1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:03,240 Speaker 1: Luke Alshwager, welcome to the mentor thanks for having us well, 2 00:00:03,279 --> 00:00:04,080 Speaker 1: but we're welcome back. 3 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:06,880 Speaker 2: We have met before, yeah, yeah, maybe a year ago, 4 00:00:07,120 --> 00:00:09,879 Speaker 2: about twelve months ago. Yeah, and you came into a 5 00:00:10,720 --> 00:00:14,920 Speaker 2: weekend of small business owner of business owners generally come 6 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:20,120 Speaker 2: to my farm and with our mate Jonathan Pas who 7 00:00:20,239 --> 00:00:24,040 Speaker 2: ran it, and you guys will guess you just say 8 00:00:24,079 --> 00:00:24,400 Speaker 2: my place. 9 00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:27,640 Speaker 3: Now. We stayed in town, right, he stayed in town, 10 00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:29,120 Speaker 3: and then we sort of used your house as the 11 00:00:29,240 --> 00:00:32,319 Speaker 3: retreat and sort of the business sort of peace. And yeah, 12 00:00:32,360 --> 00:00:33,360 Speaker 3: it was amazing. 13 00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:35,559 Speaker 1: And thank you very much. 14 00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:37,640 Speaker 2: And I remember, I remember you well, and I remember 15 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:39,800 Speaker 2: what you were doing at the time, and that's one 16 00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:39,960 Speaker 2: of the. 17 00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:41,479 Speaker 1: Things I want to talk to you today. So you're 18 00:00:41,840 --> 00:00:44,600 Speaker 1: about today. You're the co founder and directed Palm Valley, 19 00:00:44,640 --> 00:00:45,240 Speaker 1: Gold Coast. 20 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:49,440 Speaker 2: But maybe just explain the precinct we are in now. 21 00:00:49,560 --> 00:00:53,800 Speaker 3: So yeah, so I guess, well physically so we're located 22 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:57,120 Speaker 3: on the Gold Coast. So Parkwood Village is formerly a 23 00:00:57,120 --> 00:01:00,440 Speaker 3: golf course called Parkwood International and I bought it with 24 00:01:00,480 --> 00:01:05,400 Speaker 3: some partners in twenty ten. Former golf professional you were, yeah, 25 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:10,440 Speaker 3: had an opportunity like a lot of touring professionals. Create 26 00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:12,600 Speaker 3: didn't quite get there, and where I needed to move 27 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:14,319 Speaker 3: to was into the golf industry. All I knew was 28 00:01:14,319 --> 00:01:17,039 Speaker 3: golf became the club professional here and had. 29 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:18,399 Speaker 1: Not, so you were the pro in this club. 30 00:01:18,520 --> 00:01:21,320 Speaker 3: Yeah. I had an opportunity to buy the course and 31 00:01:21,319 --> 00:01:23,279 Speaker 3: this back in two thousand and nine, so I settled 32 00:01:23,319 --> 00:01:25,560 Speaker 3: it in twenty ten. And my sort of vision was 33 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:29,399 Speaker 3: to create community golf courses traditionally had been very close shop, 34 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:32,120 Speaker 3: very private, don't come in the front gate. And what 35 00:01:32,200 --> 00:01:33,960 Speaker 3: I saw when I was playing around the world was 36 00:01:34,720 --> 00:01:36,560 Speaker 3: it was the opposite. Let's bring him in, Let's bring 37 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:39,200 Speaker 3: in whole of family. And so that's what Parkwood Village is. 38 00:01:39,240 --> 00:01:43,560 Speaker 3: And back in twenty sixteen, we I bought the Gold 39 00:01:43,560 --> 00:01:46,080 Speaker 3: Coast Titans in so it was an opportunity to really 40 00:01:46,080 --> 00:01:49,600 Speaker 3: diversify our customer base and create not only Alice Club, 41 00:01:49,720 --> 00:01:52,280 Speaker 3: but a high performance center for the footy club. And 42 00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:53,480 Speaker 3: they were going through some challenges. 43 00:01:53,640 --> 00:01:56,360 Speaker 1: This is an NROL club, National rugby league. 44 00:01:56,200 --> 00:02:00,160 Speaker 3: Club, yeah, and so the rugby league club obviously Land 45 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:03,040 Speaker 3: Rugby League and the Gold Coast so it's a big 46 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:07,400 Speaker 3: opportunity for us. It helped us reposition the site and yeah, 47 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:09,760 Speaker 3: and that was really the unearthing of what the site 48 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:12,160 Speaker 3: potential was. It's like, it's more than a golf course. 49 00:02:12,160 --> 00:02:12,920 Speaker 3: What does that look like? 50 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:15,880 Speaker 2: So if I could just go back one step, because 51 00:02:15,919 --> 00:02:20,400 Speaker 2: you were being quite modest in your explanation, then so 52 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:26,240 Speaker 2: there was here a golf club, it's probably Approach International 53 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:31,960 Speaker 2: Pipe Put International Golf Club. And then you have integrated 54 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:36,520 Speaker 2: into that the Gold Coast Titans and aural rugby league side. 55 00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:39,120 Speaker 2: This is there, what their head offers or their training 56 00:02:39,120 --> 00:02:40,000 Speaker 2: center or yeah. 57 00:02:40,040 --> 00:02:43,400 Speaker 3: So what we did was once we identified it. Obviously 58 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:46,080 Speaker 3: golf golf as a business model is there's been some 59 00:02:46,200 --> 00:02:48,280 Speaker 3: challenges in it through the years, and so we've made 60 00:02:48,280 --> 00:02:50,880 Speaker 3: the golf course profitable. But really where the opportunity was 61 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:53,519 Speaker 3: was in the land value, and that land value was 62 00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:56,480 Speaker 3: mixed use in commercial sport and rerec makes sense. So 63 00:02:56,560 --> 00:02:59,280 Speaker 3: we built a sport and rec center about four thousand 64 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:01,800 Speaker 3: meters and we put the Gold Coast Titans High Performance 65 00:03:01,800 --> 00:03:06,079 Speaker 3: Center and their administration in there. So from a rugby 66 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:08,640 Speaker 3: league point club, their head officers here, the hundredd staff 67 00:03:08,639 --> 00:03:10,440 Speaker 3: are based here, their training facilities are here. 68 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:13,799 Speaker 2: This is the football club football club, not as a 69 00:03:13,880 --> 00:03:14,440 Speaker 2: league's club. 70 00:03:14,639 --> 00:03:15,960 Speaker 1: Not as a football club. 71 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:18,440 Speaker 3: And then as a part of that deal, we said 72 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:20,160 Speaker 3: to them, well you don't really have a league's club, 73 00:03:20,280 --> 00:03:22,600 Speaker 3: so why don't we become at least your community. 74 00:03:22,120 --> 00:03:24,520 Speaker 1: Club or that so premises. 75 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:26,200 Speaker 3: Yeah, so the fans had a place to come and 76 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:28,600 Speaker 3: hang out, and so that dialed up our hospitality menu. 77 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:31,600 Speaker 3: So part of those two things, and then the ancillary 78 00:03:31,639 --> 00:03:37,800 Speaker 3: off that moved into like medical and ancillarious cuscan radiology, physiotherapy, 79 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:40,080 Speaker 3: all of those things. So it was a really nice fit. 80 00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:42,120 Speaker 3: And I wouldn't say it was by design. It was 81 00:03:42,160 --> 00:03:44,880 Speaker 3: a little bit of we'll suck at and see and 82 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:48,480 Speaker 3: it really started, Okay, there's something in this mixed use 83 00:03:48,600 --> 00:03:52,280 Speaker 3: within these green heartbeats of the city, and that's that's 84 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:53,000 Speaker 3: how we got here. 85 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:57,800 Speaker 2: So priborly, when it was before all those iterations. 86 00:04:00,160 --> 00:04:03,120 Speaker 3: Park Valley, Park Valley, so it was Parkwood International. 87 00:04:03,440 --> 00:04:08,600 Speaker 2: Parkwood International, park Wood International. It was just basically pro shopping. 