Sam Silverman
Analyst explaining CRE valuation fundamentals and financing concepts.
10 Unique Competitive Advantages Every Startup Needs
Starting a business without a competitive advantage is foolish. Here are 10 unique advantages you can lean on.
Invest Only When It Fits Your Timeline
When investing your time horizon and investments need to align. Regardless of how good a deal is, if it doesn’t fit your timeline - pass.
Capital Stack-to-EBITDA Ratio: The Overlooked Buying Metric
Total capital stack to EBITDA ratio is one of the most overlooked ratios in the business buying world.
4% Rule Fails: Inflation Undermines Retirement Savings
The 4% rule your financial advisor told you is wrong. Commonly they will tell you if you live off $100k/year then you need $2.5m to retire. $100k in 10 years likely will not have $100k of purchasing power. Inflation ruins...
Cash Flow Beats Leverage: Keep Working Capital Strong
Working capital is the oxygen of a business. Yes, you can buy a business with 95% leverage - here is why you shouldn’t… Running out of cash is the single biggest reason businesses fail. You will likely never be mad you...
Aging Trade Businesses Offer Untapped Buying Opportunities
Dad spent 30 years building a business his son doesn’t want to run. Now he needs to sell. This is happening everywhere in the trades right now. And it’s one of the most overlooked buying opportunities out there.
Choose Your Team, Customers, Partners—Make Hard Work Worthwhile
Owning and building your own business is extremely hard. The benefit, you get to pick: - your customers - your partners - your team members - the location You spend 2,000 (likely more) hours a year working, optimize for who you do it...
Navigating Identity After Leaving a Big Title
Giving up a large title, role and team can cause an identity crisis, especially as a man. Here’s how to manage it.
Bad Manager Turns Employee Into Reluctant Entrepreneur
That one manager who accidentally made you an entrepreneur. Everyone has one. Takes credit. Micromanages. Let’s you do fine but not as well as them. My worst manager made sure I’d never work for anyone else again.
Build Business First, Quit Corporate When Ready
Most people quit and then try to build. I built and then quit. Before I left corporate I had already signed my first investors, closed my first deals, and had real revenue coming in. The business existed before it was my only option. That’s...
Success Demands Tunnel Vision and Relentless Focus
The most successful person you know likely has complete tunnel vision. They ruthlessly focus on one thing and say NO to everything else.
Lower Salary Shifts How You Allocate Cash
Once you give up a high paycheck, how you operate with your cash changes dramatically - how much you keep on hand - how much you keep accessible in the short term - how long you lock up investments
Startups Take Four Times Longer and Costlier Than Expected
Building your own company is likely going to take 4x as long and cost 4x as much as you think it will.
Your Zip Code Decides How Much You Keep
The $1M take-home test: → NYC W2 — gross $1.99M → LA W2 — gross $1.92M → Florida W2 — gross $1.52M → Florida biz owner — gross way less → Puerto Rico Act 60 — keep almost all of it Where you live is a...
Your Deposits Fuel Bank Profits, Not Your Wealth
You deposit $10,000. They pay you $1 a year. Then they lend that same money out at 12%. Then lend it again. And again. One deposit can fuel up to $100,000 in loans through the banking system. All earning interest. None of...