Masters of Moments

Scott is responsible for strategic direction, sourcing investment opportunities, capital markets and operations for the firm. Prior to launching Torose, Scott co-founded Tricera Capital where he led the charge on strategic direction, capital markets and sourcing investment opportunities. In this role, Scott built a portfolio in excess of $700M over five years and consistently delivered returns in...

Dev Motwani serves as Managing Partner of Merrimac Ventures, a Fort Lauderdale based real estate firm that focuses on value-add investment and development opportunities. Property types owned and operated include hotels, condos, retail, office and rental apartments primarily in South Florida but also throughout the United States. On this episode, Jake and Dev discuss: Growing up in the family hotel...

Homi Vazifdar is Founder and Exec. Director of the Canyon Group, a boutique private equity company, based in Larkspur, California just of north San Francisco. The Canyon Group, which was co-founded by Vazifdar in 2005, owns and/or develops ultra-luxury resorts in exotic destinations around the world. The Company currently owns assets in North America, Latin America, Mexico and the South Pacific. T...

Mauro began his career in the food and beverage industry, working in Michelin-starred restaurants across Europe for a 15-year period. Having worked in Hong Kong, London, Paris, Lisbon, Rome, Milan, the Maldives, Mauritius, and the Bahamas, he has a wealth of international experience with luxury institutions and brands. Born and raised in Turin, Italy and fluent in English, Italian, French and Germ...

Sean is a Principal and Managing Partner of Trinity Investments as well as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Trinity Investments and Trinity Fund Advisors LLC. He oversees the firms’ investment activities, including sourcing and executing investment opportunities, formulating investment strategies, and structuring acquisitions and dispositions.  Prior to joining Trinity, Mr. Hehir worke...

NewcrestImage is a privately held family office investment firm based in Dallas, Texas, with an extensive portfolio of diversified real estate assets and alternative investments. They've conducted 277 hotel transactions and $2.7 billion in real estate transactions across 148 cities. Mehul's start in the hotel business came when he and his family moved to Garland, Texas, from India when he was 13....

Selling weed is in Brady Cobb's blood. Using shrimp boats and a suntan lotion company as a cover, his father, Bill Cobb, ran one of the country's largest pot smuggling enterprises in the 1980s, until the federal government arrested him and shut down the $300 million ring during "Operation Sunburn." The younger Cobb became a lawyer and cannabis lobbyist before founding his own marijuana company, Bl...

Matthew Pestronk is co-founder of Post Brothers, a real estate investment, development, and management company with singular and unique expertise in urban real estate development. Matthew serves as President of the company, engaged in the sponsorship of 40 Class-A multifamily, mixed-use, and retail development projects comprised of over 8,000 units that are operating, under development or disposed...

As Managing Partner, Chris oversees all of the company’s development and sales activities. With East West pioneering new communities in Charleston, Denver, Snowmass, Deer Valley and Kauai, Chris works with folks from coast to coast and helps guide these destinations toward the future. From his perspective, the agenda is actually quite simple, “We build places that put people first, where the exper...

Opterra Capital is real estate investment sponsor and operating partner, capital markets advisor, and asset manager with significant experience in all sectors of commercial real estate. Founded by Glenn Alba, a former Managing Director at Blackstone with over 23 years experience in real estate, Opterra Capital seeks to leverage this expertise towards value-add acquisition and proactive investment...

Jeff Burns is the Founder and CEO of Affiliated Development, a real estate development company headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  Mr. Burns has more than 15 years of experience in the acquisition, development, and finance of a wide array of property types in markets across the United States.  With an extensive background and longstanding relationships, Mr. Burns has a proven track record...

Warren de Haan is a founder, Managing Partner and Co-Chief Executive Officer at ACORE Capital, LP, one of the largest credit managers focused on commercial real estate lending, with approximately $20 billion of assets under management. For the past 3 years, ACORE Capital has ranked in the top 20 of The Real Estate Debt 50, PERE's ranking of the world's largest real estate debt fund managers. Throu...

On this solo episode, Jake dives into GP fees. He explains why GPs should charge fees, the differences between deal shops and Real estate private equity firms, how to build great returns, the types of fees you will see from GPs, what to charge as a GP and more.  Connect & Invest with Jake: Follow Jake on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jwurzak Take the Hospitality Investing Masterclass: https://learn...

