119 - How to Find High-Paying Consulting Clients (and What to Do Once You Land Them) with Sean O'Dowd

🚨MY NEWSLETTER https://nikolas-newsletter-241a64.beehiiv.com/subscribe 🚨Join me, Nik (https://x.com/CoFoundersNik), as I speak with Sean O’Dowd (https://x.com/SeanODowd15), who runs the real estate fund Scholastic Capital. Sean shares how he went from consulting to building a fund that buys single-family homes in good school districts. He explains how he used platforms like Catalant to find high-paying consulting clients and emphasized the importance of functional skills and being a business "athlete". Sean also discusses how he leveraged his consulting income to begin building a real estate portfolio and how Twitter became crucial for networking, fundraising, and finding legal help. We also touch on his unique strategy of building a portfolio in the upper Midwest, and targeting a $100 million valuation.Questions this Episode Answers:How can you leverage consulting to fund your entrepreneurial ventures?What strategies can you use to find high-paying consulting clients on platforms like Catalant?How can Twitter be a surprisingly powerful tool for networking and fundraising?How to structure a real estate fund including management fees, preferred returns and investor distributions?What are the long-term financial benefits of growing a fund to over $100 million?Enjoy the conversation!__________________________Love it or hate it, I'd love your feedback.Please fill out this brief survey with your opinion or send me an email at [email protected] with your thoughts.__________________________MY NEWSLETTER: https://nikolas-newsletter-241a64.beehiiv.com/subscribeSpotify: https://tinyurl.com/5avyu98yApple: https://tinyurl.com/bdxbr284YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/nikonomicsYT___________________________This week we covered:00:00 Highlights00:40 Introduction to the Real Estate Fund01:08 From Consulting to Real Estate01:48 The Consulting Journey02:33 Breaking into Entrepreneurship03:49 The Catalan Experience04:30 Financial Success and Lifestyle Changes12:40 Starting the Real Estate Fund17:40 Understanding the Fund Structure18:23 Management Fees and Team Building19:11 GP LP Model Explained19:39 Preferred Returns and Fund Models20:10 Hiring and Operational Costs23:23 Growth Strategy and Future Plans25:45 Acquisition Strategy and Market Focus28:23 Twitter as a Fundraising Tool31:46 Investor Relations and Transparency32:55 Current Performance and Market Tactics