Lessons from a Paperboy who built a $13M Company! | James Wahba - E54

**From delivering newspapers in 4th grade to raising millions for real estate and co-founding a thriving co-working space—James Wahba’s journey is nothing short of inspiring.**🚀In this episode of Funds & Founders, James shares:✅ How his childhood paper route taught him business fundamentals 📈✅ Raising $13M at 25 for real estate development 🏗️✅ Building one of NYC’s most iconic co-working spaces 🚀✅ Lessons from working alongside startups like Uber, Instacart, Stripe, Airbnb✅ Why co-founder conflicts are one of the biggest startup killers 😨If you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, real estate investor, or startup founder, you don’t want to miss this one!Timestamps:00:00 - Welcome to Funds & Founders!00:20 - James Waba’s entrepreneurial journey begins01:14 - Growing up in Connecticut and learning business from a paper route02:18 - The business lessons from his first job 📜03:14 - Learning about customer retention and revenue at a young age05:10 - From paper route to film school & shooting concerts 🎥06:35 - Starting one of the first online streaming sites (before YouTube!)07:54 - Partnering with Microsoft & early struggles of internet startups 💻09:12 - Raising funds & the early days of NYC tech12:22 - Competing in the pre-YouTube era—how streaming was built back then16:04 - Shutting down the startup and pivoting to real estate development17:08 - Converting industrial property to high-value waterfront real estate19:52 - Raising $13M for a real estate project at 2522:11 - The 2008 market crash hits—what happened next?25:46 - Lessons learned: How to survive market crashes28:49 - Bootstrapping vs. raising VC: What should startups do?31:07 - The reality of investor expectations & startup funding32:55 - Pivoting from real estate to co-working spaces 🏢35:49 - How James built one of NYC’s top co-working spaces39:32 - Uber, Instacart, and Airbnb worked here—what was it like?41:14 - Why taking equity over cash would have been the best move44:08 - The rise and fall of the co-working space model46:50 - How to build a real, engaged community (not just a Slack group)49:21 - Challenges of managing a co-working space & scaling it51:34 - What James is building in Austin & his new boutique hotel project54:45 - Rapid fire Q&A: Advice for founders, resources, and more58:07 - Best books for entrepreneurs 📚1:00:39 - What’s missing in the Austin startup ecosystem?1:01:34 - Final thoughts & where to connect with James