The Crowd with Us Podcast

"If you can do well in the property industry, the sky really is the limit, but happiness is obviously more important" - Matt Siddell

An entrepreneur at heart with an economics degree from the University of Manchester, Matthew established Kin in 2001 - matching heirs to unclaimed inheritances. Seven years later, and with the world of property beckoning, Matthew built a portfolio in Reading and broke ground on the London market.

In 2017, Matthew established Qandor, with the ambition to create an environment where developers, investors and business owners regularly and exclusively interact with the aim of collaborating on existing and new projects.

In this podcast: 01:00 : Matt Siddell - confessions of the early years 05:00 : Breaking into business 07:30 : From Kin to property 15:00 : Timing is everything : the good, the bad, the ugly 19:00 : Qandor - surrounding yourself by xxx people 24:30 : Secrets to effective networking 31:00 : Productivity hack : creating routine

Contact Matt Siddell LinkedIn | www.quandor.org | Facebook | Instagram

To find out more about Crowd with Us please visit our website. Simply register an account to receive updates and details of upcoming project launches at www.crowdwithus.london/register/.

"Brexit: [In my opinion] Now is the right time to buy. Those who are bold enough and savvy enough to get the right deals and to negotiate at the right price."- Thor Portess

Thor has been investing in property for over 20 years, having bought his first property at age 19 in Australia. He worked in the UK construction industry for five years up to 2010 as site foreman and project manager. Thor started investing in London in 2009 and bought and/or sold 50 properties totalling over £17 million in value before creating Crowd with Us with his co-founders.

In this podcast: · 0:30 - Thor's years of experience through creative type property deals · 3:30 - How Crowd with Us Identify risks and really going beneath the skin: - Phase 1: Purchase and legal analysis - Phase 2: Deal analysis: planning and development - Phase 3: Selling and renting · 5:10 - Mitigating the identified risks · 10:50 - 2 sure ways to get planning permission · 14:30 - Debt and Equity · 16:50 - The uncertainty with Brexit and subsequently the additional risks.

Contact Thor Portess: www.crowdwithus.london/site/contact-us

To find out more about Crowd with Us please visit our website. Simply register an account to receive updates and details of upcoming project launches at www.crowdwithus.london/register/.

"You're working yourself towards making yourself redundant. That might sound crazy...but ultimately if you build anything to be sustainable you should already have thought about from day one what is your exit." - Fredrik Sandvall

Growing up in Sweden when serving in the military was mandatory, Fredrik joined the special forces and worked his way up the ranks, ultimately becoming responsible for over 250 officers. Alongside his military career, Fredrik managed to grow and balance a property company, consulting company, to study and still make time for his family.

Involved in a number of businesses and dominating the property industry Fredrik is now taking on the publishing world. His ex-special forces training helped form his mindset and now he's sharing his knowledge by teaching his children and others the same.

In this episode: · 00.43 - Special forces to... · 07:40 - Writing three books at a time · 12:20 - Core theme to his investments and businesses · 13.00 - The key to delegation · 19:25 - Advice for those starting out and scaling up in property · 23.30 - Importance of quantifying and qualifying numbers · 26.00 - Productivity hacks - building a robust business · 29:00 - The importance of continuous growth

Contact Fredrik Sandvall: LinkedIn - FredrikSandvall Facebook - @fredrik.sandvall.1 Invest in You Podcast Invest Skills Podcast

To find out more about Crowd with Us please visit our website. Simply register an account to receive updates and details of upcoming project launches at www.crowdwithus.london/register/.

"Find someone to work with who knows more than you do…it's very important to work with somebody who has the level of experience that you need to do a particular project." - Evan Maindonald

MELT Homes have successfully fundraised close to £1.5m on the Crowd with Us platform. We were keen to invite CEO, Evan Maindonald onto the podcast to share his early days in property development, and his approach to scaling up his business for growth in 2019 and beyond.

Originally from New Zealand, Evan moved to the UK in his mid-twenties, while working full time for BT he was able to build a solid property portfolio before launching his own business, MELT Homes, and pursuing property development full time.

In this episode: · 00:30 - From NZ to the UK: Taking control of his own destiny · 13:25 - Making the transition into property · 14.30 - Building a track record in property development · 19.45 - His greatest driver · 22:00 - MELT Homes values and differentiation · 25:00 - 2019 and moving forward · 27:30 - Creating the structure to scale · 33:30 - Three top tips for those starting out in property development

Contact Evan: LinkedIn- Evanmaindonald Facebook- @EvanLMaindonald Instagram- @evanmaindonald Twitter- @EvanMaindonald or find out more at www.maindonald.com

To find out more about Crowd with Us please visit our website. Simply register an account to receive updates and details of upcoming project launches at www.crowdwithus.london/register/

"My fundamental principle is don't lose the capital." - Helen Chorley

After a high-flying and demanding career in the City, Helen spends most of the UK winter abroad, travelling to exotic destinations, in an effort to pursue a balanced life.

