From 3 to 197.. the story of how we grew our meetup while investing overseas
If you’ve listened to the BiggerPockets Podcast, you might have heard mention of a meetup group in Seoul, Korea. Joshua Dorkin also mentioned us in his 10 year anniversary write up: http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2014/10/22... and we’ve been mentioned on a few of the BP podcasts.
The short story, the meetup started as three BiggerPockets members meeting over coffee: @John Van Uytven, @Benjamin Hauser, and me. John decided to throw one of our meetings on meetup.. and we've grown from there (currently 198 members).
In the past, we've had virtual guest such as:
And this month.. we were super happy to welcome @Engelo Rumora to our meetup!
Now you may be wondering how we ended up with Engelo as a guest - and it's an interesting story and shows that you can't let 'distance' or other obstacles stand in the way of opportunity.
It started because Engelo advertised in the BP Marketplace for someone to join his Ohio Cashflow team. Even though I was living in Korea, I thought I'd apply, just to see if there was something that I could do for them virtually. We ended talking for about 15 minutes. It was awesome to get access to someone as experienced (and busy) as Engelo - to not only talk about the position, but also talk in general. Of course, I was blown away by his energy - and that's something I've started to realize as I network with successful investors. There's much to learn just from hearing the way they talk and seeing how they think. I've come to the conclusion over the past few years that mindset, more than anything, is key to reaching your goals. So I'm getting a little 'mindset' lesson every time I talk to new people.
During his Q&A session at our meetup, Engelo gave a great talk about the importance of TRUST when it comes to investing. Here's a clip:
(It also includes a tip on how you can find a deal on a house while you're at Walmart! If you're an Engelo fan, you're definitely gonna want to watch this): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spUrf203HOA
In the future, we're hoping to bring on @Jay Hinrichs if we can work out the timing. We appreciate his openness to join us in the future. As well as podcaster and flipper - Jared Lichtin, who is also on BiggerPockets.
Our in-person speaker was none other than our own John Van Uytven. He gave a great talk about the opportunities he saw in his home state of Illinois. It was a 'farewell' performance of sorts as John will be returning to Illinois next month. But it's also cool that we'll have another operator on the ground who can help educate our members on his local area. We wish him the best of luck!
Overall, helping to organize this meetup has taught me a bunch of lessons:
* Organizing a meetup is a great way to connect with experienced investors
* Organizing a meetup is a great way to build leadership and speaking skills
* Organizing a meetup is a great way to develop strong ties to the investors in your community
* Organizing a meetup is a great way to build your marketing skills
* and of course, don't let distance or 'other obstacles' stand in the way. Just find a way around them.
Anyways, we appreciate all the love and support from the BP Community. We couldn't have grown without BP. Our group being mentioned in blog posts, the podcast, etc, it's all helped us build credibility and bring on new members. We'll continue to spread the word about BP out here in Korea.
I'd love to hear from other overseas investors to hear what they're doing to network and connect.
And now for some more pics:
Special thanks to the YOUNGSAMSUNG LIFE CAFE in HONGDAE for letting us use their beautiful space!
The calm before the storm...
John's area!
another group shot!
Special Shout Out to some of the Seoul Real Estate Investing Meetup members on BP:
@Sandra Roddy, @Dustin Karns, @Paul Wurster, @Jacob Michaels, @Account Closed- Engelo rocked the house! Thanks for helping to coordinate. Enjoy the coffee with the other Ohio Cashflow Team ^^