Part III: 2025-present
And the truth will set you free....but not from your illiquid investments.
Don’t miss Parts I and II of this series.
2025
Time to face reality
As I became increasingly aware of the alarming level of distress within our portfolio I resolved to stare down the cold, hard reality of a mesmerizing amount of data. Starting with the pitch deck all the way through the most recent quarterly report. It wasn’t fun. It wasn’t easy. It was downright tedious, unpleasant work. But I was determined to find the truth, and learn from my mistakes.
Fortunately, a number of resources helped me get through it.
Peer Investor Groups
Finding and interacting with others via online investor groups provided the peer feedback and insights I wish I had back in 2020. I learned new ways of looking at deals, and received invaluable insights.
👉🏽 Lesson Learned:
No one knows it all. Actively seek out thought leaders and ask questions.
AI
I initially reviewed materials manually. Yep - I ate the elephant bite by bite. Including the PPM and OM. Ugh.
After I learned how to effectively use ChatGPT to summarize and analyze reports, the work sped up exponentially. Completing a comprehensive review of a single deal using ChatGPT took between 2.5 to 4 hours. In total, the process to review 35 deals took about 6 weeks of consistent daily deal review.
I have now shifted to NotebookLM for analysis, which provides more reliably accurate results.
👉🏽 Lesson Learned:
Completing quality analysis takes a tremendous amount of time and energy; AI can be your secret weapon.
Read how I’m using AI here 👇🏽
2026
Moving past failure
What did spending hundreds of hours doing deal analysis get me?
1) A visit from SARAH
If you have experienced difficult times, you may also be acquainted with SARAH. She starts as Shock, then transitions to Anger, Resistance, Acceptance, and finally Healing. This may include intense emotional distress including shame, regret, and remorse. Sleepless nights, crying, and marital strife. But despite all this, taking a trip with Sarah will bring you to Healing - a better result than the more popular but ultimately useless trip down the river “Denial”.
2) Clarity
This series is the product of my time with SARAH. None of this writing came without intense work and reflection. Nor the processes I now use to monitor our investments. I can’t predict the future, but I have made sense of the past. And I now have the tools and resources to continue learning so I can make better decisions.
3) Empowerment
Radical self-responsibility is the most difficult but powerful position a person can take. By recognizing and accepting that we are 100% accountable for our life, the world (counter-intuitively) becomes less scary and unpredictable since the only variable is yourself. A variable fully under your control. You are empowered to pursue your success - regardless of the challenges along the way.
What this looks like in practice:
🚫 Victim narrative (“them” statement)
The Fed ruined my investment by shocking everyone with higher interest rates. The Fed sucks.
✅ Empowered narrative (“I” statement)
I failed to understand interest rate risk and how that could affect my investment. I now know how to better assess risk.
The Next Chapter
The journey doesn't end here. The Path to Net Zero covers deal analysis, AI tools for investors, and resources to help you avoid the path to Net Zero.
The newsletter covers three topics:
The Debrief
Post-game analysis of syndicated real estate deals starting at the pitch deck and continuing through the exit. The plan, the reality, the result, and the key take-aways for LP investors who want to better understand and assess risk.
Zero Assumptions
Where the hidden and false assumptions that lead investors astray are named and dismantled.
Decoded
AI tools for getting straight answers from complex investment documents.