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Career Resources
Have worked with them before. Very impressive group. Major investor in Texas real estate.
They have been all over select leader's board lately.
god i forgot about these guys. i have worked with them as well. fucking hilarious name.
prospie What's your experience working with them? Any idea on comp/hours and how big the offices are? I've heard they do NYC hours with TX compensation....
Just kidding. They seemed extremely small to me, but it was a few years ago. I did not get the impression that they had a bunch of people, but now that I look at their website, it looks like they've grown.
Haha - I usually ask those questions during the intros so I don't interrupt anyone during the call!
On a serious note, thanks for the info. They do seem like they are well established now.
I got a recruiting call from them and passed. It looks like the majority of their non Texas investments are self storage facilities, and since the call was for the NYC office it wasn't something I was very interested in.
That being said it looks interesting if you're Texas based.
Great Value Storage is a subsidiary of World Class Holdings and what I call World Class Crapitol Group. Natin Paul co-owns GVS with Bill Roberts. Paul is easily classified as the slum lord of the self storage industry. Buys out a chain, basically strips them down to nothing, and uses the profit from the self-storage facilities to buy buildings. THIRTY break ins in Memphis. Over $250,000.00 in stolen property. There was NO VIDEO because the system was not maintained. Anyone can enter the premises. How does he treat his customers? We NEVER heard from Paul, Roberts, or ANYONE else. The insurance we paid for is a joke. His record is that he cheated his employees out of $500,000.00 in tips and wages, flim flammed an investor out of another 15 MILLION, and now his self storage customers are out all their belongings.
interesting
I interviewed with them. I passed
What made you pass? Which office and position did you interview for?
I heard that Nate Paul and Kim Jung-uh (neither of which take shits) conquered Mt. Everest, barefoot
World Class Capital Group started in Austin Texas about 8 years ago. The company is primarily focused on a value-add and opportunistic plays. WCCG is largest owner of retail in Austin CBD and currently operates in about 14 states. The company is currently going through some growing pains considering the rapid growth over the past two years. I used to work for WCCG on the acquisitions team.
REsleuth12 , mind if I shoot you a few questions by message concerning the group? I'm looking for some insight and would really appreciate it.
Have worked w/ them on a few deals. Interesting place for sure, I've heard they've had some turnover issues- VPs leaving. I've even heard of a guy that quit after interning a day for them...
Anyone know why they have a high turnover? Bad company culture to blame?
The high turnover is due in part to how Natin Paul and his CEO's do business. You're just another pawn. Long hours with a fancy title and low pay. Paul talks the talk, but he doesn't walk the walk.
Curious as well. They seem to have good activity. However, it looks like their CEO is 28 years old...maybe that has something to do with the turnover
I had a few drinks with an employee there a year+ ago, made it sound like it wasn't too great of an environment/culture in regards to upper management viewing employees as 'the help.' mentioned that half the floor space was dedicated to CEO's office while the other half housed the rest of the employees on top of each other in tiny cubes. CEO is very close buds with Johnny Manziel, always struck me as a little odd.
Bump
Bump
Absolutely awful reputation in Austin. Fraudalent and egotistic CEO. I wouldn't recommend stepping anywhere near them.
I like the banners they put on their projects, though...
The term "fraudulent" is putting it nicely and a gross understatement. Paul is all about mohair suits, a bad shave, and riding around in that big fancy Bentley. If you look under the hood, there is no substance.
I work in austin and a recruiter calls like every 3 months to pitch an opening there. I've heard nothing but crazy bad things from multiple sources working in all diff. capacities. Wouldn't touch them with a ten foot pole.
I'd echo the sentiments on this board regarding WCCG. Haven't heard great things from people in the industry.
I think that anyone who would name their firm World Class anything and it's not a legacy name is questionable.
WCCP Founder Nate Paul landed on Forbes 30 under 30 CRE professionals. I still cant get over this "world class" company name.
https://www.bisnow.com/national/news/commercial-real-estate/forbes-30-u…
All hat, no cattle.
