I, I completely believe it, especially today. I completely identify with what you're saying. Back when we were growing up, I was looked at like, oh, he's not going to be anything. He's not going to be anybody. But again, I already knew there was no doubt in my mind that I was going to be I was going to own my own company and I knew what I was going to do, and I did all of that.

00:07:35:16 - 00:07:57:17
Matt Shields
Right. So for the people that don't necessarily have that type of mindset, that type of mentality, where they know exactly what they want to do, and I can't even necessarily say they would be the right person to go to college, because I think a lot of people go to college just to sort of kick the can down the road a little bit more, like I don't know what I want to do, right, but maybe I can find myself in the next three or four or five years.

00:07:57:17 - 00:08:15:14
Matt Shields
And if not, then I'll just pick something and maybe they're happy with it. Maybe they're not right. I think there's a lot to be said about, really, and this is something that isn't taught in school, but, you know, really getting into your mindset and really diving into what it is that motivates you and drives you and what you're really interested in.

00:08:15:14 - 00:08:34:03
Matt Shields
And then once you know that, figure out a path to be able to deploy that into into life. Right. And again, there's there's all kinds of different avenues today. You know, people are doing TikTok, this and that and, you know, a lot easier today than what it used to be. But you are those people are even happy, right?

00:08:34:03 - 00:08:49:23
Matt Shields
You really want to get into your mindset and get that right so that whatever it is that you're doing, you are happy with it. And it's not a it's not a daily slog where you're always dreading getting up and got to go and do this again. I got, you know, I got to do with that, right? That's no way to live, right?

00:08:49:23 - 00:09:07:23
Matt Shields
So I really think that a lot of people sort of skip over all of that and they don't really necessarily try to find themselves, if you will. And I think that there needs to be a lot more emphasis in that process, that that part of growing up to be able to get yourself into a position that you're going to be happy in.

00:09:07:27 - 00:09:08:18
Matt Shields
So makes sense.

00:09:08:18 - 00:09:39:17
Matt Haycox
Yeah, no, absolutely. I think, you know, one thing that I was thinking about when you were just talking that I've dawned on overall dawned on many of us three or four days since that original interview is another big difference. 20 odd years ago, I think, was the time pressure that was put on us as well. You know, I mean, not not just if you didn't go to uni, you were a failure, but also that if you didn't go to, you know, like now, I mean, you know, taking taking that year out, taking that gap year was really considered such a wasted year because, you know, putting yourself back that year.

00:09:39:17 - 00:10:06:09
Matt Haycox
And I always remember something my dad used to say to me as well, which was if you haven't made it by the time you're 40, you're probably never going to make it. And it was, you know, very much kind of almost was true back then as well, where, you know, I now look at things, nothing at 42. I've been doing this for 25 years, but I also could have a complete different change of plan tomorrow, start something completely different and still still not feel I've really lost any time or been delayed at all.

00:10:06:09 - 00:10:38:21
Matt Haycox
Now, whether or not that is a difference in mentality and and psychology nowadays, or maybe it's also to do with the fact it's a lot easier. I don't want to say the easier, but you could scale a business a lot quicker. I mean, you know, mean you could literally start a business at age 45, at age 55, 62 now nowadays and go from zero customers to a million customers and tens of millions of pounds in a matter of months or very few years, whereas, you know, 20 years ago, 30 years ago, I mean, it was as good as an impossibility because more money means more scale, more scale means more distribution.

00:10:38:27 - 00:10:50:02
Matt Haycox
And, you know, and without the Internet, distribution is a very, you know, very linear and clunky thing. So, I mean, maybe that do it as well. We got off on the right tangent along the way, but it's quite, it's quite, quite an interesting thought.

00:10:50:08 - 00:11:07:21
Matt Shields
It really is. And I think that, you know, to your point, you've developed those skills over the years as well. So you have that confidence, right? If you're someone who is 19, 20 years old. Yes, sure. You've grown up with the Internet, you've grown up with all of this technology, but you don't necessarily know how to deploy that or how to be valuable to anyone.

00:11:07:21 - 00:11:31:19
Matt Shields
So, again, taking your mindset what you've learned over the last 2025 years and giving that to someone who's 18, 19, 20 years old, that's that's the key to that. They understand that, yeah, I can go out and do this and I do have that possibility. You mentioned there's a lot of young people that have gone down this path because they've grown up with the technology and they they somewhat understand it and they've sort of carved out this little path.

