something that I used to think gave me hustle street cred, but today I realize was just a formula for burnout. As of February 2019, Amazon has raised $124,651,081.04 for charities through this program (Source Amazon). Adventurer. You know, I felt like, something needed to change for me personally. When the time came to pick out the shower, I realized that there werent any that matched the size we needed. It is big enough that youre not doing everything, but small enough that you can still get your hands dirty when you want. So there you go. And it can be significantly helpful, but I want to press upon anybody whos thinking about it to just recognize that its not something to take lightly. We were thinking about picking it up and mailing it to you.\"\r\r At the time, Dorkin had just launched BiggerPockets, a then-nascent website about real estate investing. I taught myself how to code a number of years before back in college, and just started to run with it. You know, Im not without stress, and headaches. It was a blast, but by year 12, 13, 14 my job changed. So I want the opposite. You know, these little things allowed me to continue to work, do my job and stay healthy at the exact same time. Dan Daugherty: I just might, well, offline, lets catch up, because maybe theres something we can do together. After spending an amazing day with my girls, out of the blue one of my eyes went blurry. Joshua Dorkin is a serial entrepreneur, investor, podcaster, publisher, and educator. Is it all the material stuff? Was it 2009? Thirteen years ago, Joshua Dorkin's friends teased him about starting a website that seemed to have no future.\r\r \"I would get calls from my buddies who would literally call me on my cell phone [and say] 'Hey Josh, we just walked past a penny on the ground. And so I think for a very long time I ran my life, you know, moment to moment and its through conversations with folks like Brandon, you know, lots of, Ive got some good friends who think real deeply, to reading a lot, reading a lot, listening to some, you know, thought leaders in various spaces, you know, my transformation really, I think began from the moment of that I went to my wife, year eight of the company, and I was in tears. Sarahbeth Maney is a Washington, D.C.-based photojournalist and a photography fellow for The New York Times. You know, I was in an industry where there were entrenched interests that wanted me destroyed from the get go. And I ran across a blog, and they talked about they called it serendipitous mindset, where you leave your mind open and as you see these different things that happen to you serendipitously, whether its the people that you have met five years ago, just like how you and I met many, many years back. I dont know, you know, I certainly have my own unique and distinct perspective, like anyone else. Dorkin failed to account for costly evictions, irresponsible tenants, inattentive property managers, and unforeseen repairs, such as mending a three-foot-wide hole cut through a kitchen floor. Absolutely. You know, what are you doing and deal with that situation. This keynote speech goes deep into what really matters most. The two of them promised me that they would take care of the company in my absense and they certainly did that and I am of course, eternally grateful. So, the operating manual was, how do I go from unhappy to happy, and that was, it became not just like a. question, but it became a significant force within my life, whether its about you know, journaling about it, contemplating it, talking about it out loud, and making decisions around it. Dan Daugherty: How long have you been in Hawaii with the family? the health, for example, instead of like, hey, I need to lose weight. Josh is also host of the BiggerPockets Podcast (80 million . Welcome to the Big Exit, where we discuss startup acquisitions with the founders who lived it. I make a list of everything thats stressing me out, all the stressors, from big to small, and then I start to knock them off. COVID you know, your kid gets sick. But its fantastic. What regrets does he hold? . Or just shut it down. Looking back, Im reminded of the following from the incredible Hamilton. They have grown to be one of the largest and most reputable real estate community on the Internet with a forum that has over 900,000 posts! If you're not satisfied with your purchase, you can return your book for a full refund within 30 days. Josh Dorkin: No, thanks, man, I appreciate it. very much oversimplifying it. No, very few people do exactly what you just said and thats actually something that I do as well, I break it out. Sitting alone in my hospital bed, all I could think about was my girls, Julie, and the rest of my family . Find which one works best for you, your resources, and your goals. What you may not know is Joshua's journey in founding, building, scaling, and finally leaving BiggerPockets. Well, what do you need to do to change it? Most people do what they can to help others out, and I wanted to share a little tip along those lines that I dont think a lot of people are familiar with. As Founder and CEO of BiggerPockets, I created the vision and strategy for the business and bootstrapped the company until . After coming up short, Joshua decided to take matters into his own hands and start his own website. Is that true? You know, how do I make it so I could either scale this, get to an exit or just, you know, sell it and quit and be done and find something else. The book teaches readers how to limit spending while increasing income by using techniques like house hacking: buying a multifamily property, such as a duplex, and living in one unit while renting out the other(s). It was just another thing I needed to do. In