88 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:12,080 Speaker 3: Had a decent clubhouse. Like most clubs if you go 89 00:04:12,120 --> 00:04:14,360 Speaker 3: to a traditional golf club or a member based golf club, 90 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:16,480 Speaker 3: it was a big clubhouse with not much going on. Firstly, 91 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:18,360 Speaker 3: so you had a licensed premises that really wasn't being 92 00:04:18,400 --> 00:04:20,960 Speaker 3: run like a licensed premises. Then you had naden whole 93 00:04:20,960 --> 00:04:21,400 Speaker 3: golf course. 94 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:23,679 Speaker 1: It means that's you're rating tole so to speak. 95 00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:26,479 Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, clubhouse. You can have a beer. 96 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:29,840 Speaker 2: It was just having a beer and biscuits or something. 97 00:04:29,880 --> 00:04:32,359 Speaker 3: And like most clubs, they weren't really making money, so 98 00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:35,680 Speaker 3: your shrink service barely a menu. And so through This 99 00:04:35,720 --> 00:04:41,000 Speaker 3: is back in twenty ten, and so the golf course 100 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:42,920 Speaker 3: had been here since nine to eighty seven. The Japanese 101 00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:43,320 Speaker 3: built it. 102 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:46,279 Speaker 1: So that was the Koma Goo Goomi days. This is 103 00:04:46,279 --> 00:04:47,840 Speaker 1: when the Japanese were investing. 104 00:04:47,480 --> 00:04:49,760 Speaker 3: Heavily in the golf course in the mid. 105 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:51,320 Speaker 1: Eighties to ladies, yes, I remember it. 106 00:04:51,320 --> 00:04:54,479 Speaker 3: And then they exited en Mass and so what we 107 00:04:54,560 --> 00:04:57,720 Speaker 3: had was back in the late eighties and we had 108 00:04:57,880 --> 00:05:00,000 Speaker 3: all the major golf courses being built by the Japanese 109 00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:02,360 Speaker 3: at that point. And so we had par Meadows, which 110 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:04,800 Speaker 3: was an iconic course that Greg Norman, they had the 111 00:05:04,839 --> 00:05:07,760 Speaker 3: first million dollar even and so they built Parmettos, they 112 00:05:07,760 --> 00:05:09,880 Speaker 3: built Parkwood, and we were the really first two resort 113 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:13,719 Speaker 3: style facilities on the Gold Coast. Where Parkwood was sat 114 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:16,680 Speaker 3: at that point was really rural bushland outside of the coast. 115 00:05:16,839 --> 00:05:20,160 Speaker 3: When we're three point ninek longis from Southport, so we're 116 00:05:20,200 --> 00:05:21,800 Speaker 3: in the middle of town. But back then for the 117 00:05:21,839 --> 00:05:23,599 Speaker 3: local gold Coasters, there was a town. 118 00:05:23,760 --> 00:05:26,559 Speaker 2: Yeah, and it was pretty It would have been pretty 119 00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:27,320 Speaker 2: pioneering stuff. 120 00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:28,840 Speaker 1: Then to build a golf course. 121 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:31,159 Speaker 3: Totally, I mean, there was no commercial basis for it. 122 00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:33,080 Speaker 3: I mean, I think they'd owned it from eighty seven. 123 00:05:33,160 --> 00:05:34,960 Speaker 3: I think they sold it to a Korean group in 124 00:05:35,160 --> 00:05:40,479 Speaker 3: two thousand and five. They wouldn't have made profit through 125 00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:43,640 Speaker 3: that period. It was they built something, and it was 126 00:05:43,640 --> 00:05:45,599 Speaker 3: built well. I remember when we did some renovations, we 127 00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:47,400 Speaker 3: looked like a podium deck out the front of this 128 00:05:47,440 --> 00:05:50,159 Speaker 3: thing was a four hundred mili slab, like there was 129 00:05:50,200 --> 00:05:53,960 Speaker 3: no everything was built right, like the fridge Backer House 130 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:57,440 Speaker 3: is still working today. Like when they did things, they 131 00:05:57,440 --> 00:05:59,480 Speaker 3: did it really well. So we're really fortunate there. The 132 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:02,680 Speaker 3: base golf course, it was good, the route's good. It's 133 00:06:02,680 --> 00:06:05,520 Speaker 3: in the bottom of this little valley. And so as 134 00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:07,120 Speaker 3: a golf pro was I mean, for me, it was 135 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:10,240 Speaker 3: a big opportunity. I'd sort of had a career that 136 00:06:10,279 --> 00:06:11,920 Speaker 3: didn't quite cut the mustard, and I need to get 137 00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:13,520 Speaker 3: a real job at the back end of my playing 138 00:06:13,560 --> 00:06:17,720 Speaker 3: and to have an opportunity to buy a course. At 139 00:06:17,720 --> 00:06:20,000 Speaker 3: the time, I was sort of reading a book about 140 00:06:20,320 --> 00:06:22,440 Speaker 3: what I now understand our options and how to buy 141 00:06:22,440 --> 00:06:25,080 Speaker 3: stuff with no money because I had no money. 142 00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:27,400 Speaker 1: Yeah, golf course wouldn't have been cheap. 143 00:06:27,640 --> 00:06:30,160 Speaker 3: And so at this point I probably wasn't thinking about 144 00:06:30,160 --> 00:06:32,400 Speaker 3: buying a golf course, but I was trying to trying 145 00:06:32,440 --> 00:06:34,560 Speaker 3: to sort of grind my way through and find my way. 146 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:37,080 Speaker 3: But being a club pro here and then at an 147 00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:40,520 Speaker 3: international purchases international owners at the time they wanted to sell, 148 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:43,520 Speaker 3: I'm like, I'll buy it. 149 00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:46,120 Speaker 2: Can we just stop there? From a lucas A lot 150 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:47,720 Speaker 2: of people would like to know how this sort of 151 00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:51,320 Speaker 2: thing works. So just to paint the picture a little bit, 152 00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:55,760 Speaker 2: here are twenty years ago yep, round about twenty years 153 00:06:56,160 --> 00:07:02,240 Speaker 2: ago form a golf pro, still golf pro, being on 154 00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:04,400 Speaker 2: the professional circuit, but probably it wasn't making a. 155 00:07:04,360 --> 00:07:06,360 Speaker 1: Very well paid golf making the amount of money you 156 00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:07,040 Speaker 1: wanted to get. 157 00:07:07,880 --> 00:07:10,680 Speaker 2: And it's a tough business and it's very competitive obviously, 158 00:07:10,720 --> 00:07:13,080 Speaker 2: both on a global scales, not just here in Australia 159 00:07:13,240 --> 00:07:17,040 Speaker 2: and particularly here in the Gold Coast. An organization like 160 00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:20,840 Speaker 2: some Japanese or organization decides to as part of you know, 161 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:23,120 Speaker 2: the investments in Queensland, which there was lots of them. 162 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:25,200 Speaker 1: They built lots of golf courses here, but this is 163 00:07:25,240 --> 00:07:26,400 Speaker 1: one of the first ones they built. 164 00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:29,640 Speaker 2: Which, by the way, you know, to give people context, 165 00:07:30,440 --> 00:07:33,280 Speaker 2: if I go east from here for kilometers, I'm on 166 00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:38,040 Speaker 2: the coast. Yeah you're I'm I'm at in South Stralia. Yeah, yeah, correct, correct, 167 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:41,680 Speaker 2: right there, right there, I'm in I'm swimming in the water. 168 00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:46,360 Speaker 2: So but then when this was built, you would have 169 00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:48,520 Speaker 2: been thinking to yourself, well, this is a back and 170 00:07:48,720 --> 00:07:50,640 Speaker 2: were really I'm now I've been now pointed to be 171 00:07:50,680 --> 00:07:53,400 Speaker 2: the surfer, the to be the golf pro here. 172 00:07:53,960 --> 00:07:56,280 Speaker 3: Yeah. Well, I mean there's a bit of a it's 173 00:07:56,320 --> 00:07:58,080 Speaker 3: for me, like for kids that grow up with the 174 00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:00,040 Speaker 3: aspirations of men. I mean I was the guy that 175 00:08:00,240 --> 00:08:01,480 Speaker 3: I want to be number one in the world. So 176 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:04,560 Speaker 3: there's a bit of arrogance for I don't know what 177 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:07,040 Speaker 3: you want to call it. If you can believe, yeah, 178 00:08:07,320 --> 00:08:09,640 Speaker 3: if you can believe, you can be the number one, 179 00:08:09,640 --> 00:08:11,960 Speaker 3: and I generally did, and I hung it all out there. 