Real Estate Investor and CEO at MAK Capital | Luxury Storage Developer | 200+ CRE units | Financial Freedom Mentor

I’m Marc Kuhn and in 1994 I started my construction career with my Dad. I started at $1 per hour and got a $1 raise every year as I worked for my dads construction company. 

In 2010, I left my hourly job with $2,500 in my bank account. 

I started my entrepreneurial path and opened MAK Construction, my first business. I’ve grown the construction company to over $25 million a year. We develop commercial projects both 3rd party and investment projects for our investors. 

Since 2018, we have added over 200 units in the Midwest. The benefits of real estate have given me the freedom of time. My goal is to help investors reach financial freedom through real estate. 

Today I own and operate three successful companies that do eight figures a year. 

https://linktr.ee/marckuhn?fbclid=PAAabPuGTp9yBQf1LtvPMccAGv2W9DDPWjJCYvxn3mKnV12VKxsr7s0g8Lc18

2010: MAK Construction: Build and Manage Construction Projects. 
www.makconstructiongf.com

2020: MAK Capital: Let’s passive investors invest in real estate projects beside us! 
Unfollow the herd newsletter: 
www.makcapitalgf.com

2020: CK Agency: Manages Multifamily and Storage properties. 
www.ckagencyllc.com

Marc Kuhn

2025 was a hell of a year. Hit a lot of business goals!

Also lost my Dad to lung cancer at 63.

Here were the highs, the lows, and the perspective changes for me this year to have a strong 2026:

Our teams crushed it this year at MAK Capital + MAK Construction LLC.

Built a $15.4M workforce housing project in a town that hasn't seen new housing in 30+ years.

Started a drilling company from scratch and did nearly $1M in revenue.

Developed $23M in new luxury storage facilities.

Ran $30M through our construction and concrete companies.

Raised $6M from investors and grew to $70M in assets under management.

But losing my Dad overshadows it all. 
It put life into perspective.

I grew up in the concrete business right next to him. We worked together for years. He taught me everything about hard work, grit, and showing up when it's hard.

When he got sick, all the business success didn't matter. 

He told me:

"It's not always about money, Marc. When you're sick, throw money out the window. It doesn't matter anymore. Purpose is what matters—why you do what you do. Lean on God when you need to find it."

Easy to say. Hard to do.

So here's what I'm changing in 2026:

Yeah, I've got business goals: 

• Develop $100M in projects
• Raise $10M for storage
• Hit $100M in assets under management. 

Those are still there.

But I'm being more intentional. Better leader. Better husband. Better father. Better friend.

I'm 37 and my biological age is 33.8 (I wear a Whoop watch and have worn it for 600+ days straight). 

I use 10x Health for blood work every 6 months to catch problems before they start. If you don't know what those are, look them up. Game changers for your health.

You have one body. Take care of it.

I know most people follow me for business content, and I love the game. But this year reminded me there's more to it than that.

I create content for free because if I don't share during the journey, I'll be irrelevant at 60 trying to give advice. I'm in the trenches with you right now.

I'm not here to compete or brag. I'm showing you what's possible when your mindset shifts.

If a kid who grew up poor in North Dakota can build what we've built, you can too.

I appreciate everyone who's been part of this journey—my team, my investors, my family, and everyone following along on here.

Here's to a more purposeful 2026.

Happy New Year!

Marc Kuhn

undefined undefined

Unfollow the Herd

📌 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁:

• Building wealth
• Investing in real estate
• Entrepreneur lessons

Give me a follow and check out my free newsletter: marckuhn.substack.com

MAK Capital

📌 𝗝𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝟰𝟬𝟬+ 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗹𝘂𝘅𝘂𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗺𝗲: https://api.leadconnectorhq.com/widget/form/ilq2Nf6VqqoHiGoYaTl3

Free Guides

📌 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗹𝘂𝘅𝘂𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 ↓

https://open.substack.com/pub/marckuhn/p/why-im-investing-millions-in-luxury

YOUTUBE

📺 𝗦𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝘆 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗧𝘂𝗯𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲.

www.youtube.com/@marckuhnmak/videos



YouTube video

📌 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗧𝘂𝗯𝗲 𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗼 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗼 𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗰:

[LINK]

Course

📌 𝗚𝗼 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗭𝗘𝗥𝗢 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝘆 𝟭𝟬-𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗯𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝘁:

✅ 2-hour video course
✅ Zero to real estate investor
✅ Wealth via real estate blueprint
✅ My s/sheet to analyze properties
✅ Strategies to buy with low $$ down
✅ My 20-pt property inspection checklist

Get instant access here: https://marckuhn1.gumroad.com/l/realestate

📌 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘂𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗰𝗮𝗻'𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂?

Source

📌 Are you getting deals done in the last 4 months of 2024? I'm aiming for one more!

[img:au4tNGlOi]

Coaching

📌 𝗟𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽?

Here's what you'll learn with me:

- How to invest in real estate
- How to scale your W2 or business
- How to develop a entrepreneur mindset

I'm taking on 3 coaching clients in March.

Apply here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf32zZYq19VTz8BSMSwZrs4WQBn9Knwo4AzmgeE5pSS6ws-9A/viewform

CEO @ MAK Capital | CRE Developer | Guiding You to Wealth with Passive Investments in Luxury Storage & Multifamily Real Estate

Tony Robbins owns 110 businesses. $10B in revenue.

Guess what his favorite asset class is?

He says private equity returns the highest on anything he's done.

I believe him.

I was listening to him on The Iced Coffee Hour podcast with Graham Stephan when they asked him about his investment strategy.

Private equity.

• Not stocks. 
• Not bonds. 
• Not crypto. 
• Not even real estate funds.

Direct ownership in businesses.

You know what's crazy? He pays fees. Management fees. Carry. All the costs people complain about.

And it still returns more than anything else in his portfolio.

This is what the wealthy have figured out.

Because when you own equity in a real business, you're not hoping the market goes up. You're controlling the asset that generates cash flow.

Public markets: You own a piece of paper that goes up and down based on what other people think it's worth.

Private equity: You own a piece of a business that produces cash flow every month regardless of what CNBC thinks. 

And if you own enough of it, you have a say in who is running the business, what strategies they use, and how to make it more efficient.

Stocks on your Robinhood app are great because they're liquid, you can buy and sell anytime you want. 

But safe and liquid also means you're playing the same game as millions of other people. 

All reacting to the same news. 
All getting the same returns.

Private equity is different:

→ You control the asset
→ You improve operations
→ You increase cash flow
→ You decide when to exit

That's why the wealthy put money into boring businesses nobody else wants.

