Would you do it?
This is what I did. Twice! To get to know Dan Handford better, one of the founders of PassiveInvesting.com. He was putting on a two-day course which cost me $3,000 for registration, travel, and hotel; each time.
I had been syndicating deals for several years and already had an $85M portfolio, so I had a decent amount of experience. I had even invested in three of their deals as a passive investor, but as they say, sometimes you have to pay to play.
The second time in the class, I was the only repeat attendee. Not because it wasn’t a great class, but the content was pretty much the same, so going a second time didn’t make a whole lot of sense unless that wasn’t the reason you attended…
After my fair share of being heckled for being the “slow student”, the course commenced. The other attendees didn’t understand why someone would take the same class twice, but I wasn’t paying for the class, I was paying for 40 minutes of one-on-one drive time with Dan Handford when he offered a ride to his lake house to a few attendees for the evening networking event.
This was a relationship I had been nurturing for a few years and one of my goals was to partner on a deal with them. Afterall, they’re the best in the business with $1.5B under management within just 5 years. To have the opportunity to take a 40-minute drive with Dan, made the cost an investment, not an expense.
Some may think $6,000 is crazy, but when you’re passionate about your goals, sometimes you need to think outside the box. And sometimes, outside the box can be expensive. Unfortunately, I still haven’t partnered on a deal with them but anyone who knows me knows I’m not giving up any time soon. Slow and steady wins the race, even if you’re getting a ride in Dan Handford’s Bentley!
In the meantime, I’ll be signing up for the course for the 3rd time in a few months. I’ll listen to the friendly heckling with a smile on the inside, knowing that this is a means to an end and I’ll be the first to ask for a ride to the lake house!
