Mar 10, 2016
Josh Dorkin started
BiggerPockets.com from scratch 10 years ago and now has over 435K
members. They have grown to be one of the largest and most
reputable real estate community on the Internet with a forum that
has over 900,000 posts! and they hold the #1 real estate podcast on
iTunes. They attract more than 1k new members a day and help change
people's lives to gain their own financial freedom through real
estate!
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
- [0:00] Pre-interview banter: Things you’ll hear
on this episode.
- [6:10] Jeremy’s introduction of Joshua Dorkin
and the BiggerPockets.com story.
- [7:33] What Joshua wanted to be when he grew
up.
- [8:37] Things Joshua learned from his mother, a
successful business woman.
- [12:04] Why Joshua hated business school in
college but discovered a passion for marketing.
- [13:34] We all struggle and have to find our
way via the journey.
- [17:29] Dealing with the haters when
BiggerPockets began.
- [20:39] The most difficult parts of saying what
he knew to be true even though he’d receive backlash.
- [23:30] The most popular show on BiggerPockets:
Investing With No Money.
- [27:00] How Josh started out as a real estate
investor.
- [30:30] How Josh saw the real estate bubble in
CA before it popped.
- [34:00] Why Josh didn’t trust the real estate
investing training he found, and how he began building
BiggerPockets in response.
- [36:39] Josh’s story regarding acting with
Jerry Seinfeld on Saturday Night Live.
- [37:47] The first version of BiggerPockets, and
why building an online community is impossibly hard.
- [42:46] Pushing forward after 4 years of not
being successful, and how Joshua counsels people who are at that
same point and considering quitting.
- [45:37] Making the decision to transition from
hobby to full time business.
- [48:00] Keeping the content free always,
building a paid community as an added value.
- [49:25] Success stories and benefits that have
come from the BiggerPockets community.
- [50:34] An average day for Joshua when he first
started full time with BiggerPockets.
- [52:49] The changes Joshuah made when he
realized he was overworking and burning out.
- [53:51] How Joshua came up with the mantra,
“Life wasn’t meant to be lived in a cubicle.”
- [57:00] Hiring his first person: one of his
best decisions.
- [58:35] The roles Joshua took on once he began
hiring people.
- [1:00:00] Becoming a student of business and
starting a podcast.
- [1:01:53] How do you know when to stop or not
stop in your business?
- [1:05:00] The lowest points in Joshua’s
business journey.
- [1:08:30] The role Joshua’s wife played in
helping him get his life under control.
- [1:09:54] The proudest moments Joshua has had
in his journey.
- [1:11:40] The world wide impact BiggerPockets
is having.
- [1:13:15] The free book from
BiggerPockets.
In this episode…
The Real Estate Investing arena
is fraught with dangers in the form of fraudulent schemes run by
“experts” who line their pockets with other people’s money and give
half-proven or untried systems in return. It can be a very
difficult space to be in if you care about doing things ethically,
honestly, and with integrity.
Joshua Dorkin felt all of that
when he first began making money in real estate. His first purchase
was a California condominium that gave him a pretty good return, so
he began looking into what it might take to become proficient at
real estate investing. What he found discouraged him and he
realized, there’s no “safe” place to go for trusted advice and
reliable resources.
In concept, that’s where
BiggerPockets was born. When Josh first created the site he used it
as a community/forum for people in the acting industry (he was an
actor at the time) but quickly transitioned it into a real estate
investing themed site and community. It’s now THE biggest site in
the industry and is the hub for a podcast, forums, resources, a
publishing house, and more.
In this conversation of Inspired
Insider Dr. Jeremy Weisz asks Joshua to share his journey, from his
humble beginnings as the son of an entrepreneurial single mom, to
business school (which he hated), to the pursuit of an acting
career in California, and finally, into the realm of real estate
investing and the birth of BiggerPockets.
Joshua Dorkin is a humble guy,
but confident and encouraged at the difference his efforts have
made in the real estate investment space. He’s one of those guys
who latches on like a pit bull once he knows what he wants to
accomplish and never lets go until he’s done it. BiggerPockets is a
testament to that sort of work and determination.
Be sure to listen to this
inspiring interview to find out how you can get connected with
Joshua and the community over at www.BiggerPockets.com.
Resources Mentioned on this
episode