In this week’s episode of Dadages, Chad Hagle hosts the second installment of Entrepreneur’s Corner with a very special guest, entrepreneur Kent Keirsey, the founder of Acre Homes, a unique and innovative home-buying platform.
Kent, a listener of Dadages, shares his story of being a father and a mentor with a passion to help others learn from his mistakes. Kent, like Chad, is a Stanford grad, where he completed the combined J.D./MBA program. Kent comes from a military family and also attended the West Point Military Academy. He decided to serve the country right before 9/11 happened, which he calls a pivotal moment in his life. Kent tells some stories and explains some challenges from his service years and his deployments in Iraq.
Kent then shares how he went into real estate technology, found his co-founder and business partner, and learned to build a company. His product in real estate tech was a model that predicted how likely an individual was to sell their home in 6-12 months, using data from the individual and the property. It was a great pathway that eventually led to Acre Homes.
The conversation continues with Chad putting Kent “in the spotlight” and giving him the opportunity to present what Acre is and why it’s important to him and to the Dadages audience. Kent talks about how his experience has taught him that giving people a sense of ownership in their place is crucial. Acre allows residents of homes to share in the ownership of that home, to have a better financial outcome over the time they’re at the home, and to have a better experience, which all, in turn, provide a better outcome for investors. Kent goes on to give more details about how Acre works as a business and its benefits. Chad and Kent then share insights and important components of residential real estate that are different from what Chad regularly encounters in his business.
To continue the conversation, the tables are turned and the guest becomes the interviewer. Kent asks for Chad’s opinion on mitigating and managing risk when going to investors. Chad explains the different kinds of risk and how to accommodate them to potential changes in the market, which the business model needs to be prepared for, and the importance of articulating the way the company is going to be resilient to investors and lenders. Chad also mentions the role of committed team members, management, and key people who are aligned with the business.
Next, Kent seeks Chad’s insight on the differences and similarities between investing in technology and real estate. Chad gives one piece of advice that guides all his investments, “trying to find the right balance between diversification and concentration,” which means committing to the things he feels strongest about in a substantial way to see a worthy return. He advises Kent to work on acquiring not only individual customers but also some of the institutional players within the residential real estate space because they can evolve into strategic investors in the future. Finally, Chad also gives several pieces of general advice for Kent to implement as his company scales, such as hiring, processes, culture, communication, accountability, and creating a resilient structure that can grow.
This is the second episode of the Entrepreneur's Corner series, where the script is flipped and the guest gets to ask the host questions. Make sure you tune in to learn all about the real estate world from two very experienced entrepreneurs in that field.