It is said that practicing things consistently over time makes us better. In the business world, becoming an entrepreneur is somewhat similar. Entrepreneurs do things better over time. In most cases, they start early, make mistakes, learn from experiences, gain expertise, and get better!
Simultaneously, they also realize their worth, creative vision, take the role of a leader, and invest in themselves through continuous education and self-improvement.
Joseph Edgar, an experienced entrepreneur and investor, is a prime example of a leader who started early and kept growing over time by being better. At the mere age of 14, Joseph bought his first real estate property, established Modern Homes Inc. at 17, founded Edgar Investment in 2003, established EI Investments in 2007, managed Governor’s office and $500 million in state authority, deployed $46.5 million investment J4T Venture Fund, and in 2014, jumped on the digital bandwagon of cloud-based technology by establishing TenantCloud.
Founding and managing these companies over the last two decades has made Joseph a powerhouse in the world of investment. He started his game early and mastered the skills of being an investor, entrepreneur, and a leader in the real estate industry.
Growing Up with Industry Knowledge
Joseph grew up in Chiloquin, a small reservation town in southern Oregon. His family was large and unfortunate to circumstances; same as everyone in that community. His father, however, was a contractor and built homes. So along with his 12 siblings, Joseph would work alongside his father on the job sites.
“It started as sweeping and picking up debris, but as we got older, it was standing up walls and installing roofing. I got to see all aspects of the home and did plumbing, electrical, mechanical, and concrete,” recalls Joseph. This early experience of working with his father instilled the much-needed knowledge about the industry in Joseph.
Finding the Roots
Joseph describes growing up in Oregon besides the lakes, rivers, mountains, horses, and his imaginations. The place is directly responsible for his strong work ethic and passion for the natural environment. It was also the same place that formed the roots of his dreams and ambitions. There, he bought his first investment property at 14 and then kept buying through his twenties. Such hardworking endeavors helped Joseph to pay for college and pave the pathway for his professional career.
Later, Joseph Edgar expanded his endeavors and got into a small investment fund. He then ended up in Texas with Governor Perry managing nearly $500 million in state authority. And afterward, dealt with another $50 million focused on startups in Texas.
In between honing such exceptional investment management skills, Joseph also managed to complete his schooling at the University of Oregon and became a Kaufman Fellow. Joe also became active in the community as a member of the Central Texas Angel Network, helping low-income families file their tax returns and assisted in founding the non-profit organization Texas Pace Authority, which focused on bringing clean energy to Texas.
The New Idea
While Joseph was creating a name in the investment and startup community, he came across a rental-related problem he was trying to solve. The problem was identified at a large scale and the idea for TenantCloud was thus sparked. “I was trying to solve my own problem. However, with rentals all over the country, self-managing is near impossible, so I made a platform that could. The name was an idea from a friend who asked me an important question – ‘what do your main users want?’ They wanted tenants,” shares Joseph.
The solution was a new thing in the industry, but what bothered Joseph was how he could maintain relationships with clients if he was not speaking to them directly. He explained, “I don’t think you build a company of any sort without thinking that the client relationship is extremely important. However, our product was not a typical solution with a sales team. Instead, we have thousands of users we do not get to talk with much. So, for us to establish a relationship, was even more difficult.”
Hence, Joseph opted for word of mouth publicity and started building relationships through brand, product, and those he partnered with. He was confident that it will make their and landlord’s life easier when the users will use the product. “Listening to our customers is very important. It is how we define our product. We go through customer ideas and feedback daily as we develop and lay out the future roadmap,” says Joseph.
It also took four years for Joseph to start working full-time on TenantCloud. He mentions that if he could go back in time, he would have pushed himself and the team to go faster. He asserts, “I had to prepare to start TenantCloud and that took a while to get my finances in order so I wouldn’t need a paycheck for at least three years. That meant I had to approach growth slowly as I had to fund most of it myself in the beginning. Now that I know how much the market was wanting such a solution – we could have gotten here much quicker.”
An Advice That Translates to Moving Forward
With a ‘keep pushing’ forward attitude, Joseph Edgar guides young and emerging leaders in the real estate space to simply get started. If they have funding, then it is great. They can consider it as their tuition and learn through experience. And if they do not, Joseph says there are many ways — such as deal arranging — to get involved and get started in the industry.
Talking about his own future, Joseph is excited and hopeful for what is to come in the forthcoming years. He wants to stay with the company as it grows and says it has a great opportunity ahead of it. According to him, there are over 15 million DIY landlords, and less than a million of them now use a software solution.
For Joseph, that is a big market. But, at the same time, it is also a lot of work to help all of them find a solution for the day in and day out tasks. From finding a tenant, creating a lease, mortgage management, accounting, tax filing prep, and much more, Joseph must cover a lot of ground if he wants those 15 million landlords. However, he is confident that he will reach those numbers in no time.
