Funds on Fire
Welcome to Funds on Fire, hosted by Devin Robinson—a seasoned fund manager with years of experience launching, managing, and scaling multiple successful investment funds. Devin has also helped numerous entrepreneurs ignite their own fund ventures. This podcast is your go-to guide for mastering the world of investment funds and capital raising.
In each episode, Devin dives deep into the essential aspects of fund management, SEC compliance, and strategic capital raising, sharing the insights that have powered his own success. Alongside solo episodes filled with practical advice, you’ll hear from top fund managers whose funds are truly on fire. These industry leaders reveal the strategies, tactics, and stories behind their remarkable success.
Whether you’re an emerging fund manager or a seasoned professional aiming for greater heights, Funds on Fire delivers the knowledge and inspiration you need to take your funds to the next level. Subscribe today and turn your financial ambitions into a blazing success!
Funds on Fire
The Immigrant's Blueprint: From Moscow to Multimillion-Dollar Funds | Ep. 12
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Some stories don't just inspire—they provide the exact blueprint you need to follow. Igor Shaltonov's journey from Moscow to multimillion-dollar fund management is exactly that kind of story.
Picture this: A professional water polo player from Russia with a law degree lands in Manhattan Beach, California, on a November day. While Moscow suffers through minus 10-degree weather, Igor watches kids playing barefoot on the beach in 70-degree sunshine. That moment cracked something open inside him—a realization that he'd been missing possibilities his entire life.
What makes Igor's story so compelling isn't just the dramatic change in scenery. It's how he built his success on fundamentals rather than credentials. Without hedge fund experience or an elite MBA, Igor methodically created wealth by focusing on what he calls "the next right thing." First in youth sports (he and his wife built a successful basketball academy), then in real estate, and finally in fund management with A Vista Funds, which now manages hundreds of millions across multifamily housing, land development, and organic food companies.
The wisdom Igor shares cuts through the noise of typical investment advice. Rather than chasing flashy returns, he focuses on consistency and risk management. His philosophy—"everybody has a dollar, but nobody invests it"—highlights that success doesn't require enormous capital, just persistent action. When the 2022-2023 market downturn devastated real estate portfolios, Igor pivoted brilliantly, moving from interest rate-sensitive investments to land entitlement deals and private credit positions. This adaptability helped his investors thrive while others struggled.
Perhaps the most valuable lesson from Igor's journey is his approach to teaching investment principles. He allows his children to lose money on risky investments early so they learn valuable lessons while the stakes are low. This same careful, educational approach extends to how he manages investor capital—focusing on preservation first, then strategic growth.
If you're looking to build wealth through funds or real estate but lack traditional credentials, Igor's path offers a proven alternative: consistent action, strategic diversification, and the discipline to avoid uncontrollable risks. Want to learn from someone who raised $18 million in his first year not through connections, but through competence? This conversation is your masterclass.
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Igor's Journey from Russia to America
Speaker 1What's up and welcome back to Funds on Fire, where we tell the real stories behind capital raising, fund management and building financial empires. That last Today's episode isn't just inspiring. It's a blueprint. You're going to meet Igor Shaltonov and if you've ever wondered what grit really looks like, this man defines it. Now picture this a professional water polo player from Moscow yes, I'm talking about right out of Russia with a law degree. You followed the traditional path, but something inside you says this can't be it. You want something different, something warmer, literally and figuratively. So one day you and your wife board a plane to Los Angeles. You land in November and it's 70 degrees. Kids are barefoot on the beach and you realize I've been lied to my whole life. People live like this. In that moment, crack something open. The crack eventually becomes a fund. That is literally Igor's life, and today Igor runs A Vista Funds, which focuses on multifamily housing, land development and even organic food companies.
Speaker 1He raised $18 million in his first year here, and what I love most is what he didn't do. He didn't raise capital from day one. He didn't come in with a hedge fund experience or a Stanford MBA. He didn't come in with a Wharton or Harvard education. He didn't pretend to be something he's not. He just did the next right thing over and over, first in youth sports, then in real estate, then in funds, and it worked. But here's what hit me the most Before Igor ever raised capital from strangers, he had to raise the belief from his family. He had to convince his own mom to rent out their apartment in Russia and move. He had to sell the vision of real estate cash flow before he even knew how to structure a deal that right there. That was his first capital raise and I want to pause here for just a second because if you're listening to this, I want you to know something. That same skill Igor used vision, clarity, conviction. That's what we help you build inside of our fund founders founder circle community. We've built the founder circle for people just like Igor, people who don't have a private equity background, who didn't grow up around wealth or who are trying to figure out how to raise capital, build a fund and do it right, without blowing 30K on legal fees or wasting a year on YouTube University. Inside the Founders Circle, we give you everything step-by-step fund launch, training, your full legal docs, structure and support a community of real fund managers doing real deals, weekly coaching, calls for strategy, accountability and momentum, and an AI-powered CRM that literally automates your investor pipeline so that you can raise capital on autopilot. So if you've been spinning your wheels, stuck in the ideal phase or too intimidated to take the next step, this is the part of the episode where I say stop waiting, apply for the Founders Circle and join the group of auto operators who are actually doing the thing. You can head to wearefunfounderscom, slash apply, or just click the link in the show notes to learn more. We don't just teach you how to raise capital, we help you to become the kind of person that people want to invest with.
Speaker 1Now back to Igor. One of the things that he said that stuck with me was everybody has a dollar, but nobody invests it. And it hit me because that's the world we're operating in. There's capital everywhere, but trust is the currency. If you want to raise capital, you have to become trustworthy, not just in your documents, but in your decisions, your discipline and your track record. And Igor has all that. He's done it, from coaching kids on the court to building a real estate portfolio, to raising eight figures through a credit fund and managing hundreds of millions of dollars in his fund. Today's conversation is going to walk you through how to shift from operator to fund manager, what he learned from losing a deal and how it made him better, how he raised capital before he had a fund, and why he's diversifying into organic food companies and how it hedges risk, and how he teaches his kids the realities of investing, including how to lose money. So, whether you're just starting your fund journey or you're already raising capital and trying to scale it up, I promise you this is an episode you're going to want to take notes on. So let's get into it.