00:11:31:19 - 00:11:53:25
Matt Shields
But there's still plenty of people that don't know what they're going to do, and they've never really used any of the distribution models or methods in their life this far to be able to do anything with it. So again, if we can if we can give that gift to the younger generation, you know, who knows what it'll turn into and, you know, have more more value out there for all of us in the world right now.

00:11:53:25 - 00:12:13:28
Matt Haycox
For sure. Sure. We'll talk let's talk about investing in real estate. And quite specifically with you, you were telling me before we came on camera that you've been building a big portfolio in multifamily real estate. I mean, multifamily real estate's a concept. I don't think we really have it in the UK. I think I think it's much, much more an American saying than it is over in England.

00:12:13:28 - 00:12:39:02
Matt Haycox
I mean, okay, yeah, we do get the occasional big blocks, but you know, normally it's on, it's on a property by property basis. And I mean, I first really even heard the words multifamily real estate from Grant Cardone. I mean, he's always banging on his head, banging on about, you know, multiple doors. And if you've got eight doors or 88 doors, when you know, one or two of your tenants disappear, it, it, it doesn't it doesn't affect your rent, your rental role.

00:12:39:07 - 00:12:48:06
Matt Haycox
I mean, is that the appeal to multifamily for you? Is it is it economies of scale and diversification of income, or is is there more to it than that?

00:12:48:15 - 00:13:08:19
Matt Shields
No, that's that's exactly what it is. Yeah. When you think of, again, where I started, I was doing single homes, duplexes, Triplexes right. So there's one, two, three, four people underneath one roof. I have to drive to that one location or, you know, the team has to drive to that one location to be able to serve whatever there might be.

00:13:08:19 - 00:13:30:24
Matt Shields
Right? So there's, there's typically you're not going to find single families right next to each other where you're going to have a huge block of them. You're not typically going to be able to buy a whole neighborhood of single families. And even if you did, you still have one person under one roof, one furnace, one HVAC system, one plumbing system, all of that stuff can have issues.

00:13:30:24 - 00:13:53:03
Matt Shields
And that one that one unit goes down or that that one home has an issue. You only have one person that is is helping pay for whatever those costs are. Whereas with multifamily, you know, you can have 5000 plus people in one building underneath one roof, you know, one one plumbing system. So, yeah, I mean, if anything goes wrong, it's going to impact more people.

00:13:53:03 - 00:14:15:24
Matt Shields
But like you mentioned, there's going to have there's going to be more people that are going to be able to offset whatever those costs are. So from a scalability standpoint, it just makes so much more sense. And the amount of work that you have to do to find multifamily real estate again, some of these larger properties is pretty well the same amount of work is what you have to do to find one house, right?

00:14:15:24 - 00:14:36:29
Matt Shields
So if you're going to put in that effort, you might as well make a bigger impact and have a bigger impact with your acquisition rather than just going after that one, that one property. So that's what appeals to me. And obviously there's all kinds of other things. You know, there's tax incentives and tax benefits to it. And especially since I have other businesses, you know, the write offs are great.

00:14:36:29 - 00:14:43:16
Matt Shields
So all of that stuff kind of plays into the benefits of of multifamily. But in a nutshell.

00:14:44:02 - 00:14:58:29
Matt Haycox
What's the downside? Just that the barrier to entry is a bit higher because because rather than having whatever, a 30 grand deposit on a $300,000 house, you need a 300,000 deposit on a $3 million property. Yeah, that's the only real downside.

00:14:59:06 - 00:15:20:26
Matt Shields
I would say that's the only real downside. But here we have the ability to be able to syndicate things as well. So we'll bring a pool of investors. So this is a very relationship based business. You want to be able to create as many relationships with different investors because you never know when their skill sets their balance sheet is going to be needed to be able to bring in a deal.

00:15:20:26 - 00:15:45:11
Matt Shields
So we'll pool everyone together and together we'll be able to take down 20, 30, 40, $50 million asset. But alone, you know, we wouldn't necessarily be able to do that. So I would say that that's that's probably and actually this goes back to mindset as well. One of the biggest stumbling blocks that a lot of people run into the brick wall time and time again is, there's no way that I can raise $30 million.

00:15:45:16 - 00:16:01:03
Matt Shields
There's no way that I can do that. And it's it's all mindset. Once you do it, once you get over that, once you have the connections and the relationships that can help make this possible, you're able to see it. You just go in and rinse and repeat over and over and over again. It's basically the exact same process.

