Jeffery: Okay. Welcome to the Supporters Fund Ask An Investor. I’m your host Jeffery Potvin. And let’s please welcome Luca Singh Bhalla from Ascot Properties Family Office as our investor for today. welcome Luca. It’s a real pleasure having you join us today.
Luca: thank you Jeffery. I really appreciate you having me. I’m really excited to get through this with you.
Jeffery: likewise. I know we had the first kick at the cam. we had some internet connection issues and now we’re back at it and I think today it’s going to be brilliant. we’re going to pick up from some of that great conversation that we originally kicked off. Well, as the best way, we like to start things off by learning a little bit more about yourself. If you can tie back from your school days, the Family Office build up, all the great things you’re up to today. I love to hear about that. And then if you could share one thing about you that nobody would know.
Luca: oh, that last one’s a kicker there. But I’ll definitely start with the first bit and definitely come along with something along the way. Yeah, so first of all, I appreciate you having me Jeffery and I look forward to really diving into this. And in terms of my background, my family is first generation American. I’m the first one in my family born in America. My father is Indian, and grew up in the United Kingdom in India. my mom’s Italian American. My dad came to this country about 40 years ago and discovered the benefits and the potential of wealth creation in real estate. And what that meant was him eventually building partnerships and building people within his community that he trusted and started co-investing on a lot of deals together. And as the 70s and 80s in New York was an extremely lucrative time in the real estate space, his timing was impeccable. He really was able to build a very strong thesis of converting rent regulated units to condos and he iterated multiple PCs throughout his day. Our office started with that. We eventually moved to a core side Multi-Family in the Lower East Side in Manhattan, Chinatown, little Italy, all neighborhoods like that. And we eventually shifted to retail where we have a tremendous tenant roster of internationally accredited tenants, nationally accredited tenants as well as regionally accredited tenants. So, it’s very well mixed. It’s very heavy in Soho and Greenwich Village in Tribeca and University Place, all very high foot traffic neighborhoods which is something that we really like to see on the retail side. And growing up with that was an extremely interesting experience and I’m very grateful for it. one being something that you typically would not have to experience as a kid is going to construction sites, going to property tours for as long as you can remember up until your earliest memories. So, you really do absorb a lot really subconsciously and it does become ingrained in your DNA. So, that’s one thing that has been really exciting to look back at as I’m growing older now. And then something else I think that’d be really interesting to talk about is how it affects what you’re working on as you grow older. And what I mean by that is, I was a student athlete at the University of Miami. I ran track and field there and had a tremendous time. And I had an extremely wonderful experience. in that, you learn how rare the experiences that you have are. And what I mean by that is, as you’re taking real estate courses, as you’re getting a business degree, you learn that the knowledge that you’ve possessed from this upbringing is far superior than anything you could pick up in school, anything that anybody can teach you in a classroom. And in that experience, I continue to work with the Family Office, continue to work with dad and continue our journey in the real estate space and where that’s led to now is us. Actually, I’m sure it’s a dime a dozen story in today’s world to leave New York which is where we have all our roots since coming to America and actually moving to Miami, Florida. So, I’m on the phone from Miami, Florida we’re actually in the process now of thinking about where we want to relocate our capital. We want to relocate our assets and this is an extremely exciting market. So, we’re very excited to be here and get into it in terms of. one thing that I don’t think people would know about me, it’s funny, I went to middle school high school in New York. But before that, I grew up on a very small island called St. Martin in the Dutch West Indies, and it was an extremely incredible experience. My dad actually had an opportunity to develop a resort there called Coral Beach Club, and when we went through that process again, going to construction sites, going to project sites, I think seeing that in another country, let alone one in the Caribbean which is in St. Martin’s, one of, in my opinion, the most beautiful places on earth, really does help mold you as a person. So, I would like to say that’s something I don’t think a lot of people know about me.