Speaker 1Here's my conversation with Igor Shaltonov. What's up and welcome today. I'm so excited because today we have Igor Shaltonov on the show today and I got to say I've enjoyed keeping up with Igor and one he's got a really awesome podcast where he actually talks to other professional athletes about investing. He talks about his journey and I just like following him on Instagram and that's where I connected with him initially to get him on the podcast. I like seeing, uh, the time he goes out and he goes to basketball games and stuff with his kids.
Speaker 1He's out there playing golf and I kind of get jealous because the courses you play at are gorgeous man, and so I loved keeping up with you and listening to the podcast and I'm just excited to have you on the show here, man, and so thank you for being here and I love to just get get it. Get it going a little bit on like, because you've got an incredible story that I I actually don't know many, actually. I actually don't know. I do know a couple, but I don't know many people that have come over here it's like from Russia and then made a new life for themselves and then absolutely crushed it in um in here. So I'm just really excited to talk about that and hear a little bit more about you, and I think our listeners will be too. So give us a little bit of a rundown who you are, where you're from and what you do, man.
Speaker 2Yeah, that's a big story. So thank you, david, thank you for having me, and I'm absolutely excited to share some of the things I started in Moscow. In Russia, I was a professional water, actually played water polo it's not super popular sport, but then. So what happened to me? I thought I'm going to chase the money and then I just actually finished the law school. I became a lawyer in Russia. So I was working nine to five job.
Speaker 2I I soon to realize you know what. This is something I don't want to do for the rest of my life. You know, my wife said you know what? This is something I don't want to do for the rest of my life. You know, my wife said you know what? Let's visit my family because her family moved to the United States. So let's visit my family and let's check it out.
Speaker 2And my thing was I was like nine, 10 years old, right coming back from practice in Moscow. So it was like freezing cold because I was taking subway. It was taking I mean it's metro right. Like freezing cold because I was taking subway. It was taking I mean it's metro right and it took me about probably like 50 to an hour right Going traveling down right and it was so cold, it was so windy, right, and then I was like humid and I was just miserable all the time.
Speaker 2And I come back home and I say, mom, you know what? I want to move to the place where there's no winter. And she was like, okay, let's do it. And then I was like keep saying that day after day. And then, who knew, like 15 years after, I'm going to be in California, a beautiful place, and, like I said, my wife said let's go visit my family and her family was in Los Angeles, california, and in November 2010,. We landed in Manhattan Beach. I don't know if you guys know the area, but it's a beautiful place and it was minus 10, I would say in Russia. It was like snowy and it was like a flip-flops and beautiful beach right in Manhattan Beach, california, and it was like, oh my goodness, I felt like I was cheated for the whole life and people can live like that and everybody like settled down, everybody like barely moving and the kids are like naked right on the beach and it was like such a dream right come to reality, awesome change right from Russia and that's like a stark difference.
Speaker 1Now I was very interesting. I'm actually from LA, so I'm from California. So when you said water polo, I was like, oh, of course, usc probably like the best water polo team in the country by far every single year. And so I was like I wonder if you ever did you ever go to any like usc water polo matches or anything like that?
Speaker 2yeah, the fun story is usc and ucla as well, so maybe ucla a little bit different than that right now. But what I'm saying is there's only two players in the history of water polo, like the world history of water polo, played in Russia. And then one of them happened to be the UCLA head coach for the last 20 years 15 years, not 20. 15 years. His name is Adam Wright. So the story was when we filed the paperwork for USCIS, right, and we claim so, we outstanding athletes, blah, blah, blah, and we're like on the world, you know the stage and everybody knows us. They said you know what, if you guys claiming that, who knows you from United States?
Speaker 2I was like, oh my God, so what are we going to say now? And then I was oh, I played with Adam Wright and I call my buddy, I text him. So I say, hey, adam. So I got in trouble. So, yes, yes, asking me for the proof of you know, recognition, can you give me the letter? And he was like, oh, of course I can. And then my wife actually played professional basketball and then she played with all the superstars of WNBA and we did the same thing. It was Lisa Leslie back then, the first woman who actually slam dunk an official game? Yeah, lisa Leslie. Then the first woman who actually slam dunked an official game.
From Pro Athlete to Business Owner
Speaker 2Yeah, Lisa and Leslie, oh she's the GOAT, yeah, she's incredible. She's amazing and her husband, mike. And then we asked that same thing from Lisa. So Lisa was like, of course, because we'll spend the time together in Moscow, we'll show them around and stuff, without actually knowing we're going to move to the United States and we need any type of help or support, and out actually knowing we're going to move to the United States and we need any type of, you know, help or support. And then we'd reach out to her and she was like, yeah, of course we're going to give you. And so, anyways, what ended up happening? Isabel Leslie, on her letter, had gave us like a letter, and then Adam Wright, on the UCLA letter, had gave us like support letters, and then we just got the Green Guards was in two months and that was the great story.
Speaker 1Yeah, yeah. What other endorsement? Probably the next best endorsement is the president. After that, I mean, those are like the best.
Speaker 2Yeah, anyways. And then you asked me about the water bowl game Since then. So every time I reach out to Adam, so maybe not every year, but then I go to the final games, and last time was UC Berkeley against UCLA. So it's just you know, really high-quality water bowl I love, I enjoy that every time.
Speaker 1That's awesome. Now, really high quality water bowl. I love, I enjoy that every time. That's awesome. Now, one thing I do also know about you which is really cool, and now hearing that part of knowing that your wife was a professional basketball player, because when you came over here you didn't just jump into real estate so you were an attorney and then when you came over, you actually started other businesses right and other businesses around what you're passionate about, which is athletics, and even, specifically, what your wife is passionate about, is basketball. So like what was that evolution, like moving there and doing that?
Speaker 2Yeah, that's a great story as well. So thanks for asking. And I think the beginning was I was by first educational right background, so I was the PE teacher and coach and actually we did internship at school. I think it was like two months or three months and I really loved every second of that. So the disconnect was you cannot survive if you're a PE teacher in Russia because you might make like 50 bucks per month, right. It's like a very like underrated job and same probably in the United States as well.