180 00:08:12,360 --> 00:08:14,000 Speaker 3: I left school young and that was all I wanted 181 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:17,280 Speaker 3: to do, so to have the ambition or arrogance, whatever 182 00:08:17,280 --> 00:08:20,280 Speaker 3: you want to call it, to say that you're always 183 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:22,520 Speaker 3: like it's hard to not look with a big lens. 184 00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:27,000 Speaker 3: And so coming back to being a golf pro is 185 00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:28,560 Speaker 3: a fall from grace a little bit, and it's not 186 00:08:28,640 --> 00:08:30,920 Speaker 3: I mean in my head at the time, it was 187 00:08:30,960 --> 00:08:31,400 Speaker 3: I look at the. 188 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:33,439 Speaker 1: Visional Golf proposed for a professional. 189 00:08:33,040 --> 00:08:36,680 Speaker 3: Golfuring professional, so Greg Norman, you're out of Scots and 190 00:08:36,720 --> 00:08:39,520 Speaker 3: those guys through to a traditional club professional. And at 191 00:08:39,520 --> 00:08:42,000 Speaker 3: that point, if someone had asked me when I was 192 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:43,280 Speaker 3: wanting to be a touring professional, you want to be 193 00:08:43,320 --> 00:08:45,440 Speaker 3: a club bro, I mean, that's the you nearly felt. 194 00:08:45,480 --> 00:08:48,959 Speaker 3: It was like the failed golf pro tour professional. So 195 00:08:48,960 --> 00:08:52,280 Speaker 3: so for me that transition, like a lot of athletes, 196 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:55,640 Speaker 3: transitioning is sometimes not as easy. But I was very 197 00:08:55,720 --> 00:08:58,880 Speaker 3: hungry and I hadn't really tasted success as a player, 198 00:08:58,960 --> 00:09:01,559 Speaker 3: so I was like, what next, And so I think 199 00:09:01,679 --> 00:09:03,280 Speaker 3: as I took the club pro job on where I 200 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:06,920 Speaker 3: was working for the club, I hadn't really turned that off, right, 201 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:09,000 Speaker 3: It was like, what's next? And when I. 202 00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:11,000 Speaker 1: Am looking all the time forwards next. 203 00:09:11,400 --> 00:09:13,800 Speaker 3: I was at the time, Yeah, I couldn't. I was insatiable. 204 00:09:13,800 --> 00:09:15,800 Speaker 3: I wanted to find work. Yes, and I've been like 205 00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:18,760 Speaker 3: that even in my carrent I mean, how we got 206 00:09:18,760 --> 00:09:20,400 Speaker 3: to the wavepiol and when we get to that. But 207 00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:23,960 Speaker 3: I'm always looking for how to grow. And what I 208 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:25,400 Speaker 3: had to do was temper that as well. Right, what 209 00:09:25,720 --> 00:09:28,240 Speaker 3: the club Pro job did put my feet on the ground. 210 00:09:28,400 --> 00:09:31,200 Speaker 3: It made me slow down. I had to serve the customer. 211 00:09:31,320 --> 00:09:33,240 Speaker 1: I had to earn a wage. 212 00:09:33,320 --> 00:09:34,720 Speaker 3: Yeah, I had to earn a wage, and it was 213 00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:36,200 Speaker 3: to be honest, it was the first time it had 214 00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:39,240 Speaker 3: to really earned a proper wage early days with your 215 00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:40,960 Speaker 3: little part time jobs and stuff like that, but it 216 00:09:41,000 --> 00:09:43,360 Speaker 3: was the first time I was paying rent. And because 217 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:45,760 Speaker 3: you're bunking in houses your mum and dad anyway, you 218 00:09:45,800 --> 00:09:49,480 Speaker 3: can survive, and sponsors get you through year golf career. 219 00:09:49,559 --> 00:09:52,600 Speaker 3: And so the park would thing if I in the 220 00:09:52,640 --> 00:09:55,360 Speaker 3: revision mirror as the club Pro was like the making 221 00:09:55,440 --> 00:09:58,720 Speaker 3: of the early making of business knowledge for me because 222 00:09:58,720 --> 00:10:00,560 Speaker 3: it was simple as you walk in and selling you 223 00:10:00,640 --> 00:10:03,880 Speaker 3: a Mars bar a green fee and a bottle of 224 00:10:03,920 --> 00:10:06,400 Speaker 3: coke or a bottle of water. Lessons maybe, yeah, and 225 00:10:06,440 --> 00:10:09,959 Speaker 3: some lessons, but the primary income was I sell I 226 00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:12,120 Speaker 3: buy the bottle for two dollars. I sell it to 227 00:10:12,120 --> 00:10:13,760 Speaker 3: you for five dollars, and I do that a few 228 00:10:13,800 --> 00:10:16,680 Speaker 3: hundred times a day. I'm mostually making some good money 229 00:10:16,679 --> 00:10:18,800 Speaker 3: because that's how cloud pro contract works. You're not in 230 00:10:18,800 --> 00:10:20,960 Speaker 3: a salary scenario. You own the rights to the pro 231 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:21,720 Speaker 3: shop revenue. 232 00:10:21,800 --> 00:10:23,040 Speaker 1: Wow, wow, I did you know that. 233 00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:25,240 Speaker 3: Yeah, So that's the traditional way of a club row. 234 00:10:25,280 --> 00:10:28,079 Speaker 3: So I had the I was servicing the golf course 235 00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:32,000 Speaker 3: and they outsourced that to a professional, and so I 236 00:10:32,080 --> 00:10:34,920 Speaker 3: was in a small business overnight with no overheads though, right, 237 00:10:34,960 --> 00:10:36,120 Speaker 3: I don't have to pay rent, don't. 238 00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:38,120 Speaker 1: Have to verable cost. It's a veriable cost. 239 00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:38,480 Speaker 3: Yeah. 240 00:10:38,679 --> 00:10:40,160 Speaker 1: As you as you own, you pay. 241 00:10:40,320 --> 00:10:43,120 Speaker 3: Yeah. And what was really interesting about that was it 242 00:10:43,160 --> 00:10:46,480 Speaker 3: taught me to first low down and you can't do 243 00:10:46,600 --> 00:10:52,920 Speaker 3: ninety things at once and getting and making a monthly 244 00:10:52,920 --> 00:10:56,000 Speaker 3: profit which then became my salary and ongoing. So there 245 00:10:56,040 --> 00:10:59,640 Speaker 3: was a real shift from that, which was partly what 246 00:10:59,679 --> 00:11:01,439 Speaker 3: I thought negative at the time, and in the revision 247 00:11:01,480 --> 00:11:04,160 Speaker 3: Merritor was the making of my base fundamental of how 248 00:11:04,160 --> 00:11:05,960 Speaker 3: to grab something that doesn't make profit and turn it 249 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:06,400 Speaker 3: to profit. 250 00:11:06,480 --> 00:11:08,040 Speaker 1: That's interesting. They're too late every month. 251 00:11:08,040 --> 00:11:10,559 Speaker 2: It would have been accounting, so someone would have said, look, 252 00:11:10,600 --> 00:11:12,280 Speaker 2: you know you sold one hundred bttles of water. 253 00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:13,640 Speaker 1: And each bottle cost you two bucks. 254 00:11:13,679 --> 00:11:15,200 Speaker 2: It is two hundred, and you sold them for five 255 00:11:15,240 --> 00:11:17,760 Speaker 2: hundred and the surrounded profits like you would have got 256 00:11:17,840 --> 00:11:18,439 Speaker 2: into this mad. 257 00:11:18,520 --> 00:11:20,199 Speaker 3: I didn't know what a balance sheet was when I started. 258 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:21,679 Speaker 3: I couldn't have told you what a balance sheet was 259 00:11:21,960 --> 00:11:23,880 Speaker 3: if you'd ask me. P and L, like I said, 260 00:11:24,040 --> 00:11:26,880 Speaker 3: left school young. So it was a real birth of fire. 261 00:11:26,960 --> 00:11:29,199 Speaker 3: But I got it quickly. I had that intuitive nature, 262 00:11:29,559 --> 00:11:31,800 Speaker 3: like you walk in, like how much money can I 263 00:11:31,840 --> 00:11:33,079 Speaker 3: extract out of you from my pros? 264 00:11:33,760 --> 00:11:36,800 Speaker 1: When the rents sort of hanging off it? 265 00:11:37,160 --> 00:11:38,439 Speaker 2: You know, you got to pay rend or whatever you 266 00:11:38,480 --> 00:11:39,640 Speaker 2: got to do, or you buy food, you got to 267 00:11:39,679 --> 00:11:41,240 Speaker 2: buy clothes, or you want to go down the pub 268 00:11:41,280 --> 00:11:43,160 Speaker 2: with your mates, you got to pay you away quick. 269 00:11:43,240 --> 00:11:45,160 Speaker 2: Right now, you work that shit out pretty fast. Yeah 270 00:11:45,400 --> 00:11:46,720 Speaker 2: and L has become second nature. 271 00:11:46,880 --> 00:11:48,599 Speaker 3: Yeah, and it really did. And I didn't even it 272 00:11:48,720 --> 00:11:52,079 Speaker 3: was non sophisticated, but it was commercially on point. And 273 00:11:52,240 --> 00:11:54,280 Speaker 3: as I've become more sophisticated, I look back and there 274 00:11:54,400 --> 00:11:57,320 Speaker 3: like I got that quick. I got the commercial side 275 00:11:57,360 --> 00:11:59,880 Speaker 3: of it quick. Scaling then was a whole different thing. 