In 2008 Helen left the banking world and took some time to recover her health and wellbeing before turning her attention to property. Since 2016, she's taken a professional approach as a property investor. Helen admits to having a cautious, risk averse stance, so talks about the process needed to combine investing in development with her financial background and mindset.

In this episode: · 00:30 - Who is Helen? · 08:45 - What's important to you as an Investor? · 11:00 - The appeal of Crowdfunding · 15.00 - Investing with developers whose values align · 16.00 - Benefits of Crowdfunding · 17.00 - Helen's approach to investing · 19.00 - Looking beyond the deal · 20:15 - Advice for people getting into property investment · 23.55 - Life hacks and finding balance

"That is why crowdfunding appeals to me in general...it gives transparency and an accountability for the developer that isn't necessarily there when you work direct."

Contact Helen: www.linkedin.com/in/helen-jane-chorley/

To find out more about Crowd with Us please visit our website. Simply register an account to receive updates and details of upcoming project launches: www.crowdwithus.london/register/

Jack Jiggens

"Keep proactive and understand the game from within it."

Jack has entrepreneurial flair. At just 27 he's established himself as an accomplished business owner and property developer. He started his early business ventures while still at school, and apart from a 2-year stint in sales, Jack has worked for himself. Based near Reading his primary focus is property development in the local area.

The thing that most strikes me about Jack is his endless energy and dedication. In this podcast he talks about building a continuous stream of deals, leads and projects and his strong emphasis on tracking and reviewing his processes, pivoting and adjusting where needed.

Podcast Points and Times:

•      01:13     - Following the footsteps of his father - "Earn money with your brains, not your hands"
•      03.00     - A drive to work
•      10:20     - Starting out in property
•      14:00     - Be more creative than your competitors
•      16.30     - Selecting your geographic area and strategy
•      22:05     - Why a mentor can be your most valuable asset
•      29.00     - The day you stop learning, is the day you stop developing
•      29:18     - Productivity hacks
•      35.40     - Advice to people starting out in development
•      38:30     - Tapping into resources that are relevant to you

Contact Jack Jiggens:

Facebook | LinkedIn |JiggensProperty.co.uk | EXPPropertyInvestments.com

To find out more about Crowd with Us please visit our website. Simply register an account to receive updates and details of upcoming project launches. www.crowdwithus.london

Gita Trevorrow-Seymour

"The key element to achieving your goals is that you have to understand why you are setting yourself that goal. Your 'why' behind something is what will keep you going on those cold mornings"

 "So much of how we experience the world is below consciousness. But bringing that up to your conscious brain, to the prefrontal cortex of the human brain, makes it really powerful for when you are struggling. Desire is not enough. Motivation is not enough. There has to be other strategies put in place."

As a leadership and executive coach, Gita combines a passion of acting, a degree in psychology and love of neuroscience with 13 years in finance and banking under the brand 'High Definition You'. Gita works for some of the top financial institutions in the world, delivering training and coaching to groups and institutions across the world. In this podcast, Gita and Rob explore the fundamental principles of goal setting and the elements most essential in accomplishing them.

Podcast Points and Times: 

•       00:30              - Meditation, Neuroscience and the Ice Man
•       06:25              - Carving her career in coaching
•       25.40              - The fundamentals of Goal Setting and your 'why?'
•       35.00         - How you create truly sustainable change
•       36.40              - Power of the mind + courage
•       40:00              - How do you triumph over fear?
•       45.00              - Intrinsic vs Extrinsic Motivation
•       47.40              - Property Investing and understanding your risk appetite
•       50.20              - A typical day in the life of a coach
•       51:40              - Productivity hacks
•       59:20              - Components of a habit

Contact Gitanjali Trevorrow-Seymour

www.highdefinitionyou.com | Linkedin: Gita Trevorrow-Seymour | Instagram: gitanjali_hdyou

 To find out more about Crowd with Us please visit our website. Simply register an account to receive updates and details of upcoming project launches. www.crowdwithus.london

Thomas Knust:

 "You can pick up the knowledge as you go but the mindset is really important."

Having grown up in South Africa, Thomas Knust studied Economics at degree level before moving to London over 15 years ago with just £100 in his pocket. Since then he's had a successful career in accountancy, grown a significant buy-to-let portfolio and built a development portfolio of over £200m GDV in projects.

In this podcast he talks about the leap into larger development deals and gives his advice for those looking to follow in his footsteps.

Podcast Points and Times:

•      00:25     - Background
•      05:00     - Early days in Property
•      07:10     - Transitioning from buy-to-let properties to 100 unit+ developments
•      08:20     - Thomas' first project
•      16:20     - The development model
•      21:10     - View on the student and PRS Market
•      22:55     - A typical day in the life of Thomas Knust
•      26:20     - Advice to someone starting out in property

Contact Thomas 

Linkedin: Thomas Knust

To find out more about Crowd with Us please visit our website. Simply register an account to receive updates and details of upcoming project launches. www.crowdwithus.london