Speaker 2So but then when we opened a basketball academy for kids because we had the name, her brother was drafted by NBA team, so we had that name of NBA right, and her dad was coach for the USSR and Russian national team. He was a player and then coach for the Russian national team, anyways. So we opened that basketball academy. So the teaching connected to the basically and what we did, I didn't even work, so we were doing the passion project. So we're just really we're helping kids to develop into something that we call it like develop great athletes, but greater people.
Speaker 2So we were actually teaching them through the sports how to become more persistent right, how not to give up, how to stay on the same focus. Anyways, there's all of those applications of sports which is, you know, translating into your real life and you become a really successful person not because you're exceptional just because you don't quit right, because you're more persistent than others, because you have that internal push right and the power to go through the challenges and stuff. So what I'm saying is by having that business right and teaching kids, so I just completely fulfill my passion, internal passion, passion. What I'm saying, the people feel it, the genuine emotions and passion. They feel it immediately. So the business starts to grow crazy.
Speaker 1And when you have that genuine passion for something, you're right, people understand it and feel it and they get behind you and I'm sure that has led into one like raising capital and launching the businesses that you have.
Speaker 1When you're passionate about something, when you feel strongly about it, other people want to follow you and even just transitioning a little bit into real estate. I know that just from listening and hearing things on previous things that you were on, before going back to like 1994 in Russia, you've talked about someone explaining to you that you could actually get paid for living in your apartment and it and like that's where this whole idea and the mindset shifted of like wow, real estate can actually change your life. And so that almost was like the little bit of the I guess, like the um, the, the embryo, like you know, like I guess the beginning yeah, the beginning of real estate for you and so like, take us back to what it's like, because I have no idea what it's like to be a kid in Russia, I have no idea what that looks like, and for you to go, we can rent out our apartment, real estate in Russia and then now transitioning that to America is, I'm sure that's a really interesting transition and even this mindset shift for you.
Speaker 2Yeah, yeah, that's a great question. Thank you, de David. And the story began when one of my friends and I'm probably like 10 years old, nine years old, one of my friends saying I'm going to go out and pick up cash for the apartment. I was like, oh my goodness, what does that mean? Because if you think about the 1994, 95, 90s right, we just went through this civil, you know, basically revolution. I would put it this way right, we just went through this civil. You know, basically revolution. I would put it this way right, it was 1991, 92.
Speaker 2It was a really, really tough times, not to say you can't really find online. There's no YouTube, right, there's no internet as much. What do you? Also, the only reason, like the only way you can learn is just from your peers, basically from your friends. And then when I hear, hear that so we have an apartment and we actually let the people leave there and receive the cash for that back there, back then there, and then just, you know, traveling time. So that was just mind-boggling ideas. I didn't know that. You know, my parents are not coming from real estate background, from investing background, so my dad was like police officer, my mom was was doctor, just very classic family, so. But what I'm saying is when I hear that, it just stuck in my mind so, but I still young, all right.
Speaker 2And then you know, fast forward. When we had that first apartment, I was like mom, listen, so we can rent it to the people. So I heard there's an idea of you can give it to people, they'll pay you for that, which is an incredible idea. And the reason why? Because all of it, it's not leveraged, it's all cash paid, right. You can't get the mortgage back then, so it's all has to be cash, right. If you got an apartment, it has to be cash. So what I'm saying is all you get, you know all the revenue, whatever income you get, and it's just free and clear. And there's no taxes as well, because there's nothing like real estate investing back then for people. Okay, back after that.
Speaker 2So when we received the first check remember, first of all, it took me about six months to convince my family to move to a new place, because we just got a new place model that and then so they said, no, we're going to stay in our alder. We got used to that, we love our park neighbors. I was like no, we're going to stay in our alder. We got used to that, we love our park neighbors. I was like, yeah, that's true, but you guys deserve it. So we've been there for 20 years. Right, it's all beat up. Right, we can actually give it to the people. They will leave it, but you experience the new stuff, anyways.
Speaker 2And then once I convinced them and they actually really loved the place, so I remodeled that other place, the older one, and then I give it to the two boys, which is they were actually lawyers, and then they were splitting that payment, which is easier for them to pay monthly. Right, they were in two different jobs as well. For me today, I was like, wow, that's a brilliant idea, right, because you just diversify that income from other people. So, and that's two people, it's not one which is burdensome maybe some days or months, right To pay that rent. So, and it worked perfect, because once we received the cash monthly right, that big pay cash, right, for me it was the equal, like, of my mom's salary for a month and her mind stuck, for sure, because her mind was like I'm going like nine to five, yeah, five days a week to receive the same amount of cash. And then she's like completely changed her mind as well. I'm going to stop here.
Speaker 1Yeah, no, that's great. Oh, no, man, the story, this the stories is what makes this. Because I think there takes honestly for you and as I've like heard your story and as you're you're explaining it, it takes a sense of like persuasion and patience when you're dealing with family and trying to get them to get on board with what you think is right. And it sounds like, as a teenager, I mean, you probably had to come to your parents, who, I mean probably very logical people doctor, police, officer and you had to come to them and go hey, this is the plan. This is why I think it could work and this is where we are now. And I'm sure, honestly, that was like the catalyst for you and learning how to raise capital for investing. You literally had to convince your parents to believe in your real estate dream right there, and then it paid off and I'm sure in that moment, there was a huge mindset shift there which is really cool to even think about. So I think that I love that part of your story. So I think that's fantastic.
Speaker 2Yeah, I think that that's again. It's probably came from sports. So, because my mom always keeps saying so we're doing mistakes, so this is wrong, we're not supposed to buy another one, another one, so this is the wrong mistake. And then it took me about five years still buying like real estate and then renting, and she was helping me actually to manage this. And then once we sold the first apartment and she got millions of rubles right in her account and she was like, wow, I was like, yeah, that's a mistake we're doing for this five years. And then that's, you know she's saying that's a mistake. You know it took her about like five years to really transition into this brain of wow, we can invest, we can actually work now and then delay gratification, delay that, you know, paycheck and stuff like that, and then once you sold it, you really get the big chunk of money.