I know these guys well. I would stay away. Toxic culture (something like 10 senior people leaving in the last year, usually within a 2-3 months of being hired), horrible hours, low pay, highly levered, misrepresenting their AUM by nearly twice the amount, poor deal flow. I had an insider there and we pulled away very quickly once we had more information. They sell an expertise in Austin and Storage as their primary footholds, but both the market and the sector are played out.
and so it begins... http://www.mystatesman.com/news/business/investor-files-fraud-suit-agai…
Dude couldn’t even keep his "alleged" scheme going with values shooting through the roof these past few years.
I find it hard to believe that anyone would invest in real estate thinking they could withdraw their invested capital at any time.
On the other hand, the tip skimming allegation at the end of the article is hilarious. That's impressive scumbag behavior, if true.
I know insiders there and deeply recommend to stay away. Bad reputation in Austin, low comp/long hours, acquisition team cut to bare bone now while Nate drives Bentley
The name should have been a giveaway. Sounds like "Prestige Worldwide"
Investors?....Possibly You!!
Never heard of this guy until this thread, what exactly is he doing/who's backing him? How's he buying so much at his age?
As far as I know, his dad is a doctor and knows a lot of HNW doctors, who did country club deals with Nate. Nate leveraged off of that. No one is backing him, except suing him these days, I guess. Talk to any people living in Austin. You will know how people feel about him and company.
His father Love Paul is a respected Ob Gyn in Austin, his mother Pearl is in residential real estate. They hail from India. He dropped out of college and started out buying self-storage facilities using money fronted by his family. He gutted all the services while raising the rates. Took the profit out of the self storage business and used it to buy more substantial buildings.
Not surprised. Recently I discovered that a shit ton of doctors are willing to deploy capital for passive income. You have people earning half a million a year and are looking for ways to put that capital to use. The founder of equity multiple, a real estate crowdfunding site told me that majority of their clients are doctors. And when you google real estate crowdfunding, passiveincomemd.com, a website started by an anesthesiologist geared towards passive income advice for doctors would be in the first or second page of google. So, this really shows the unmet demand for a service like that.
When we were vetting World Class Capital Group we found their stated AUM to be 2-3 times higher than what we saw as their actual AUM. This was based on a cursory review of their LPs. I am highly suspect they aren't managing anything close to a billion and if they are it is based on "internal" valuations. They were less than open about their true financial position and I heard rumors that they were trying to take their very highly levered assets and collateralize them to underwrite Israeli Bonds. Similar to what all the NYC developers do when they are levered up and can't borrow another dime. All the hallmarks of a "pass" for us.
Mind explaining what this Israeli Bond scheme is about...?
How do they compare to American Realty Capital in terms of comp, exit ops. etc.?
Well played, sir.
Is Ametican Realty Capital still in business after the fraud and ensuing scandal?
This thread is comical. It's obviously scorned former employees and other jealous naysayers. Nate has obviously done something right in building a firm to the size that World Class currently is, and in doing so at his age, you are surely going to piss people off along the way. If there is a scrutiny that is fair, it's that Nate has displayed an attitude of not caring about what the naysayers say, which can come across as arrogant. More power to him for not letting the negativity get him down.
What are your thoughts now www.forbes.com/sites/nathanvardi/2019/08/16/the-fbi-raid-of-texas-real-…
KH415 proven an idiot.
I like how they blocked all of negative employee reviews on Glassdoor and replaced with other positive reviews: https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/World-Class-Capital-Group-Reviews-E67…
"Guys, what's the ideal name so we can sound like a scam?"