Construction. Hotels. Drilling companies. Storage facilities. HVAC companies.

Not sexy. But they print cash.

And cash that you control beats a stock portfolio that moves based on Fed announcements.

I've tried it all. 

Built a stock portfolio. Built a real estate portfolio. Operate businesses.

My businesses always outperform.

Because I can control the outcome. I can't control what the S&P does tomorrow.

If you had $100K to invest today, would you put it in the stock market or buy equity in a boring business?

---

♻️ Repost to start the conversation with others

Follow me Marc Kuhn for daily posts on building wealth with real estate, boring businesses, and ownership mindset

AI won't fix your overflowing toilet in 2026.

And it won't show up to mow your lawn.

It won't pressure wash your driveway.
It won't build your local housing development.
It won't lay a slab of concrete or roof your house.

There's a lot of doom and gloom on the internet saying "If you don't bet on AI, you'll lose your job. If you don't bet on AI, you'll never build real wealth."

It's going to transform a lot of jobs and almost every industry.

But if you don't want to bet the farm on AI and robots…and you still want to build wealth…

Choose "boring" ways to make money.

• We'll still need trades.
• We'll still need construction workers.
• We'll still need lawn care companies.
• We'll still need apartments for people to live.
• We'll still need self-storage for people's stuff.

While everyone's panicking about AI...there are plumbers, HVAC, and roofing companies printing millions in cash flow that aren't worried at all.

These aren't venture-backed apps with no revenue. They're boring businesses in boring towns that print cash every single month.

The wealth gap isn't between people who understand AI and people who don't.

It's between people who own businesses and people who trade time for a paycheck with no ownership.

You know what wealthy people are actually buying right now?

• Landscaping routes. 
• Pressure washing businesses. 
• Construction companies.
• Boring self storage.

Not because they're sexy. 

Because they're profitable, scalable, and impossible to disrupt with code.

The real opportunity isn't in the thing everyone's talking about.

It's in the thing everyone's ignoring while they're busy talking and chasing hype.

Boring stil = wealth in 2026.

What boring wealth-building opprtunities are you eyeing up this year?

--

♻️ Repost if you agree and follow me Marc Kuhn for "boring" wealth building ideas this year.

DM me if you want to learn about my favorite boring, cash-flowing asset: luxury self storage.

My goal as a Dad with 2 daughters:

Teach them "high-agency" life skills.

By the time they're out of the house and off to college, they'll know how to:

• Change a flat tire.
• Back up a truck with a trailer.
• Climb a roof and put shingles down.
• Read and analyze their personal finances.
• Fix what’s broken, and walk a construction site with confidence.

We're raising them to rely on themselves to get through life.

The cool kids on the internet call it "High Agency."

High-agency people don’t sit around waiting for permission, perfect conditions, or someone else to solve the problem. They assume it’s on them to figure it out.

One day, I hope they marry husbands who take care of them. And we'll always be the first to help.

But that’ll be a luxury, not a requirement, for them to solve problems in their lives.

My dad helped me develop this skill from a young age, watching him run a business and working beside him. 

I learned the value of figuring it out, doing the work, and taking responsibility.

That’s the same lesson I want for my girls.

Because if they grow up capable, they’ll never be at the mercy of anyone. And that confidence will carry into everything—family, business, and life.

For the parents out there: 

What’s one skill you want your kids to leave your house with?

--

♻️ Share this with parents in your network
🤝 Reach out if I can be a resource Marc Kuhn

10 financial lessons that took me 16 years to learn.

You can learn them in 2 minutes:

1. Don't diversify when you're broke.

Pick one thing. Master it. I did concrete for 5 years straight. Boring but it built the foundation for everything else.

2. Live like a monk for 5 years.

Live like you're poor for the first 5 years of your career so you can live like the 1% the rest of your life. No fancy car. No upgraded house. Just compound your skills and capital.

3. Reach higher than you think you can.

In construction, a $5K residential job is just as hard as a $500K commercial job. But one pays 100x more. Stop playing small, even before you feel you're ready.

4. Easy to buy = hard to sell.

Mobile homes are easy to buy, hard to sell. Quality assets in good markets are hard to acquire but easy to exit. Think about your exit before you buy your first property.

5. Play Monopoly, not Salary.

Optimize for equity, not income. A business that loses $10K/year for 5 years but is worth $5M at year 10? Play the long-term game of ownership.

6. Make money while you sleep.

If you disappear for 30 days and your business falls apart, you don't own a business. You own a job you bought yourself. Invest in people, process, and systems that run without you.

7. Real estate takes a decade.

You make money when you buy. But the real wealth comes in years 5-10 through appreciation and debt paydown. Play the long game.

8. Riches are in the niches.

Don't just "do real estate." Get specific. I'll spend a decade going deep on luxury storage before diversifying into other assets.

9. You become what you hate.

I used to think mini storage was inferior to luxury storage. Now I use both. Don't be so rigid you can't adapt. Your ego is the biggest enemy in business.

10. Don't buy yourself a job.

The coffee shop owner working 60 hours a week for the same pay as their old job? That's not freedom. Become an owner over the long-term, not just an operator.

These 10 lessons took me 15 years and millions in mistakes to learn.

You just got them in 2 minutes.

What lessons would you add to this list for your 20-year-old self?

---

♻️ Repost to help others build their wealth

Follow me Marc Kuhn for daily posts on building wealth with real estate, boring businesses, and ownership mindset

The secret to making your family's wealth last 100 years (and your marriage last for life): 
 
Consistently talk about money. 
 
• With your spouse. 
• With your children. 
• With your grandchildren

I didn't grow up with money.
It wasn't talked about much in my house.

For many families, it's a "hush-hush" topic. Which is how it becomes a problem that doesn't get fixed.
 
Every year my wife and I sit down to talk about our goals for the year. 
 
- Goals for our businesses 
- Goals for personal finances 
- Goals for parenting our kids 
- Goals for family and ourselves 
 
We both get aligned and decide what our roles will be for each goal. 
 
Without her support and teamwork... 
 
I wouldn't be able to focus on: 
 
- Building 3 companies 
- Managing a growing team
- Showing up for our kids' sports 
 
If you want to be the best version of yourself that you can be in life... 
 
Find a life partner to set goals with! 
 
And talk about money, business, and goal-setting with your family.

Most wealth is destroyed in the 3rd generation...

Because grandparents didn't teach their kids...
Then they fail to teach their kids...
And the lack of education...

