In today’s episode of The No Limits Selling Podcast, we have Josef Lapko with us. He is an Executive Leadership Consultant.
Josef Lapko’s Tip: “ Be a part of a bigger vision that wants to create impact on the world, not just paycheck to paycheck.”
Guest Bio:
Josef Lapko is a project wizard and a systems specialist and business development strategist. As a creative and innovative thinker, he ensures clear-headed execution on every project. Josef brings great products, great people and the right investors together in partnership and ensures the success of a project by utilizing efficient and innovative systems and business strategies.
Josef’s unique approach creates an opportunity for people to think bigger. He consults with entrepreneurs and business owners, largely in the areas of tech and real estate, who are facing difficult challenges. Josef has the experience, skills and ability to see the larger pattern, diagnose an issue, create a solution, and when necessary, assist in execution to ensure projects don’t get bogged down or stall. People who work with Josef begin to think bigger themselves, and become able to create on a much larger scale.
Find Josef Lapko: Website, LinkedIn, Facebook
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[Podcast Transcript Using Artificial Intelligence]
Umar Hameed 0:01
Are you ready to become awesomer? Hello everyone! My name is Umar Hameed, I'm your host on The No Limits Selling Podcast, where industry leaders share their tips, strategies and advice on how you can become better, stronger, faster. Just before we get started, I've got a question for you, do you have a negative voice inside your head? We all do, right? I'm gonna help you remove that voice and under 30 days guaranteed, not only remove it, but transform it. So instead of the voice that sabotages you, there's one that propels you to much higher levels of performance and success. There's a link in the show notes, click on it to find out more. All right! Let's get started.
Umar Hameed 0:41
Hello, everyone, welcome to another episode of the No Limit Selling podcast today. We have Josef here with us. He's bizdev at Wildcat. Josef, welcome to the program.
Josef Lapko 0:52
Thank you. Pleasure to be here.
Umar Hameed 0:54
So tell us about the company.
Josef Lapko 0:56
So Wildcat growth has been established about, well back in 2007. Started small with single families and real estate enterpreneurship. And vertically integrated into a 30 units, multifamily and 60 and 90 and 200. And we are keep going and expanding across the Sunbelt in our different areas.
Umar Hameed 1:21
Nice how many people in the company now?
Josef Lapko 1:23
So it's depend on the time and the project valuation. So the core is about 5 people and you know, could be up to 150 people based on the project.
Umar Hameed 1:34
Brilliant. So right now in a lot of places, it seems like there's a shortage of homes right now. Is that a true statement?
Josef Lapko 1:42
It's always a shortage. I think it's very depend on areas. And the demographic, it's definitely evaluated, because people doing changing their style of work. They need more bedrooms, if they're working from home. I think for the past two years, a lot of things change around us. But yeah, it's definitely the shortage is everywhere. And that's the beauty of our business, it's always going to be a needs people needs a roof over their head.
Umar Hameed 2:14
Yeah, so what does bizdev look like for you? Like, what exactly are you doing? Because, you know, you guys build stuff, and then people buy it. So where's the bizdev portion come in? Yeah, so
Josef Lapko 2:23
Yeah, so. We are a little bit unique approach, we instead of building new properties, which a lot of people doing very well, we finding the gap and the gap is properties that are 40 years old, 50 years old Class D distressful, you know, bad management, neglected maintenance, all the combination, all of it, basically a beauty that or a diamond that needs a little bit of a shape. And we come in with stronger engineering, valuation, and data evaluation and all the fun stuff to that brings us to the place to find this diamonds. And we're not scared of doing the hard work, which means changing everything in the systems if electrical, mechanical plumbing, going taking electricity from overhead to underground, and bringing the product, as we call it a lux is like the affordable luxury product, which means it's very similar to the new construction level, you're getting in Granite, you're getting quartz, you're getting stainless steel appliances, you're getting online management and all the fun stuff that it's available around us. But at the same time, the process for us is much shorter, instead of finding a land developing it three year old permits to do the work, but we can, we can be in and out in the cycle of the project. One and a half year, two years, two and a half years when new construction can take three, four or five years. And at the end result we're doing few favors to the world. You know, number one, we taking this old places that otherwise been another place for drugs or you know prostitution area and in drag areas to downstair of up. So that's one service to community to bring new people and bring new places into life. You know, taking the dinosaurs out in some way. But on the other hand is in the end result if you coming and renting a place as a young professional. The Delta you're going to pay rent if it's a new brand new two years old, or three years old apartment versus 40 years old that everything's around you is new, or very similar, maybe 20% 30% gap, but our investment is way less than 30% delta.
Umar Hameed 4:51
Nice, so a lot more profitable.
Josef Lapko 4:53
Yeah, but it needs way more experience. Way more understanding because you never going to know what you're going to find behind the walls. So, yah.
Umar Hameed 5:02
So go back to the bizdev side of things. So what do you specifically do?
Josef Lapko 5:06
Sure. So I've been with the company in every stage from the project management, construction management, system management to all hands into today, I focused at the best of my time as the development side of the business. So the core value of the relationship between the asset management between the legal department CDPR, architectural, designing all the aspects of it.
Umar Hameed 5:32
Brilliant. So what's the biggest challenge that you face?