Teaching Investment Discipline to Children
Speaker 1Yeah, that's awesome, man. I love that you just talked about this idea of delayed gratification because you've got kids. Right, how many kids do you have? Three right now. Okay, so you have three kids, which is incredible, and you've got three kids. And one thing that I've heard you say in the past is you've talked about this idea of just like, slow and steady, don't lose money, do not necessarily a safe thing, but something that's going to be consistent, something that's going to be lower risk, boring, but it delays gratification but has a bigger payoff in the end. And so for you, I just I love always bringing it back to kids, because one just the parallel between you going through that process with your mom, her realizing it, and then now you as a husband, a dad, a coach and a fund manager when do you see those parallels are Like? How do you manage the tension between being a founder, a coach, a dad, a husband, and has that helped you, I guess, along the way, the stability of what you've built? How teach them those lessons?
Speaker 2Yeah, that's a very deep question, right, devin, thank you. I guess has, along the way, the stability of what you've built. How teach them those lessons? Yeah, that's a very deep question, right, Devin, thank you.
Speaker 2I think I don't know what to say, but one thing is probably leading was an example, that's the biggest piece was the kids. That works really well with kids as well as with a coach, right? Because kids actually you might think they don't know, you might think, but they actually feel you, like whatever you tell them, and if it's not true, they understand that right, something internally deep right in their minds or whatever in their body. So what I'm saying here, lydon was an example and one of the examples will be right, so you're not chasing a 40 50 percent return, as some people do. They say, oh, we're not going to invest unless it's like 40 percent. And then you tell them so yeah, good luck, right, so you might work one time, but then five times out of nine, like five times out of ten, right, it's not going to work. And then you lost even more than you just gain. Um, being able to understand, you know, because you probably still want a five or double-digit return. You don't want to settle for like single digits. But there's places where you can be actually really secure and then really low in risk on capital stack and you still get this double-digit return. And if you think through that double-digit return, so that means your money actually, you know, growing fast. You're not just keeping them on a bank account, right, because one of the probably default choices is just keep them on a bank account. And then what are they paying you right now? So they probably, you know, if you go to the bigger institution, right, nothing, right. But if you go into a little bit smaller, they might pay like 3%, 4%, right On your money.
Speaker 2But then I was always thinking through that and I'm telling my kids think through how much, how many years it's going to take you to actually double your money. Let's say, if you got $1,000, right. How many years it's going to take you to get to 2,000, right. And then so in my mind was okay, if I, if I can actually master that thing, if I can keep my money secure and they're growing and double the return and I'm not losing them like five, 10, whatever the years for yourself, right, whatever the horizon for yourself, so now you can start to chip in right, the portion of it and say, okay, I can take more. Right, the risk was maybe like a 20%, like 30% return. A little bit more right, like less of the portfolio, right, but a little bit more of the risk level right.
Speaker 2And I think what I'm teaching my kids as well, for example in sports, that's a great perception example. Right, by you sticking to the sports at the age of, let's say, from 14 to 17, by you just sticking and then going to practice every single day, 90% of the humans will quit by any reason. Whatever the reason is, they will quit. Right, by you just being persistent, waking up every morning, doing the routine right, going to the practice right, without any meaningful results. So you're going to beat beat 90 of the people.
Speaker 2Same as investing. By you doing investing like every month, every six months, whatever your schedule is, whatever your financial you know ability or capability of that. So you're gonna be 90 of the humans who don't do it right, because everybody has one dollar right, everybody has one1, right, everybody has $1 a month or whatever a year Again, your schedule, a day, whatever. But nobody is doing that. You just need to understand one fact Nobody is taking the risk, even on $1, everybody, every single human right, can afford to invest $1. But they're not doing this. So by doing this, you already bid 90% of the people, so do you, and that $1 in years become a big number.
Speaker 1Yeah, there's no doubt. So do you teach your kids and I don't know how old they are, but do you teach them about investing, the importance of investing even just that $1, setting aside money from the things that they make to invest it Because you don't want to leave it into an account? What's a CD? Going to be three or 4%, and they don't have CDs. And so what's like, do you, are you actively helping them to understand the concepts of investing and, if so, what is? What does that look like?
Speaker 2Yes, I do, and actually I want to expose them to the the most risky things right away. And the reason why? Because I want to make sure they understand they lose money, they just lose. They had like a thousand and now they have 300. And the reason why there's certain reason for that right. And then they need to analyze and they need to start to realize you can actually lose the capital, right, and I would rather lose right now for them, when it's just a hundred thousand, whatever dollars, then they just gonna grow and they're gonna start to chase that shiny things again, right?
Speaker 2So, and one of the examples will be like I gave my older son the account was a Robin hood, right, he can buy some crypto there, so, and there's some. And he was, oh, I'm gonna invest in this and the oh yeah, because he saw that on Twitter or whatever you name it right, snapshot, right. And so yeah, of course, absolutely do that right. And then by him doing this and like losing 70% of his portfolio, that's probably the best example of his, you know, younger age, because now he started to realize you know what this might be a different way to do that. Right, there might be more delayed gratification idea, right, there's might be more like a safer investments, right, and then you know when you can translate your gains into something more risky, right? If you have an idea, if you have some, yeah, so this is my approach for now, for today.
Speaker 1That's really good.
Speaker 1I think that probably also stems because, as I think about you telling that story and I think about the lesson that you want them to leave there, I think that's also an extremely, extremely valuable lesson for current fund managers as well.
Learning from Market Downturns
Speaker 1And correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you went through a season where you actually lost money on one of your funds and I think it's an important lesson to learn, because nobody's I mean for me, my fund was tough last year. Single family real estate in the US was tough last year, and so people go through these ups and downs and so for you, as you went through that season of your fund, I guess what was one of the biggest lessons that you learned in that season? And like, how have you applied that to now as you currently run the funds that you run? Because we'll start to jump into the real estate and, of course, like the AUM and how you're raising capital and all that stuff. But I think what's more important is the lessons that we learn when we fail or when we don't succeed like we think we're going to.