Is what ends up destroying the financial success and spending it all, leaving nothing for future generations.
 
How do you handle money, investing, and wealth conversations in your household? 
 
Share your ideas with me ↓

Everyone thinks "Luxury Storage" is for supercars. 

Here's why our tenants pay premium rents:

There's a lot of people on LinkedIn telling you how to build wealth in different ways.

Chasing the newest shiny object. Raising millions from VCs. Thinking wealth has to be flashy or complicated. 

But if you're like me and would rather build quiet, boring, resilient cash flow...

Then visit one of our Mega MAK Storage sites in North Dakota at 9 am on a Monday.

Here's what I see when I show up for work:

(Built MAK's new office next to our luxury storage)

✅ Contractors launching businesses out of their climate-controlled units
✅ Amazon and Shopify store owners treating their bay as HQ and inventory
✅ Business owners storing seasonal gear because industrial leases are unaffordable
✅ Blue-collar operators, plumbers, landscapers, roofers, the guy laying tile all day...

A lot of the people who choose to pay for premium space are entrepreneurs growing their businesses.

Reminds me why I'm building, looking back 15 years from a solo concrete guy to a 50-person construction and development team.

Plenty of demand for more of these flex spaces as entrepreneurs and companies flock to business-friendly, affordable states like North Dakota.

The boring cash flow is nice, too.

What's your favorite "underrated" asset class to invest in right now?

--

P.S. If you want to learn more about luxury storage, DM me to connect and check out one of our locations here: https://lnkd.in/gwSmVgcm

If building a real business was as easy as it looks on social media…everyone would be rich.

Social media is the highlight reel.

But here's the reality of running 3 companies:

• Up early, get the kids ready for school
• Warm up the truck in -20 North Dakota winter
• Squeeze in a workout before heading to the office
• Meet with the MAK team, pushing projects forward
• Traveling to meet investors, bankers, project sites

Sure, we get to go ice fishing with some of our investors and it's all smiles for the camera.

But make no mistake about it...

Most of the time, founders are in problem-solving mode.

→ Developments taking longer than expected.
→ Unexpected problems come up that need solving.
→ Team is growing, vendors delay, projects hit roadblocks.

That’s the real game.

The reality of a successful business isn’t sitting on a beach with a laptop.

It’s grinding through setbacks, adapting to market shifts, and making high-stakes decisions daily.

Success isn’t about avoiding problems.

It’s about getting so good at solving them that nothing phases you.

So next time you see an entrepreneur flashing the highlight reel, remember:

The real ones don’t just post wins. 
They're persevering through challenges.

What’s the hardest challenge you’ve had to push through in business? 

Let’s talk about it in the comments.

--

Follow me Marc Kuhn for practical tips on business, real estate, and investing.

I run a $30M ARR company + $70M RE portfolio and still feel like an imposter (and that's good):

I talk to young entrepreneurs, and here's the dangerous trap I see them fall into.

• They build the courage to start a business
• They make the leap to owner-operator
• They get some success over 2-3 years

Then they get stuck.

The mindset that propelled them to start and build to their first success milestone ends up being the mindset that holds them back from getting to the next level.

If you don't feel like an imposter, you're probably not growing enough.

I like to be at the edge of "Can I really do this?"

If I find myself in a place of comfort, only doing things we've done in the past, only pushing myself to do the same thing we did last year...

Then I'm in the wrong place.

Imposter syndrome is not a problem to fix. It's a sign you are growing to a new level you've never been to before, which forces you to grow (and it feels super uncomfortable).

If you've:

• Mastered your current stage.
• Mastered the skills for $1M revenue. 
• Mastered the small real estate deals.

Then for me, that's a sign to get uncomfortable and figure out what the next level is.

The best sign you're growing is thinking "Sh*t I don't know if I can do this"

What got you to $1M won't get you to $5M.
What got you to $5M won't get you to $20M.
What got you to $20M won't get you to $100M.

Imposter syndrome means you're operating at the edge of your capability. You're in rooms you haven't "earned" yet. You're making decisions without a proven track record.

That's exactly where growth happens.

When I hit each major milestone, I felt totally out of my depth:

→ First $1M job? Had no business being there.
→ First $10M storage development? Terrifying.
→ Raising capital from big investors? Who am I to do this?

But here's the truth: You'll never feel ready for the next level until you're already there.

If you wait until you feel like you belong, you'll stay exactly where you are.

I'd rather feel uncomfortable at $70M than comfortable at $20M.

I'd rather question if I'm capable than know I've stopped pushing.

So if you're feeling like an imposter right now? Good.

That means you're aiming big enough.

Do you see imposter syndrome as a problem or a sign you're growing?

- Marc Kuhn

In construction, you pay $200,000 in labor and materials...and the client pays you $0.

Next month, you pay another $300K. The client pays you $150K.

Third month, you pay $250K. The client pays you $200K.

That's just how construction billing works.

You're always in the hole until final payment. 
You're the bank on every job.

A $5M project means you're financing $500K-$1M at any given time out of your own pocket.

On a $20M project? You're financing $2-4M.

That's not just 4x the revenue. 
That's 4x the financial risk.

Most contractors hit a ceiling and think it's a skills problem. They think they need better estimators, better project managers, better systems.

But it's not a skills problem. It's a cash flow problem.

They physically cannot carry the financing burden of bigger jobs.

Either the bank won't extend them enough credit. Or their operating capital can't handle being $2M in the hole for 90 days.

So they stay stuck doing $5M jobs forever, even though they could execute $20M projects.

This is why I vertically integrated MAK Construction with MAK Capital.

One feeds the other, smoothing out cash flow so we can take on bigger projects without waiting on slow-paying clients.

If you're stuck at a revenue ceiling, ask yourself:

Is this a skills problem or a cash flow problem?

Nine times out of ten, it's cash flow.

Have you ever had to turn down a project because you couldn't finance it?

-

If you want honest advice from someone who's been through the good, bad, and ugly of scaling boring businesses, follow me Marc Kuhn for daily posts.

JSESSIONID

li_at

LinkedIn Login, Sign in | LinkedIn

Talks about #investing, #realestate, #construction, #personalfinance, and #apartmentinvesting

Why is a 50-person company is easier to run than a 5-person company?

And a 300-person company is easier than a 50-person company.

Sounds backwards.
But it’s true.

When I started MAK Construction, I thought scaling would get harder at each level.

More people = more problems.

Wrong.

I used to be the guy saying, “If you’ve got 5 people, it’s really hard.”