Jeffery: Well that’s incredible. And the story is incredible as well. And I’m excited to unpack a little bit about that background because as you mentioned, it really helped you become who you are today, and the things that you’re doing. So, maybe we can go a little bit back to that experience because this is the experience that you’re having as a young person, you’re in school, you’re doing all those great things. But going on a job site, learning this entrepreneurial side of business, being able to dive into a construction site and understand what your family’s building and then the tenants that are in there and how you’re operating it, can you give a little bit more perspective of what those teenage years were like for you? because I think hands down, my first job was working at McDonald’s at 13. Your first job is walking through job sites. It’s a big difference.
Luca: Don’t get me wrong. I worked as a bricklayer and did all those things. But I was more of the hustler than I was those pieces as I got older.
Jeffery: but there’s such a true value that you gain from that experience. And when you were in there, learning the different ropes of how these things were being done, you were getting experiences from your father and he’s teaching you intrinsically through all of these types of things that you see, maybe share a few of those elements of what really stood out for you the memories that you have on what really drove you to become an entrepreneur and to jump into this Family Office as well.
Luca: Yeah. Absolutely. Well, I’ll definitely say first things first. it definitely wasn’t all walkthroughs in a suit and tie through the job sites. very often, I was a partner or was an apprentice to one of the guys working in the site and very much had to be doing a brick layer type job as well. Again, I think that’s extremely valuable because you’re never going to thoroughly understand every single element of the deal unless you can even get down as granular as how you lay your bricks. Now growing up with that thought, I will say that my teenage years and my high school years, especially that I was in New York, were very rigorous, right? I was an athlete. I was trained to be an all-American track and field athlete. So, I went to school and went to high school in the financial district in New York and luckily, just by chance, it was two blocks away from my dad’s office on Trinity Place and in my office. my school was on Morris Street and I walked from school every day. When school ended, I spent about an hour selling my dad’s office, just understanding everything. And he would tell me what his day was, how his day was. We caught up. It was a really great experience and sometimes that became something we would chat over a bite to eat. And he would just tell me about what he’s working on, what his deals were, what is keeping him up at night. sometimes because it’s not always the best. you can’t just talk about all the sunshines and roses. you really do have to talk about some of the ugly parts as well. And I think I give credit to my dad for being able to disclose that with me as well. That’s not always an easy thing to do. And in hearing those conversations, it was a great learning experience. And then from there, I would actually get on the train to 215th street to Columbia’s track and field facilities so that I’d be able to train there with my club team. So, I wound up not getting home until 11 o’clock at night, eating dinner, then getting back up, going to school and repeating. So, it was a pretty packed experience to say the least.
Jeffery: ah, that’s awesome. And oddly enough, you’re using terminology that fits a startup, the understanding and things that people would go through. So, even when you’re spending that hour and your dad’s explaining what he’s going through and the problems that he’s having and that he’s opening them up to you, this is the same medicine that every entrepreneur needs and they need that and it’s amazing that he took the time to do that with you. because now, when you look back at it, you can share that advice to other entrepreneurs, how much it really does help to be able to share what you’re going through from a mental standpoint, from building your business. It’s having someone listen. it doesn’t matter what age; they are where they come from. If that person had an interest in what you were doing, and I think that those things really do provide a huge amount of value, and I’m sure your father would talk about that today on how much it helped him as a founder in business. And I think you mentioned before as well, that your father had a business partner. they built out a lot of everything that they did and that you got to learn a lot from them. So, maybe you can share a little bit about that because I think that co-founder mentality and being able to be part of that community really also shapes the direction of any entrepreneur and how they’re able to balance out what they’re trying to achieve in their goals.