Josef Lapko 5:36
A challenge? That's my question usually what I am asking other people. It's a great question. I think the challenge is finding the right balance in life, which is always the question for myself, right, looking for the next opportunity being thankful challenge over people finding the right people around us. That's the main challenge. I think people, people with people, kids drive with you and be part of a bigger vision that wants to do create impact on the world, not just paycheck to paycheck.
Umar Hameed 6:12
Nice. One of the things I noticed was I used to live in Berkeley, California, and it was really rundown from the downtown core going out. And as gentrification started, they started going to where it started turning bad near the downtown, they took over a block at a time, like bringing in renovating buildings, bringing in new tenants, Barnes and Noble Starbucks, and they were taking it back a block at a time. And I figured that that's how they came in. It came in from the extremities, like slowly a block at a time started having like, lower income, less maintenance. And so it's almost like an accordion going back and forth as things happen. So you have to find a property that is not too far out. That is going to take a long time for people to feel safe to move in there. So how do you balance the where gentrifying, but at what stage do you gentrify that? In the high tech world where I come from, there was a difference between leading edge and bleeding edge? And so I guess you don't want to be on Bleeding Edge? So where's that balance to find the leading edge of where you build the find those projects?
Josef Lapko 7:19
Sure, it's a great question I think you need to know and define for yourself. What's your model of working? What's your product, what type of because what works for us not gonna work for anybody else. So if your model is specific, you need to know your demographic, your future demographic, and identify and be very laser focused on what exactly you're planning to bring to the market. You need to know around what's going on around you. And again, it's not applicable to any place if you're looking at a combination of that, you know, Starbucks and Costco it's a good good symbols of you know, Friday around or Trader Joe's or anything like that. It's not applicable any place North Carolina, you can now find Starbucks in 10, you know, 10 square miles versus in Manhattan. You have them all Yeah, exactly. So it's not applicable to any flip to the same place at the same way. So again, know what you're looking for what type of demographic what, try to put yourself in their shoes, speak to the unprofessional if this is your future tenants, see what they need, how far they want to drive from home. Again, COVID change that a little bit, take that into consideration. And each one has his own task of tolerance of risk, right, you can be there very early but you taking a big lift a big risk it take the years until Trader Joe's and Costco and Starbucks will follow you or you're just going to go with the flow if you if you can see that this area has been developed in developed world and you're trying to be there at the early stages as you can.
Umar Hameed 9:00
Nice. A friend of mine was an investor and he would look for actually gay men where they were moving into what parts of the city that were because they've got a high risk tolerance and they really didn't fly well. And so he would just follow that their lead and that was his strategy to kind of find the up and coming areas whichever was kind of brilliant. Yeah. So Josef for the part company. Two questions What brings you joy in your work?
Josef Lapko 9:31
Oh, what brings me joy. So I found lately that every time the company needs a change or evaluation or pivot, and it needs solving problems, and the more complicated problems they are, I have more joy to nice so resolve them that that speaks to every part of my life. When it's kind of system boring if I should say it's very necessity but it's still boring to me. I found myself a little bit less
Umar Hameed 9:59
That's what you tolerate. Absolutely. So what's one piece of advice you'd give professionals that they could use? Like a mind hack to be more productive, to be more sexier? Be more healthier? Like, what's one thing you'd like to share?
Josef Lapko 10:14
So first, find yourself, you know, be very specific about yourself, do a check in and know what's your target, what's your target, that is a big goal in life, and what's your target and the short, which means if you're targeting, you know, being, make enough money to pay your bills, then it's a one mindset, then be there and stop being jealous of people who's thriving and trying to achieve and conquer the world. If you decide to make big impact, and sky's the limit, then go in reverse and understanding on every moment in your life, every moment of your day, is very valuable. And based on that principle, you will start filtered down all this stuff that coming towards you, let's say I want to make $100 an hour. So suddenly, if you cooking, maybe someone else can do it for yourself, right? If somebody is cleaning your house, maybe somebody should do it for you, maybe you should delegate more, maybe you should give it to someone else more. So you will be much more focused and conquer yourself to the big tasks that you planning.
Umar Hameed 11:22
Oftentimes, I tell CEOs of companies that we work with, it's like, your time is worth $2,000 an hour, which is probably low balling and depending on the company, and you're doing a $30 an hour task. You are stealing $1,970 from your company. Stop doing that. Well yeah, I am. Why am I doing that I should delegate it to people that need to be doing that kind of work.
Josef Lapko 11:47
But not only stealing from the company 100% agree you steal from your future of yourself, you stealing from your kids, right? You if you're 20 years old now and you're not fulfilling your destiny now fulfilling your full ambition when you're going to be 40 You basically stole 20 years of yourself from your from yourself and from your kids.
Umar Hameed 12:06
Absolutely. And one last thing on that is your kids, Josef this gonna be a shocker to you don't listen to you. But they watch everything you do. And when you say you could be anything, you could achieve whatever and then watch dad not doing it, they go more with what they see them what they hear. So yeah, the responsibility is huge. Josef, thanks for being on the program. I really enjoyed our conversation.
Josef Lapko 12:29
Thank you likewise.
Umar Hameed 12:34
If you enjoyed this episode, please go to iTunes and leave a five-star rating. And if you're looking for more tools, go to my website at nolimitsselling.com. I've got a free mind training course there, that's going to teach you some insights from the world of Neuro-Linguistic Programming and that is the fastest way to get better results.