Highgate is internationally recognized as a dominant operator across diverse markets and asset types. They have arms in asset management, development, investor management, and technology that have helped grow them into one of the most successful hospitality companies in the world.  On this episode, Jake & Arash discuss: Key components to creating an amazing branded hotel, F&B strategies and why it...

Hersha Hospitality Trust (NYSE: HT) is a self-advised real estate investment trust in the hospitality sector, which owns and operates luxury and lifestyle hotels in urban gateway and regional resort markets. The Company’s 25 hotels totaling 3,811 rooms are located in New York, Washington, DC, Boston, Philadelphia, South Florida, and California. Jay is involved in all areas of the business with a p...

As President of Morgan Group, Evan Schlecker manages risk for Morgan with oversight over development and construction activities nationwide. Evan maintains involvement in all aspects of apartment development, construction, management, and finance. Evan serves as a member of Morgan’s Executive Committee and Investment Committee. Since joining Morgan in 2012, Evan has been involved in developing and...

This episode is an appearance Jake made on The Fort Podcast with Chris Powers.  Jake and Chris discuss:  How to create an exceptional hospitality experience How to underwrite hotel investment opportunities Partnering and learning from Barry Sternlicht How to add value to different types of hotels Links Check out Chris Powers and The Fort Podcast Hotel Bel-Air Brush Creek Ranch Blackberry Farm    C...

John Meadow is the founder and president of LDV Hospitality, a boutique hospitality group that was founded on his realization of the ambition to bring the dream of “La Dolce Vita,” to everyday life. Focused on concept and business development, John drives the creative process for the company, envisioning restaurants and bringing them to life, as well as forging new partnerships with hotel develope...

Alex Cabañas is passionate about leading and growing a company that makes a profound difference in the lives of employees, guests, owners, industry partners, and the community.  His life mission since college has been to create opportunities for others to be successful.  As President, Alex is focused on strategic planning, people development, pursuing growth and new opportunities, promoting the de...

On today's episode, Jake breaks down how DoveHill Capital Management underwrites Hospitality Deals. He details how they evaluate both the qualitative & quantitative factors of a potential asset, including price, historical performance, revenue trends, and expenses. He also explains how they model deals, identify Capex issues, how they structure deals, and their investment committee process. Finall...

In 2004, Scott and his father, Bob, started Moss. Together they created the company’s first winning presentation and managed the company’s first project. Today, Moss employs over 1,600 people across the US with revenue exceeding $3 billion. As CEO of Moss, Scott inspires and empowers his team to create the exceptional. His innate curiosity drives a culture of continuous learning where insight, eng...

Zach has over a decade of experience developing real estate throughout the Southeast.  Current and past projects include hotels, multi-family, mixed-use, and retail. As CEO, he sets the overall strategy for the firm and oversees all acquisition, development, and financing efforts. Kupperman Companies designs, develops, and acquires hotels, retail, multi-family, and mixed-use projects in Louisiana,...

Matt Marquis was named CEO of Pacifica Hotels after 7 years as the company's President and succeeded his father who founded the organization in 1970. Pacifica is the largest owner and operator of Boutique hotels on the Pacific Coast. On this episode, Jake and Matt discuss: A walkthrough of converting an independent hotel in Hawaii  Developing Investor Relations Growing and evolving a Management Co...

Vamsi Bonthala is the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Arbor Lodging Partners, an award-winning national hotel investment firm. Vamsi has overseen approximately $1 billion of transaction volume since the inception of Arbor Lodging Partners, where he leads all company activities including general corporate strategy, investor relations, strategic relationships, acquisitions, dispositions, a...

Dave Pollin is the Co-Founder and Co-President of The Buccini/Pollin Group (“BPG”), co-headquartered in Washington, DC, and Wilmington, DE. He also serves as Chairman of PM Hotel Group, the hotel management affiliate of BPG. Mr. Pollin leads the firm’s hotel acquisition, development, and capital markets efforts. The Buccini/Pollin Group has acquired and developed over $5 billion of properties in e...