November 30th, 2009
Joshua Dorkin Interview, Succeeding In Business, Regardless Of The Economy
by Michael Posted in InterviewsFounder of Real Estate Investing Website BiggerPockets.com Succeeds Regardless Of The Economy
Hi Everyone
Today we have a very inspiring interview with Joshua Dorkin, the Founder of BiggerPockets.com
BiggerPockets.com is a really cool networking site for people in Real Estate. As you will see, Joshua is incredibly passionate about what he does. As always there are lots of Great Takeaways – one in particular which got my attention was Joshua’s reply to what was the best advice he had ever been gave:
Live your life as you’d like to see it lived from the vantage point of your deathbed
That is an awesome reply and sums up my own views perfectly – as Joshua puts it: ‘life is short; live it well, and remember that in the grand scheme of things you don’t want to have any regrets’
I was also particularly interested in how Joshua managed to ‘recession-proof’ his site 
Enjoy the interview – I look forward to your comments.
Best Regards
Michael
Joshua Dorkin Interview
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Bigger Pockets in Real Estate – The Joshua Dorkin Interview
About Joshua:
“I’m 33 and live in Denver, Colorado with my amazing family. I’m motivated by the drive to succeed in business, with the ultimate goal to take care of my family and to help others. The funny thing is, had you asked me a decade ago what motivates me, you would have had a very different answer. The great thing about what I do is that it allows me to achieve those things that I care about! I’m inspired by the good in people. Every day on my website, I see people come to the help of others. While some are motivated by things like greed and money, others just want to help. That is an incredible thing and is one of the wonders of humanity, in my opinion.”
The Interview:
1) Hi Joshua, Thank you for doing this interview, we appreciate it. You are the founder of BiggerPockets.com – tell us how the company formed and what made you go into the niche of real estate
BiggerPockets began over five years ago as little more than another website that was going to be for my own personal use. I had been building websites since ‘94/’95 (aka. the start of time), and had experience as both a real estate agent and investor when I came up with the idea. BiggerPockets started as a directory of useful real estate resources, and I eventually added a forum to try and get some interaction from others. The site quickly attracted people and we began to build a nice little community; I realized that there was a ton of potential in developing a resource in the niche and began to compose my vision. Outside of the initial costs of hosting, the site has been completely financed by revenues it has generated, so we never had the need to seek outside funding.
2) What you do is quite unique, allowing people in real estate to network with each other, is this a model you can see working for other Niches?
Absolutely! While mega-networks like Facebook and Twitter are fantastic tools for connecting with others, niche communities have been extremely popular online for a long time. There are forums on every topic imaginable, and more recently, social networks (as we know them today) have developed across these interest areas as well.
3) Can you share some of the biggest lessons you have learned personally and as a business as things have grown? If you were to start again, what might you do differently?
One of my core philosophies is that family ALWAYS comes first. While I am certainly a work-a-holic, I put them before anything else. That said, this has been one long, exciting adventure, and I seem to learn something new every day. On a personal level, I’ve learned to be much more patient. While you want all of your ideas to be implemented as quickly as possible, that doesn’t always happen. If you’re stressing out because you’re behind schedule, you’re only going to get frustrated and make for a crappy boss.
Through the process, I think the most important thing I’ve learned about myself are my strengths and weaknesses. I know what it is that I enjoy doing and what I want nothing to do with. Of course, like any entrepreneur, I’ve become adept at delegating those things that I don’t enjoy. As for my weaknesses, I’ve learned that I must find the most talented people possible and put them in a position to execute. No matter how much you may want to, any entrepreneur, who sees their business grow, knows that you can’t do it all. There comes a time when you need to get the assistance of others.
The last point that I’d like to make is that as the CEO of a business in the internet space, I’ve learned that you need to adapt and stay at the forefront of new trends. You also need to be very careful of what information you share with others. Early on, I saw an idea show up on another site soon after opening my mouth about it to our members, and from that experience, I’ve learned that all’s fair in love and business. If you don’t want anyone to beat you to the punch, you need to be very protective of your ideas and IP.
4) What next for you? Where do you see the business in say 5 years time?
Five years is a lifetime when it comes to the internet. Think of all the names that dominate today, who didn’t exist five years back. While difficult to prognosticate future trends without a crystal ball, we definitely expect to see the web transform as much in the next few years as it has in the previous several. That said, I expect to see BiggerPockets become even more of a national name. While we’re known very well in many niches of real estate, we’re just getting started. BiggerPockets has created a social space that is second to none in real estate; the future will bring exciting new developments and partnerships that serve to raise our profile.
Remember, five years back we were just “that new real estate investing forum;” two years ago we were “that new real estate social network;” tomorrow, well, I’ll put it this way . . . the site is only going to get more sticky and useful for our users. We’re working on some incredible ideas that will help our members (investors, professionals, homeowners, etc.) simplify their every day real estate lives.
The shift to niche communities that we talked about earlier, will see the emergence of several large players in each space. We plan on continuing to be at the top of the list for real estate related websites.