Speaker 2Yeah, yeah, and that's a great question. Thank you, dan. So I think one of the biggest ones I think all the deals was X factor. Right, this is something you cannot control. In this case, it was just the interest rates hike right, and then the deals which is not locked in and again, it's basic greed. If you're talking about why it's a greed, right, there's fear and greed. There's only two emotions right, which is driven always and driving the people right. And when you look at the deal and it says 2.97, like whatever, 3.5, and you're not locking that interest rate for the next 5, 7, 10 years, right, in a commercial loan, now the question is, what are you actually dreaming about? Right, what could get better than that?
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2So and that was our mistake as well. So because on some of the deals we just adjustable rate right and sure enough I mean again so majority we did like a fixed rate because we understand so. But then some of those, okay, let's find, because we understand. But then some of those, okay, that's fine, the deal looks so good. You know the numbers are penciling out really well, so we got some cushion. But not going into deals with X factor you cannot control. This is the biggest lesson, because you cannot control that thing. You can control everything, but not this right. Because there's a Jerome Powell who say we're going to do this and that tomorrow. So can you influence that? No, right. And then for today we're like, okay, we need to actually fix the things, we need to actually make sure we're going into the deal which is under our control, more than we're just betting on the future and saying it's going to go to this or that it's going to go down up. You know that's basic gambling, right.
Speaker 1Yeah, that's basic gambling, right? Yeah, that's right. And do you feel like that's caused you to kind of diversify? Because and I guess we can take a little bit of a step back when you came over and you got into real estate, when was the point that you started really scaling up to where you were doing larger deals, larger multifamily deals, raising millions of dollars, and then even like, were those first investors people that you knew or you know as you came over? Because you mentioned Lisa, leslie and the coach for UCLA and I was like, oh man, adam Wright, and I was like, man, did you go to those guys to raise capital, or was it somebody that, somebody you didn't think it would be? And what was that process like for you as you began that journey?
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Speaker 2Good question. So I think the first one on all the responses is diversification. Right, for example, in 2022, right. So we start to understand. If we fight in something we don't know, we on 2022, right. So we start to understand if we fight in something we don't know, we don't know how to control, we can't control that thing. So let's get into the deal which is eliminating that factor. So we're going to go into, like, full equity deal. So what we did, we did the land entitlement deal, which is, again, you cannot finance that because it's a land right, and then bank will say you're not going to entitle that, you're not going to do this, you're not going to get the permits right, it's not basically financeable a lot of times, not to say, you're more flexible with sole equity right. You can do this. You cannot pay this. You can just postpone it. You can say we need to wait another year. What I'm saying is we shifted from something like leveraging right into the bank. So we said, okay, we're going to do full equity right, but we can just still earn really good return on that right, and that's one.
Speaker 2The second one I did not start with people. I know as much right, but then people started with us, and the reason why? Because they saw me kind of succeeding on every stage of my life. Okay, so you're a professional athlete. It wasn't just you know, know, local team and then you play some AU or whatever. No, it was like the top level, right, if I'm going, I'm going hard at the top level. So I was like the best of the country.
Speaker 2And then so I opened the business. It wasn't like a you know, mediocre business in the middle of nowhere. No, it was like one of the biggest, the largest. It's a track record. Yeah, when you shift over, so when you open new company, what is your vision like? Being like really small and then playing? Say no, it was like go out right and be the best. So what I'm saying is here, people who saw my journey. So I didn't even know how they found me right or what they found right, so, but they reach out to me saying so, what do you do next? So can we be part of this journey because we see you succeeding right? Right, it's not like you know, it's not the coincidence, right, it's been something you're doing on a daily basis. That's working now.
Speaker 1Yeah, the consistency. People see the consistency. They see that you're consistently making either asymmetrical risks or you're doing things that stay within your zone of genius. And because you have that consistency, they see you continuing to win, which is great, and so I bet that made it pretty easy when you went out and tried to raise capital, because you had a pool of people that had seen you winning, and they'd seen you winning across the board, from land entitlement to running the basketball thing, to doing millions of dollars in real estate, and so for you, now that all of that has led to where it is now, what does your current fund look like and how do you have it structured and what are you primarily investing in? And then what does that look like for investors that invest with you?
Speaker 2Good, yeah, that's a good question. So we still structure. We're not getting into the fund structure like when we get the pool of money. We're still getting into the fund structure like when we get the pool of money. We're still getting one-off deals. Nice, we still focus.
Creating a Diversified Investment Approach
Speaker 2About 90% of our time, I would say 80% to 90% of the time. It's multifamily real estate. And the reason why I always say the same thing right, people need a place to stay, right? So the AI will not going to change the world of where the people stay, at least for the next thousand years, and it's been working for the last 2,000 years, and then we're never going to be able to just replace the place where you need to stay overnight. And the reason why? Because your brain cannot function two days in a row without sleep, or three days in a row without sleep. You got to get the place to stay to sleep overnight, get some rest right, come back to whatever you're doing again. So that's one. And then that's why the fund is focused on multifamily. Why? Because there's a. I mean by far it's one of the cheapest ways to live in the United States, the most affordable thing to live. It's apartment building. So and it could be a little bit more luxurious, could be like on the lower end or at the C or wherever the class is, but you still need a place to leave. And then this is the entry level right for the place to stay in the United States. So that means the government will support and the bank system will support. You can leverage that there's. You know all the application of that business, right, you can be part of.
Speaker 2So on the second side, like we are actually we partner with a company, so who's doing the organic foods? So one of the biggest challenges when I moved from Russia, europe and that side, the quality of food. It's just so much different, right, I don't know if you ever traveled to the Europe. And then you get like I don't know, let's say, strawberry, right, just the one strawberry and then it just bursting with a taste, right, not just a taste, it bursting with nutrition, right, because it's very nutrient thing. So and then when we moved here, because you got like multiple crops and it's going so fast, right, there's less nutrition, it's really good stuff still, right. And basically the other challenge is like the more healthy you want to eat, the more expensive, right, it is Like if you want to buy organic, it's like a double of the price of, like, whatever the food they sell Non-organic or whatever you call it.
Speaker 2So what I'm saying is so I was always very conscious of what I'm putting in my body, so it was very close and dear to me to actually invest in the food business meaning. So there were organic food. So one of the examples will be I don't eat milk as much. Right, there's a coconut cold company in less than 2023. And it was just an idea back then. So there were probably $8 million revenue back then and so for me, I don't eat milk, right, but I need, you know, I need the Lotto street diet I would put it this way and I need the probiotics in my body. Probiotics coming from that. Yogurt is just 50 billion per just a jar skew right Inside of that little jar. So when you get one spoon in the morning, you feel your soul different, right, your body feels different. Now you kind of going with a full power.
