In this solo episode of Burning the Ships, I’m breaking down one of the most important topics in our business: raising capital. Instead of interviewing a guest this week, I’m pulling back the curtain on how we built 608B Capital Funding from an idea to a $20 million debt fund in under two and a half years—without sales gimmicks, without shortcuts, and without ever losing sight of consistency.

I walk through the real story of how we started from zero, why we spent four months preparing before taking in a single investor, and what it really took to build a pipeline that compounds. If you’ve ever wanted to understand how private lending works, how to attract investors, or how to scale a business by simply doing the fundamentals extremely well, this episode gives you the playbook I’ve lived by.

Whether you’re in real estate, sales, entrepreneurship, or just trying to level up your consistency and belief, this is a transparent look at how I’ve raised capital, how we’ve grown 608B, and how you can apply these same principles in your own ventures.

Key Talking Points of the Episode

00:00 Welcome back + why this week is a solo episode

00:29 Sponsor reminder: 608B Capital

01:13 Why I cut back to one episode per week

03:24 What 608B Capital actually does

05:23 How Bill and I started the company eight years ago

06:39 Leaving our W2 careers & shifting into lending

08:00 Bringing on consultant Kelly Garrett and launching the fund

09:19 How our lending model works & how investors earn

10:03 Why raising capital became my primary role

11:09 Taking on our first investor in July 2023

12:27 Lessons learned from moving from sales to capital raising

13:46 Hitting $20M in under 2.5 years

14:27 Why I don’t use conventional sales tactics

16:12 Belief + genuine passion as the foundation of effective selling

17:34 The mattress shopping analogy: selling without passion vs. selling with purpose

22:06 The pipeline analogy that changed everything

23:50 Why most people fail: inconsistent pipeline activity

25:32 Understanding long decision cycles in capital raising

27:15 Why our pipeline kept growing even when people weren’t funding yet

31:25 The moment of “pipe pressure” when capital began pouring in

36:14 Hitting pause to stabilize the business

38:49 Tactical day-to-day: how I fill the pipeline

41:28 Social media, networking, wearing the brand everywhere

44:15 How constant visibility brings daily inbound interest

46:01 Why follow-up is the ultimate lever

47:59 Lessons from Amanda Compton: follow up until the hard no

49:44 How I track every conversation, every touchpoint

50:07 The compounding effect of consistency in action

52:22 Why this process works for anyone—if they believe in the product

53:45 Visualizing the pipeline and knowing every next step

54:55 Final thoughts and what’s coming next

Quotables

“People don’t invest because you’re slick—they invest because you believe in what you’re doing.”

“If your pipeline runs empty, your business runs empty.”

“I’ve never had a week—not one—where I didn’t put new people into the pipeline.”

“If you’re passionate and consistent, you don’t need sales tactics.”

Links

608B Capital

https://608bcapital.com