"We''l go by World Class Capital Group"
I was/am a former customer of GVS in Kansas City Missouri. My 15 X 25 unit was burglarized and the loss to my unit was a little over10,000.00. I am highly suspicious and seemingly sure the on site manager was involved in this activity. Either directly or indirectly somehow the burglars knew how to get into the gate with both an entry and exit code required. They managed to somehow sneak in and out with absolutely no video captured from at least nine different security cameras on site that were undisturbed and still pointed in the correct positions after the burglary. The manager was one of only three people that had an glimpse of the contents of my locker while I was moving in. It was the manager and a customer that she was showing the PROPERTY one day while I was moving in and she just about broke her neck doing a double take when she seen I had a vehicle parked inside my unit. But amazinglyly when she was with the police the day she reported the break in she forgot to mention that there was a vehicle inside my unit even with the door left open and a huge gaping hole right in the front of my unit with a big oil spot on the floor where my car had been. When I made contact with her the next day she pretended she didn't have any idea where was a car in there and then had the nerve to tell me she had just started there a couple weeks before and didn't know me when in fact she signed my my rental agreement two months before the burglary. When I finally talked to the district manager in Ohio almost a week later the manager hadn't told them a car was stolen and I find that very strange. She denies knowing me or seeing the car then neglects to inform the police of even a possible car theft while looking at an empty gaping SPACE with a huge oil spot on the floor and then doesn't even report the loss to her supervisors. This screams of employee INVOLVMENT to me. The police have all this and are also very suspicious of these facts and are just waiting.... As for the corporate office has treated me. They have admitted to their liability of the theft of my belongings by offering me 2000 for my 10,000 loss. After the burglary they produced a insurance policy that was unsigned and never provided to me when I rented the unit and opted to take out the policy. The crooked manager assured me she would email me a copy if the policy and never did but the policy they produced after the burglary had a maximum loss value if 2000 dollars. Now isn't that convieant. This place is the biggest bunch if thieving lying bas**rds ive ever seen. I will not accept 2000 for a 10000 loss and we will go to court. Oh and by the way GVS if you read this: THE burglars that stole my car and stripped it only to leave it abandoned to be later recovered by the police-guess what the thief's did a great job of taking every thing of value from the car and stripping it completely except for 1 thing - THE thieves accidently dropped a cell phone in the backseat before abandoning the car and even though the screen was busted and the phone was useless they left the SIM card in it lol lol lol. The police are in possession of it now and it's only a matter of time. Lol lol lol. People stay clear of this business learn from my mistakes thank you Drew
Former employee here. The above comments are unfortunately true. I left amicably, but due to a toxic culture, ridiculous hours and expectations and little pay to back it up. I respect those who continue in that lifestyle, certainly not for me.
Nice, Very impressive group.
Nate Paul, Austin Real Estate "Billionaire" Reported to SEC for Fraud Investigation
nate paul austin texas.jpg
In 2017, Nate Paul sent documents to Forbes Magazine claiming his net worth was $1.2 billion dollars. Forbes subsequently published an article about Nate Paul's apparent success. However, former employees allege and official public record documents indicate that Nate Paul grossly exaggerated his wealth to Forbes presumably to help attract new investors. It is unfortunately very common in the real estate industry for people who are seeking investments to claim to be wealthier than they really are. Donald Trump was also investigated and found to have lied about his net worth in order to get listed on a Forbes Top 400 list in the 1980's.
nate paul with donald trump crop.jpg Donald Trump with Nate Paul: Both Men Lied to Get Listed in Forbes
Under U.S. law it is considered illegal to provide false documents making false statements to the media in an attempt use the media to "sell the lie" to the public. In November 2018 Nate Paul was reported to the SEC for investigation into this alleged false documents and investor fraud. Why does it matter? Nate Paul already has a dubious reputation in Austin, Texas and is known to use the Austin Business Journal paid journalism services to portray him in a positive light to help with his negative public image. Nate Paul is often characterized as a college drop out who got his start using his father's friends money to buy apartment buildings and then sell them off as "condos", that ultimately led to real estate holdings that include storage facilities and various commercial real estate properties. However, according to a former long time employee, Nate Paul is described as a huge "coke-head" who suffers from drug, alcohol and sex addictions in his personal life.
