Category: Uncategorized

I saw this article today that the current administration is seeking to make a radical increase in funding for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (“ATF”).  This is a tragic mistake.

I led a proposal effort to win an important software development contract (over $100M) with this agency several years ago.  When we won, I spoke with the outgoing contractor who shared with me, “You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into.”

In fact, we were the fifth consecutive contractor who got sideways with this agency during execution of the contract, where we were developing new software systems for their agents to manage cases, access investigatory information, and track firearms used during the commission of crimes.

I found the technical leadership at ATF to be the most incompetent, dishonest, and technically inept organization I worked with in over a decade providing critical consulting services with the federal government.

Any additional funding to this organization should be equated to setting hard-earned taxpayer dollars on fire.

Over a year of deceit, and bringing the full force of the Department of Justice legal minds to accuse my firm of failing to deliver on our promises, eventually resulted in an embarrassing settlement (the non-disclosure terms of which I do not remember so I will not provide details). This agreement protected their incompetence from becoming known but deprived their agents of an upgrade to key systems (the fifth failure in a row from as many contractors) sorely needed by their field agents.

The level of their incompetence was staggering.  The lack of principled leadership: embarrassing. The pettiness of their retaliatory efforts: mind boggling. And the corruption of their acquisitions team: disgusting.

The experience eventually drove me out of doing business with the federal government, becoming disillusioned that we could ever provide meaningful technology for the field agents who often put their lives at risk to perform dangerous and complex missions. I urge Congress to reject any material increase in funding to this agency until an independent investigation into the millions spent developing information technology systems there can be radically transformed.  

Without that, you’re just burning more taxpayer funds.

Our partner company, Christopher Architecture & Interiors, has recently helped us develop virtual reality tours of some of the projects we are developing. It is hard to mimic their impact by viewing them in a browser, but when using a Meta Quest 2 VR Headset, you can really feel the scope and dimension of the project in a way that traditional renderings do not provide. If you’re in Birmingham, Alabama sometime, you are welcome to drop by our offices and try it for yourself. For a less immersive look, here are a few of the VR experiences developed so far for our Alta Hotel and Residences project in Vestavia Hills, Alabama:

• Inside VR tour of the Alta property (Note the controls on the bottom left to switch through different areas of the hotel)
• Outside VR tour of the Alta property (Note the controls on the bottom left to switch through different outside areas of the property)

For some context, you can view the current plans for the project here.

According to US News and World Report, the #1 best job in America is a software developer. It joins three other tech jobs in the top ten list for 2023. Over time, these jobs lead to executive responsibility and, often, equity participation in technology companies.

These highly profitable ventures often lead technology professionals to believe that they have the “magic solution” to making money and they commit their capital to other technology ventures. Often these are with friends or past colleagues.

Forget that 9 out of 10 tech startups fail. Fully 75% of venture-backed tech startups fail as well. These are companies that have been vetted by the best minds in the industry, giving consideration to market, marketing, team composition, tech challenges, financing, operations, and legal issues.

But successful technology executives often imagine they can read the tea leaves better than a lay person and put their capital resources into tech that they understand. Most of them will lose money. That is an empirical fact.

Looking at investment allocation trends, middle income investors (< $471K net worth) tend to have most of their investment in retirement accounts and securities, with less than 8% in real estate (excluding their personal residence). Upper income ($471K – $10.3M) adjust the composition to as much as 25% of their portfolio. The ultra rich ($10.3M+) often see real estate exceed 40% of their investment portfolio.

Real estate does not often offer the hockey-stick growth that a tech startup can achieve. But, it also rarely goes to zero, which many of those 90% failed startups do.

A REIT (a Real Estate Investment Trust) offers a great way for a tech executive to diversify some of their capital out of the market. REITs are managed investments that provide a completely passive way for an investor to gain the benefit of real estate ownership without the hassles of becoming a landlord.

When considering a REIT investment, you should consider the vertical niche the REIT prioritizes, the fees assessed by the management company of the REIT, and the past performance of the REIT as related to its plan for the future.

Regardless, any successful tech executive should model what the wealthy and uber-wealthy practice in their portfolios and add more real estate to provide a firm foundation to their portfolios as uncertain market conditions approach.

Chris Hill writes about a podcast between Motley Fool analyst Deidre Woollard and Motley Fool contributor Matt Frankel covering a lot of great information about REITs including:

• How REITs differ from stocks.
• Publicly traded REITs vs. private REITs.
• One office REIT that’s evolving.
• Ways to spot a yield trap.
• REITs benefiting from e-commerce trends.

Check out the article here, it also contains an embedded recording of the podcast.

Over the years I have posted many articles giving a lay persons perspective on REIT investing. Mark Henricks has written an excellent example of one of the articles on Yahoo Finance. Read his perspective for REIT investing here.

I’m not entirely sure what the takeaway is from this article, but it’s interesting that investors are pushing up retail REITs as we head into the holiday season. Kevin Vandenboss writes in this article from Yahoo Finance that REITs with retail tenants mostly traded higher even as early reports were that the holiday shopping season was off to a slower-than-normal start.

In Fortune online, Tanza Loundenback, CFP answers the question of “What are REITs? How to invest in a real estate investment trust this year” as she looks into what REITs are, how they work, investment strategies and taxation implications in this article.

Seeking Alpha has published an article by Brad Thomas, the author of The Intelligent REIT Investor Guide. He always provides great insight into the REIT market and this article is another great example of his thoughts and insights.