276 00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:03,640 Speaker 2: Yeah, but hard to scale one one of yourself. So 277 00:12:04,440 --> 00:12:08,880 Speaker 2: and then during that period, Luke, you do you get 278 00:12:08,960 --> 00:12:12,679 Speaker 2: to know the people who owned own the place a 279 00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:13,080 Speaker 2: little bit? 280 00:12:13,559 --> 00:12:14,240 Speaker 1: How did that all come? 281 00:12:14,320 --> 00:12:16,880 Speaker 3: So, like a lot of the international owners in many 282 00:12:16,960 --> 00:12:19,920 Speaker 3: asset classes, there's an owner's rep typically is the one 283 00:12:19,960 --> 00:12:21,640 Speaker 3: you're interfacing with. And so they had a couple on 284 00:12:21,720 --> 00:12:23,720 Speaker 3: the ground that really didn't know anything about their property. 285 00:12:24,559 --> 00:12:27,720 Speaker 3: And do you mean so that two staff that were 286 00:12:27,760 --> 00:12:30,679 Speaker 3: probably sent from at this point that was career and 287 00:12:30,760 --> 00:12:32,200 Speaker 3: I'd played a little bit on the career. I played 288 00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:34,079 Speaker 3: some events up in Korea at the right at the 289 00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:35,960 Speaker 3: back end of my career, and I loved it, love 290 00:12:36,040 --> 00:12:39,559 Speaker 3: the food, love the culture, And that's how I really 291 00:12:39,640 --> 00:12:42,319 Speaker 3: owended up here. And so there was a couple of 292 00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:44,640 Speaker 3: stuff that had here but really didn't know what golf 293 00:12:44,679 --> 00:12:47,520 Speaker 3: operations was. It was a hard business, right, Golf had 294 00:12:47,559 --> 00:12:51,000 Speaker 3: been overdeveloped and the revenues were declining at the time. 295 00:12:51,200 --> 00:12:57,360 Speaker 3: And so I knew the owner's reps and they had 296 00:12:57,360 --> 00:13:01,960 Speaker 3: a couple of purchases come through property buyers, yeah, potential 297 00:13:02,040 --> 00:13:04,959 Speaker 3: purchases of the property, and I went, well, I'm I 298 00:13:06,559 --> 00:13:08,240 Speaker 3: could see it was very difficult for them to sell it. 299 00:13:08,440 --> 00:13:10,120 Speaker 3: So for what they paid, they paid five point five 300 00:13:10,160 --> 00:13:16,400 Speaker 3: million dollars I think it was from the Japanese and 301 00:13:16,520 --> 00:13:18,240 Speaker 3: they were losing at least half of me and maybe 302 00:13:18,240 --> 00:13:20,079 Speaker 3: seven hundred a year. I didn't have full visibility on 303 00:13:20,080 --> 00:13:21,599 Speaker 3: the number, but they were definitely losing money and the 304 00:13:21,640 --> 00:13:23,560 Speaker 3: service are going down. The quality, of course is going down, 305 00:13:24,480 --> 00:13:26,480 Speaker 3: and so I could just see that vision I've had 306 00:13:26,559 --> 00:13:28,719 Speaker 3: from when I was living and working way. I just 307 00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:30,400 Speaker 3: need to open this gates up. They need to make 308 00:13:30,440 --> 00:13:31,600 Speaker 3: it full community and family. 309 00:13:31,679 --> 00:13:32,200 Speaker 1: Can I just stop? 310 00:13:32,240 --> 00:13:32,280 Speaker 3: It? 311 00:13:32,960 --> 00:13:37,560 Speaker 2: Is the reason why this place was losing money? Whatever 312 00:13:37,559 --> 00:13:40,280 Speaker 2: the amount doesn't really matter that much. But was losing money? 313 00:13:40,360 --> 00:13:44,160 Speaker 2: Is it because golf was on the decline or was 314 00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:48,680 Speaker 2: it because this place wasn't like at a standard where 315 00:13:48,720 --> 00:13:50,599 Speaker 2: you could get more people in. 316 00:13:50,840 --> 00:13:54,840 Speaker 3: So it's probably both both. Golf was declining, which at 317 00:13:54,880 --> 00:13:56,600 Speaker 3: the moment it's going the opposite. It's growing like I've 318 00:13:56,640 --> 00:14:00,079 Speaker 3: never seen it. Is it. It's blowing up COVID. What 319 00:14:00,320 --> 00:14:03,360 Speaker 3: COVID did golf and the young people, it's phenomenal, right, 320 00:14:03,400 --> 00:14:05,120 Speaker 3: And I'm really enjoying it too, as a kid who 321 00:14:05,160 --> 00:14:07,280 Speaker 3: grew up in the game and now I'm forty eight. 322 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:09,800 Speaker 3: I'm like, this is awesome watching my son who because 323 00:14:10,160 --> 00:14:12,199 Speaker 3: Bronnie James and lebron James are playing, he wants to 324 00:14:12,200 --> 00:14:15,959 Speaker 3: play golf. Fantastic. But I think it was both. I 325 00:14:16,040 --> 00:14:18,440 Speaker 3: think when you have a tired asset this, when you're 326 00:14:18,480 --> 00:14:20,600 Speaker 3: not reinvesting, eventually it dies. If you just think of 327 00:14:20,680 --> 00:14:22,160 Speaker 3: it like a restaurant, right, if you're not doing an 328 00:14:22,240 --> 00:14:24,880 Speaker 3: FF and sort of fit out properly every sort of 329 00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:27,920 Speaker 3: five to seven years, then you're not going to you're 330 00:14:27,920 --> 00:14:28,440 Speaker 3: not going to be there. 331 00:14:28,440 --> 00:14:30,520 Speaker 1: And you're talking about there is stuff in the inside 332 00:14:30,560 --> 00:14:31,600 Speaker 1: the clubhouse. 333 00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:35,440 Speaker 3: Yeah, all the amenities, yeah, the amenities, new bathrooms, Yeah, 334 00:14:35,640 --> 00:14:37,080 Speaker 3: just if you don't walk in and if it's not 335 00:14:37,160 --> 00:14:39,320 Speaker 3: on point. If you look at the great hospitality people, 336 00:14:39,440 --> 00:14:41,920 Speaker 3: they do it well and they always do it really well, 337 00:14:42,040 --> 00:14:45,120 Speaker 3: and they are constantly innovating around that. Well. This golf 338 00:14:45,160 --> 00:14:46,800 Speaker 3: course win this since nineteen eighty seven and it was 339 00:14:46,840 --> 00:14:49,640 Speaker 3: now two thousand and ten. Yeah, and it hadn't had 340 00:14:49,680 --> 00:14:52,200 Speaker 3: a dollar spent on it in real terms, and so 341 00:14:52,480 --> 00:14:54,920 Speaker 3: that was part of the problem. The second part was 342 00:14:56,400 --> 00:14:58,920 Speaker 3: it was running a business model that didn't exist really anymore. 343 00:14:59,080 --> 00:15:00,480 Speaker 3: Like a lot of golf clubs. So it was all 344 00:15:00,560 --> 00:15:03,760 Speaker 3: members in private and a little bit of public occasionally. 345 00:15:03,720 --> 00:15:05,680 Speaker 1: So public weren't able to just turn up another game. 346 00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:08,320 Speaker 3: They could, but it was not advertised and branded like that, 347 00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:13,320 Speaker 3: like they were open. But most clubs, or most most 348 00:15:13,360 --> 00:15:15,440 Speaker 3: of the market believe like you have to have to 349 00:15:15,480 --> 00:15:17,800 Speaker 3: be a member to play golf most courses. There's a 350 00:15:17,840 --> 00:15:20,960 Speaker 3: few public courses in every city, and so it played 351 00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:24,000 Speaker 3: like a members club. And so as we got here 352 00:15:24,160 --> 00:15:27,520 Speaker 3: and were part of the shift was to how to 353 00:15:27,560 --> 00:15:29,920 Speaker 3: bring more people in. So immediately looking at things like 354 00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:32,200 Speaker 3: the hospitality elements. 355 00:15:32,240 --> 00:15:35,440 Speaker 1: This is before after you bought so well a little 356 00:15:35,480 --> 00:15:36,200 Speaker 1: while while before. 357 00:15:36,320 --> 00:15:37,920 Speaker 3: So that was but I was teetering on the edges. 358 00:15:37,960 --> 00:15:40,200 Speaker 3: I was playing with very little money. I think I 359 00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:43,400 Speaker 3: borrowed twenty grand from my parents to fit out my 360 00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:47,360 Speaker 3: pro shop, painted the walls myself, normal small business story. 361 00:15:48,440 --> 00:15:51,440 Speaker 3: But once we had control of it, then we could 362 00:15:51,480 --> 00:15:54,200 Speaker 3: start moving the big pieces on the paper. But at 363 00:15:54,240 --> 00:15:56,720 Speaker 3: that point we'd had a bit of momentum around membership, 364 00:15:56,760 --> 00:16:00,760 Speaker 3: and I felt at the time my vision was sort 365 00:16:00,800 --> 00:16:06,360 Speaker 3: of weddings, community, miniature golf, bringing other things in, things 366 00:16:06,400 --> 00:16:09,680 Speaker 3: that were very operationally focused, and my partners were incredible. 367 00:16:09,720 --> 00:16:11,320 Speaker 3: The guys that we bought the golf club with a 368 00:16:11,680 --> 00:16:16,840 Speaker 3: friends of a family, very high level pitch, I want 369 00:16:16,880 --> 00:16:19,360 Speaker 3: to buy golf course pretty much looking at me like 370 00:16:19,440 --> 00:16:23,800 Speaker 3: what are you thinking about? Like yeah, and under and 371 00:16:24,480 --> 00:16:26,560 Speaker 3: as you know when you bringing these guys were sophistical. 