Speaker 2So what I'm saying here we start to diversify in those companies and again, being a business owner, I don't know if you guys ever seen the statistics 94% of the businesses in the united states will never break a million dollars revenue. And so when you understand that you're looking at the business who a little bit above that number, so it's going to be hard to fail. And they got distribution in and then they got a product, they got a proven demand in the stores right on the product. So all you need to do they've been what you just need to scale that right. So if there is a demand right, if there is a shelf right, so if they buy, if they buy it within one or two days, so what we're saying, that company who started in 2015, I think here they're almost like a 35 to 50 million dollar revenue right company. And the reason why? Because there's demand and all they need to do is just scale operations. So we start to look at those things.
Speaker 2But again, it's not the general narrative, it's only 10% of our portfolio. Because, again, if you, let's say, make an example, making the good gains right on your deal, let's say you put 100 grand and you got all of a sudden, in five years, 200 grand, and you're telling yourself, but I might be if you got, you know, through a couple of cycles. Now, all of a sudden, you got half a million dollars. So you say, okay, let me chip in like 100K into something else, right. And again, looking at the market so do you want to invest in the market when it's not actually favorable? It's a little bit harder, right, there's less deals, there's less velocity, right, you might just invest in one deal a year, not like in four, like back in the good days. But then you start to look at different things.
Speaker 2And then do the people need to consume the food? Yes, they do. If we're going into the bad times, the economy will go through the cycle. So do we stop eating? Not, so, the COVID-19 was a great lesson to learn. So you still need a place to live, right, you're not going out? Right, you're not going out. Right, you're not going in the space. So, and then you need to eat food.
Speaker 2So those two categories were doing really really well. Right, the real estate was doing well. So, even so, a lot of people saying so, the apartment bills will be completely, like you know, crashed and stuff, right, and they're going to go through the down cycle. No, it didn't happen. And then the food was the biggest problem. Right, because we need to go out and buy food and consume food. Because everybody's staying at home, they actually eat more than less because they're just not busy as much they're looking through the body. Oh, I want to get some food. It's kind of entertainment style as well. So what I'm saying is here this is the risk issue took place and the reason why, again, because those are the big two things you need to eat and you need to please to stay always.
Speaker 1And they both sound like something that you're passionate about, Like you know that somebody and essentially you're hedging against any sort of downturn, and I actually just did a podcast episode where I broke down literally the full life of Ray Dalio and what he did and that's what he created his all weather fund for was literally to diversify against anything that could possibly happen in the world. And so the two things that you're talking about is everybody's always going to need to eat, Everybody's always going to need a place to live, and so for you, you essentially did like a mini version of the all weather fund, where you're diversifying your investments but like not over leveraging in any one place only 10% of your portfolio here, only 50% here or whatever to make sure you're well diversified so that you don't lose massively in any kind of market. And I think that plays really well, as people kind of listen to this and they go, wow, this guy would be a pretty dang good fiduciary of our money if we needed him to be. And so I think it's. I think this it blows me away Cause I think about in your first year, I think you raised something like 18 million in your first year and do you feel like the track record that you had before then, the sense of caution and the way that you diversify and think about your investments.
Speaker 1Do you think that played a role into you raising that much in your first year? And honestly, a lot of people that are probably listening to this podcast want to be like well, how did you raise $18 million in your first year? What was that like? What was that year for you like, as you were raising for that either that syndication or that fund that year?
Speaker 2I mean, it's not just me, it's a company, right. And then there's you're talking about 18 million. It was more of the credit fund, right, because this is the secure products we're talking about, the private credit fund. And the biggest window of opportunity was when the conventional loan tightening happened, meaning if you go to the bank and the bank telling you you know what, you're not qualified and the reason why? Because the market shifted right and the valuation of your apartment is not even close to what you guys purchased for, so it was valued at 20. Now we can give you only like 15, right, as a valuation for your complex, though. But then they say can I refinance? Of course you can, right, just bring us $3 million. Why? Because you want to close that gap. Remember, you mentioned that gap funding, and that actually opens the window of opportunity for the private credit fund. And then for our investors, because I'm looking through the both sides, right, the customers, for the customers as investors. So it's a great thing to be lower on the capital stacks, the burn and the multiple deals. So you're going through investment 22, 23, right, there's a capital calls, calls, and then we need to save this building, that building. Can you guys send this like a 50% of what you guys actually put in initially right To investment estate. Yeah, that way we can just either push the can down the road or maybe we save the apartment.
Speaker 2You don't know actually what's happening, right, you don't even actually know what's going to happen. So, because some of them truthful, some not, so some of them just you know, crazy, and they just burned down right away, they just lost the whole portfolio, like not a lot of them, but actually three, four groups, they lost like thousands of units, right, they just put it on the market and they just gave it to the lender. So what I'm saying is here if you went through that cycle, you're like okay, I want to be a little bit more cautious with my money. So what is the next option? Like it's still, I don't want to go back to the bank because it's like a two-birdle, right, so you own getting probably 0.01 or you get like 3% if it's a little bit more like risky bank, like a smaller bank, but again, so you don't want to be there, but you still want to be on alternative investments with a lower on the capital stack. I'm talking about the risk level, right.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2If you're in full equity participation, that's probably the highest risk by far. So you could be as like all the way down as a debt financing, which is the bank. Can you be the bank? Probably not again. So, but then if you're the private credit fund, so this is the opportunity. You're going to be right next, right in position after the bank, right after the lender, so with certain rates, and this is exactly what we did.
Speaker 2So the market responded. So, meaning there's a demand for the product. You want to make sure you put in the right product right in the timeframe as well. Right, because everybody burned down an apartment complex. If you just keep fishing the apartment complex, the people saying, listen, there's not a market for that product, so can you give us something else? So that was the shift and that's why the amount of money probably right reflected as well. That's one. The second one, again, the people understand once they put down the money and you start to receive the dividends within three months. So understand, once they put down the money and you start to receive the dividends within three months, so that's very easy to judge you start to understand okay, it's working and they're receiving the cash. So we can trust that fund. We can trust that person, whatever the company, and stuff like that.