5) You’ve taken the approach of offering your information free to all users, although you do have a ‘pro’ option. Walk us through the thought process and how it’s working out for you.
The concept of providing free access to the valuable information on BiggerPockets came as the site was being born. I saw that the niche of real estate investing was dominated by many “gurus” who charged people exorbitant fees to access what was sometimes good and often-times horrendous information. While there were other forums at the time, I felt that the information was often compromised by the fact that the people helping run the site (moderators) had a vested interest in selling information. Many were moderated by the very gurus who were also selling their own information. I saw that there was an opportunity for us to establish a highly moderated, free resource, where people didn’t have to worry about being pitched. We’ve made quite a few people angry over the years because they felt like they had a right to join our site and just spam our members; free doesn’t mean free-for-all!
As far as offering a PRO option, as I mentioned earlier, internet startups need to keep up with trends or die a slow painful death. We saw the economy starting to slow early last year, and knew the advertising revenues we had counted on would drop-off. Other major membership sites had begun to offer upgraded options and we saw it as an opportunity to provide those members who were interested with value-ad tools. As predicted, advertising rates collapsed with the economy, but our PRO accounts have helped to offset the declines; our increasing traffic was also good for business.
We’ve got a ton of new features planned for our PRO members. We expect to provide our free members sneak peaks, but to get the full benefit, you’ll need to upgrade.
6) Do you have any suggestions for coping with set-backs, dealing with adversity?
Make sure you’ve got a vision for the future. If you know where you’re heading, no setbacks can get in your way. Sure, there will be bumps in the road, but the key is to keep your eye on the prize. I’ve had more than my share of adversity over the years running BiggerPockets, but each time I’ve faced a problem, I’ve learned to be smarter in how I run my business. I see these things as learning experiences.
While you’re bound to get stressed out and aggravated when running a startup, you must always put things into perspective. If you’re able to do that, there are very few things that will truly be able to slow you down.
The other thing that helps me cope is the love of my family. In the light of keeping things in perspective, do any of these setbacks alter your relationship with the most important people in your life? I would never let such a thing happen so, as a result, they aren’t that important in the scheme of things.
7) How do you keep your business focus – Do you have any suggestions for entrepreneurs who are experiencing challenging times?
The key for me is that I have my goals written down (and memorized, of course), and refer to them almost daily. This forces me to keep razor focus on where I am and where I need to be. I’ll admit that I have some poor working habits — working in places where I’m bound to be distracted — but I know that if I can work my backside off and continue to build the greatest online real estate platform possible, then I’ll continue to help countless others with their own lives, and, of course, the opportunities that arise for my family will be endless.
You mentioned being in challenging times – that’s the truth! I know a lot of extremely qualified people who can’t find a job. I’m talking people with masters degrees here. If you’re starting a business and currently have another job, I strongly advise people to be very careful not to jeopardize that primary job. I worked as a teacher while starting BiggerPockets.com to pay the bills, and only once I was able to do the same via BP, did I go full-time working on the startup.
Bootstrapping can be very exciting, but there is a lot of weight on your shoulders. I just tell people to make sure you can reliably count on your startup to support you before dropping everything else to get involved. Then again, for all of those people who have lost their jobs, there is no better time to get started with your own business then while you’re unemployed!
8 ) Is there anyone that you look up to and model yourself on?
The business visionary that I can most relate to is Bill Gates, but there are countless people who I look up to. Just a few other business people who come to mind include: Warren Buffet, Jeff Bezos, Larry Ellison, Herb Kelleher, Steve Jobs, Jack Ma, Richard Branson, Michael Bloomberg, etc. I can go on and on. I started reading Forbes in high school and couldn’t wait for each new issue of the Richest List. While it was exciting to see how much wealth these people had accumulated, what was more exciting for me was to see how many of these people took an idea and transformed it into something priceless!
9) Do you have any favourite business related books that you can recommend to other entrepreneurs?
For real estate & money matters: The Richest Man in Babylon
For business and politics: The Art of War
10) What is the best advice you have ever been given?
The most important piece of advice I’ve ever gotten was to (paraphrasing) “live your life as you’d like to see it lived from the vantage point of your deathbed” from Mariano Montero, one of my oldest and dearest friends. Basically, he was saying that life is short; live it well, and remember that in the grand scheme of things you don’t want to have any regrets. Live a good life and be there for your family and closest friends. While others will have an impact on you, always remember that people come and go, but only your true friends and family really matter in the end. If you’ve done good by them, and have had a positive impact on the world, then nothing else matters.
11) How has the economy effected your site? I know real estate took a big hit recently?
The beauty of BiggerPockets is that regardless of the economy, people will always want and need quality real estate information and helpful tools. While things were booming, people came to us to learn how to make money, and take advantage. As the economy and housing collapsed, people came to us to find out why it was happening and how they could protect themselves. You can see from the most popular tags on our site what is of interest to people at any given point in time; today it is REOs and Short Sales and tomorrow it might be something else. We’ve got our hands on the pulse of the real estate market, and regardless of what happens, people know that BP is an honest broker of quality info.