November 2017 one of my daughters went through a terrible trauma that was initiated by a surgery - something called conversion disorder. What is a VA Loan and Why Should I Consider Using One? I kept this pace up for over 8 years . All that really matters is our families, our health, and our happiness. But I think from a mindset perspective, you really, I think, if you have a learning mindset, a mindset where Hey, I always want to learn, I always want to get better. Everything came back clear and they released me. Stop making excuses and focus on those things as your priority because in an instant it can all be over. So, I thought there had to be a better way. You know, we were living pretty tight on what we were making, where we were, as you know, Denvers not inexpensive. Purchases from the BiggerPockets Bookstore can only ship within the United States. But time and life experience has taught me that doing so only makes my health, relationships, and happiness far worse. Everyone knows real estate investing can be a powerful way to build wealth and achieve true financial freedombut because each persons journey is different, knowing the first steps to take can be challenging. I was kind of tired, I was kind of ready for the next thing. Is it impressing other people? So, you know, being willing and open to change and being dynamic, I think is one of the most important things. Let me know what you think and please share this if you find it valuable! I was no longer happy as CEO of my own company. And look, we get to go and you know, go out on the beach and not be near people. So the operating manual was how do I go from unhappy to happy. Today, BiggerPockets is a thriving community of over 500,000 experienced and aspiring real estate investors with a wealth of content around buying, managing, and selling investment properties. But I, you know, theres so many books out there. And so we spent weeks going through the business, realize that we had, you know, created a product that was a little overly bloated, there was you know, wed built too much, too many features. Cool. } !1AQa"q2#BR$3br Josh Dorkin and Brandon Turner longtime hosts of the world's #1 real estate podcast, The BiggerPockets Podcast - give you an insider's look at . Overnighted packages might take a week or so if youre lucky, standard mail might take weeks, and trying to get a package from the mainland - well, hold on - that might be 2-3 months. You know, you can work remote, you can do everything remote these days. But, you know, I think the key was just persevering through those in order to come out at the end. Instead of getting my hands dirty building product or testing some new landing page or campaign, I was overssing someone else that was. Oct 2004 - Nov 201814 years 2 months. And so as we were going through this situation with my daughter, little by little she was getting better. Lets do it. And inevitably, you know, I really struggled through those difficult times. . You know, well be doing great getting, you know, x million views per month on, you know, through search, and all of a sudden, Google will make an algorithm change, and thatll drop 20% or 30%. No. Weve climbed mountains, traveled, explored and journeyed, surfed, skied and have never stopped seeking out a full and rich life. Leaving BiggerPockets was very difficult - probably similar to sending your child off to college, but I did so both because it is was I had to do, but also because it was what was best for the company. Shipping rates vary depending on location. k cG-t} Thank you for the stories and the insights and the tips. Dan Daugherty interviews Josh Dorkin who founded BiggerPockets in his living room with $12 bucks. Podcaster. There were books, but like, you know, the books were pretty general, they didnt really say, what do you do when your tenant is stealing electricity from the building next door? So that hire, I really believe the business went from hobby to kind of this you know, call it Mom and Pop, you know, sole operator business and then it became a company and very quickly I had to learn how to deal with employees, how to scale and spent the next number of years doing that with Brandon as kind of my copilot. Ill argue that all of that stuff is bullshit. And, you know, my goal was to figure out how do I get myself, how do I change things? And Im. We needed to get this done and time was not on our side. Thank you so much, Josh, I want to have you on again. Lifes too short, man. %PDF-1.6 % I choose to deal with them as they come using logic and working through like I would any game or problem. Problems dont go away. As a father, this is what Im excited to see happen for my kids soon, and as an entrepreneur, I cant imagine being more proud than building something amazing that can live on beyond me like BiggerPockets has done. I was in tears, I was just miserable. So, in 2004, Dorkin launched BiggerPockets, a website for real estate investors to ask and answer each others questionslike a Reddit for property owners. And please share this article so more people can learn about this amazing program. Josh Dorkin: Well, if you put it that way, it sounds pretty good. The days of building product, building community, marketing, growth hacking and being creative were replaced with days managing people. You need to change your diet, you need to do some exercise. And I mean, even when Brandon was hired, it sounds like you were able to take a step back, look at a much bigger strategic view from a business perspective that accelerated growth. His vision for the site and its future brought national press attention to both Mr. Dorkin and to BiggerPockets. The blur lasted a little less than 10 minutes, but after that, my eyes just felt funny.