372 00:16:26,640 --> 00:16:28,760 Speaker 3: They founded a company called health World Inner Health plus 373 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:32,800 Speaker 3: these guys Michael and Leon Brosnen and the Grant family 374 00:16:32,840 --> 00:16:35,280 Speaker 3: Allen Grant. So they sent old Alan Grant down, a 375 00:16:35,320 --> 00:16:37,360 Speaker 3: gritty accountant that had worked years and years for our 376 00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:39,920 Speaker 3: with the boys and helped them form this company that 377 00:16:40,720 --> 00:16:43,840 Speaker 3: was exceptional. And the brief was nearly like do whatever 378 00:16:43,840 --> 00:16:45,720 Speaker 3: you can to tell Luke when not buying it. And 379 00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:47,440 Speaker 3: by the time I'd had an hour with Alan, He's like, 380 00:16:47,520 --> 00:16:51,960 Speaker 3: we're buying it. But really what that was it was 381 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:54,080 Speaker 3: a land purchase. You're buying fifty six hectares for not 382 00:16:54,160 --> 00:16:58,120 Speaker 3: a lot of money, but they gave me enough rope 383 00:16:59,080 --> 00:17:01,400 Speaker 3: to not blow it up and a lot of money 384 00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:03,160 Speaker 3: over the years over the first five or six years. 385 00:17:03,160 --> 00:17:05,280 Speaker 3: And it took us about that to really get it right. 386 00:17:05,320 --> 00:17:08,200 Speaker 3: And that was I think Michael has said it a 387 00:17:08,280 --> 00:17:10,160 Speaker 3: few times over the years. It's like we probably spent 388 00:17:10,200 --> 00:17:13,600 Speaker 3: three million on your education to understand how to unlock 389 00:17:13,640 --> 00:17:16,720 Speaker 3: the value of the site. But that was really where 390 00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:19,680 Speaker 3: the nuts and bolts were. Was the pro shop year 391 00:17:19,920 --> 00:17:22,879 Speaker 3: or eighteen months was really really critical for me. And 392 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:24,520 Speaker 3: then it was a how to scale and grow it. 393 00:17:24,600 --> 00:17:26,479 Speaker 3: It's like, okay, we'll put weddings on. I think at 394 00:17:26,480 --> 00:17:28,240 Speaker 3: one point I got to sixty weddings, but I was 395 00:17:28,240 --> 00:17:30,919 Speaker 3: still losing money. Yeah, it was like I didn't understand 396 00:17:30,960 --> 00:17:32,920 Speaker 3: the control elements of the hospital. I understood golf, but 397 00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:35,240 Speaker 3: I didn't know hospital. So I was like, okay, now 398 00:17:35,280 --> 00:17:36,760 Speaker 3: I'm going to every hot So I was in every 399 00:17:36,840 --> 00:17:39,960 Speaker 3: wedding and a touch like get really dirty, understand it, 400 00:17:40,040 --> 00:17:42,560 Speaker 3: better tweak it a bit more. Okay that now profits 401 00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:44,480 Speaker 3: ad the mini golf and so we just started and 402 00:17:44,600 --> 00:17:48,159 Speaker 3: it was all operationally focused and that titans sort of 403 00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:51,240 Speaker 3: opportunity or the master planning opportunity was where it really. 404 00:17:51,440 --> 00:17:55,240 Speaker 1: So how did you think about I might just quickly 405 00:17:55,320 --> 00:17:56,640 Speaker 1: go back to the purchase. 406 00:17:58,240 --> 00:18:00,240 Speaker 2: What do you do when you're in an environment where 407 00:18:00,440 --> 00:18:02,640 Speaker 2: you see there's an opportunity, but at this stage you're 408 00:18:02,880 --> 00:18:05,720 Speaker 2: like an non employee that like, yeah, sort of like 409 00:18:05,760 --> 00:18:06,919 Speaker 2: an employee, you know, the. 410 00:18:06,960 --> 00:18:08,880 Speaker 1: Golf pro at a golf club. 411 00:18:10,400 --> 00:18:14,560 Speaker 2: How do you broach to the owners that, look, I 412 00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:15,639 Speaker 2: might be interested buying this. 413 00:18:16,160 --> 00:18:18,000 Speaker 3: I guess it's that same kid that wants to be 414 00:18:18,040 --> 00:18:20,960 Speaker 3: a golf professional, right, Like for me, it was I 415 00:18:21,040 --> 00:18:23,760 Speaker 3: probably didn't know what I was really asking what of 416 00:18:23,960 --> 00:18:26,240 Speaker 3: myself even like I'm going to buy this? There was 417 00:18:26,320 --> 00:18:26,560 Speaker 3: did you? 418 00:18:27,280 --> 00:18:27,480 Speaker 2: Yeah? 419 00:18:27,520 --> 00:18:29,520 Speaker 3: Yeah, I just went to the owner's rep and I said, look, 420 00:18:29,760 --> 00:18:31,560 Speaker 3: i've seen you taking that through. I'd love the opportunity 421 00:18:31,600 --> 00:18:33,439 Speaker 3: to buy it. And I had read I can't even 422 00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:34,800 Speaker 3: remember the name of the book, but it was it 423 00:18:34,920 --> 00:18:37,080 Speaker 3: was a book about options, and I was trying to 424 00:18:37,119 --> 00:18:39,479 Speaker 3: buy a house or real estate. How do I get 425 00:18:39,520 --> 00:18:43,520 Speaker 3: my foot on a piece of land? And so at 426 00:18:43,560 --> 00:18:46,639 Speaker 3: this point I'm reading the book and I'm pretty dyslexic, 427 00:18:46,720 --> 00:18:48,240 Speaker 3: and so a lot of my readings all being done 428 00:18:48,280 --> 00:18:52,399 Speaker 3: by ebooks and podcast audiobooks, and so I'm reading this 429 00:18:52,480 --> 00:18:54,000 Speaker 3: thing and when I grab something, and so I don't 430 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:55,480 Speaker 3: often go through books like that. I don't think I 431 00:18:55,600 --> 00:18:58,280 Speaker 3: read a book at school. But when it when it 432 00:18:58,320 --> 00:19:00,440 Speaker 3: bites me, it bites me, and I'll read it. I 433 00:19:00,520 --> 00:19:05,400 Speaker 3: will hardly sleep that night. And that was me looking 434 00:19:05,440 --> 00:19:06,880 Speaker 3: for a thing I didn't think it was the golf course. 435 00:19:06,920 --> 00:19:09,399 Speaker 3: I probably thought it was a house or a flat 436 00:19:09,560 --> 00:19:12,240 Speaker 3: or something like that, and so, but it applied. I 437 00:19:12,359 --> 00:19:13,919 Speaker 3: was like, well, hang on, I'm the club pro. I've 438 00:19:13,920 --> 00:19:15,879 Speaker 3: got a contract over this. It's gonna be hard for 439 00:19:15,920 --> 00:19:19,000 Speaker 3: them to sell it without me embedded in it. So 440 00:19:19,119 --> 00:19:21,560 Speaker 3: I've sort of I've got some leverage here. I don't 441 00:19:21,560 --> 00:19:25,080 Speaker 3: really know what it is, but after the couple visits through, 442 00:19:25,160 --> 00:19:27,240 Speaker 3: it's dried up. No one wants it right, it's a 443 00:19:27,280 --> 00:19:31,400 Speaker 3: fifty six hectare loss making machine. And so we offered 444 00:19:31,440 --> 00:19:32,960 Speaker 3: him a price. We've got to agree on the option, 445 00:19:33,400 --> 00:19:35,199 Speaker 3: and I'm good to go. My partner's going to come 446 00:19:35,240 --> 00:19:36,959 Speaker 3: in and sort of spot me some cash. And then 447 00:19:37,160 --> 00:19:40,000 Speaker 3: just before the that we're done on that contract, they 448 00:19:40,040 --> 00:19:43,000 Speaker 3: pull out. They want a straight cash settlement. Well I'm 449 00:19:43,080 --> 00:19:47,160 Speaker 3: bugget I don't have four million dollars. So I called 450 00:19:47,520 --> 00:19:50,000 Speaker 3: Michael and the guys and I said, well, look that 451 00:19:50,119 --> 00:19:52,239 Speaker 3: one went out and they just said, we're a bit 452 00:19:52,320 --> 00:19:55,280 Speaker 3: high than that number, and they said, just offer them 453 00:19:55,320 --> 00:19:58,879 Speaker 3: a low bull. We'll pay cash. And within I remember 454 00:19:58,920 --> 00:20:01,000 Speaker 3: going from one minute be buying it under an option 455 00:20:01,119 --> 00:20:04,880 Speaker 3: to we're definitely not buying it to offer him a lobel. Yeah, 456 00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:08,119 Speaker 3: maybe we're in and and my partners are unbelievable with me. 457 00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:10,919 Speaker 3: I mean they were really good and they're still my partners. 458 00:20:10,920 --> 00:20:18,679 Speaker 3: They're great people. But they put Alan Grant put me around, 459 00:20:18,760 --> 00:20:21,639 Speaker 3: a really old school quality financial guy, and so they 460 00:20:21,680 --> 00:20:23,760 Speaker 3: grabbed that creativity and the kid that wants to do 461 00:20:23,840 --> 00:20:26,080 Speaker 3: everything at high energy and then go and put an 462 00:20:26,080 --> 00:20:29,400 Speaker 3: account next to him, who it makes me walk through 463 00:20:29,440 --> 00:20:31,639 Speaker 3: the panel line by line, adjust for every number as 464 00:20:31,720 --> 00:20:34,320 Speaker 3: it would. Right, Yeah, it was and it was exceptional. 