Luca: Yeah. Absolutely. I mean I’m in the process of launching my own platform now and launching my own company itself. And I have to tell you, it’s very important to bring on that co-founder and to bring on that person that you can lean on and trust. because no matter what, anybody wants to tell you, you’re always going to have gaps in your resume. You’re always going to have gaps in your knowledge. There’s always going to be things for you to learn. And I think that’s very tough for a lot of people’s egos to handle. And I think it’s across the board frankly. So, in my father’s case and my dad’s partner and his case when he was doing Multi-Family is a very difficult asset to manage. not only is it difficult to underwrite and do on the business side. And to formulate a good deal. But it’s also very difficult to manage the asset. How are you going to deal with hundreds of tenants, especially a Multi-Family who may have issues within their bathroom in the middle of the night, who may have very time sensitive issues. That’s not like a commercial retail space where you can let that worry about the morning that can be a tomorrow problem or something else multifamily is a very hands-on experience operationally. speaking so, my dad’s partner was actually a managing agent in New York. And he was an Italian American fellow. And an amazing man. And it was actually extremely unfortunate. He passed away from pancreatic cancer pretty at a pretty young age. I don’t think he was even in his 60s yet. And we were very close family friends and he was my father’s best friend most likely. And I say that, also your co-founder should really be a good friend and should really be somebody that you have a lot of love for as a person. Ultimately, I gave my dad so many tailwinds and his success. So, he passed away from pancreatic cancer. And unfortunately, that’s a big reason as to why we shifted into retail. because thankfully at that point, my dad had enough experience in skill and expertise to construct, source and vet his own deals. But unfortunately, just being able to manage hundreds of tenants that are multi-Family tenants is still something that was a gap in his portfolio and his resume. So, that’s another big reason why I moved to retail. Now, we’re able to manage about 20 retail properties in New York and that equates to maybe 20 to 23 tenants as opposed to owning 20 pieces of multi-Family where that could potentially be a thousand tenants. So, from a management perspective, it’s a lot easier for us to collect one check as opposed to 100 from one asset.
Jeffery: And again, these are all things that you learn in that business process and you learned a lot from that partnership your father learned a lot from. It’s obviously tough to go through. But at the same time, that learning helped you pivot and helped you change in that environment. And you talked about last time, how a lot of what you’ve done as a Family Office is very communicative. There’s a lot of strength in the communications, in putting together partnerships and being close to partners. as you mentioned with a co-founder, finding someone that really ties in tightly, and this is really the impetus of a lot of VCs and how they invest a lot of Family Offices, look for specifically investing in co-founders and then you’re going a little bit step further which is expanding into the whole communication side, and how you communicate, how you both start to build up that repertoire of knowledge in all of these areas and it sounded like from the experience that you gained from your father and his co-founder and best friend, that there was a lot of learnings he got from the communication side and how they worked and operated and how they balance each other out to move and drive that business forward and that’s what it ultimately drove a lot of success and where you seem to be able to jump in and pick up the ball as well, working on that angle and now moving to Miami and being that outreach arm and figuring out something new. I think communication skills got to be pretty damn good in your repertoire because just to show up in another state and say hey, I’m going to take care of business. you’ve got to be able to figure out how to communicate and get around and network and I think that’s going to be pretty important in what you’ve been able to construct over the years as well.