Speaker 2So, whether when apartment complexes in 2022-23 happen, everybody stopped distribution. They just paused that. Some of them paused for temporary right, some of them paused forever and they said, listen, we're not going to distribute anything. Why? Because there's not enough cash flow. We're building that fund inside of the project. So just to save it right, or maybe refinance that within the year, and stuff like that. So I think what I'm saying here is I think the market dictated right what's the project that's going to be next? And you got to listen to the market trends and really understand what's going on.
Educating Athletes on Wealth Building
Speaker 1That's great. I mean, it sounds like you've been pretty good and I think this is also a really important I think this is probably one of the most important qualities or characteristics of a good fund manager is the ability to adapt, and I think, as an athlete, you know this super well and I can see this in you. And I think because I think I have this saying and it's not the most prepared team, it's not the best coach, it's not the best athletes that win the game, it's the team that adapts the best at halftime that wins the game. And so I think for you, you, almost in real time, had to look at what the market was doing and react to it.
Speaker 1Nobody wanted to get into multifamily. Nobody wanted to do that because all these massive bridge loans were getting called due and people were bankrupting and foreclosing and just giving their properties back to the bank. Meanwhile, you're like, oh, there's this really interesting section of mesdet or this really interesting private credit position that you guys can go into and did that. And so how would you guys like what's the difference between how you guys would underwrite second position loans or preferred equity differently than this kind of traditional equity that people would think about. Was there any difference there?
Speaker 2Question yeah, I think that question. There's another window of opportunity. I'll tell you right now, I think. And there's one more thing I want to say, just to piggyback on whatever we were talking about. So let's say you're the company who's investing in multifamily, strictly in one thing, and then you're going through this cycle of 22, 23, right, Just to survive because you call yourself multifamily, real estate, whatever. You just need to buy what Multifamily, right? Yeah, you buy more.
Speaker 2Yeah, you should buy more. Yeah, you got to get more. And the reason why? Because you call yourself that thing Inside of the Vista fund. So I'm not saying we're just strictly multifamily thing, we need to buy a multifamily thing to survive, to get those fees and stuff like that. We have an ability to actually pivot without people saying, oh you guys multifamily, well, now all of a sudden you're doing something else. Now we are the fund. And then when I started the fund, I said, listen, I don't want to be. It's great to be like focused on something, right. But if you're talking about diversification and actually saving, this is diversification. If you're talking about making money right, this is just hyper focus on one thing, right. If you're talking about making money right, this is just hyper-focused on one thing, right. If you're talking about diversification and saving, that's going to be like a broad specter of different products. Hopefully it was in the same niche, but then again that's a different product.
Speaker 1So you can pivot the things right when it's not working and you had that in your fund docs right. Like or you and sorry, I don't mean to interrupt Are you guys like are you a customizable fund, a fund of funds? Are you guys just like a blind pool fund and you just have the ability to pivot your thesis if necessary? Like what's that like for you? What's the structure like?
Speaker 2On level. But the structure we have, like one-off deals, remember as a fund of funds, so if it's coming, in.
Speaker 1there's a package of the documents and we're going into the specific products Nice, perfect. And you just have like an asset level LLC that you're investing in for that specific product. And then you kind of move to a different one and you're like, hey guys, this is actually a little bit better than us. We're going to go on the debt side right now, or we're going to go on the lending side right now. Correct, that's cool.
Speaker 2Perfect. So the second question was so what is the difference, right? How different is that?
Speaker 1If you're the bigger company.
Speaker 2I mean you got to feed 50 employees, 100 employees, right into the private equity. So you are chasing the big deals. So go out on the market and trying to find something to actually lend you. Right, $10 million below, like between $1 and $10 million. And good luck, because everybody's saying how much you want to get Like $8 million, we're not going to touch that Too small. Why? Because they want to get the fee on the back, like a big portion of the fees. So they will start to give you money at the $15 million mark, right. And the reason why? Because they get larger fees. So there's a window. Because nobody wants to touch one, two five. One two five. And that's the difference, right? So when you go out to the conventional loan, so you need to qualify, you can't. But then when you go out to the private funding whatever the private equity or something so they're going to tell you we need to get at least $10 to $15 million of funding. So that's going to create the opportunity. So that's the biggest difference for us.
Speaker 1Yeah, so then you could bring in bigger check sizes. Are you mostly at that point? Are you raising from like family offices or institutions, or what type of people are you raising from at that moment? Because that's probably outside of the high net worth individuals. Unless they just have, they're sitting on just a ton of dry powder.
Speaker 2Yeah, I mean mostly it's a private rate, but again, you know, probably like a high net worth. But then there is a, if you're talking about the organic food, we would love to get the family offices to that. You know, because this is a little bit different. It's more opportunistic for people. Even for me I feel like more comfortable. So, because people they need to understand this is the deal where you can lose money as well. The real estate you most likely not going to lose it, right, and it's. I wouldn't call it VC funding, but it's still. You know, it's a company, it's a business. The business is the most riskier asset. Right, when you buy, when you purchase the business, look at the failure rate. That's good enough. Right To look at the failure rate of the real estate and then the business. Right, the business ventures will fail, like a lot of times.
Speaker 1Oh, that's good man. Now I know, as we start to kind of like in the podcast and land the plane per se, I know one thing that you're really passionate about is athletics, and then even like connecting the dots between athletics and investing. And so how do you teach athletes or professional athletes to see passive income as a wealth vehicle for them, so like passive income in real estate as a real wealth vehicle for them, and not just like a buzzword? Because I think there's mental blocks that happen that people need to overcome in actually investing their money, but they hear it as like, oh, passive wealth, I want to build this, but they don't actually pull the trigger. How do you help to teach or educate them to make that next step?
Speaker 2actually pull the trigger?
Speaker 2How do you help to teach or educate them to make that next step? That's a good question. I think I think the one one really good example would be like one good words I would say. I think it was Matt Lindstrom at the podcast. He said you will be ex-professional athletes a lot longer than the actual professional athlete and it's really good words to put into the professional athlete mindset and the reason why.
