Francisco Feliz

My name is Francisco Feliz, a 25-year-old Yale graduate with a professional background in equities investment analysis. I was born and raised in Manhattan, and I am of Dominican descent. What brings me to real estate - and BiggerPockets - is the earnest search for personal growth and development. What could I possibly mean here? Ever since I graduated college, I became obsessed with the questions that revolve around what makes one tick, how to strengthen one's character, where cognitive biases/ assumptions manifest themselves and what to do with them, etc. Upon serious reflection, I ended up revealing to myself that I had been working a job for over three years more for the supposed 'prestige' and to please family and friends around me than for myself. I needed a change from interacting solely with a computer screen full of sell-side analyst research reports to a scenario that involved more interpersonal engagement. Real estate quickly became one of the paths I considered, but then what solidified it for me were two things: 1) reading the infamous "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" and 2) attending a Fortune Builders 3-day workshop (Josh, I appreciate your stance on these seminars, but I promise you this was one full of serious substance that got me started!!). That was Oct 11, 2015. Now, here we are today, and I am resolved to start my own business as a real estate investor and to do my first deal. The work in this career highlights several core parts of me that I've learned about myself: I like numbers (analyzing deals, market cycles, etc.); I love people and managing processes (working with motivated human beings and managing attorneys, contractors, etc.); and I love the control that comes with running your own business and your own life. But, most of all, I would argue that there is not a single career pathway that one can take on in life that will yield more personal development than that of being an entrepreneur. To this end, I hope to strive for as long as I feel this is right.