Those first 5 employees felt impossible. You’re still the best at the work, but now you have to take care of yourself and make them better.

And you have to let them make mistakes. But the stakes are so high because one big screw-up can take down the whole ship.

That’s why most entrepreneurs never make it past 10 people.

Then a guy told me, “Wait till you get to 50. It’s so much easier.”

I didn’t believe him.

Holy shit, he was right.

At 50 people, you’ve got good people who think like you. Culture is set. Systems are in place. You’re not the one solving every problem anymore.

Then another guy told me, “Get to 300. It’s even easier.”

Same thing.
He was right.

At 300 people, no one relies on you for the day-to-day. The ships run without you. No key man risk.

You’re building the business, not running the business.

The hardest part is getting from 5 to 50. That’s the valley of death for most entrepreneurs.

You’re not small enough to do it all yourself anymore. But you’re not big enough to have real systems and people who can run without you.

You’re stuck in the middle:

→ Too many people to manage directly
→ Not enough people to have real departments
→ You’re still the bottleneck on everything
→ Can’t afford to hire senior talent yet
→ Junior people need constant oversight

This is where most businesses die.

They either go back to being a 5-person shop where the owner does everything. Or they try to scale too fast and implode.

The ones who make it through build the operational capacity first. Get the systems in place. Train people. Let them make mistakes when the stakes are manageable.

Then you can scale.

We’re at about 50–60 people now depending on the season. Starting to feel that shift where it’s not all on me anymore.

Next phase is getting to where nobody needs me at all.

What’s been the hardest employee threshold for you?
And what changed when you got past it?

--

♻️ Repost for other founders building right now.

Follow me Marc Kuhn for daily posts on building wealth with real estate, boring businesses, and ownership mindset

The thing that kills your business fastest = YOU.

How to build as an Owner > Operator:

To grow past a few employees and survive, you must remove "key man risk".

Your biggest risk when you're building a business is not competition or the economy.

It's you.

Because you’re the key man. And key man risk is a death sentence.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately across all our businesses. 

• Construction
• Drilling
• Capital Raising
• Storage Development

If I disappeared tomorrow, which ones would survive?

At 5 employees, the answer is none. You’re the one who knows everything, does everything, fixes everything.

At 50, you start to have people who can run without you. But you’re still critical for big decisions.

At 300, the business runs itself. You’ve built systems and people who can handle almost anything.

The shift happens when you stop being the operator and become the builder.

Most entrepreneurs never make that shift. They stay stuck as the key man forever.

My focus in 2026 is reducing key man risk across every business we run.

Not by adding more overhead.
But by raising the capacity of the people we already have.

Chris in drilling? He’s the key man right now. He’s the best driller. He knows how to run every job.

But we can’t scale that business past $1M revenue if everything runs through Chris.

So we’re building the process:

→ Training programs for every crew
→ Systems so jobs run the same way every time
→ SOPs so knowledge isn’t in one person’s head
→ Authority pushed down so Chris isn’t bottleneck

Same thing in construction.
Same thing in capital raising.

Delegate to the people already there. Raise their capacity. Give them authority to make decisions.

Process reduces key man risk more than people do.

You can hire 10 more people. But if they all need you to make decisions, you’re still the bottleneck.

Or you can build the process so the people you have can operate without you.

That’s the goal. Not to work less. But to build businesses that don’t need me to survive.

Most entrepreneurs confuse being busy with being valuable.

If your business can’t run without you, you don’t own a business. You own a job.

And you’re the highest paid employee who can never quit.

Where’s your biggest key man risk right now?

And what’s one thing you could delegate this week to reduce it?

--

♻️ Repost if this resonates

Want business advice from 16 years of building a business?

I wrote it all out and sent it to 6K+ people this morning: https://lnkd.in/gfVw8HpQ

I learned a lesson in my 20s that helped me build a $60M real estate portfolio in by 36:
 
Nobody is going to do it for you. 
 
• Making money 
• Starting businesses 
• Leveling up your skills 
• Figuring out how to grow 
 
But here's the good news: 
 
You can ask for help and speed things up. 
 
In my 20s I was a concrete guy. 
 
Dropped out of college and built a 7-figure business that was drowning me... 
 
• Doing all the jobs 
• Micromanaging my crews 
• No clue how to delegate 
 
Result: I ended up in the hospital from exhaustion with a Doctor asking me: 
 
"𝗪𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗸𝗶𝗱𝘀 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄 𝘂𝗽? 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗜'𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗡𝗢𝗪." 
 
This wake-up call led to a new skill stack. 
 
• Self-education 
• Hiring mentors 
• Reading books 
• Going to conferences 
 
Nobody is going to succeed for you. 
Self-education is the only way. 
 
How are you investing in self-education for 2026?

Tell me in the comments.

--

I started a newsletter to teach what I've learned about business, real estate, and financial freedom.

Join 5,200 who read it: marckuhn.substack.com

"If you're not growing, you're dying."

In construction, that's B.S. (here's why):

2025 goal: $30M revenue at 5% margin.

2026 goal: $30M revenue at 7-10% margin.

We're aiming for the same revenue, but at higher margins, and it'll look like a totally different approach.

Most people think growth means adding more volume every year.

• More projects. 
• More employees. 
• More equipment. 
• More revenue.

That’s what we did for 15 years. Chase volume. Keep growing. Keep pushing.

But we learned something this year.

If I stopped growing today and just maintained with the personnel we have, we could make millions more in profit. In construction, this is the growth path.

To grow, you reinvest nearly every dollar or profit back into the business.

This year we’re doing something different.

$30M in revenue again. But we’re not adding a bunch of new stuff.

We’re plateauing intentionally.

We’re growing our operational legs instead of just adding more jobs:

→ Better processes so jobs run smoother
→ Less chaos, fewer mistakes
→ Same teams getting more efficient
→ Higher margins on the work we’re already doing

Then next year?

We grow again.

This is the cycle nobody talks about.

Grow, then plateau.
Grow, then plateau.

If you only grow, you never build the operational capacity to handle it. You’re always scrambling. Always putting out fires. Always thin on margins because you’re throwing bodies at problems.

But if you pause to build the machine, everything gets easier.

Then you grow into the next phase.

It’s a vicious cycle. But it’s how you build something sustainable.

Most entrepreneurs think they have to keep growing or they’re failing.

Sometimes the smartest move is to do the same thing...and do it better.

What's your growth strategy for 2026? 

More of the same but better? Or are you in growth mode?

--

P.S. If you want to see how I build my companies in public, I write a newsletter every week showing you how.

