Andy Smith said that as a child, he was ingrained with the idea that there were limited ways for middle-class families to grow financially, as investments of any kind were considered unaffordable. Families didn’t have the money to invest, and the jargon confused and intimidated people. The list of reasons goes on.
“There’s a match-fixing game going on,” he said.
That’s why Smith founded The People’s First Company, a company dedicated to providing a low-cost entry point for people looking to invest in a $100 million crowdfunded real estate portfolio.
Mr Smith said People’s First Company (TPFC) was still in the “ground stage”. The company has teams across the United States, and Fargo-based Christianson Koss has start-up investors and partners in the real estate development industry. He said it would take “several weeks” for the company to launch the portfolio.
Smith said being a company for working-class people can involve investing as little as $200 in a portfolio.
He said that upon launching the portfolio, the group will begin acquiring real estate assets in the hospitality industry. Hospitality real estate was chosen because it is an industry in which Mr. Smith and other members of his TPFC team have experience.
“The reason we did it is because it’s fun, it’s sexy, it’s interesting and it makes sense,” Smith said. “We saw this as the knowledge base and expertise we have in-house among our partners, founders, and even the real estate development companies we work with. became the focus of
Mr Smith said he was buying real estate assets with cash because he wanted to avoid a debt-laden portfolio.
“If you can acquire real estate or assets that generate cash flow without borrowing money, [an] “A $200 or $2 million investment is backed by real estate that holds value and generates cash flow,” he said. “Our argument is that everyone benefits from opportunities. We acquire real estate, and that real estate can back up the investment.”
Investors can then liquidate if they want to exit after a year. Smith said there’s no need to hold it out for 10 years.
Significant help, Smith said, came from a new “nonprofit venture capital firm” called BisonX. BisonX development director Elizabeth Duran said the group is looking for companies that need funding to get off the ground or guidance to understand the region.
Smith said BisonX provided connections to TPFC, accelerating the process of building the crowdfunded portfolio.
Duran said BisonX aimed to help entrepreneurs in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Wyoming because BisonX’s founders felt there were no venture capital groups in the region. It is said that it was because he was
TPFC and BisonX are both headquartered in Fargo, North Dakota. Smith, who lives in Atlanta, said he chose Fargo because of his years working in the oil and gas industry and his relationship with Christianson Coss.
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