465 00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:36,359 Speaker 3: And they knew what they were doing there, right, because 466 00:20:36,359 --> 00:20:38,480 Speaker 3: I think they knew my personality and a trustworthy sort 467 00:20:38,480 --> 00:20:41,000 Speaker 3: of person and so they got that. They just said, well, 468 00:20:41,119 --> 00:20:42,840 Speaker 3: we'll just leave Alan with him. And Alan was one 469 00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:44,399 Speaker 3: of if he passed away a few years back at 470 00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:48,520 Speaker 3: ninety three. And yeah, so that was the approach, the owners, 471 00:20:49,240 --> 00:20:53,560 Speaker 3: wrapping it up in a way that gave them some 472 00:20:53,640 --> 00:20:55,800 Speaker 3: security over it. At the end, he risted, yeah, and 473 00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:58,040 Speaker 3: they were these were these were handshake sort of deals too. 474 00:20:58,119 --> 00:21:00,680 Speaker 3: These boys were not we didn't have a shareholders we're talking. 475 00:21:00,800 --> 00:21:03,919 Speaker 3: I mean, I'm only forty eight only, but these were 476 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:06,159 Speaker 3: like deals you hear about like that's the sort of 477 00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:08,280 Speaker 3: people they were. And it was like, but we'll back you, Luke. 478 00:21:08,359 --> 00:21:11,960 Speaker 3: And but once you get in for more than double digits, 479 00:21:11,960 --> 00:21:14,159 Speaker 3: once you pass ten, like, the deals get a little bit, 480 00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:15,200 Speaker 3: a little bit. 481 00:21:15,119 --> 00:21:16,520 Speaker 1: More robust's a bit more scary. 482 00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:18,760 Speaker 3: Yeah, And even then I'm saying, let's get some shareholders. 483 00:21:18,800 --> 00:21:20,840 Speaker 3: I wanted to protect them, right, and we've had this 484 00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:24,720 Speaker 3: wonderful partnership. But the Koreans were great to deal with. 485 00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:27,840 Speaker 3: They just didn't know the asset they had and the 486 00:21:27,920 --> 00:21:30,159 Speaker 3: planning piece. I remember going through the office and I 487 00:21:30,240 --> 00:21:32,760 Speaker 3: found this master plan and it had a name on 488 00:21:32,840 --> 00:21:34,520 Speaker 3: a dredge in Bell and it was a town planner. 489 00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:36,840 Speaker 3: And I didn't even know what a town planner was. Right, 490 00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:39,200 Speaker 3: I'll just hit a golf ball, right, and now I 491 00:21:39,280 --> 00:21:43,240 Speaker 3: serve a few beers and someone I'm gonna call this 492 00:21:43,320 --> 00:21:45,720 Speaker 3: guy and he moved on and Peter Bell as a 493 00:21:45,720 --> 00:21:47,440 Speaker 3: planner and he's like, let's And so I was just 494 00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:49,560 Speaker 3: very fortunate. When you call the right people, they know 495 00:21:50,400 --> 00:21:52,760 Speaker 3: high quality planner had been around for a long time. 496 00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:54,560 Speaker 3: Made sure I got the right consultants, and the same 497 00:21:54,600 --> 00:21:57,040 Speaker 3: thing with another engineering firm, and so that between two 498 00:21:57,080 --> 00:21:59,840 Speaker 3: consultants at adg and place designer. I was able to. 499 00:22:01,080 --> 00:22:04,119 Speaker 3: I was fortunate. I lucked into some really good quality 500 00:22:04,160 --> 00:22:07,320 Speaker 3: consultants that didn't gudge and gave me some generalist advice. 501 00:22:08,119 --> 00:22:11,160 Speaker 3: But it was master planning and town planning. And then 502 00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:14,840 Speaker 3: I just went for a few years and came up 503 00:22:14,880 --> 00:22:17,760 Speaker 3: come off games were coming, which is just around the corner. 504 00:22:17,800 --> 00:22:19,960 Speaker 3: The village was just around the corners, a couple kilometers 505 00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:24,120 Speaker 3: from here, and there were some of the I guess 506 00:22:24,119 --> 00:22:26,240 Speaker 3: you nell COmON community assets of being lost due to 507 00:22:26,280 --> 00:22:29,159 Speaker 3: the village indoor sport rec center, and he was a 508 00:22:29,240 --> 00:22:30,760 Speaker 3: member here. I'm like, yeah, I might be able to 509 00:22:30,800 --> 00:22:32,960 Speaker 3: build that. Let me see what my planner thinks. And 510 00:22:33,119 --> 00:22:34,840 Speaker 3: we just started to boult it together from there, and 511 00:22:34,880 --> 00:22:37,040 Speaker 3: I remember the first DA we got through. I mean 512 00:22:37,080 --> 00:22:39,800 Speaker 3: it was like, I think for my planner it was 513 00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:41,480 Speaker 3: a pretty VILLI other day, but for me it was 514 00:22:41,520 --> 00:22:43,119 Speaker 3: like you, me and my lamb went from A to 515 00:22:43,280 --> 00:22:45,639 Speaker 3: B in value with a town like I haven't done anything. 516 00:22:45,720 --> 00:22:47,560 Speaker 3: My paper shuffle right, Like I went from being able 517 00:22:47,600 --> 00:22:50,240 Speaker 3: to put golf on it only to medical and sport 518 00:22:50,280 --> 00:22:53,600 Speaker 3: and wreck and mixed use, and the land tripled in value. 519 00:22:54,200 --> 00:22:55,800 Speaker 3: I'm like, how long has this been going on? Like? 520 00:22:56,560 --> 00:22:58,840 Speaker 3: So I immediately then went well, there's more in this 521 00:22:59,040 --> 00:23:01,760 Speaker 3: land and we started to look at retirement and all 522 00:23:01,800 --> 00:23:06,840 Speaker 3: these others. So it was a fast well it felt fast, 523 00:23:06,880 --> 00:23:08,680 Speaker 3: but it was over about six or seven years. But 524 00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:12,320 Speaker 3: I was just hungry for I'd go to every networking breakfast, 525 00:23:12,359 --> 00:23:14,760 Speaker 3: from small business stuff to whether it was with the 526 00:23:14,840 --> 00:23:17,879 Speaker 3: state government at the time, I wouldn't miss an opportunity 527 00:23:17,920 --> 00:23:20,880 Speaker 3: of how would I could to unlock some more land. 528 00:23:21,040 --> 00:23:23,920 Speaker 3: And at the operational site, I was here from open 529 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:25,520 Speaker 3: to close every day. I bought a house in my 530 00:23:25,560 --> 00:23:27,960 Speaker 3: golf course, me and my family here until I worked 531 00:23:27,960 --> 00:23:28,240 Speaker 3: it out. 532 00:23:28,760 --> 00:23:31,359 Speaker 1: And now what we've been doing today. 533 00:23:31,359 --> 00:23:32,639 Speaker 2: We walked around a bit of a look at some 534 00:23:32,680 --> 00:23:35,680 Speaker 2: stuff and you show me the master plan for was 535 00:23:36,240 --> 00:23:38,960 Speaker 2: we're talking and of course Mick Fanning I think is 536 00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:41,359 Speaker 2: like an ambassador or something somehow involved in the business. 537 00:23:41,400 --> 00:23:44,320 Speaker 2: And we're talking with Mick about it. We're talking about 538 00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:48,720 Speaker 2: you now turning the building here a wave pool. 539 00:23:49,119 --> 00:23:51,800 Speaker 3: Yeah, so what I mean, what is that about? It's 540 00:23:51,880 --> 00:23:54,080 Speaker 3: the evolution of really what we just talked about. I mean, 541 00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:57,720 Speaker 3: once we understood the sites value was in the land, 542 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:00,920 Speaker 3: I'm a really I mean I'm a mad golfer still, 543 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:03,000 Speaker 3: right when you start with a club in your hand. 544 00:24:03,840 --> 00:24:05,600 Speaker 3: Golf has always been at the central heartbeat of this. 545 00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:06,920 Speaker 3: For me, I was like, how do I build a 546 00:24:07,040 --> 00:24:10,040 Speaker 3: world class golf aset. What's a modern golfer cit He 547 00:24:10,080 --> 00:24:11,920 Speaker 3: look like you can't just build them and hope people 548 00:24:12,080 --> 00:24:15,080 Speaker 3: join and never play. You've got a couple of memberships 549 00:24:15,080 --> 00:24:16,879 Speaker 3: like that, so I'm about to get you on our 550 00:24:16,880 --> 00:24:21,040 Speaker 3: membership list. But what I realized is that it needed 551 00:24:21,080 --> 00:24:24,359 Speaker 3: to be different, and so that hasn't changed for probably 552 00:24:24,359 --> 00:24:26,160 Speaker 3: six raight years. And a few years ago we got 553 00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:29,520 Speaker 3: approached by a surf technology, particular surf technology, and it 554 00:24:29,560 --> 00:24:32,480 Speaker 3: tweaked me interest. I've never served in my life. But 555 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:35,440 Speaker 3: Peter Bell, who was a planner but I hadn't engagement 556 00:24:35,440 --> 00:24:37,080 Speaker 3: at the time, had been asked to look for sites 557 00:24:37,119 --> 00:24:38,520 Speaker 3: and he's like, I know a guy that all like this, 558 00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:41,959 Speaker 3: pitched it to me. I'd already got some RESIE approval 559 00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:44,000 Speaker 3: at the time, and we looked at our master planment. 