An interactive workshop for real estate sponsors, GPs, and emerging managers who want to build a brand that accelerates capital raising, whether you’re raising your first fund or scaling an established platform.
The JOBS Act changed everything for GP capital raising. 506(c) and RegA+ opened the door to digital fundraising, and the sponsors who are winning today are the ones who’ve built founder-led brands that attract capital instead of chasing it.
But most GPs have no idea where to start, and the ones who try often end up sounding like every other syndicator on Instagram.
This workshop gives you a practical, step-by-step framework for building a GP brand that resonates with your target investors. We’ll start with defining your Ideal Investor Persona, then build out your brand identity, messaging strategy, and channel mix.
You’ll work through exercises using a fictional case study, and leave with a brand blueprint you can start executing immediately.
No marketing jargon or “build your funnel” nonsense. Just a clear-eyed look at how the best GPs in real estate are building brands that raise capital.
Paul is also a partner at PTB, a real estate investment banking boutique, and focuses on the intersection of capital markets, media, and alternative real estate. He has funded over $1B of real estate projects and platforms, and acquired and asset-managed over 8 million square feet of office, industrial, and multifamily assets in the US.
Contact the host →You’ll learn how to
Define your Ideal Investor Persona (IIP)
Build your brand around who you’re actually trying to reach, their demographics, psychographics, where they spend time, and what they care about.
Craft a brand identity that conveys trust and authenticity
Learn how to develop a brand identity that communicates expertise and credibility without sounding like everyone else, starting with the emotion you want investors to feel.
Develop a messaging strategy built on stories, not pitches
Use origin stories, deal narratives, data insights, and causes to build your brand, without being promotional or salesy.
Choose the right channels for your investor base
LinkedIn, newsletter, YouTube, Instagram, understand when each makes sense based on your IIP and how to build a coherent multi-channel presence.
Evaluate real GP brand case studies
Analyze what makes successful GP brands work and apply those lessons to your own brand, including the “Jonathan vs Johnny” coherence test.
Build a 90-day brand launch plan
Leave with a concrete content calendar, channel strategy, and measurement framework you can execute with or without a marketing team.
What the workshop covers
Why Brand Matters for GPs
- The capital raising landscape and how digital fundraising changed the game
- The JOBS Act, 506(c), and RegA+: what they opened up
- Founder-led brands and why the window of opportunity is now
- Why brand is the only sustainable competitive advantage in capital raising
Branding 101: Mythbusting
- Brand ≠ logo: what a brand actually is
- Brand ≠ separate from the individual: why founder-led brands win
- Brands don’t take decades to build: the modern GP timeline
- Coherence: imagery, vernacular, tone, and built environment all sending a unified message
Building Your Ideal Investor Persona
- Who are you trying to reach: HNWIs, family offices, institutions?
- Demographics, psychographics, media consumption, and decision-making patterns
- How to build a detailed IIP that drives every brand decision
- Matching your IIP to the right brand voice and channel mix
Identity, Message & Channels
- Values and identity: what do you want investors to feel? Trust, authoritativeness, warmth, familiarity
- Messaging: origin stories, data/insights, deal stories, causes, show don’t tell
- Channels: email (universal), LinkedIn (generalist), Instagram/TikTok (younger/retail), YouTube, Substack
- Building a coherent multi-channel presence that reinforces your brand
Case Studies & Brand Audits
- Real GP brands that work: what makes them effective
- The “Jonathan vs Johnny Richman” coherence exercise
- Common branding mistakes GPs make and how to avoid them
- Auditing your existing brand for coherence and gaps
Your 90-Day Brand Plan
- Content calendar: what to publish, how often, on which channels
- Channel setup: profiles, bios, website, newsletter infrastructure
- Measurement: what to track and what to ignore
- Team and tools: executing with or without dedicated marketing support
Live exercises
Build Your IIP
Define your ideal investor persona, demographics, psychographics, what they read, where they spend time, what they care about, and what turns them off.
The Coherence Audit
Analyze two fictional GP brand profiles (the “Jonathan vs Johnny” exercise), identify which is coherent and why, then score your own brand on the same criteria.
Craft Your Origin Story
Use AI to help draft your GP origin story, the narrative that explains who you are, why you do this, and what makes you different, in under 200 words.
Content Calendar Sprint
Plan your first month of content, 3 LinkedIn posts, 1 newsletter, and 1 longer-form piece, using the messaging framework from the workshop.
Channel Strategy Design
Based on your IIP, map out your channel strategy, which platforms, posting cadence, content types, and how they work together.
Hear from our alumni
"Brad and Paul opened my eyes to how real estate deals get put together, where incentives lie, and how we might create business cases for proptech and climate tech. Great stuff!"
"A perfect introduction to the most important real estate concepts, distilled down in the perfect way to absorb and retain. Paul and Brad clearly thought a lot about how to actually educate, not just data-dump the group."
"Excellent course that guides you through a fictional case study with detailed explanation of every single step for all personas at every stage of a real estate deal. I highly recommend enrolling."
"Huge thank you for an amazing five weeks. The 'Selling into Real Estate Owners' course content is a goldmine for anyone building or selling in PropTech, and the weekly cohort discussions are a rare chance to learn directly from peers."
"A collection of engaging and collaborative sessions on how to launch and structure a venture into real estate. Paul and Brad put on a great class with an even better collection of participants."
Format & access
One live session
Two hours via Zoom
Five hands-on exercises
Applied to the Saguaro Capital case study and your own brand
Post-workshop access
Circle community with recordings, templates, and brand-building resources
A recording for everyone
Recordings are sent to all registered attendees, whether or not you attend live.
Frequently asked questions
I’m an emerging manager with no track record, is this still relevant?
Absolutely. Emerging managers may benefit the most. If you’re raising your first fund or still building your deal history, a strong brand is one of the few ways to differentiate yourself. The framework works whether you have 20 deals or 2.
Do I need a marketing background?
Not at all. This workshop is designed for GPs, not marketers. We avoid marketing jargon and focus on practical, actionable steps. If you can write an email, you can build a brand using this framework.
Will the session be recorded?
Yes. All registered attendees receive access to the full recording, slides, and exercise templates via Circle.
I already have a brand, is this only for people starting from scratch?
The workshop works for both. If you already have a brand presence, the exercises will help you audit what’s working, identify gaps, and build a more coherent strategy. The Coherence Audit exercise is specifically designed for GPs who want to tighten up an existing brand.
As featured in
Brand Building for GPs
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