00:16:01:03 - 00:16:11:16
Matt Shields
So again, once you get through that mental block that you have, it becomes very, very possible, very, very doable. And again, I think that's probably one of the biggest hurdles that a lot of people have to go through.

00:16:11:16 - 00:16:29:04
Matt Haycox
I think the lessons are very applicable across most, if not all, businesses. And it was making me very much think about my core business, which is lending, where I, you know, raised money from high net worth individuals and lend it onto small businesses. And, you know, in the old days, I'd be doing 25 K loans, 50 K loans.

00:16:29:04 - 00:16:51:18
Matt Haycox
And as my capital pool grew and as my investor base grew, you know, I was doing 500 K loans and now we do 5 million, 6 million, seven or $8 million loans. And you know, the old adage, you know, is just so true that it's the same effort to do a 500, so to do a £5 million loan as it is to do a £50,000 loan, or the same effort to manage a £5 million investor as it is to manage 100 grand it.

00:16:51:18 - 00:17:08:04
Matt Haycox
And if anything, it's actually easier when you get when you get to the higher levels as well because, you know, you probably dealing with a higher caliber of borrower or high caliber of investor, you know, certainly more a more professional person. I mean, when somebody is investing ten or 20 K or something into a project, then it's I mean, it's probably their last money and they're probably desperate.

00:17:08:04 - 00:17:17:28
Matt Haycox
They're going to harass the living daylights out of you. And I think, you know, you can take take that lesson in principle and, you know, apply it across most businesses completely.

00:17:18:04 - 00:17:19:06
Matt Shields
Yeah, I completely agree.

00:17:19:10 - 00:17:26:02
Matt Haycox
Let's move from businesses to podcasts. I know you're a podcast host. Just tell us a bit about your podcast and how it all began.

00:17:26:02 - 00:17:51:17
Matt Shields
Yes. So I started originally it was called Pass the Secret Sauce. I started that in 2020 because I was stuck indoors during the pandemic and I wanted to be able to connect with other entrepreneurs, see how other people were faring with their businesses and what was going on during that. That point in all of our lives. Right. That really was the the original idea was I just wanted to be able to connect with other entrepreneurs.

00:17:51:17 - 00:18:15:03
Matt Shields
Entrepreneurs are my people. I love talking business and learning from people and figuring out different ways to be able to make my business better. So as that has evolved, I've realized that the podcast is incredibly, incredibly powerful in being able to break down any type of walls, barriers that people, businesses typically put up, right? Commonly called the gatekeeper.

00:18:15:08 - 00:18:50:03
Matt Shields
I've been selling things pretty much all my entire life, and you always have people that are they have their secretary in the way this person is put in the way to be able to stop any type of sales calls from coming in with a podcast. It's a completely different mentality, right? You approach and actually our subject line, whenever I reach out to someone is I want you on my podcast and that when you think about that, that is it's such a, it's such a complement to that person because they feel like, wow, you know, I must be I must be doing something right.

00:18:50:03 - 00:19:28:26
Matt Shields
People are noticing me. I'm being recognized for whatever my accomplishments, accomplishments are. So it's a completely different mentality. And then you're able to spend an hour or so building that relationship with that person, which has led into all kinds of other opportunities. Right? So we've had people that have invested in in our real estate deals before. Actually another side benefit of the podcast is if we're struggling with something, if we have a question about something, you know, whether that be SEO or lending or anything, we can reach out to experts in that field and say, you know, we basically interview them and get our own questions answered, right?

00:19:28:26 - 00:19:51:04
Matt Shields
So we're able to use the podcast as a way to be able to expand our business and solve our business problems by reaching out to the very experts that have walked this this path before us and already figured all this stuff out. So great way to be able to expand your knowledge, break down those, those gatekeeper walls, and just get to meet a bunch of cool people that are doing amazing things.

00:19:51:07 - 00:19:53:21
Matt Shields
Right? So it's it's benefits all around.

00:19:53:23 - 00:20:14:09
Matt Haycox
Yeah. I mean, you and I were obviously talking about this a bit before we came on camera as well. And, you know, I talk about it very often about, you know, the benefits of my podcast to me. And I think, you know, people who who have never had a podcast or people who maybe don't approach it with that business mindset or automatically default to the kind of ego concept of a podcast.