560 00:24:44,119 --> 00:24:46,680 Speaker 3: This is special. The deeper we got into tech, the 561 00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:49,440 Speaker 3: surf technology and what wavepools were, We're like, hang on, 562 00:24:49,520 --> 00:24:51,399 Speaker 3: this is just about to blow up globally. We are 563 00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:54,200 Speaker 3: right at the front of this. So I took a 564 00:24:54,280 --> 00:24:56,440 Speaker 3: couple of years to decide which tech. We've had a 565 00:24:56,480 --> 00:24:57,399 Speaker 3: few of them coming at us. 566 00:24:57,920 --> 00:24:59,320 Speaker 1: We said it as in wavepool tech. 567 00:24:59,400 --> 00:25:02,200 Speaker 3: He was in the wave technology and at that time 568 00:25:02,280 --> 00:25:06,080 Speaker 3: we were master planning. So I've been through the learning phase. 569 00:25:06,119 --> 00:25:08,840 Speaker 3: I really understood, like, let's master plan this is probably 570 00:25:08,880 --> 00:25:10,680 Speaker 3: look at it from an urban design. What are the 571 00:25:10,760 --> 00:25:13,680 Speaker 3: needs from the city met with the city. How do 572 00:25:13,760 --> 00:25:15,760 Speaker 3: I push and pull this a constraint site. So we've 573 00:25:15,760 --> 00:25:19,040 Speaker 3: got floodplane, all the normal geotechnical issues, all of the 574 00:25:19,119 --> 00:25:24,960 Speaker 3: normal environmental issues, all stuck in a flood plan, And well, 575 00:25:25,119 --> 00:25:26,920 Speaker 3: is it possible? It is probably the first question. And 576 00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:29,000 Speaker 3: so we as we unpacked that, we're like, okay, this 577 00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:33,320 Speaker 3: is real. I felt the same application I'd applied to 578 00:25:33,520 --> 00:25:37,840 Speaker 3: a golf course in its diversification of revenue. I wanted 579 00:25:37,880 --> 00:25:39,840 Speaker 3: to apply to these surf parks because these things were 580 00:25:39,880 --> 00:25:42,960 Speaker 3: popping up stand alone, and I'm like, that didn't feel 581 00:25:44,280 --> 00:25:46,560 Speaker 3: long term sustainable. It felt like this is going to 582 00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:48,240 Speaker 3: be an up and a down in regards to that. 583 00:25:48,359 --> 00:25:50,240 Speaker 3: And so I went, well, let's apply that lens to 584 00:25:50,280 --> 00:25:52,240 Speaker 3: I flew it. I went everywhere around the world. I 585 00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:53,600 Speaker 3: looked at every pool that was out of the ground. 586 00:25:53,600 --> 00:25:56,320 Speaker 3: I looked at every pool that was planned. I went 587 00:25:56,359 --> 00:25:59,639 Speaker 3: to this surf park summit probably six years ago, and 588 00:25:59,680 --> 00:26:01,720 Speaker 3: it was more like a bunch of cool surfers hanging 589 00:26:01,760 --> 00:26:04,760 Speaker 3: out was probably yeah maybe yeah, six years ago. But 590 00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:09,360 Speaker 3: now it's developers and property guys and so it's really 591 00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:12,880 Speaker 3: evolving and it's understanding of what the industry is. So yeah, 592 00:26:13,320 --> 00:26:17,240 Speaker 3: it the maturity of the surf and how it became 593 00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:19,639 Speaker 3: was a planner that asked me a question, would you 594 00:26:19,720 --> 00:26:21,600 Speaker 3: be interested? I did what I do is I get 595 00:26:21,760 --> 00:26:25,000 Speaker 3: under it, shake it, push it. We're went onto something here. 596 00:26:25,160 --> 00:26:29,399 Speaker 3: Approached Mick a little long. He'd been approached by a 597 00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:31,520 Speaker 3: lot of technologies, and I think what he really like 598 00:26:31,680 --> 00:26:35,320 Speaker 3: was our approach to masterplan and this wasn't a one 599 00:26:35,400 --> 00:26:40,440 Speaker 3: trick pony and so yeah, I mean mixed Mick. He's 600 00:26:41,200 --> 00:26:43,440 Speaker 3: an incredibly good human was as I got to know 601 00:26:43,560 --> 00:26:45,159 Speaker 3: him through the process, because we signed a sort of 602 00:26:45,240 --> 00:26:48,480 Speaker 3: term sheet like you do, but our DJA took nearly 603 00:26:48,560 --> 00:26:51,480 Speaker 3: three four years and it was running out and like 604 00:26:51,520 --> 00:26:54,080 Speaker 3: do we sign and it felt handshaky and we left 605 00:26:54,119 --> 00:26:55,879 Speaker 3: it like that, and I was able to build an 606 00:26:55,880 --> 00:26:58,639 Speaker 3: authentic relationship with Mick that it feels more like a 607 00:26:58,720 --> 00:27:01,800 Speaker 3: friendship than a business deal. And some mix inequity participant 608 00:27:01,840 --> 00:27:04,919 Speaker 3: in the Ambassador and it feels real. We got him 609 00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:05,800 Speaker 3: in the pool in Munich. 610 00:27:05,840 --> 00:27:08,359 Speaker 1: So the technology we're using he mentioned that, he said 611 00:27:08,359 --> 00:27:09,440 Speaker 1: he be the minting one. 612 00:27:09,600 --> 00:27:11,320 Speaker 3: And that was great for me. It was a big day. Right, 613 00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:14,160 Speaker 3: I've got my now partner Ambassador rolling in the pool. 614 00:27:14,200 --> 00:27:15,359 Speaker 3: I'm like, I hope he likes the product. 615 00:27:15,440 --> 00:27:18,600 Speaker 1: And Mick Fanning of course, yeah, and well renowned and. 616 00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:19,959 Speaker 3: If he doesn't like to surf, we've got a bit 617 00:27:19,960 --> 00:27:22,359 Speaker 3: of a problem in this master plan. Right, So that 618 00:27:22,520 --> 00:27:26,680 Speaker 3: was a big day and yeah, so really interesting. But 619 00:27:26,760 --> 00:27:28,119 Speaker 3: if I bring it back to me, it was just 620 00:27:28,240 --> 00:27:30,840 Speaker 3: good urban design, like what are these? These are inland 621 00:27:30,960 --> 00:27:37,440 Speaker 3: beaches that produce on demand every day, all day forever. 622 00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:40,480 Speaker 1: From the respect of Mother nature. Just keep doing it. 623 00:27:40,760 --> 00:27:42,520 Speaker 3: Yeah, and so for those surfers. And I didn't know 624 00:27:42,560 --> 00:27:45,320 Speaker 3: this at the time, but like nature's brutal, right, well, no, 625 00:27:45,440 --> 00:27:48,080 Speaker 3: nature's brutal, but I didn't know how often surf turns 626 00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:52,080 Speaker 3: off and how the conditions too much. Yeah, and even 627 00:27:52,119 --> 00:27:53,920 Speaker 3: for me now that I do love it a getting 628 00:27:53,920 --> 00:27:55,560 Speaker 3: out there as soon as it pumps properly. I can't 629 00:27:55,600 --> 00:27:58,240 Speaker 3: surf that either, So I've got this very small narrow 630 00:27:58,320 --> 00:28:01,080 Speaker 3: window and wave pools. I said this a couple of 631 00:28:01,119 --> 00:28:05,680 Speaker 3: times at where I've done some speaking for around the 632 00:28:05,760 --> 00:28:09,920 Speaker 3: surf piece. The way, the surf park industry is just 633 00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:13,040 Speaker 3: about to have its chairlift moment. So back in the 634 00:28:13,119 --> 00:28:16,680 Speaker 3: ski industry when it was really one gondola and there's 635 00:28:16,720 --> 00:28:19,359 Speaker 3: nothing else, and there's very little families going to these resorts, 636 00:28:19,400 --> 00:28:21,359 Speaker 3: when those chairlifts dropped in on scale and all the 637 00:28:21,400 --> 00:28:23,760 Speaker 3: tea barts and all that, it brought it to a 638 00:28:23,880 --> 00:28:26,920 Speaker 3: mass market. You can put a nonsurfer in one of 639 00:28:26,960 --> 00:28:29,320 Speaker 3: these lagoons and get them too genuinely surf very quick 640 00:28:29,480 --> 00:28:31,320 Speaker 3: in a short period. You can take a medium, a 641 00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:34,320 Speaker 3: good athlete, mediums to nonsurfer and turn them into a 642 00:28:34,359 --> 00:28:38,360 Speaker 3: reasonable because of the rints, it's a driving range for surfers. 643 00:28:38,800 --> 00:28:40,560 Speaker 3: Like if you and I go and take up golf, 644 00:28:40,600 --> 00:28:42,080 Speaker 3: we can't get a pro and we get a lesson 645 00:28:42,160 --> 00:28:43,960 Speaker 3: or two and me it balls every Tuesday and Thursday. 