Most people think the best product wins. August Biniaz disagrees, and he's built a multi-million dollar real estate private equity firm to prove it.
August is the Chief Investment Officer and co-founder of CPI Capital, a real estate private equity firm with two verticals: multifamily value add (Tampa Bay, San Antonio, Austin) and build-to-rent development. In this episode, he breaks down the returns (15–20% multifamily vs. 25–30% BTR), the investor psychology behind raising equity, and the exact marketing systems that helped CPI scale from zero to a cross-border investment platform serving Canadian and US accredited investors.
Whether you're building a fund, a company, or a brand — this episode is about the infrastructure behind growth.
🔑 What you'll learn: → The difference between multifamily value add and build-to-rent (and when to use each) → Why US multifamily beat the S&P 500 for 20 years — and what's changing now → How CPI Capital finds and qualifies accredited investors → The know-like-trust framework for converting prospects into LPs → Why tariffs caused 70% of their Canadian investors to almost walk — and what brought them back → EOS/Traction: the growth operating system CPI runs on
🏢 About August Biniaz: August Biniaz is the CIO and co-founder of CPI Capital, a real estate private equity firm focused on US multifamily and build-to-rent development in Tampa Bay, San Antonio, and Austin. He is a LinkedIn Top Voice and host of the Real Estate Investing Demystified podcast.
🔗 cpicapital.com | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/augustbiniaz/
📌 Chapters: 0:00 – Introduction 0:44 – August's background: from broker to home builder 3:26 – Discovering real estate private equity and US multifamily 4:41 – CPI Capital: the two verticals explained 7:25 – Multifamily vs. build-to-rent: what returns actually look like 9:57 – Timeline and exit strategies for BTR development 12:10 – Why diversification across asset classes matters 13:21 – The equity problem: how CPI started raising capital 15:43 – Building a brand around your executive team 18:53 – Know, Like, Trust: the investor acquisition framework 20:04 – Finding your investor avatar 23:19 – How CPI qualifies leads (the 3 questions they ask) 25:35 – Canadian vs. US investors: the 70/30 split 29:32 – Current market analysis: rates, oversupply, distress 33:41 – Why multifamily fundamentals are still strong 36:07 – Growth strategy: the EOS / Traction framework 38:01 – Big Hairy Audacious Goals and quarterly rocks 40:28 – Building the right team (fractional roles, Slack, Asana) 41:45 – How to scale without shiny object syndrome 44:42 – Final thoughts: marketing beats product, every time
— Test, Optimize, and Scale is hosted by Jason Fishman, CEO of Digital Niche Agency. New episodes every week covering digital marketing, growth, and entrepreneurship.
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