Gary Acosta's Podcast

Over the last few weeks, I have had the opportunity to speak at the T3 Conference in Florida, which attracted many of the most influential people in residential real estate, and at Yale University for a large start-up and venture capital event. At each event, I surprised the audience when I explained how the issue of diversity has been framed incorrectly, and has for the most part alienated the bu...

Elon Musk dropped by the Real Time with Bill Maher show recently for an interview with the host. Maher, who considers himself a liberal is an obvious fan of the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX. The centerpiece of their conversation was their discussion regarding what Musk called the “woke mind virus” or what I prefer to call “cancel culture”. The term “woke” was, at one time, a more positive term referrin...

People sometimes get me wrong. They think that because I talk a lot about giving back and living modestly, I must not care about money. On the contrary, I care a lot about money because I understand how our system works. Most of us have learned that politics are not driven by ideology, they are driven by money. The same applies to business, media, and even art. We all have ideas of how the world s...

Those that predicted that the failure of Silicon Valley Bank was just the beginning are turning out to be correct. The sharp rise in interest rates, plus a few regulatory gaps, coupled with the convenience of online banking have created a perfect storm for over-leveraged banks in 2023. First Republic Bank became the latest regional bank to fail. While the economic environment is like nothing we sa...

We live in a capitalistic society. Economics drives everything. We work hard and we have more money to provide for our families and do the things we want. But what actually makes us happy? Some of us spend our lives looking for that answer and never find it. Some look for it in church, others pay life coaches, and some think the more money they have the happier they will be. I don’t think there is...

Inflation has impacted all of us. The price of almost everything has spiked faster and harder than at any time since the 80s. Few things can obliterate a modern economy more than out-of-control inflation. The Fed has tried to contain inflation by aggressively raising interest rates. The sharp rise in interest rates has, among other things, brought the housing market to almost a complete halt as af...

We hear frequently how Latinos are not a monolithic community. In other words, we are not all the same. We come from different countries, have a variety of political views, and even eat different foods. I get all of that, but I also think focusing constantly on our differences versus our similarities undermines our political and economic power as a community. I believe that for the Latino communit...

The woman who gave me life and shaped me to be the person that I am passed away on March 5th.  My mother Irma was a strong woman – a really strong woman. She was the matriarch of our family. I joke that the rest of us were just part of her supporting cast. Mom was married to my dad for 60 years – not nearly enough, according to him. Growing up, my kids spent almost as much time at their grandma’s...

I teach my kids that they can do anything if they put their minds to it and do the work. I also teach them that life isn’t always fair, but you can’t let that deter you. I think we all try to teach our kids the value of grit and hard work. For most people, success is about perseverance and overcoming obstacles. However, that does not mean we should accept the status quo, and not try to improve the...

About a year ago, I was convinced by some of my closest friends that I should do a podcast. Today it seems like everyone has a podcast, and frankly, 99% of them aren’t very good. I wasn’t sure I could do much better, but I realized I do have some ideas that some people have found interesting in the past. I also have had the privilege of meeting and knowing some extraordinary people. It is rare tha...

The NFL markets its brand as well as any enterprise in the world. I heard a comedian once say that the NFL is so popular, it has its own day. NFL football is huge. Each NFL franchise brings in approximately $400M a year in revenue; almost double the annual revenue of NBA teams and 2 ½ times as much as MLB clubs. Each year, the NFL plays a regular season game in Mexico City, and multiple games in E...

When we invited Gary Vaynerchuk to NAHREP at L’ATTITUDE in 2021, I was mostly relying on input from others. Several members loved his content, but the little I saw online left me underwhelmed. However, I thoroughly enjoyed his presentation at our event, particularly his comments about toxic employees, which he says to dump with impunity. On the surface, his comments seem obvious, but to an audienc...