Check it out: https://lnkd.in/gfVw8HpQ

What do The British Crown, Catholic Church, and McDonalds all have in common?

They are all in the category of the largest commercial real estate owners in the world.

Most people think of McDonalds as a fast food business. A large one at that ($220B market cap).

But McDonalds is really a real estate empire.

Here's how their genius business model works:

• They own more than 38,000 locations worldwide
• Franchisees pay McDonalds above-market rent
• Predictable cash flow outside of food sales

As of 2025, McDonald's owns $30B-40B in real estate assets.

The founders of McDonald's started a burger stand.

Ray Kroc saw the massive opportunity and transformed McDonald's into a real estate empire.

Today, they're bringing in ~$9B in annual rental income.

Genius.

If you haven't seen the movie about this "The Founder", highly recommend checking it out.

Did you know this about McDonalds?

--

Follow me Marc Kuhn for daily tips on real estate, investing, and business.

Repost this if you enjoyed this one ♻️

If I were in my 20s or 30s and had to start real estate from zero today, here's what I'd focus on:

Cash flow. That's it.

Not appreciation.
Not "hot markets."
Not trying to time anything.

The first deal isn't about winning big—it's about surviving and repeating.

I remember my first deal clearly.

Used almost all my savings. Confidence disappeared overnight. Every possible doubt showed up at once:

"Did I mess this up?"
"Will it actually cash flow?"
"What happens if the market tanks?"

That discomfort is normal.

What matters is how you respond.

Most beginners obsess over the wrong things:

→ Perfect timing
→ Getting the best price
→ Picking the next hot neighborhood

None of that keeps you in the game.

You know what does?

A property that pays its own bills.

Cash flow buys you time. Time lets you learn. Learning compounds.

If the deal only works when everything goes right, it's not a deal—it's a gamble.

Here's what I'd look for:

✅ Cash flows with conservative assumptions
✅ Still works if rents stay flat
✅ Still works if expenses increase
✅ Still works if rates change

Boring? Yeah.

But boring properties don't keep you up at night.

The debt conversation nobody wants to have:

Bad debt = You pay for it
Good debt = Tenants pay it off

That's the only leverage I care about.

If the tenant can't cover the mortgage, the property owns you. I've watched too many people learn this the hard way.

Your first deal teaches you how to invest:

→ Rely on appreciation? You normalize speculation.
→ Underestimate expenses? You normalize surprises.
→ Stretch too far? You normalize anxiety.

Those habits don't disappear as deals get bigger.

They explode.

Real estate isn't a race.

You don't need ten deals.

You need one deal that doesn't break you.

I've built a $60M+ portfolio, one boring property at a time. No shortcuts. No fancy markets.

Just tenants paying down debt over decades. Not flashy. But it leads to skills that build you future freedom.

The pattern that works:

Cash flow → Patience → Experience → Confidence

That's how real wealth gets built in real estate.

If I started over today, I wouldn't try to look smart.

I'd try to stay alive long enough to get wise.

What did your first real estate deal look like?

--

♻️ Repost to help someone skip the expensive lessons

I break down boring deals that build wealth every week → marckuhn.substack.com

Made $260K profit buying a "boring" business.

Kept exactly $0 of it. Here's why:

People see "profitable business" and think you're cashing checks.

That's not how it works (at first) when you acquire a boring, cash-flowing business.

We bought a drilling company with 2 rigs in 2025. Made $260,000 profit year one.

Every single dollar went right back into growth.

Bought 2 more drilling rigs for about $500K.
Now we've got 4 total.

→ Peterbilt truck to haul them
→ Flatbed trailer for transport
→ Support trucks for each crew
→ Still need another truck and trailer

That's just the equipment side.

Then you've got people.

Each rig needs a 2-man crew to operate it.
Can't just buy the rig and expect it to print money.

Someone's gotta run it.
Someone's gotta maintain it.
Someone's gotta manage the jobs.

This is the part nobody talks about when they sell you on "buy a boring business for passive income."

Boring businesses aren't passive when you're growing them.

They eat cash.
Lots of it.

You're profitable on paper.
But you're reinvesting faster than you're pulling out.

That $260K profit?
Gone before we could even think about distributions.

And we still need more equipment to hit our $2.5M revenue goal this year.

Most people who buy businesses think profit = cash in pocket.

Profit = fuel for the next phase.

You're either growing or you're dying.
Can't sit still in a services business.

The payoff comes later.
Year 3, 4, 5 when you've built the machine and can finally start pulling cash out.

But years 1–2?
You're building. Not harvesting.

If you bought a business expecting year-one cash flow, how long did it actually take before you could pull money out?

--

♻️ Repost if this resonates

Join 6k+ in my newsletter learning to build wealth with boring businesses:

👉 https://lnkd.in/gfVw8HpQ

I turned family vacations into storage due diligence.

Last summer: Lake Okoboji, Iowa.

Not for the beaches. Because we're building a 100,000 sq ft luxury self-storage facility there.

My wife thinks I'm crazy.

My kids think it's an adventure.

I think it's the only way to actually know if a market works.

Here's what most real estate developers miss: They pick locations for their next project sitting at their desk.

• Cap rates. 
• Demographics. 
• Population growth charts.
• Pro-forma spreadsheets.

All important. But they don't tell you what's really happening from the eyes of someone who lives or spends time in the location:

→ Does this town feel alive or dying?
→ Do locals talk about the town's growth?
→ Are businesses investing here, or just surviving?
→ Would I personally want to spend time here?

If the answer to that last one is no, I don't build there.

Because if the town feels dead to me, it'll feel dead to tenants too.

Real underwriting happens on the ground, not in spreadsheets.

Talk to the guy running the hardware store. 
The woman managing the hotel.
The contractor who's been here 30 years.

They'll tell you more about market trajectory in 10 minutes than a consultant will in 200 pages.

This is how we've built a $70M CRE portfolio at MAK Capital without the "oh sh*t" moments that many developers see too late.

I don't just visit markets.

I vacation in them. Eat in them. Let my kids run around in them.

If I can't see myself coming back, I'm not putting millions into the ground there.

The numbers get you in the door.

The boots-on-the-ground tells you if you should walk through it.

What's your move when evaluating a market - spreadsheet first or boots on the ground?

--

P.S. If you want to learn how we find and develop self-storage in markets most investors overlook, DM me "storage" to hop on a call.

“I don’t know what I just did...but I need $250,000.”

I made my first big investment in 2016.

A new office building for MAK Construction.

