Had a chance to do an extended interview with GVA's Alan Stalcup. 30K doors at his peak, now around 5K and still lots of distress to wade through. He didn't hold back, addressing everything from LP lawsuits to personal guarantee battles to the rumors of an SEC investigation.
Here's the opener. Was surprised he was on the record for the whole thing. 
Rest can be found here.
Did you question him about the allegations of investor fraud and loan fraud? What about buying 70s deal at 2 caps?
Most people I know said not to trust their financials or rent rolls when evaluating potential acquisitions from them. Not for me to say if that is true or not. I do know about him touting successful sales on deals on LinkedIn when it was a total equity loss for the investors.
We probably all read his investor memo about not worrying about the returns or existing investments and instead just going for a walk.
You are promoting the interview here, so I feel like I can ask is this a puff redemption interview similar to what the real deal did with tides or do you actually talk to him about the retirements plans that were ruined by people investing with him?
Frankly if I have Barry banging down my door for a $100m pg I would not be talking in public like this lol… goes to show the level of discretion and sophistication of these guys
@jon B: Do me a favor, and read the piece before asking that. It is linked. If you were familiar with The Promote, I think the words "puff piece" would not be something you bring up.
Not only did we ask him about the fraud allegations, we talked about the PGs, the SEC investigation chatter, the wipeouts on deals, all of it. So, go have a read!
@analyst1 : I was genuinely surprised he stayed On the Record for all of it. My guy is on a crusade rn
I was seeing if I should invest the time to read it. No insult was intended so I am sorry that it came across that way.
I did read it just now.
I can appreciate that people don’t want to have a conversation.
He should definitely be called on the carpet for saying he lost $400m of people’s money and that he is proud of what he built. However if someone does that other than a lawyer, the person being interviewed might bolt.
I often listen to your podcast, which has a lot of good stuff, so thank you.
Out of curiosity, are you all active investors in the market or solely journalists?
@jon B: He was saying he lost $400M of his OWN money, i.e. he had real skin in the game. Obviously from the outside it's hard to vet that statement.
With interviews like this, it's always a balance between digging in on specific facts, examples, etc. and hitting the big-picture things you want to get when you get a prominent person in the news like this – so we asked him about PGs, the investigation, the fraud allegations, etc., but weren't able to get forensic on certain deals, let's say.
I was very blunt with him about how the market's seeing him, and I was surprised he was down to chat given The Promote's coverage of him has been pretty tough in the past.
Re your 2nd Q: I have a media/journalism background, so I approach it from an observer perspective. My partner on the pod, though, is an active GP/investor. So the balance between insider-outsider is something I think folks appreciate. Thanks for listening!
Yeah I find this hard to imagine. What I would believe is that their own internal valuations, or the valuations based on numbers they provided, showed that in some very hopeful upside scenarios, he had $400mm of unrealized gain in his portfolio which was subsequently wiped out.
If so, that's so far removed from "I love $400mm of my own money" that it's laughable. It's like owning a single Bitcoin, thinking it'll go to $400mm, and the claiming when the price moves that you've lost that money.
bingo.
Thanks for the response!
Interesting read. I'm assuming $400 million was his peak value in the deals? I did like how that press release made it sound like the courts dismissed the case at the start of it and not that they settled in some way.
Are you guys planning on adding a membership option through the podcast platforms?
Minima ipsam eius ad quia. Est excepturi animi eveniet enim ratione quia sunt. Voluptatum ullam optio doloribus consequatur aut dolorem. Dolor tempora voluptatem quia.
Itaque voluptatibus perferendis repellendus minima. Atque consequuntur eos odit quaerat beatae ex ad. Magnam dolore molestias et.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...