Justin Ishbia: The Three Traits Required to Succeed in Private Equity | E1119

... I view private equity in the following way. We're a huge flashlight. You walk into a room that may be dark. I'm shining the light everywhere, in the corners, in the crevices. What I found is those who are really good at their job, well, they're super excited. And those who are maybe less than good at their job curl up and kind of hide from that light. And so when we eventually exit our investment, the light's on in the room. Everyone can see everything, transparency in data.

What's the most common piece of investment advice you hear that you think is BS?

I can't tell you how often I hear... (dramatic music)

Justin, I am so excited for this. I heard so many great things from Peter at SCS, had a great chat to Neal Major about you the other day. So thank you so much for joining me today.

I could not be more excited to be here. Thanks for the opportunity to share a little more about Shore Capital and those are my fam- favorite people out there and, um, some of the most successful investors. And so, um, have an opportunity to share the Shore Capital story and what we're building in the future. I'm always loved telling about... talk about it.

They are all great people. I have to agree with you there. Uh, listen, I stalk the shit out of you for the last few days. I listened to everything that you've done. And I believe that we're all shaped by our childhoods. And I want to start there. I, I saw that your father found UWM when you were eight. You saw him grow the business through your teenage years. And I just thought that must have been quite transformational to your early mindset. What are one or two-

Well, yes and no.

... of the biggest... Well, that's interesting. Go ahead.

Yeah. So yes and no. So let me tell you about my, my father a little bit 'cause it plays into, I think, how I was brought up and I think how I think about investing and kind of big picture. So my grandfather came over on the boat from, um, Turkey in... when he was eight. And my grandfather wa- settled in New York, and then when he was in his middle col- early 20s, moved to Detroit. And so I'm born and raised in Detroit. My parents are from Detroit. My dad, um, father owned two small diners on the edge of Wayne State University's campus, like literally like a diner for college kids at burgers for lunch or whatever maybe. Um, unfortunately, my father's father, my grandfather, I never met, passed away when I was 16 years old. I think my dad's framework of business and mindset was really framed by watching his dad work his tail off but also pass away too young. And I think it's something that drove him and also, I think, framed how he wanted to be a father, also on the business side of it. And so my dad, if you, if you asked me when I was 18 years old, "Tell me what your dad does?" The mortgage industry would be the last thing probably I say. He was a lawyer first and foremost. He's an entrepreneur. He started a restaurant chain. He started a potato chip company. He started an alarm company and a mortgage company, which ended up being obviously a me included sides business. But when I was in high school, there was probably 30 employees in that mortgage company. So I was eight years old when he founded the mortgage company and he founded it because one of his best friends was a mortgage broker and needed a partner. And they were officially partners and then his best friend ended up having a, a family issue and moved away and he was left with the business, so it was relatively small. And so... But my dad's framework for that business was... I think it was very simple. He never had an office in that building. He's always worked at his law firm. He advances himself as a lawyer. You know, he never spent a lot of time in that business, but it was more about, I think, hiring the right people and treating them right. And it was also, I think... It wasn't like he never took venture capital money. It was just his own money, built brick by brick and, um, I think he really thought about in a way of, "I'm going to do something for the long term." He was not trying to build a huge company. He was trying to basically service some customers and make a little money. And I think if you talk to him still to this day, the first 20 years of that business, he would call it his side hustle. Like he's a lawyer and it was a way to feed business to his law firm. At least that's how I really think about it, but, you know, I've learned a ton from him, but those early days of that mortgage company, it was more of a, I would say, a ancillary part of his work life than it was, I would say, his, his main business. And then i- in 2009, that changed a whole bunch and I can... Happy to dive into that part of it, but that was... I was already, you know, 32 at that point in time, uh, when it, when it changed in a material way. But it was a relatively small business that, you know, in 2009... I used to use... I use an analogy. Have you seen the movie Forrest Gump and-