Career Pivot to RE Dev

Hey all - have a potential unique opportunity to join a newer RE dev shop and wanted to come on here to get some input on what I should be thinking through should the opportunity materialize.

For background, I currently have 5 years of experience across being an LP investing in multiple asset classes (Public Equity, Private Credit, PE/VC, RE) and the last 3 in IB in a fast growing but niche space (almost like a hybrid between M&A and capital markets). I actually started out my career interested in CRE and did a summer internship in project management at a very large GC. Last day of my internship I was going to get lunch with the developer on the project but got in a car accident and the lunch never happened… so who knows - had that not happened I could’ve already been in the space. All this is to say, my experience to date has been more on the corporate finance side of things but my knowledge of CRE isn’t zero given in college I did a tone of prep and self learning trying to get into the space and have some work experience in a directly adjacent space. Coming from banking l have strong skill set on the finance side of things from modeling to capital raising and deal structuring - just not RE specific. As I dig into the space again and re-teach myself some of the stuff I learned back in the day I get pretty excited about it again… especially as these topics now click better for me with more corp finance knowledge.

The opportunity is with a firm run by an individual that recently spun out of a more established shop. He’s only in his mid-30s but was head of development at his last shop and has ~10 years of development experience mostly with larger developers. So, a younger individual but has managed to be pretty successful early on in his career from my perspective. His new firm is continuing to run a large project that he was managing at his old shop so he’s not starting from zero. His strategy is focused on luxury condos and mixed use projects mostly in Florida but also some other states. Still very early stages but the idea floated out there was that he could basically show me the ropes and train me up to do what he does.

I’m attracted to the opportunity for a few reasons. It’s an industry / space that I was initially interested in trying to build a career in so getting back to my original interests. I like that I’ll be less tied to a single city as opposed to my current job (almost exclusively in NYC) and am in fact interested in being in Florida at least for the medium term. I also like the fact that I’ll have a pretty clear mentor thats had early career success - something I’ve felt I’ve lacked in my current job. Recognize that it’ll still mostly be a desk job but am attracted to the fact that there would be some element of getting on site and actually building something tangible and creating tangible value for communities. Also like the fact that there could be an opportunity to have equity in something and / or go out on my own eventually which is virtually impossible in IB. Not to mention, likely improved WLB - pretty sick of worrying about weekends / holidays getting blown up and seeing how much my VPs / MDs work.

Given my background, this is likely the only opportunity I’d have to make this pivot without going back to school but it’s also high risk given he just started this shop. So, my question is, what should I be thinking through as I evaluate this opportunity? How do I DD the lead individual? What questions should I be asking or risks should I be evaluating? What type of experience should I be aiming to develop to ensure if things go south I’m not screwed and can’t find another CRE/dev job? Any tips to put my best foot forward or sharpen my understand about dev or different markets?

Appreciate the help! This forum so far has been very helpful in getting my back up to speed.