00:20:14:09 - 00:20:39:22
Matt Haycox
Oh, the benefit is that, you know, your own TV host or whatever it may be, but for me that is absolutely at the bottom of the bottom of the priority list. And like you say, being able to ask those questions of, you know, world experts and further your knowledge and fix your own problems, I mean, I often say that my podcast, a private conversation between me and an an expert in a particular field that I get to pick the brains of.

00:20:39:22 - 00:21:01:00
Matt Haycox
But my my audience are lucky enough to be able to be able to listen in into that and get those nuggets that they can they can contextualize for themselves. But I mean, you know, I always hammer on about, you know, the benefits of the podcast, but I think I think every every business owner should have one, you know, whether or not it ever gets many views, ever gets many, you know, many listens, It doesn't matter.

00:21:01:00 - 00:21:17:13
Matt Haycox
Just, you know, just that chance to be able to meet great people, ask them great questions. And also then the next benefit of, you know, giving it giving yourself that credibility perception when people Google you and see, you know, host hosting a particular podcast guest is absolutely immeasurable.

00:21:17:15 - 00:21:36:27
Matt Shields
Yet completely completely agree. Yeah. And it's I always advise other business owners the same thing you should open up or you should start your own podcast set the time aside it's well well worth it. You're going to be amazing people and it's and actually the other thing too, is and this is a mistake that I made, is being able niche it down into something specific.

00:21:36:27 - 00:21:53:21
Matt Shields
Right. You know, being able to focus it in on, you know, these type of people. So that way the listeners know, yeah, this is me, this is my this is a podcast that I would be interested in, right? So being able to niche that down, that's that's something that a lot of people may not necessarily take into consideration when they're thinking about starting a podcast.

00:21:53:21 - 00:21:56:23
Matt Shields
But again, the more focus you can make it, the better.

00:21:56:26 - 00:21:58:14
Matt Haycox
How many episodes you will on yours.

00:21:58:14 - 00:22:08:13
Matt Shields
Now I think we're at I think we've released about 210 or so, something like that. I think we've probably recorded around 220, somewhere in that neighborhood.

00:22:08:13 - 00:22:22:03
Matt Haycox
So And what what particular changes or improvements or differences have you noticed along the way? I mean, have you niche down particularly differently since the beginning of you? Have you kind of changed format? You know, what lessons have you learned along the way?

00:22:22:06 - 00:22:43:04
Matt Shields
Yes. So we we've always wanted to try to keep it very, very conversational, much like your podcast here. We did go down the path for a while of making it more story based. So we would we would do this reporting and we'd try to make a story out of the out of the episode. And honestly, that was just a lot of work to be able to do that week in, week out.

00:22:43:04 - 00:23:02:18
Matt Shields
And we're based we are we record typically about two podcasts a week, so that takes quite a bit of time to be able to try to create a story out of everyone's everyone's episode. So we went back to the more conversational side of things. I would say that our biggest change has has come relatively recently where again, we've we've gotten more focused.

00:23:02:18 - 00:23:38:12
Matt Shields
We actually just changed the name of the podcast from past the secret sauce to invest in square feet to again focus a little bit more on the investor and going back to the real estate investment. This is something that I learned very, very early on that you want to make sure and this goes to the single family homes, apartments, whatever you want to always take into consideration what the square footage is, what a lot of people do, what they make the mistake of is they will say, well, this comp over here, they've got a two bedroom for whatever, $2,000.

00:23:38:12 - 00:23:54:07
Matt Shields
We have a two bedroom. We should be able to get $2,000 for ours. So this is a process that you go through when you're acquiring these properties. You want to understand what is that rent Delta, how how high can we make these rents? Right? And the way to do that is to look at what other people are getting in the area.

00:23:54:12 - 00:24:21:07
Matt Shields
They've renovated their home, they've rented, they're renovated their apartment. So this is this is what the market is. Right. But the mistake that a lot of people might make is that $2,000 per month apartment or home might be 1500 square feet and your apartments are only 800 square feet. So you want to always divide that price by the square footage so that you have an apples to apples comparison.

00:24:21:07 - 00:24:41:07
Matt Shields
So the $2,000 a month property, that's 1500 square feet, 5000 square feet, you would divide that down and get that square footage price. Then multiply that price by however big yours is. And that's your that's the amount that you can charge. And that's a mistake that a lot of people make. So invest in square feet is that is kind of the premise behind this.