I was unsure.
I wanted to stop renting, start owning.
And I needed $250K cash to close on the deal.

It took our profit for the year to close…

And then I had to cross my fingers that it would work out.

We had a government entity that leased out the majority of the space and paid the majority of the mortgage, which felt like enough risk mitigation to me.

But looking back (and in the moment), I was terrified for what might happen.

The moral of the story?

You’re never going to be ready to start.
You just have to get started.

You’re never going to be ready to take risks.
You just have to take risks.

You’re never going to be ready to go bigger.
You just have to go bigger. 

What was the first "big" risk you took in your business?

--

P.S. Join 5,200+ subscribers getting my my real estate deal breakdowns and strategies here: marckuhn.substack.com

You want a 6-figure passive income stream

But you're going about it wrong.

Step 1 to passive income:

Get less passive.

I'll tell you from experience:

Most of my "passive" investors got to this point by being anything but passive.

- They built businesses.
- They saved aggressively.
- They worked incredibly hard.
- They climbed corporate ladders.

The reality is that most successful passive investors put in years (sometimes decades) of active work before they could become truly passive.

I see this firsthand with our luxury storage investors:

- High-earning professionals
- Successful business owners
- Entrepreneurs who've had exits
- People who've built wealth actively

They didn't start with passive investing...

They earned their way there.

So don't start by trying to be passive.

Start by being as active as you can be.

The passive income will follow.

--

P.S. If you're interested in passively investing in our luxury storage developments, DM me "storage" to learn more about upcoming opportunities.

Raised $30 MM in capital for real estate through LinkedIn and Guest Podcasting | Posts about Real Estate, Writing, and Audience Building

99% of Real Estate LinkedIn is Chat GPT posts and noise.

There's a better way to stand out online ⤵️

If this sounds like you:

❌ Lack of capital
❌ Feeling tired and burned out
❌ Not growing your presence online

Now, imagine this:

✅ Securing more deals
✅ Successfully raising $5 million in capital
✅ Having a loyal following that knows, likes, and trusts you

If you're a 6-figure real estate entrepreneur who's serious about raising more capital and closing more deals, join my free newsletter, Digital Leverage. 

You'll be in good company with over 300+ entrepreneurs who are making their mark online. 

(See featured section above ⤴️)

Matthew Baltzell 🌴

Matt Damon said Netflix has to repeat the plot 3–4 times because people are on their phones (Now apply that to investors.)



If you think...

- “I already explained the deal”

- “They saw the deck”

- “We covered this on the last call”

You’re overestimating attention.

Investors are scanning, not studying.

They’re comparing you to 5 other deals this week.

They remember patterns, not paragraphs.

That’s why the best sponsors:

- Repeat the thesis

- Reinforce the why now

- Re anchor the risk story

- Re state the downside protection

Same message.
Different format.
Every touchpoint.

Call.
 Deck.
  Email.
  Podcast.
   Follow-up.

If Netflix needs repetition to keep viewers…
...You need it to move capital.

If your deal feels “obvious” to you,

it’s probably still unclear to them.

Matthew Baltzell

$20M+ Raised | LP Pipeline Systems for $20M–$100M Real Estate & PE Sponsors | Build Trust, Fill Rounds, Raise Without Resetting

Everyone’s mad about housing...but no one wants to admit it’s a zero sum game...

Young people want cheaper homes.

Boomers want prices to keep going up forever.

Then Donald Trump said the quiet part out loud:

You can’t make housing affordable without nuking existing wealth.

And suddenly everyone clutched their pearls.

But here’s the truth no one wants to sit with:

The system is working exactly as designed.
It protects asset holders.
Not hopeful buyers.

So if you’re under 40 and your plan is:

- “Wait for prices to fall”

- “Vote harder”

- “Complain on X”

Good luck. For real.

Because nobody is coming to make things cheaper and keep everyone rich.

That math doesn’t math.

The real move?
Bet on yourself.

Not vibes.
Not manifesting.
Not outrage.

Skills that compound.
Income that scales.
Ownership early even if it’s uncomfortable.

Because the fastest way out isn’t fixing the system.

It’s becoming antifragile inside it.

Harsh? Maybe.
True? 1,000%

Agree or disagree?

$7,000 staging job replaced by a $12 AI render. 

Here’s what happens next...

Look again.

Left → AI staging.
Right → a $3,000/month vacant liability pretending it’s “almost ready.”

Buyers decide in 8 seconds.

Physical staging costs you:

Trucks
Movers
Insurance
Two days of chaos
Thousands in cash

AI staging costs you:

$12
12 seconds
A mouse click

That’s it!

Virtual staging isn’t some “future trend.”

It already won.
It’s cheaper.
It’s faster.
 
And it converts better than your perfectly fluffed couch ever will.

The investors who pivot now?

They won’t just win more deals.

They’ll take them—quietly—while everyone else is still waiting on the movers.

Agree or disagree?

$20M+ Raised | LP Pipeline Systems for Real Estate & PE Firms | Build Trust, Fill Deals, Raise Faster

At a certain level, capital raising stops being about persuasion...


It becomes about positioning.

I’ve noticed a common ceiling among capable sponsors around $30–$50MM AUM.

They’re competent.
They have a track record.
They can raise capital.

But their conversations still subtly frame LPs as the senior party.

That framing breaks the raise.

Sophisticated capital doesn’t want to be chased.
And it doesn’t want to be sold.

It wants to be invited into something credible.

The dynamic shifts when capital is treated as an allocation decision between peers - not a favor.

The strongest raises don’t feel like asks.

They sound like...

- Here’s what we’re building.
- Here’s who it fits.
- Decide if this belongs in your portfolio.

Make sense?

Equal footing.
Clear standards.
No urgency theater.

At scale, capital raising is less about convincing
and more about filtering.

The moment a sponsor stops signaling need
and starts signaling inevitability,
the quality of capital changes.

Same deals. Different posture. Very different outcomes.

Entrepreneurship and New Venture Formation, Real Estate Finance

$20M+ Raised | Helping Real Estate & PE Firms Turn Interviews Into LP Trust Engines | Built for Raises $10M–$1B+

$20M+ raised. 500+ placements. Here’s the system we use to turn interviews into LP trust engines.

How Sponsors Raise $10M–$1B+ Through Podcasting

For real estate & PE firms raising $5M–$1B+ | $20M+ raised

See If You Qualify

Markets aren’t “up.”
The measuring stick is broken.


Ray Dalio said the quiet part out loud:

“If you depreciate the money, it makes everything look like it’s going up.”