Luca: Yeah. Absolutely. I mean, because a lot of people tend to forget in Family Offices for better and for worse frankly, your family or your partners and that’s a very difficult situation to navigate. And I think that it’s the very strong few that are able to navigate that very complicated relationship correctly. And I do give my dad credit for being able to steer that in the direction. Now, in moving to Miami, I will give the city of Miami tremendous credit at the moment for being able to attract so many interesting people from so many different places with the network that I’ve created in Miami. I lived in New York last year. I moved back to New York after living in Miami for a few years after graduating from the University of Miami. I moved back to New York in about the summer of 2021. That’s 2020, sorry July 2020. I moved back to New York for about a year and I was living in Miami part-time because we heard all this tremendous news about the environment that was happening. And frankly, all the things that were wrong with Miami started to turn around. And we started to see Miami create this massive 180-degree shift and we realized that it’s maybe worth keeping a pulse on things and keeping a tab on where the city is headed. And I was living in Miami part-time and I actually just moved back here again eight months ago and it’s frankly one of the best decisions I could have made in my professional career. And I think the whole family is on board with that as well. My parents are moving down here. I’m moving down here. We have actually just acquired an office space in Brickell. We’ve informed our team to move down here and thankfully it was a very easy sell for our team. Not a single person was worried about moving down to Miami and bringing their families down to the sunshine and seeing the quality of life that was here, in terms of networking and who you were meeting here. Yeah, of course communication, being able to network and be sociable. And frankly for me, I’m quite a bit of an introvert, so being able to socialize and everything is not necessarily always the easiest thing. But what I will say is, it’s a lot easier in this city because unlike New York, unlike Los Angeles, unlike Chicago, there’s a huge influx of people from all over the country here. And frankly, all over the world, Miami F1 just happened last weekend. And I was meeting from groups. And from London, I was meeting with groups from the Middle East. I was meeting with groups from different parts of the country and that’s of course a rare occurrence. That’s only once a year. But even throughout that, I have a huge network of people that have moved here from other cities, all with the same issues. meaning that, they’ve all just moved down to a city where they know nobody and they want to collaborate and they want to create friends and relationships and meaningful relationships because nobody’s going to move back to where they came from after coming here. So, everybody’s intention is to really create long-term and meaningful relationships. And thankfully, that’s an extremely easy environment to start growing a new business here. Well, it certainly makes a big difference. And being able to find the connections is going to be helpful. And I know startups go through this pretty much on a daily basis which is how I am getting in front of the people. How do I get in front of the investors? How do I look at that as being an opportunity where I can go to connect with those people? And I want to dive more into the Family Office side because it’s not very often that Family Offices are talked a lot about these days. But getting the opportunity to actually talk with someone that has been part of a Family Office for a long time, and then how you guys operate, what types of things you look for, how do you get people to get in touch with you. There are a lot of those. they’re a little bit different. VCs have different ways of getting access. Angels, they have a different way. But I find Family Offices are very focused. They have this one thing that we do and this is what we do well and we stick to that and that’s it.
Jeffery: So, maybe you can chat a little bit about those dynamics of that Family Office and what really brings the meat and potatoes to the whole value of proper opportunity. And then how do startups connect into that space?
Luca: Yeah. Absolutely. Just to start this, there is an expression that I heard recently saying, you’ve seen one Family Office. Everyone likes to create this massive umbrella term called the Family Office. But all that really means is a family that has seen a lot of success in their years. And regardless of the generation, it could be first every seventh. So, I would like to start with that. But I could definitely speak to our experiences and my experience of being part of Ascot Properties. I think the first thing as you mentioned is sticking to your guns in that sense. And that is definitely something that we do. We are very bullish on real estate. we’ve seen it. We hear a lot of criticism of it having some press returns. Frankly, we disagree. We’ve seen my father’s a perfect example of somebody who’s seen a vast amount of wealth creation in this asset class. So, it doesn’t matter what asset you’re in. I think if you just do it well, you’ll see a lot of success. But we like to really invest in real estate and that’s what we’re looking to do now in Miami. we’re going to be probably selling some assets in New York, if not all of them and look to really do a shift in all the rest of Florida and the sun belt states. We see a lot of growth there. I think the real estate market is going to be growing there for a long time for a lot of external reasons. So, that’s what we like to do there. We have venture exposure. We’ve invested in some startups. We’ve invested it as LPs in some venture funds. It’s not big compared to our real estate. I’d like to say real estate is still somewhere between 75% to 85% of our portfolios. So, it is a large chunk. But I think the second pillar of how we like to operate ties into what I mentioned about the venture is it’s really trust in your relationships. For us, if we see a situation where we’re the capital, where we really do bring value to the table and the deal is coming from somebody who we trust and we know that isn’t going to lead us in the wrong direction, then it’s worth doing for us. because I think a very common issue for Family Offices is being able to identify who you can trust, the real ugly side of it. And I hate to really allude to this. There are people who are going to be reaching out to either myself or my dad with nefarious intentions and that is something that you can be naive and kid yourself all day. But that’s really the reality of it. And I know people who have known dad for years and years who don’t really have his best interests at heart and I think it’s very difficult for somebody to be able to admit to that. With that being said, we’ve been able to navigate that pretty well. I feel like we’ve been able to filter out a lot of those guys and really create a small circle of those who we really feel like we can meet on.