Traffic increased to BiggerPockets while things were booming, and it continues as the economic and housing collapse goes onward.
12) What do you like best about the Internet?
The internet evens the playing field. It gives people, no matter their location, economic status, religion, etc. access to information that they might not have had otherwise. I see the advent of social networking as one of the most important communication breakthroughs in history. It blows my mind every day that thanks to the internet, I can work anywhere in the world.
13) What do you like least about the Internet?
There are a few things about the internet that concern me most. Primary among them is our reliance upon it in almost every aspect of our lives. Recent developments in the Baltic states, and across the globe show us that this dependance upon linked computer systems can be our eventual downfall as modern societies. Hackers get more and more sophisticated along with the internet, and internet warfare is emerging as one of the greatest threats to our future security.
Another thing I am not fond of is anonymity on social sites. This is a HUGE philosophical discussion, so I’ll just leave it there.
14) Have you any plans (personal or business) that you can share with us about your future plans / goals / lifetime goals?
Outside of BiggerPockets, I’m a huge political junkie; I see politics in my future with certainty. While I know that bitter partisanship will always be a part of our political environment, I believe that people can rise above it, and I plan on doing that when I emerge on the political playing fields in the future.
Otherwise, I’d like to continue to travel and see the world. There is nothing that I find more fascinating than interacting with people from other cultures and backgrounds. I learned so much about myself as an exchange student to Japan when I was young, and each time I get out of my box and explore, I find that I refine my thoughts and interests. It is a wonderful process for me!
More About BiggerPockets.com
BiggerPockets.com was founded by Joshua Reed Dorkin in August 2004. An entrepreneur, web designer, real estate investor, and one-time realtor, Joshua was not satisfied by the online offerings of other real estate sites out there, and decided to build one himself.
Mr. Dorkin’s vision for BiggerPockets has helped to propel it into becoming one of the top real estate destinations online. His vision for the site and its future has brought national press attention to both Mr. Dorkin and to BiggerPockets.
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18 comments so far to “Joshua Dorkin Interview, Succeeding In Business, Regardless Of The Economy”
Leave a reply.
Thanks for the opportunity to do this interview with you, Michael! I hope your readers walk away with some interesting tidbits. All my best to you and all the readers of Retire@21.
Josh
Great interview, Joshua has his feet firmly planted in the earth and his views on succeeding in business, regardless of the economy, are insightful and inspirational. I will be following BiggerPockets from now on in, thank you for interviewing Joshua and exposing us to his internet offering.
Wow!!It have a great suggestion with have a great info related to more interested in the business succeeding ……
Thanks for your thoughts @MarketingMan! I hope to see you on the site . . . drop me a line if you ever have any questions or thoughts.
Thank you’s are always appreciated. It would be best to modify the original one because you don’t really know who might see it. Add a few extra sentences, move the sentences around a little and always remind them how much you would love to be working with such an outstanding company, working along side such wonderful people.
I found this interview very helpful. What I have learned that if you are providing valuable information then you can still succeed, eevn if the economy is bad. If his site can still make money in the real estate niche while the market has fallen, then anyone can do the same in virtually in market.
Marcus – The key is to provide top-quality content and to differentiate yourself from the crowd. Once you do that, people will flock to you and your website.
Unfortunately, most people just create websites that are all about selling you, and the average user isn’t interested in that approach.
Here about one thing i eager to know which you asked how economy effected site ? and the solution is very right if we provide quality information and unique stuff than we can survive in worst time as well.
Boy, if Joshua applies himself to politics in the future like he does to his business, then I’m sure he’ll be a huge success. Thank you for the valuable insights…I’m bookmarking this so that I can reference it again and again!
Whoa, that’s crazy! You’re in Denver, CO… So am I! Dig the website, definitely going to check it out!
I love the part about staying in front of new trends and bringing people in to assist you because you can’t do it all.
Very cool that Josh is still making money in real estate with such a terrible market. Good for you Josh
Agree that you have to be very protectivge of your ideas and IP today. Anyone heard of a new film ”The YES Movie”? Quite interesting movie about entrepreneurship produced by Louis Lautman
http://www.TheYESmovie.com
Great interview, Joshua has his feet firmly planted in the earth and his views on succeeding in business, regardless of the economy, are insightful and inspirational
I will be following BiggerPockets from now on in, thank you for interviewing Joshua and exposing us to his internet offering.Great interview, Joshua has his feet firmly planted in the earth and his views on succeeding in business, regardless of the economy, are insightful and inspirational.
Beautiful interview !!!! hats off to his idea of choosing a niche on Real estate.Coming to the point ,the great advantage with this niche is we can still earn a lot even when the economy is not good.I have got a great idea of launching a site related to real estate.
I love the part about staying in front of new trends and bringing people in to assist you because you can’t do it all.
After just reading the quote from Cheni, this is another great quote. Thanks for the great interview.