The problem…

Most people measure success in nominal numbers.

Revenue up.
Portfolio up.
Valuation up.

Looks like progress.

Think about it.

Same house.
Double the price?

Get out of here.

Inflation is a savage disguise.

It makes weak businesses look strong.
It rewards leverage over discipline.
It convinces people they’re winning… while their purchasing power shrinks.

That’s how you get:

• “Growing” companies with no margin expansion
• Record highs that feel worse at the grocery store
• Operators confusing price appreciation with value creation

This is where people blow up in the next cycle.

Change the scoreboard.

Real operators and serious investors optimize for:

• Free cash flow, not paper gains
• Pricing power, not cheap money
• Businesses that work when capital isn’t easy

A simple test:

Would this still work if money wasn’t cheap?

If the answer is no, it’s not a business.
It’s a trade riding monetary policy.

The next decade won’t reward hype.
It’ll reward what actually works.

Where do you see “fake growth” showing up right now?

I just changed my LinkedIn followers to 100,000. Watch how.


Six seconds later… 100k followers.

Here’s what didn’t change:

• No new capital commitments
• No wires hitting the account
• No new investors

Because nothing about their visibility actually changed.

• Same fund.
• Same credibility.
• Same bank balance.

Same Same but NOT different. 

That’s the problem with how most people think about capital raising.

LPs don’t invest because your follower count looks impressive.

They invest because:

They trust you
They understand the deal
They’ve seen consistency over time

I’ve watched sponsors chase vanity metrics…
…and then struggle to fill a $5M raise.

Followers are a signal.
Trust is the currency.

If your capital raising strategy depends on optics instead of relationships,
you’re building noise not conviction.

Real capital is raised through:

• Repeated exposure
• Clear communication
• Direct conversations
• Long term credibility

Not a number that can be edited in the source code.

If you’re a sponsor raising (or planning to raise) capital and this resonated, happy to share what actually converts attention into committed LPs.

I asked a LinkedIn connection for $100,000. 

His response exposed everything wrong with capital raising on LinkedIn.


Are your DMs full of strangers pitch-slapping you deals?

Same.

Most of them go straight to the “Other” folder.

Unread.
Unanswered.
Emotionally deleted.

Except this one time.

A guy I was connected with kept following up about his real estate deal.

Message after message.
Soft nudges.
Hard “just circling back.”

I never replied.

So I decided to play along.

I wrote back:

“Would you be open to investing $100,000?”

He replied instantly.

“Sorry...I don’t really know you.”

There it is.

The irony is undefeated.

You can’t cold DM strangers for capital…
...and then be surprised when they don’t trust you.

Deals don’t create trust.
Trust creates deals.

Capital doesn’t move because your pro forma is tight.
It moves because you are familiar, credible, and respected.

If you’re serious about raising money:

- Stop leading with the deal

- Start leading with trust

- And show up long before the ask

Because capital doesn’t flow through inboxes.

It flows through relationships.

If you’re a real estate investor who wants more investor visibility and plans to raise $3M+ on your next raise, DM me “real estate.”

𝗜’𝘃𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝘁 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗘 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂.

I stress tested a great looking Offering Memorandum with ChatGPT and found this surprising...


I asked it one question:

“Why does this deal look better on paper than it will in real life?”

It flagged 4 things the OM made look harmless...but aren’t.

𝟭. “𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲” 𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗱𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸

2–3% annual growth doesn’t sound aggressive.
Until you realize it’s the only reason the IRR works.

If leasing slows, the deal quietly breaks.

𝟮. 𝗔 𝗽𝗿𝗼 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱

The OM showed a cleaner expense line than the property has ever produced.

It wasn’t fraud.
It was optimism, dressed up as efficiency.

𝟯. 𝗗𝗲𝗯𝘁 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝘇𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲

The numbers only worked at yesterday’s rates.

No sensitivity.
No downside case.
Just vibes.

𝟰. 𝗔 𝘀𝗺𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗵 𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗽 𝗱𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘃𝘆 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴

Half the projected return came from the exit, not operations.

That’s not "value add."
That’s hoping the next buyer is more optimistic than you.

None of this was hidden.

It just wasn’t emphasized.

That’s the trick with great looking OMs...

They don’t lie. They distract.

If you only read the upside, you’re underwriting the broker NOT the asset.

Sometimes it takes a robot with no commission to slow you down (deep sigh)

I spoke with an operator who needed to raise $3M in six months…but the warning signs arrived faster than the pitch deck.


On paper?
Easy yes.

In reality?
I sprinted the other direction.

Here’s why 👇

𝗥𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗹𝗮𝗴 #𝟭: 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝗱𝗻’𝘁 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗴𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗲.

Not my business.
Not my background.
Not even a “Hey, I saw you do X.”

Just showed up like,
“So… what do you do exactly?”

If you won’t do 5 minutes of homework on the person raising your capital.

I assume you underwrite deals the same way.

Vibes. Hope. Prayer.

𝗥𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗹𝗮𝗴 #𝟮: 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗼𝗻.

Days between replies.
Same questions.
Same explanations.

Every message felt like the first date in 50 First Dates.

At some point I wondered:
Am I talking to the operator…
their VA…

or an AI trained exclusively on confusion?

Trust doesn’t survive lag, ambiguity, or “Sorry just circling back.”

𝗥𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗹𝗮𝗴 #𝟯: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗹.

“I sent you the info.”

They didn’t.

If follow-through is optional before you touch investor money,
I already know what happens after the wire hits.

So yes...I turned down a deal that would’ve paid very well.

And no...I didn’t hesitate.

Because capital raising is just a magnifying glass.
It doesn’t fix dysfunction.
It puts it on a billboard.

Money is easy to replace.
Bad operators are not.

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘯𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥?

Waste Management might be one of the best AI businesses in America.


Most people miss it because they think it’s just a trash company.

Yes, they haul waste.

But the real advantage is what they already control...

• Irreplaceable landfill assets
• Long term municipal contracts
• Route density no startup can replicate

Now add AI.

AI doesn’t replace Waste Management.

It tightens the machine.

• Route optimization → lower fuel and labor costs
• Predictive maintenance → fewer breakdowns
• Automation → higher margins on the same assets

The assets don’t change.

The efficiency curve bends upward.

This is the part of the AI conversation that gets ignored.

AI doesn’t just create new software companies.

It widens the gap between asset owners and everyone else.

As an investor, I’m less interested in...

• AI wrappers
• Chatbots with churn
• Tools that can be cloned in a weekend

And more interested in...