00:24:41:13 - 00:25:03:24
Matt Shields
You know, you want to always make sure that you're investing in square feet. And when you think about any type of business, just breaking it down to what is it that we're doing, what is it that we're buying, what is it that we're selling? That's that's again, kind of the premise behind the show is being able to break business down into these smaller chunks easily to to digest chunks of information to be able to, you know, understand the bigger picture.

00:25:03:24 - 00:25:26:19
Matt Shields
So to answer your question, just very recently, we rebranded to Invest in square Feet and hired a another audio engineer, which is again helping us edit all the episodes and, you know, numbers are, you know, certainly growing. I think we've probably released maybe four or five episodes with that, with that new format. And they're every week they're growing more and more.

00:25:26:19 - 00:25:28:24
Matt Shields
So it's it's been a great, great transition.

00:25:28:24 - 00:25:34:09
Matt Haycox
Did you have to kind of announce that transition, that name change and stuff, or did you just do it because it felt right?

00:25:34:15 - 00:25:50:28
Matt Shields
Yeah, we we just did it and actually that was one of the questions that I had. I guess there's other people that would go through this exact same type of transformation as well. So this might be valuable. Again, when we made this transition, we had over 200 episodes of pasta secret sauce recorded and released and all of that.

00:25:50:28 - 00:26:07:21
Matt Shields
We basically just took that exact same content and it still says, Your pasta secret sauce. We didn't go back and update any of it, but we just changed the names on all of those assets. So we still have all of the all of the same old listeners and, you know, the RSS feeds are all being redirected to the new one.

00:26:07:28 - 00:26:20:08
Matt Shields
So basically all of the assets, all of the listener base that we had grown on, the first one have been transferred over on to the new one. And again, it's just a little bit more focused on this one. So we didn't necessarily have to start from scratch, if you will.

00:26:20:11 - 00:26:42:11
Matt Haycox
So listen, one of the things we were kind of preparing to talk about before this was your thoughts and strategies on identifying the perfect opportunity and maximizing returns. I thought, you know, when I saw that it was something I'm going to be very interested to hear about because, you know, one of the problems nowadays is there's just too many opportunities, or rather the amount of opportunities out there are a blessing and a curse.

00:26:42:11 - 00:27:02:06
Matt Haycox
And for somebody with, you know, fast figures, so fast fingers, fast fingers to be too trigger happy to be to be too greedy. It is a curse that there are so many opportunities out there. So, I mean, how how do you go about identifying the best ones? I saw you, you know, how would one go about identifying the best opportunities for them in such an overcrowded market?

00:27:02:10 - 00:27:34:07
Matt Shields
Yeah, So I would say, like you said, fast fingers don't be so quick to commit to an opportunity. I'll say this goes back to the old saying, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. So if you get into this space, whatever your interest is, let's just say it's real estate. For instance, if you get into real estate and you see all of the the opportunities that you're coming across are all giving ten, 12, 15% IRR and then all of a sudden out of nowhere you get this one that's 30% IRR, right?

00:27:34:07 - 00:27:55:03
Matt Shields
There might be something wrong with that, the operator on that particular deal. So I mentioned this earlier, this is a very, very relationship based business. So that goes for the investors as well. You should not jump right in because you see this huge potential in a property. You should get to know the people who are running these projects.

00:27:55:03 - 00:28:24:12
Matt Shields
You get you should get to know these operators. And even if that means you have to pass by that amazing deal, if those people are great operators, they'll come back with another another deal. So it's really about establishing that relationship first before you jump in and start investing in the opportunity. And again, there's all kinds of platforms, there's all kinds of crowdfunding type opportunities that anyone can just post their particular project on.

00:28:24:12 - 00:28:42:27
Matt Shields
And you know nothing about those people running that that particular deal, right? So this goes back to my philosophy on stocks as well. I don't particularly really agree. I don't invest in the stock market because I don't know any of the people running any of these companies. I don't know any of the decisions that they're that they're making.

00:28:42:27 - 00:29:10:04
Matt Shields
I don't know the type of people that they are. I basically apply that exact same type of philosophy to any of the opportunities that might be presented to us as well. You know, do I know those people? Do I have a network who might know those people who have worked with those people before? I'd rather know who the team is behind the opportunity much more than understanding whatever whatever they're putting down on paper as being the, you know, the returns that you can realize on that particular opportunity.

00:29:10:04 - 00:29:22:19
Matt Shields
So very much so again, relationship based, I go back to that time and time again, you know, just build a relationship with the people first, get to know the people, and then you make your decision whether or not you want to invest in them or not.

