Happy New Year!
2026 is here - if you're interested in raising more capital to fund your deals, I want to share something valuable to get you started.
One of the most common questions I get asked is..
"I want to start raising investor capital to fund our deals - how did you start meeting investors and raising capital for your deals?”
And here's the thing… most new investors overthink this. They think they need a fancy website, a social media following, or some complicated marketing funnel before they can raise a single dollar.
That's not how it works (in the beginning, at least).
Generally speaking, I like to think about growing a business in frameworks. What activities should you be focusing on, and when should you be focusing on them?
But before we get into the frameworks for raising your first $1M, $5M, and $10M in investor capital, I need to say this: you need to have some experience with the types of deals you'll be raising capital for. At least a few deals, either that you own personally, or that you’ve partnered with other investors to buy/operate. You need the ability to source and operate a multifamily property, and to communicate your competence to investors.
Without this, raising any amount of money will be extremely challenging. Focus on developing a story, track record, and resume that, at a minimum, doesn’t turn away investors before you can even discuss an actual deal.
Now, let's break it down.
Raising Your First Million: It's All About Outbound
At this stage, forget marketing. Forget content. Forget building an audience.
Your first million is all about outbound prospecting. You need to be pounding the phones, sending emails, and attending meetups to build relationships with investors who might be interested in investing with you.
It does not make sense for you to be focusing on any type of marketing or doing anything other than calling, emailing, texting - whatever it takes - with the folks who have money and may be interested in investing it with you.
Tactically, here's what you should focus on:
Going to real estate investor meetups or conferences
Reaching out to other investors via social media or LinkedIn who are investing in the type of real estate you're looking to raise capital for
Working to convert active real estate investors or service providers into LPs (as they have the ability to oversee a lighter track record, given their ability to better analyze the nuts and bolts of a deal than a typical LP)
Basically, doing anything to build a roster of your first 10 to 20 investors who are going to write you $50,000 to $100,000 checks
This stage is manual and hands-on. You’ll get the first $1M across the finish line through brute force, not through any scalable activities or strategies (like what we discuss next)…
From $1M to $5M: Layer in Some Inbound Marketing
Once you've raised your first million, the game changes; now it's time to add inbound marketing to what you're doing from an outbound standpoint.
You should continue to attend meetups, network, and build relationships with investors on a 1:1 basis. But when you're looking to raise your next few million, you need to create an engine that brings people to you in some scalable fashion.
In other words, you need to talk about what you do in a public setting so others can learn what you're investing in, your strategy, and how they could invest alongside you.
Tactically speaking, this means:
Building an email list that you regularly share valuable content with, and creating an engine that makes it easy to add new emails to that list (step 1, developing some valuable lead magnet that others can download in exchange for their email address)
Posting consistently on social media like LinkedIn, Twitter, or Instagram
Hosting a meetup where other people are coming to you
Starting a podcast that you distribute throughout social media to make it easier for people to learn more about what you're working on
The funnel here is simple: People find out more about your business. They share their email address in exchange for some content or access to your email list. You build trust with them over a long period of time. And then they're ready to invest in your deal when you have it.
This is where you start building leverage. Instead of chasing every investor, you're creating a system that brings investors to you.
From $5M to $10M: Activate the Referral Flywheel
To go from $5 million to $10 million, you're still doing outbound. You're still doing inbound. But now you want to focus on referrals.
And this should go without saying, but let's assume you're doing very well on the early deals that you raised capital to buy.
Now is when you should start thinking about potentially selling some of these deals so that your investors receive all of their money back and want to reinvest the original investment they made with you (plus some more) in your next deal, now that they trust you.
Ideally, your early investors are now referring you to other investors in their network as well, because they've had a good experience with you.
Tactically speaking, this looks like:
Continuing to pour “gas” on the inbound fire (more meetups, more content, more emails to your list, ideally, while all also become “better”, as well)
Continuing to communicate well with your current list and proactively asking for referrals from our investors
Increasing the quality of your investor experience (using a better investor management platform, getting K1s out faster, sharing more valuable reporting, etc).
This is where the flywheel really starts to spin. You're bringing in new investors from your inbound and outbound efforts. You're increasing the investment your previous investors made. And your previous investors are now referring you to new investors.
This is the process that allows you to scale to raising $10 million and beyond.
The Consistent Thread Through All Stages
No matter what stage you're at, the fundamentals don't change:
Provide a great investor experience
Buy good deals
Communicate well
Be transparent
Make it easy for people to refer you to other folks in their network, so that you don't have to work so hard to find the next investor after you start raising those early dollars
Raising capital isn't about having the biggest social media following or the fanciest pitch deck. It's about being clear on which stage you're at, focusing on the right activities for that stage, and executing on the fundamentals as if they're the only things that matter (because they are).
If you're looking to raise your first million in 2026, start with outbound. Get on the phone. Go to meetups. Build real relationships.
Everything else comes after that.
Here's to a great year ahead.
Talk soon,
Axel
P.S. We've got some great content lined up for 2026—more frameworks like this, deal breakdowns, and lessons learned from real multifamily investments. If you know someone who would benefit from this, forward this email to them.
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