I'll co-sign this. I struggled with anxiety off and on for years and tried everything mentioned below. They helped, but none nearly as well as going to an anxiety therapist. I'm posting this because I finally went to therapy after seeing @seandsweeney talk about going to a therapist. Thank you for posting about it Sean!

a reminder that branding matters.

One thing I don't think enough people are talking about: The buyer pool for LA multifamily may be considerably bigger in the next 6 to 18 months. Once the lock-up periods expire and liquidity events occur at companies like SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI, there will be a massive amount of new wealth created, especially here in California. If you're a tech employee who suddenly has a few million dollars of liquid net worth, LA multifamily starts to look pretty attractive. You can invest in your own backyard. You can diversify away from the same tech stocks and startup equity that created your wealth in the first place. You can earn a 6% return in an asset class that is far less correlated to the technology sector than your existing holdings. You get depreciation and other major tax advantages. The next major wave of multifamily buyers may simply be people cashing out of the biggest AI and technology wealth creation cycle California has ever seen in decades. With AI creating new millionaires at an incredible pace, it is not hard to imagine a meaningful amount of that capital finding its way into Los Angeles apartments. If that happens, it could provide a meaningful source of additional liquidity for the LA multifamily market over the next several years.

Somebody I think highly of recently wanted to grab coffee and get some advice on fundraising. They’d never raised money before, but they know the multifamily asset class very well because of lots of brokerage experience. So we sat down - and I asked him if he’s comfortable asking people for money. He started saying he wants to make a newsletter to create connections. I told him that was a terrible idea, and an excuse to avoid fundraising. “Make a spreadsheet of every person you know, and start calling them. Tell them that once in a while you see deals you’re excited about, and ask them if they’d be open to participating if great deal came up. If so, ask them approximately what ballpark range they’d be comfortable with. And then pause and wait for an answer.” I also shared the fundraising wasn’t for everyone, and he needed to find out if it was for him or not. He responded by bringing up the newsletter again. I cut him off: “No. Start the spreadsheet today, and start calling to tomorrow. You’ll find out fast if you’re ready, or if anyone would be interested. Oh, and waive carry. You’re practicing with their money, so forget about making real money on the first ones.” When someone wants advice or feedback, I think holding back is doing them a disservice and wasting everyone’s time. Some appreciate it, some are uncomfortable and never ask again, and some are even offended. Anyone can escape giving actual advice by going with “wow amazing I love it” - but I think sugarcoating is boring and useless, and a sign you don’t really care