Nate Paul v3tc3456tv43c63.jpg
Regardless of cocaine use allegations in Nate Paul's private life, from these recent SEC allegations, it appears that Nate Paul's ego and greed may be getting in the way of what is ethical and legal. Although Nate Paul continues use the media to help with damage control, in reality Nate Paul, has a questionable business reputation in Austin and is now under Federal investigation by the SEC for fraud. Multiple lawsuits, recent allegations of criminal activity involving his long time business partner Josh Cisneros and now claims he falsified documents sent to Forbes grossly exaggerating his net-worth, are all reasons people are questioning if "Billionaire" Nate Paul is good for Austin or a World-Class Criminal?
Quality write-up.
Worrying thing is some people will read this and be genuinely surprised.
Guy in our office used to work for them and he said they were really bad, heavily involved in legal issues and to avoid at all costs. Said he was audited by the IRS just for working for them and his paychecks used to come from different companies all the time vs one actual entity. Some of the recruiters I know refuse to work with them and it seems every I know in Austin has nothing but negative things to say. He has assets but sounds like some Ponzi shit going on down there.
It looks like the majority of their non Texas investments are self storage facilities, and since the call was for the NYC office it wasn't something I was very interested in.
The name just screams scam. Have interacted before, but never transacted. The person I interacted with seemed competent.
I spent the last few weeks researching this firm and Natin Paul . My conclusion is that Natin might be a sleazy douchebag and I would never want to work for this company but the firm is a legit company. It's not like its shutting down soon. So, all the SEC investigation stuff is mainly noise. Great Value Storage's entire portfolio recently got securitized with a $200MM full term IO loan from UBS including a $60MM sub ordinate loan from TH This was the largest loan in C-15 and Fitch treated the loan very well. So, you had institutions like UBS, TH, rating agencies, B buyers all do their due diligence on World Class and Natin Paul. This shows you that a lot of stuff you read about World Class here is mainly noise. But again, to be clear it does not mean they are angels. I still firmly believe they are douchebags and sleazy.
What are your thoughts now Brody92? www.forbes.com/sites/nathanvardi/2019/08/16/the-fbi-raid-of-texas-real-…
Nothing that I didnt know before. The raid was a new update, but word on the street was that he was already on the SEC's radar long before this raid. UBS, TH, Fitch and the B buyers all knew this and did their due diligence. Being in the CMBS world I can tell you that there are far worse borrowers than Nate. He will get securitized again without a doubt despite the fact that is extremely sketchy.
While I was working there a guy that was kind of my arch enemy from my last company asked me if I would float his resume to World Class. I thought about it but I’m just not vindictive enough to ruin his life by helping him get a job at this company. It is that bad. People walk off the job all the time with no new job in hand. WC would like you to think it’s the hard work and hours which is not true. People leave when they realize what they are doing here.
Their 99 Trinity site just went under foreclosure. Looks like the ship is finally starting to sink over there.
Hope he sells the old 3M site on 2222 to someone with a fucking brain. Need that thing to get filled back up.
A couple vendors are starting to talk about filing an involuntary bankruptcy against World Class Holdings Company. It would take some ballsy vendors to pull that trigger but would be easy to come up with three needed. Just call any 24 hour plumber in Austin and they are owned more than the $14k threshold. If Anyone wants to join the forming group than PM.
:-)
What does Jamaal Charles do there? lol https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamaal-charles-aba0b04a/
Nate Paul is supposedly starting up an office co-sharing brand. Jamaal is doing business development, or something for the project. World Class is, according to World Class, one of the largest owners of office space in Austin. 95% of that space is a 1.3million SF 3M campus in suburban Austin which 3M is vacating. What could go wrong?
The guy running the whole Nowspace operation for Nate is a fraud that was blacklisted from Silicon Valley. He's set to go to trial this summer. Google him, his name is Raju Sagiraju.
Nate funds 'his equity' with unsecured loans from his dad's doctor friends, trust fund high school buddies (since he didn’t grad) and athletes who are all going to 'be real estate partners with Nate'.
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