00:29:22:22 - 00:29:38:25
Matt Haycox
I mean, yeah, I mean, I couldn't agree or kind of echo or mirror those points for myself. You know, you talk about that there's always another deal. And that is the thing, you know, even if these things looks too good to be true, actually is true and you miss out on it. There's another one tomorrow and tomorrow and the next tomorrow, I think.

00:29:38:25 - 00:30:11:06
Matt Haycox
And like you said about backing the people, I mean, when I look at every abject financial failure I've had over the years, every one of them could have been avoided if I hadn't backed the wrong person. I know that might sound over some oversimplistic to say, but, you know, so some of the some of the people, you know, I kind of went into business with I mean, they took what could have almost been a sure thing and absolutely fucked it up and every time every time that happened, that was really down to my trigger happy finger, you know, and not doing enough due diligence on that person or not, I guess, you know, not not

00:30:11:11 - 00:30:30:15
Matt Haycox
spending enough time to get to know them, to build a relationship and to really marry that, marry that with the opportunity. And it's always, always even now, 25 years plus in doing this, you know, I still make mistakes. You know, I'll have a good period and then I fall off a cliff again. And every time I fall off a cliff and look back, it's always normally to do with speed and greed.

00:30:30:19 - 00:30:47:21
Matt Shields
Yep. I couldn't agree more. I couldn't agree more. And it's again, once you start to get to know the people and this is again, the part that not very many operators of any type of company, that's not necessarily where they where they focus. Right. It's all about, you know, look at my my shiny home or my my shiny sales pitch.

00:30:47:21 - 00:31:05:17
Matt Shields
Right. Look at this. Look at this. Look at this. It's you know, it doesn't come back to them. And that's really where you should be focusing. I actually I ran across another investor who had an interesting way that he looks at the people. He wants to know what trials and tribulations, what are the hardships that you've gone through in your life.

00:31:05:17 - 00:31:28:11
Matt Shields
It doesn't necessarily have to even mean, you know, in real estate. Again, if that's what the if that's what you're pitching. But what was your response when times get tough? Because times will always get tough, that will always come back again. And he wants to know how you handle that situation. Did you, you know, stick your head in the sand and run the other direction or did you work your way through it and and, you know, figure out whatever the issue was.

00:31:28:11 - 00:31:41:25
Matt Shields
So, you know, that's a great way to be. That's a great litmus test to be able to understand what people's personalities are like and what they again, how they how they react to the negative points of life. Because, again, it's going to come up time and time again.

00:31:42:05 - 00:31:58:01
Matt Haycox
So absolutely. Listen, my I am conscious that you're a busy man with a hard stop on this on the on this great chat. But I hope that we're going to get together again sometime soon for a for around too, because it's been been fantastic to talk with you. Obviously, as always we'll put we'll put it in the show notes.

00:31:58:05 - 00:32:04:05
Matt Haycox
You know, where where people can link through to you. But just before you go, just let everyone know where they can find you, where they can follow you.

00:32:04:10 - 00:32:25:07
Matt Shields
Yeah, I'd say shoot over to invest in square FT.com. Got all kinds of different topics and entrepreneurial advice and all kinds of things there. So that's probably the best way to be able to get to reach out, get in touch with us. We also have a newsletter there that you can sign up for with special tips and advice from our guests.

00:32:25:07 - 00:32:42:05
Matt Shields
And then that's also how you find out about our particular opportunities that we have for investment as well. So that's how you can start the relationship. And again, we're very relationship based. So, you know, once you're kind of in our network, you'll start to, you know, understand how we do things and understand our personalities and what we're up to and all of that.

00:32:42:05 - 00:32:57:24
Matt Haycox
So perfect. Well, I'm going to I'm going have a little look on that look on there myself as well. Later. Perfect. Listen, thanks again for being there, guys. We've enjoyed listening as much as I've enjoyed talking to Matt. And like I say, we'll try to drag him back around to and dig deeper on some of that stuff in the future.

00:32:57:24 - 00:33:17:15
Matt Haycox
As always, I've been TheMattHaycox, that’s T H E M A T T H A Y C O X on all things Social. If you've been watching this on YouTube, you can get the audio versions over on Spotify or iTunes. If you've been listening on Spotify and iTunes, you can switch over to YouTube and see my pretty face on these as well. So until next time, thanks a lot and thanks for being here.

00:33:17:15 - 00:33:21:04
Matt Shields
Matt Thanks, Matt. Take care.