Jeffery: I love it. And the last time we chatted you, and just like you did now, you have some really good lines that I write down because you quote them. just perfect. And one of the lines you mentioned last time was network is a support system. And you need a tribe. And I think you were just alluding to all of that. And it really sticks to that very well on what you were sharing. And I think the other one that really popped out is, and this is going into the earlier conversation, was who are you leaning on. And I think that also again comes to a very big impact on the conversation that we had this time. And last time roping that all together is really defining those successes that you and the Family Office and your father have had because of how you’ve networked, how you work with other people. And then the last line that just summarized all of this conversation up now is do it well and see success and the reason. I use that to wrap up all of this. it is because, I think, when you do understand focus, and you’re driving your business into the direction and you stay focused on one problem, one solution, and keep driving it forward that you’re exactly correct, if you do it well or the best, you will see success. I think that’s very tough for people because they want to do everything and that everything wears you down and it eats up value in dollars of time. But do one thing great and you’ll start to see the success from it. And you guys have obviously proven that by building a successful family in office.
Luca: Yeah. Absolutely. I couldn’t agree more. Like I mentioned, I was a track and field athlete when I did my freshman year at Texas A&M and I really had the tremendous pleasure of being able to work with one of, in my opinion, the greatest track and field coaches of all time. And if regardless he is a tremendous man, his name was Vince Anderson. And he would always tell me, don’t worry about how I was a sprinter. So, he was running fast. It is very much a priority for me. he said, don’t worry about running fast man. just do the race well. run the race well. do what you have to do correctly and everything will fall into place. And I genuinely do feel that. And even when you listen, even when you are going to diversify which every Family Office has to do at some point, it’s inevitable. How do you do that in a methodical well planned out way? And I think that’s really the catch. How do you focus on one step at a time going back to being a bricklayer? How do you put everything down one brick at a time? Don’t think about the greatest wall you could potentially put together. Think about weighing that one brick down as well as humanly possible. And when you’ve done that for 20 to 30 years, and I think a lot of people can show that it pays off tremendously.
Jeffery: I love Luca. Well said, well shared. And we’re going to transition a little bit now into the story or use a case that you can share about an experience you’ve gone through or with a founder, she or he, and what they’ve accomplished and to show what it takes to be an entrepreneur. And maybe you can share a story that really defines what that takes.
Luca: Yeah. Absolutely. I mean for us on the venture side, we’ve done, I’ll beat Canada. We had a few directors many years ago. And again going back to your network and people you could trust, we’ve done a couple deals, not all of our portfolio. But definitely a couple that were brought from people that we shouldn’t have trusted who I certainly wouldn’t say I trust today. And everybody has those bad experiences. And I think it’s fair to admit that. So, now, what we like to do, we like to lean on. And this is going back to the point of leaning on people who we trust. And a lot of those people who we trust are founders themselves. And we’ve done a lot of SPVs with founders and friends of ours who have founded companies, gone through the experience of raising capital of operating a company, of building a team and spending time with founders, really understanding their process and business plans. then, after they’ve helped for so many years, invested and created allocation via SPV into those companies. And we really like that model because I think that’s something that a lot of people tend to forget when looking at a business. It is the team. It is the founder. And it’s not just how skilled you are. It’s a very umbrella way of looking at it. I think you really do have to get granular when you look at the person, what are their habits in terms of recruiting, what are their processes internally. And these real granular details are just frankly something myself and my father don’t have experience in. So, we do like to lean on those guys and we take the word of those people who come to us that we’ve known for many years and have brought us into good deals who say for us we like to look at the founder for x and x reasons. And I think, with that all being said, you don’t always have to search this deal yourself. Sometimes you just have to pick the guy who brings it to you. And I think as an entrepreneur, that’s something that you have to do as well.