Selling during a downturn requires a more strategic approach, but the opportunities for growth and expansion are available to the savviest of companies. Here are some of the best ideas I’ve read about. The economist and pro-capitalist Milton Friedman in his book “Free to Choose” reminded salespeople that a recession squeezes out the excess in a market. Simple translation: most of your competitors...

A farmer and his son had a beloved stallion who helped the family earn a living. One day, the horse ran away and their neighbors said “Your horse ran away, what terrible luck!”. The farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.” A few days later the horse returned home, leading a few wild mares back to the farm as well. The neighbors shouted out “Your horse has returned and brought several hors...

I’ve written about this in other iterations. I’ve talked about finding your rhythm, and the importance of letting things come to you, not forcing things, and then riding the momentum when you have the wind at your back. The point of it all is that success is not linear. Progress doesn’t follow a straight line. For most people, the journey is long and winding. It looks more like a stairway or a hoc...

I remember when NAR, the National Association of REALTORS®, invited me to participate in a panel session on diversity at their national convention back in 2002. I had never been to a NAR convention but had heard that they were huge with 20,000+ attendees. I was well prepared for the event and excited about the opportunity. I didn’t expect it would be a marquee session, but I also didn’t expect wha...

It has been long understood that a nation of stakeholders makes for a strong union, and for that reason, closing the minority homeownership gap has been a goal and a topic of discussion for decades. However, despite a lot of talk and a modest amount of action, the homeownership gap for Black and Latino communities has remained stubbornly large. Homeownership percentages only increase when a large...

Recessions are tough on the economy. Investment activity slows, credit is less accessible, and well-paying jobs become scarcer. However, recessions also tend to be when savvy people become wealthier. Bottom line question: Who are the winners during a recession and why?

Almost everyone, including Democrats, were expecting last Tuesday’s midterm election results to heavily favor Republicans. Many predicted a “red wave” where they would pick up 50-60 seats in the House and 3-4 in the Senate. Joe Rogan said the red wave that is coming will be like the elevator doors opening in the horror film The Shining. Nate Silver from 538 , who analyzes all of the major polls an...

Ye, the entertainer and fashion designer formally known as Kanye West, had a disastrous week. Always outrageous, his recent antisemitic comments were the last straw prompting practically everyone to sever ties with him, from his bank, JP Morgan Chase, to his billion-dollar shoe partnership with Adidas. I’ve never been a fan and I don’t think I could name a single song of his, however, my thoughts...

Between 2008 and 2012, more than six million people lost their homes to foreclosure, property values lost almost 40%, and non-distressed home sales fell to all-time lows. It was, without question, the worst real estate market since the great depression. Not surprisingly, the historic dip in the market was followed by a decade-long bull market, the likes of which we have never seen before. Resident...

 Regardless of where you live you have probably heard about Nury Martinez and the circumstances that led to her resignation from Los Angeles City Council. The short story is Martinez, who was the first Latina to hold the position of president of the Los Angeles City Council, was secretly recorded in a private conversation with other council members where she was heard making disparaging remarks ab...

The decision to invite President Barack Obama to the NAHREP Policy Conference last Spring was a decision I made with the NAHREP National Board. Anytime we have a political figure of that stature at one of our events, we know it will stimulate a lot of buzz among our members and stakeholders. I admire President Obama, but I know full well that not everyone is a fan of the former president. Politics...

This might be my most provocative blog in a while. Let me first state that I am happily married to a beautiful gringa. My kids are half- White and some of my best friends throughout my life have been White, so don’t let the title of this blog throw you. This is an important but rarely discussed issue. The theory of White Validation has been around since the sixties. Essentially, it is the belief t...

A few weeks ago, Twitter was blowing up when John Leguizamo spoke out against the recent casting of James Franco as Fidel Castro in the independent film ‘Alina of Cuba’. Leguizamo took plenty of heat for his stance and was ridiculed by some including Bill Maher. The criticism came from decriers of political correctness saying the movement has gone too far. Maher claimed that “actors are supposed t...