Pivoting back to corporate after doing your own thing
Have made a run at running my own firm as an operator the past year and a half, and the funds are getting slim. Have built a great rolodex of investors, have a couple deals in the pipeline, but unless something moves forward soon, i'll need to go back to corporate life.
For anyone who has done this, how have you positioned yourself? I feel like most employers are going to shy away given they'll be worried about me jumping ship again. Also not having closed anything (although an extremely difficult time) i'm sure isn't a great look.
Obviously a very tough job market to potentially go back into, but anyone who has made this leap would appreciate any insight into how to put yourself back into the job pool.
haha oh man. got nothing helpful to add here, just feeling like I'm in the same spot. i would think if you took the exact skillset/area of focus you've been in and found a firm doing that, it shouldnt be impossible
Just be straight up with them. "I have my own investments, but I realized I need a day job."
Framing your projects as "investments" and not "running a firm" makes them seem to be side projects, not your main focus. I'm sure a few of the principals wherever you're applying own real estate on the side too.
There's no shame, IMO, in swinging for the fences and striking out. I'm sure you learned a lot along the way.
I was in your shoes at one point but then things worked out. I actually still have an email I typed in my notes app asking my old boss for my job back. Thankfully I never sent it. It’s tough, but no shame.
A few scattered thoughts:
Not exactly this but when I pivoted to RE from a completely unrelated field, I worked as account exec (sales) for a construction lender where they were trying to grow their book of business. They also were perfectly okay with me doing deals on the side as others were doing the same thing (i.e. buying rental properties, etc).
The flexibility of the sales role allows you to still do your own deals, but not having to force a deal to work because the sales role comes with a (modest) base salary + commission.
A hiring manager probably wouldn't see you as an underwriter, but would definitely see you as an asset for a job function that you can own such as sales, investor relations, anything else client facing because they know you speak the language as them and can likely connect with them better than someone who just went into REPE right out of college.
It's not easy to do your own thing, it takes a lot of guts so commend you on that. If you have LPs, they would much rather you go take a job then bring them into a bad deal. Your early deals with LPs need to be solid as they will be your primary cheerleaders when raising from others.
You got this and best of luck!
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