Jeffery: I like it. relationships are super important. And if you can build out long term relations, at some point in time, they’re going to bring some value on both sides and there’s ways to help each other out. And I think it’s well shared that it’s key to anything you’re going to do, from investments or even from just being able to build out your company. It is finding the people and building those relations. So, again well shared. we’re going to jump into rapid fire questions. So, the way it works, pick one or the other. You’re coming in from the investor’s standpoint and then there’ll be personal questions and then you can choose a or b in that sense as well. So, ready to go?
Luca: Let’s do it. I’m looking forward to it all.
Jeffery: So, as an investor, would you rather be investing in a founder or co-founder?
Luca: co-founder.
Jeffery: unicorn or a four-year 10x exit?
Luca: that one, I’d say is situational. that’s going to rely on a lot of things. that’s going to rely on your market. that’s going to rely on your team. I’ll take the four year 10x.
Jeffery: perfect. Tech or CPG?
Luca: tech. tech is the future without question.
Jeffery: NFTs or Web 3.0?
Luca: Web 3.0.
Jeffery: Ai or blockchain?
Luca: man, you said these are rapid fires. I didn’t realize there’s going to be some tough ones. I’ll take I think artificial intelligence.
Jeffery: first time founder or second or third time founder?
Luca: second or third.
Jeffery: first money in or series A?
Luca: series A.
Jeffery: angel or VC?
Luca: angel.
Jeffery: board seat or observer?
Luca: observer.
Jeffery: safe or convertible note?
Luca: C note.
Jeffery: lead or follow?
Luca: follow.
Jeffery: equity or interest payments?
Luca: equity.
Jeffery: favorite part of investing?
Luca: the people. you get to meet all kinds of people from all different parts of the world doing all sorts of things. If you invest correctly, you’ll meet people from every single industry you can possibly think of.
Jeffery: I love it. number of companies invested per year?
Luca: two.
Jeffery: Okay. any specific preferred terms?
Luca: No. Frankly, it’s all situational. It’s all opportunistic. It depends on the structure of the round. It depends on the lead. It depends on the market, a lot of things, a lot of external factors and verticals of focus or areas of interest that you like. fintech for sure and edtech. fintech and edtech for sure.
Jeffery: Okay. two qualities a startup needs in order to stand out to you.
Luca: oh. Definitely, the founder needs to have experience in space. it has to be somebody that has identified the problem via being involved in that vertical. I think that’s crucial. And then another one, I would say is the market. it has to be large enough for it to be feasible and for it to be scalable.
Jeffery: I like it. All right. we’re going to dive into the personal questions. book or movie?
Luca: movie.
Jeffery: Superman or batman?
Luca: superman.
Jeffery: restaurant or picnic?
Luca: I’ll say picnic. It depends where the picnic is.
Jeffery: nice. All right. five minutes of Bezos or Oprah?
Luca: oh, Bezos.
Jeffery: mountain or beach?
Luca: Hey, man. I told you. I grew up in the Caribbean. So, beach. no question.
Jeffery: bike or run? I’m going to guess the run.
Luca: you’re very much correct. [Music] I’ll go running on my bike.
Jeffery: All right. Big Mac or Chicken McNuggets?
Luca: oh. I’ll take the McNuggets.
Jeffery: All right. trophy or money?
Luca: Ah, trophy.
Jeffery: beer or wine?
Luca: Unfortunately, I like to drink both. I’ll say beer.
Jeffery: Okay, camera or mobile phone?
Luca: mobile phone.
Jeffery: king or rich? concert or amusement park?
Luca: concert.
Jeffery: fortune cookie or birthday cake?
Luca: fortune cookie.
Jeffery: Ted Talk or book reading?
Luca: Ted Talk.
Jeffery: I like it. All right. the most famous person that pops into your mind?
Luca: Elon Musk.
Jeffery: favorite movie and character you’d play?