• Asset-heavy businesses with data moats
• Physical infrastructure AI can optimize
• Boring 5% improvements that stack year after year

AI is leverage.
Assets are the base.

The winners aren’t choosing between tech or real assets.

They’re combining both.

Which “boring” businesses you think AI quietly supercharges.

I dropped a rent roll into ChatGPT and it flagged 3 issues the broker never mentioned.


Not because the broker was lying.

Because most people don’t actually read rent rolls.

They skim them.

Here’s what AI caught in under 60 seconds...

- A lease expiration cliff hiding behind “looks occupied.”
- Under market rents stacked in the same unit type (that’s pricing, not demand).
- A delinquency trend you only see when you stop staring at rows like a CPA.

None of this was obvious at first glance.

All of it mattered before an LOI...
...AI doesn’t replace underwriting.

It replaces lazy underwriting.

The winners won’t be the ones with the fanciest models.
 
They’ll be the ones who ask better questions, faster.

This isn’t “future tech.”
 
This is table stakes.

Bullish… or still doing this line by line in Excel like it’s 2014?

62 miles, 1 Ultra Marathon, 2 lost toenails, 5 life lessons (My Story)




𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰:

My first ultra marathon...

26 hrs and 22 mins through the Thai Jungle Mountains. 

It kicked my ass, but I finished. 

Thank God. 

The course? 

1,000 times harder than I expected. 

Think: 

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗶 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝘁. 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁 (kidding but not kidding)

Picture this...

It’s 3 a.m. after 40 miles of running. 

You’re staring up at an 80% slope of mountain jungle and told, “Climb for the next 4 miles.” 

Sounds awful, right? It was. 

Bodies were dropping like flies - no joke. 

A train of 20 runners with headlamps crawled uphill. 

The pace? Slow AF. 

I'm talking the people who tracked me thought I gave up because my pace never updated on the tracking app slow. 

1 by 1, ppl stepped off the line, fading into the dark abyss of the jungle as the pack pushed on. 

By the time we reached the top, our group was half its size. 

My legs were screaming, and doubt flooded my mind. 

At .02 miles to the summit the steepest climb yet. I saw a young runner sitting lifelessly, staring into the jungle, broken. 

He’d given up, not knowing the next aid station was within reach. 

The mountain broke him. 

It nearly broke me too. 

Running 62 miles is insane. 

Running 62 miles in 80% humidity is even crazier. 

Running 62 miles in the Thai jungle with 14,000 feet of elevation? 

Mental. 

But I learned 5 unforgettable lessons: 


𝟭. 𝗚𝗿𝗶𝘁 > 𝗩𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆

A 100k ultra isn’t a beauty contest. 

Forget makeup and Instagram poses. 

This is mud, sweat, blood, and grit. 

Nobody cares how you look out there. 

It’s you vs. you, mentally taxing and raw. 

𝟮. 𝗡𝘂𝘁𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗜𝘀 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴

Ultra running = an eating competition with running in between. 

I downed: 

- 20 GU Gels 
- Lays chips 
- Diet Coke 
- Bananas 
- Ramen 
- Coconut water 
- Beef jerky (mistake). 

Anything to survive. 

At first, I felt over prepared. 

By mile 50, I realized I wasn’t. 

Being ready for the unexpected, cramps, fatigue, mental fog, is everything. 

𝟯. 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗪𝗵𝘆

I met a Kiwi named Craig. 

He was 50, in a midlife crisis, and running his second ultra to see what he was made of. 

He asked me my "why." 

Here’s what I told him: 

To honor my dad, who passed in 2023
To lead by example for my boys
To end 2024 strong

“Sounds like you’ve got a solid why,” Craig said 

He was right

Without it, I’d have quit when things got dark

4. Please Lie to Me

My buddy Jimmy, part of my pit crew, promised me “flats and downhill” after B7 aid station

He lied

There were no flats

The downhill? 

Worse on the knees than climbing

But his lie kept me moving

Sometimes, a little hope...

Even if it’s false is what you need to push through

Final Thoughts:

Would I do it again? Absolutely

Hard choices make life easier. Easy choices make life harder

I pushed my limits and left me with lessons for life

9,000 Followers On LinkedIn, But Did You Know This About Me... 
 
 
Allow me to reintroduce myself. 
 
I'm Matthew... 
 
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱: 
 
- Played football for a year (but no touchdowns!) 
- Got my degree from Colorado State University 
- Running a 100k on December 7th 2024
- Co-founded a landscaping business 
- Own a portfolio of over 400 units 
- Proud dad of 2 awesome boys 
- Started lawn mowing biz at 12 
- Grew up in Denver, Colorado 
- Passionate about real estate 
- Traveled to 23 countries 
- Brother's lives in the UK 
- Run an online business 
- Finished 7 marathons
- Have 4 best friends
- Spirit animal is wolf 
- Acted for 8 years 
- Mom's in Mexico 
- Big Michigan fan 
- Live in Thailand 
- Coffee is life 
- 39 yrs old 
- Bitcoiner 
- Married
- Loyal
- Chill
- Golf
- Ski
- 💪
 
 
And...
 

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝗱: 

- I'm loud
- 💙 sugar
- Judge ppl
- Self Sabotage
- Held onto spite
- Lose small things
- Got arrested once
- Rocking a dad bod
- Have a kidney stone
- College GPA was 2.2
- Can get irritated easily
- Got scammed for $500
- My dad passed in 2023
- Worry about my grey hairs
- Acting didn't work out for me
- Struggled with debt in my 20s
- Sometimes I take on too much
- Tried and failed with HerbaLife
- Expat life feels lonely sometimes
- Feel I should be further in my career
- Didn't succeed in door-to-door sales
- Spent 2 years at N Colorado University
- My vid editing business didn't work out
- Started and stopped social media 17 times
- Struggle with thinking there's never enough
- Parents split for over 20 years (never divorced)
 
Do I have regrets? 
 
Nope. 
 
Everything in my life has brought me to where I am today and made me who I am. 
 
If you're reading this, know that I'm grateful for you and your support. 
 
Having ride or die friends family, and followers means the world. 
 
Let's keep spreading abundance in 2024 and succeed together. 
 
P.S. Where and how did we meet? Let me know in the comments.

taplio

The Battle

Marc Kuhn

Matthew Baltzell 🌴

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreMarc Kuhn's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreMatthew Baltzell 🌴's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Marc Kuhn

Matthew Baltzell 🌴

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Marc Kuhn's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreMatthew Baltzell 🌴's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreMarc Kuhn's LinkedIn Performance