Speaker 2Because, as you part of the league sorry, as you part of the league, right, and you in that hype and you in that kind of machine, right, it's really hard to think outside of that machine. Really hard, right, a judge of the things taking care for you. You're not thinking what to do, right. You get insane amount of money every time, right, every month, wherever the check is, like every two weeks, let's say the um depository account, and then you're not actually thinking through. It could be done tomorrow. It could be ended any time like any second. Right, could be done tomorrow. It could be ended any time like any second. It could be injury or whatever and I won't think about it, but you're going to be a lot longer ex-professional athlete than you are a professional athlete. And then if it happens otherwise, that's fine, that's good for you, that's a bonus, right? Because we've seen some names, let's say James Harden, right? Or they're playing for 20 years in the league. That's insane, that's crazy, but it's not reality, right? Again, look at the numbers, right, how many people get cut every single year from the league? And this is the reality, right? This is not the hype, because we know the like five, ten names which is always on TV, right, and but we don't know the people who get cut every single year. So, if you don't take care, on the year one and again, that's a great, actually example was our family was, because we thought, when we made it to the NBA as a family, right, my brother, like, was drafted by Clippers, so we thought it's going to be forever, so, but then he got cut in the year to 1.5. Right, going to be forever, so, but then he got cut in the year too 1.5, right, a year and a half he got cut from the league. So and that was a great lesson, right to learn it's not actually to make it to the league, it's actually stay in the league.
Speaker 2And then, if you stay right, what are you actually doing with your capital because everybody's saying, oh, you need to drive certain car, you gotta leave a certain neighborhood, you actually don't right, but you gotta take care of your future. And on day one, day two of the league. So, and there are some really good athletes, I know they've been so humble and so forego with their money coming in. So some of them like I don't say the names they drive like, very like normal cars, like toyota and stuff like that. But then once they stopped playing, they were financially set right, because they were doing certain things on the day one, not on the last day, because they were saying, oh, we're going to start, like when we're going to stop. No, they were doing this.
Speaker 2And again, if it's too much for you, you can delegate it to somebody, right?
Speaker 2So if it's just not too much, you might want to start to learn things, right, go deeper into the things. And now there's a lot of different resources, a lot of different things you can do, and the syndication this is what gives you the ability to do it truly passively. Because, let's say, you play in the league or whatever you play in the sports. Let's say, right, professional, you get in the salad, so you're buying yourself real estate. That's going to be tough to do, right, because buying yourself more and more work that was my example, right, so I start to buy those single family units, so yeah, but you buy yourself work, essentially you need to work on that project, and the more you buy, the more you work on it. So now you're taken away from the actually place where you're really making money, right when you really perform, when you're really making a difference for people. So, so the syndication, that's a level of true passive investing. So, and a lot of athletes started like that, so, because they don't want to, like, put their brain into that a hundred percent.
Speaker 1It's such an interesting, such an interesting culture too, when you think about, like you get a lot of these young guys who get a ton of money, they come into it, they want to spend it all and nobody's really telling them and this is also a very interesting conversation that we probably should save for another time is just talking about even just the NIL and how these young kids are getting all this money and how they probably need somebody to help them walk through how to manage this money or some sort of like guidelines, or else they just blow it when they need to be investing it. So I'm sure that's something that you are passionate about and can talk about for days. But as we end this podcast, this's podcast is called funds on fire and I'd love to know for you and your, your company, your fund, what's firing you up Like what do you, what do you have or what are you guys doing that has you absolutely fired up for where you guys are going in the future.
Speaker 2Yeah, I think just helping people, because I feel bad when I'm not useful, when I'm not helping, and my internal passion is just to help people, to do whatever, to grow, to get to the next level. So in this case it's just. If you don't know how, it doesn't mean you need to be our client forever. So we're going to show you the path right. You can do whatever you want then after, but then we'll show you the path from, and one of the perfect probably examples will be I tried single family. So we invest in multiple things. We understand it's a burdensome. Some of them didn't work out.
Speaker 2So what's next? And this is what I'm looking through the profiles of our customers so probably 9% of them they used to have single family investments, right, and they got one off units or like four quarter, like something. And then they start to realize we cannot scale it to a certain point, or we don't want to scale it right or want to phase out from this proactive investing phase, right, and they want to go into something else. This is our like perfect customer profile. So and then at this point we're saying and that's why we're driven, so we showing you how to do it different ways, and then you don't need to be like quitting the game. You still be staying in the game and you can actually make more sometimes. And then you're going to be a lot more like not pass, like you're going to be not active, so passive. Right, you can do whatever you want with your time.
How to Stay Connected with Igor
Speaker 1Nice, very cool. Well, good, no-transcript. You believe in that you love and that you can be able to leave that legacy for your family and kids and then all the other kids that you guys teach. Where can people find you if they want to? Either one invest with you or just follow you along? I know you've got an awesome podcast and things like that.
Speaker 2Thank you, david. Yeah, I enjoy that as well, and they can just shoot us emails. So it's going to be invest at avistafundcom so they can go and download the ebook right how to start the syndication. It's called winrealestategamecom One of the pages, winrealestategamecom because we'll have sports right. So we're going to give you like ebook how to start your syndication right Investing. And then, lastly, they can go just to the website abistofundcom. Check it out.
Speaker 1Nice man, well cool. I appreciate you, thankful for you and thanks for being on man. Yeah, and thanks for being on man.
Speaker 2Yeah, thank you, dave, and thank you to the listeners. I appreciate you as well. Have a good one.
Speaker 1Wow, I hope you enjoyed that. I have a quick favor. If you've been enjoying the show, there's one simple way you can support us, and it's by hitting that follow button or that subscribe button on the app you're listening to. I want to level this podcast up in every single way possible, bringing you more value, incredible content and guests and new strategies. Following the show and leaving a quick review goes a really long way in helping us to grow and continue to deliver top tier content. It's the only free thing I'll ever ask you to do and it makes a bigger impact than I can possibly put into words. So thank you for being a part of this journey and I'll definitely catch you on the next episode, To great success and greater impact. Peace.