Today's guest is Ryan Williams, Cadre's founder and executive chairman. Cadre is a tech-enabled commercial real estate investing platform backed by Goldman Sachs, Andreessen Horowitz, Ford Foundation, Harvard Management Company, Khosla Ventures, Thrive Capital, General Catalyst, and others.

A native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, entrepreneurship runs deep in Ryan's veins. In this episode, Ryan and Julia discuss his entrepreneurial journey and building that entrepreneurial muscle, from his time selling sports sweatbands as a teenager to first investing in real estate as a college student. 

With his college roommate, Ryan began his career in real estate investing in Atlanta during the 2008 subprime credit crisis. The pair purchased foreclosed properties using pooled funds from classmates and, in many cases, helped those families buy back the homes. After working at Goldman Sachs and Blackstone Group, Ryan launched Cadre, which sits at the intersection of finance, technology, and real estate. 

Ryan recognizes that real estate ownership is a significant driver of economic prosperity. Since its founding in 2014, Cadre has closed more than $5 billion in transactions, delivered a greater than 25% net average IRR, and returned more than $400 million to investors. His vision involves opening up more access to investing in commercial real estate.