A two-day interactive workshop designed for founders, operators, and professionals who want to finally understand how real estate finance actually works — and learn to speak the language of developers, investors, and property owners.
Over two 90-minute live sessions, you'll learn the ins and outs of real estate economics. The fastest way to lose credibility with developers and investors is to use the wrong financial language, so understanding the industry's key metrics and terms is essential.
This workshop teaches you the basics of real estate finance — without jargon, and without assuming you've ever opened an Excel model.
Over the past decade he has co-founded General Assembly, a pioneer in education and career transformation specializing in today’s most on-demand skills, as well as Common, a multifamily operating company focused on innovative housing typologies like coliving.
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.
You'll walk away knowing how to:
- Understand the players in a deal and how capital flows between them
- Read a property P&L and identify what actually drives value
- Decode key metrics like cap rate, NOI, and IRR — and how they map to business performance
- Grasp how developers and LPs structure deals, waterfalls, and promotes
- Speak fluently with anyone in the real estate ecosystem
The Workshop Will Cover
Part 1 · The Players, the P&L, and the Language
- Who's who in a real estate deal: GPs, LPs, lenders, and service providers
- How properties are structured financially (and why every building is its own business)
- The property P&L: revenue, expenses, and the all-important NOI
- Translating startup and corporate finance into real estate terms
- Common misunderstandings founders make — and how to avoid them
Part 2 · Capitalization, IRR, and the Exit
- How projects are capitalized: the debt–equity “capital stack”
- Understanding waterfalls, promotes, and preferred returns
- IRR and yield on cost — what they mean and why timing matters
- How developers get paid: fees, promotes, and refinances
- Exit strategies — from merchant build to long-term holds
- Why focusing on NOI is the key to creating value in real estate
Format & Access
Two live sessions
Each 90 minutes, split across two days, live on Zoom.
Recorded
Can't make it live? All sessions are recorded and shared with everyone who registers.
Materials included
Every student receives a copy of the materials we use in the workshop.
Circle community access
Post-workshop access to Circle with recorded breakdowns, sample agreements, and template resources.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will students receive a copy of the materials?
Yes, all students will receive a copy of the materials we use.
I can't make this time — will a recording be available?
Yes, we'll send a recording to everyone who signs up, whether or not you attend live.
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."
As featured in
Real Estate Finance 101
Live on Wednesday, January 28, 12-1:30pm Eastern Time. $499.
Register for this workshopRecordings are sent to all registered attendees, whether or not you attend live.