Luca: oh, I would say one of my favorite movies ever or just a franchise is Star Wars. I’m very nerdy that way. And Anakin Skywalker and or Darth Vader. I think they are just tremendous characters.
Jeffery: perfect. big fan. I like it. favorite book?
Luca: oh, Dorian Gray.
Jeffery: Dorian Gray? All right. I’m going to look it up. favorite sports team? Manchester United or Arsenal? [Music] [Laughter] Luca: Don’t talk to me about them this year. I even hesitated after United’s performance this season. I would do Arsenal. They have done really well. they’ve been able to get out of that fifth and sixth spot, so they’re moving up. It’s nice.
Jeffery: Yeah, put together. Agreed. the first brand that pops into your mind?
Luca: Adidas.
Jeffery: nice. the favorite app you’re using on your mobile phone?
Luca: oh. I have to say Instagram. All right. [Music] what is the meaning of success to you?
Jeffery: The meaning of success to me is watching your progression in as many areas of your life as possible. Success can be in your family. Success can be in the business. But ideally, you see success in your personal life and your business life and that’s true success in my opinion.
Jeffery: I like it. What is your superpower?
Luca: oh. I’d say reading people.
Jeffery: It’s a good superpower to have. And I would also add in that I also think that you carry a very strong demeanor on getting collaboration and working with others and getting people into what they need to do to move things forward, so actionable and making things happen. maybe that’s the running that helps you do that. But either way, it seems like you’ve got a pretty good way of getting people to get on board and move forward.
Luca: Well, that means a lot, Jeffery. I very much appreciate the praise. I like it.
Jeffery: well Luca, it’s been a pleasure to get to talk with you multiple times of course and continue on that relationship side. big fan. Thank you again for sharing and diving into everything that you guys have accomplished and all the things you’re going to be working on going forward. But you have some great lines. We’ve quoted them. very exciting. you have that pure entrepreneur growth. And now, you’re working on your own stuff. But the way we like to end our show is we like to give you the last words. So, thank you again Luca for joining us.
Luca: no, thank you Jeffery. I think the last words on my part would just be, I think the most important thing is giving up your ego, allowing yourself to lean on others and being honest with yourself in that regard and really trusting the people and really creating that tribe. And I think especially at a young age, people that you can lean on for a very long time is the most valuable asset you can ever have, as cheesy and corny as it sounds. But it’s the honest truth. people make a big difference and it’s amazing that you’re seeing that and sharing it. Again, Luca, thank you for all your time and sharing. We look forward to chatting again soon.
Luca: absolutely Jeffery. I’m looking forward to it. take care of yourself. Thank you. Bye.
Jeffery: Okay. That was a great conversation with Luca. I really enjoyed a lot of the sayings of course. when he talks about networking, communicating, how the Family Office structure works and how they built all of that out. And I think it’s really important for founders to realize that even when you’re building a company, you really have to tie yourself in and connect with the people around you. It’s going to make a big difference on helping you work through problems, solving things and moving forward. And he really emphasized that quite a bit and I think that that really does make a big difference in the journey. it is the people that you can lean on and that you can trust inside or outside your family. It’s going to make a big difference. relationships are really important and you’re going to find that out as you continue to build forward. And some will be in the spot that aren’t great and you’re going to have to learn through that. And I think, as Luca said, one of his superpowers is understanding and reading people. And I think that a lot of investors have that same superpower. So, I think, over time, maybe investors go through a lot of things in building companies. And then when they start to invest, they have to relate to a lot of people. So, they learn quickly as Luca has. you learn through a lot of that and figure out how to expose problems and then work through them. So, do it well and you’ll see success. So, focus and go after that. And I think that’s a really strong point to be heard. So, thank you for joining us today. If you enjoyed this conversation, please feel free to share with your friends or subscribe to our YouTube channel. follow us on Spotify, Apple Podcast and or Stitcher. Your support and comments are truly appreciated. You can also check us out at supportersfund.com, or for startup events, visit openpeoplenetwork.com. Thank you and have a fantastic day.