The Exchanges

Q Yeah. So, so let's talk about CADRE. Um, uh, first, just if you could explain in, in, in simple terms, what, what, what is CADRE?

A Yeah. CADRE is a technology driven real estate investment platform. I started the business to democratize access to real estate and ultimately alternative investments. And, um, you know, it's a platform where people can log in, they can invest in either single real estate properties or in portfolios that our team curates for them. Um, and the idea behind Cadre came to me, um, after spending time sitting at some of the most, um, well-known institutions, Blackstone and Goldman Sachs. Seeing how much money and wealth was being created, but for a relatively small part of our global economy, and going back to again, you know, that, um, that questioning of, you know, why is this the way of the world? Why, why can only the one percent of the one percent benefit from access to alternatives? And so I decided, um, to build a business that would be akin to a Blackstone, but with a tech stack behind it for the masses.

AI assessment note: “CADRE is a technology driven real estate investment platform.”

Q What was that inflection point? Was there a moment where you said, okay, I've got enough confidence. I'm far enough along where I, I can, I can leave finance and go do this.

A After, after my first year at Blackstone, um, in their real estate private equity group, I saw what they were doing, um, at a completely different scale than what I was doing. We were buying thousands of homes, you know, on a weekly basis. I was buying, um, you know, one or two, maybe on a quarterly basis. And so I was like, you know, there's no way I'm going to catch up. To where Blackstone is on, on my own, on a standalone basis. Um, I didn't necessarily have the same level of belief that, um, the, uh, the investing that we were doing was going to accrue to the benefit of the community in the same way that if I were to have invested in a community, I know I care about both doing well and doing good.

AI assessment note: “After, after my first year at Blackstone, um, in their real estate private equity group”

Q Yeah. So you, you mentioned, um, landing the cadre plane in a way that was successful for your investors and your, your stakeholders. Um, uh, w w why, why did you decide to sell the company?

A So I, um, it was one of the toughest decisions. Um, you know, I've ever had to make, uh, Certainly professionally. Um, and, uh, it was, it was challenging because I, I think that in so many ways, you know, your identity can become inextricably linked with what you do in your profession. And for me, um, I saw that certainly happening, um, over time. So when I started the business, the vision was democratizing alternative investments. Real estate was the beachhead product. The pandemic was sort of a, a shot in the arm in that It, um, showed me the importance of diversity and diversification. And so the question for me was, how do I most efficiently diversify our business such that we have multiple business lines that can, um, endure on any market condition? So there are two paths that we could take. One was we could go out and we could raise additional capital to build, um, other mini cadres, you know, credit and, um, private equity and, you know, farmland and infrastructure, um, or we could partner. And Um, the building path in my mind, uh, was a much longer path. It was a more expensive path, just given where the markets were. Um, and it was a less certain path in a lot of different ways. The partner path was really interesting because we had so many inbounds from large institutions that were interested in, you know, what we were building and doing, um, in acquiring the busines…

AI assessment note: “The building path in my mind, uh, was a much longer path.”

Q How did you deal with some of the negative attention that this has brought to you?

A Yeah. So, um, it's the first thing I would say is I was very naive, um, about the, about the media world. Um, but, um, you know, I learned pretty quickly that, uh, I was going to have to let some of the, um, the inbounds from the media remain inbounds. I was going to have to let some of the stories that, you know, weren't, Validated, um, or where I didn't, you know, have the bandwidth or time to focus on, um, you know, become stories. And, uh, you know, I probably in hindsight could have gotten ahead of some things earlier, but, you know, you can spend all your time managing media and then, you know, the business suffers. And so, um, I, uh, had some incredible mentors who I went to, um, whenever there was a story on the horizon.

AI assessment note: “I, uh, had some incredible mentors who I went to”

Q So this was the kernel of the idea for Cadre?

A This was the kernel of my Passion in real estate. Um, so this was where I found and I learned, um, how, uh, lucrative real estate could be. There's a professor named Arthur Siegel. He was a renowned HBS professor in real estate who taught the real estate curriculum I developed. Um, and I'd spend time with him after class, and he would always say, Ryan, the best way to get into real estate is to get into real estate. And, you know, and it's nice to have the theory. It's nice to understand, you know, cap rates and all the concepts. You're, you're not really immersed in it until you actually Are investing or in owning or a part of a real estate firm. And, uh, and so that just stuck with me, you know, and, and, you know, I was like, I'd love to figure out how to get involved. The next year was the great financial crisis. Um, and so, you know, I believe that luck timing is everything. And, um, you know, that period of time presented a lot of challenges for so many people, but also opportunity.

AI assessment note: “This was the kernel of my Passion in real estate.”

Q And did you like go on Google to figure out how to do a business plan?

A Like how it must probably like Alta Vista, whatever the search engine was at the time. And. Um, you know, I brought the only suit I had, which was the suit I would wear to church, and, um, they flew me to New York City, competed, um, actually down in the financial district, and I was shocked when I got there, um, you know, very, very young at the time. I was competing against kids in college who had business plans, who were at Ivy League schools, and some who had graduated, um, which I had no idea about how I'd known. Maybe I would have stayed in Louisiana. Um, but, uh, ended up Going through the pitch, the presentation, won first place, best use of technology, um, won a 10,000 dollar grant, and, um, most important for me was I got access to mentors, many of whom were, you know, based out of New York, who, um, saw more in me than I saw in myself, and it was their urging that led me to take that next big step in my, my life journey, which was to think beyond, you know, what I was exposed to and, you know, think beyond the, the four corners of my current imagination and, um, apply to Harvard. Uh, which, uh, was, you know, a huge inflection point. First one in my family to go, um, to any kind of college like that. And so I, I applied, I was accepted and was able to attend Harvard. And, um, from there, uh, you know, things really took off for me.

AI assessment note: “probably like Alta Vista, whatever the search engine was at the time”