646 00:28:44,600 --> 00:28:46,160 Speaker 3: You can now do that with surfing, and. 647 00:28:46,200 --> 00:28:48,760 Speaker 1: Then you're going to have a residential element as well. 648 00:28:49,200 --> 00:28:51,280 Speaker 3: Yeah, and that was that master planning pieces like well, 649 00:28:51,320 --> 00:28:53,560 Speaker 3: people like living on golf courses and people like living 650 00:28:53,600 --> 00:28:56,920 Speaker 3: on beaches. And I flew to Brazil to check the 651 00:28:57,000 --> 00:28:59,160 Speaker 3: pool out. There was two pools, one in construction, well sorry, 652 00:28:59,160 --> 00:29:02,600 Speaker 3: two operational, one construction. And I got to this pool 653 00:29:02,600 --> 00:29:04,040 Speaker 3: in a Brazil and I'm walking in and I typically 654 00:29:04,120 --> 00:29:06,080 Speaker 3: video as i'm walking in, just so I can remember 655 00:29:06,440 --> 00:29:08,800 Speaker 3: what it was when you do these things. And I 656 00:29:08,920 --> 00:29:10,320 Speaker 3: had my head in the camera and I'm not really 657 00:29:10,360 --> 00:29:12,640 Speaker 3: paying much attention. I'm sort of walking through and the 658 00:29:12,720 --> 00:29:15,560 Speaker 3: broader spectrum and I dropped my my eyes lifted. It 659 00:29:15,640 --> 00:29:17,720 Speaker 3: felt like a beach. It was like, holy shit, this 660 00:29:17,880 --> 00:29:21,240 Speaker 3: thing's unbelievable. It felt like I was in a sort 661 00:29:21,240 --> 00:29:25,360 Speaker 3: of norsea of Hawaii. It was just crissand beautiful, like grass, 662 00:29:25,880 --> 00:29:28,600 Speaker 3: palm trees. And I'm like, this is different to the 663 00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:30,200 Speaker 3: pools I'd seen at this point. Most of them are 664 00:29:30,240 --> 00:29:34,200 Speaker 3: built like pool decks, nearly like a more built form, 665 00:29:35,000 --> 00:29:38,760 Speaker 3: constraints sites, no real element of that. And we'd had 666 00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:40,800 Speaker 3: a da in at that point, and I'm like, we're 667 00:29:40,840 --> 00:29:43,000 Speaker 3: blowing up our landscaping plan. We looked like a pool deck. 668 00:29:43,080 --> 00:29:45,520 Speaker 3: We need to look like this, and so I literally 669 00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:49,360 Speaker 3: held out for ninety days and re submitted our landscaping 670 00:29:49,360 --> 00:29:51,920 Speaker 3: to get the organic because I'm like, real estate sells 671 00:29:51,920 --> 00:29:54,320 Speaker 3: pretty good on beaches around the world. So if I 672 00:29:54,400 --> 00:29:57,440 Speaker 3: can have the two strong elements, and if I can 673 00:29:57,480 --> 00:30:01,360 Speaker 3: make the beach feel like a beach organically, that's more 674 00:30:01,440 --> 00:30:05,520 Speaker 3: pleasing than a hard stand. So yeah, that the real 675 00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:09,120 Speaker 3: estate for me has driven this project immensely because it's 676 00:30:10,440 --> 00:30:12,920 Speaker 3: it's the real balance sheet. It's the big ticket item, 677 00:30:13,880 --> 00:30:16,560 Speaker 3: and then the flip side of it is the operational 678 00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:19,040 Speaker 3: and how that works. But when we're master planning is like, 679 00:30:19,040 --> 00:30:20,560 Speaker 3: if it doesn't take the real estate box, if it 680 00:30:20,560 --> 00:30:22,280 Speaker 3: doesn't take the mixed use boss, and it doesn't take 681 00:30:22,280 --> 00:30:25,240 Speaker 3: the operational, then we keep going. We're just round in circles. 682 00:30:25,800 --> 00:30:28,080 Speaker 1: So where are you guys at now? 683 00:30:28,760 --> 00:30:32,840 Speaker 3: Yes, so we've now secured all the land security approvals. 684 00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:35,480 Speaker 3: We're in what I'm calling an off phrase, an off 685 00:30:35,560 --> 00:30:37,320 Speaker 3: market raise. At the moment, we're just going to some 686 00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:40,240 Speaker 3: family and friends and mine net worths to just talk 687 00:30:40,280 --> 00:30:42,840 Speaker 3: to them about We're calling it a little founders collective 688 00:30:42,960 --> 00:30:45,040 Speaker 3: and that's pretty cool. And a couple of the pools 689 00:30:45,040 --> 00:30:49,280 Speaker 3: in the us have raised all their equity in that 690 00:30:49,440 --> 00:30:52,160 Speaker 3: so we're in our equity raised debt, and equity evaluations 691 00:30:52,200 --> 00:30:54,040 Speaker 3: dropped next week. So I just had a little chat 692 00:30:54,080 --> 00:30:56,760 Speaker 3: with the value of last Thursday. It's feeling okay, it's 693 00:30:56,800 --> 00:30:58,720 Speaker 3: a nervous time, right. You sput a lot into a project. 694 00:30:58,720 --> 00:31:00,200 Speaker 3: You want to make sure those numbers stack so we 695 00:31:00,280 --> 00:31:01,840 Speaker 3: can unlock the debt. That's feeling. 696 00:31:02,480 --> 00:31:03,920 Speaker 1: The way you would go about it, though, Luke, is 697 00:31:03,960 --> 00:31:04,160 Speaker 1: that you. 698 00:31:04,360 --> 00:31:06,200 Speaker 2: I think what you're saying is that you'll raise some 699 00:31:06,320 --> 00:31:08,920 Speaker 2: equity and you'll borrow some money so that you can 700 00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:11,120 Speaker 2: get the people who put the wreck equity get some. 701 00:31:11,200 --> 00:31:12,479 Speaker 1: Leverage into the property. 702 00:31:12,960 --> 00:31:15,960 Speaker 2: And but a lot of it depends on the valuation 703 00:31:16,040 --> 00:31:17,200 Speaker 2: because you've got to know how much you're going to 704 00:31:17,240 --> 00:31:20,280 Speaker 2: give way. So like you walk out to an equity person, 705 00:31:20,360 --> 00:31:23,200 Speaker 2: you say, well, it's worth I know, half a billion 706 00:31:23,280 --> 00:31:26,200 Speaker 2: dollars for them, just picking a number. We want to 707 00:31:26,280 --> 00:31:29,160 Speaker 2: raise one hundred, so we're going to put out there. 708 00:31:30,080 --> 00:31:32,080 Speaker 2: We're want to raise twenty one hundred of equity, so 709 00:31:32,120 --> 00:31:33,920 Speaker 2: we're going to put out twenty percent. We're going to 710 00:31:33,960 --> 00:31:36,240 Speaker 2: eat twenty percent away. I'm just making numbers up for 711 00:31:36,320 --> 00:31:39,080 Speaker 2: the sake of the audience. But yeah, it's along those lines. 712 00:31:39,080 --> 00:31:40,560 Speaker 2: That's why the vowels are very important. 713 00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:42,320 Speaker 3: Yeah. So what we're doing right now with the vow 714 00:31:43,280 --> 00:31:46,160 Speaker 3: is so we're going to raise forty nine percent equity 715 00:31:47,320 --> 00:31:49,600 Speaker 3: in a press share. One of the things I really 716 00:31:49,720 --> 00:31:51,880 Speaker 3: like about my partners and how we bought the golf 717 00:31:51,920 --> 00:31:54,760 Speaker 3: club was I really respect the capital right we come from. 718 00:31:55,840 --> 00:31:57,640 Speaker 3: I mean, you put money into my business, you need 719 00:31:57,720 --> 00:32:00,120 Speaker 3: to be like, I shouldn't be getting paid before or 720 00:32:00,200 --> 00:32:01,880 Speaker 3: you get paid, and so making sure that pref is 721 00:32:01,920 --> 00:32:02,320 Speaker 3: done right. 722 00:32:02,440 --> 00:32:04,560 Speaker 2: So you need to explain, well, maybe we can both 723 00:32:05,480 --> 00:32:08,160 Speaker 2: to the listeners, but the issue of a pressure means 724 00:32:08,200 --> 00:32:10,440 Speaker 2: that they get preference. In other words, they get paid 725 00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:12,440 Speaker 2: a give it in first, where sometimes you don't even 726 00:32:12,440 --> 00:32:15,080 Speaker 2: get a divident and you get paid a return like 727 00:32:15,240 --> 00:32:15,800 Speaker 2: an interest rate. 728 00:32:16,080 --> 00:32:18,360 Speaker 3: Yeah. So the way we're structuring at the moment, there's 729 00:32:18,400 --> 00:32:20,280 Speaker 3: some final tweaking to that, but the way we're structuring 730 00:32:20,320 --> 00:32:22,160 Speaker 3: at like when you say that some of the audience 731 00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:24,480 Speaker 3: won't know this. I mean two years ago, I didn't 732 00:32:24,480 --> 00:32:26,160 Speaker 3: know what this was. I knew what the mechanism was 733 00:32:26,200 --> 00:32:27,920 Speaker 3: because for me, I called it a ratchet. If you 734 00:32:27,960 --> 00:32:29,800 Speaker 3: put money and you get paid before I get paid. Yeah, 735 00:32:30,480 --> 00:32:32,760 Speaker 3: and then you get to the lawyer structure of structure. 736 00:32:32,920 --> 00:32:35,080 Speaker 1: Legal structure is called a preference preference share. 737 00:32:35,400 --> 00:32:37,560 Speaker 3: And so that preference share for me was designed to 738 00:32:37,720 --> 00:32:41,000 Speaker 3: do the mechanism of making sure that your money what 739 00:32:41,160 --> 00:32:43,400 Speaker 3: happens if things don't go well, Like we can all 740 00:32:43,440 --> 00:32:45,320 Speaker 3: talk blue Skuy on this project, and it's so easy 741 00:32:45,400 --> 00:32:48,160 Speaker 3: to talk blue s guy, and they're sexy, and so 742 00:32:48,280 --> 00:32:50,120 Speaker 3: you can sort of you can bullshit your way through 743 00:32:50,200 --> 00:32:52,440 Speaker 3: the sexy stuff. What you can't bullshit your way when 744 00:32:52,480 --> 00:32:54,360 Speaker 3: someone asked ale we're talking about earlier, when someone to 745 00:32:54,680 --> 00:32:57,120 Speaker 3: show me where the risks are, because sophisticated money, that's 746 00:32:57,120 --> 00:32:59,800 Speaker 3: where they go looking. And so what I wanted to 747 00:32:59,840 --> 00:33:02,120 Speaker 3: do make sure that if this turned down and it 748 00:33:02,240 --> 00:33:05,800 Speaker 3: didn't work, let's say it legitimately didn't know we're forecasting 749 00:33:06,120 --> 00:33:10,040 Speaker 3: in the high twenties ebitdar and let's say it's fifteen 750 00:33:10,120 --> 00:33:13,520 Speaker 3: ebitdar return in the operating business. What does that look 751 00:33:13,600 --> 00:33:15,720 Speaker 3: like for my investor? So how does the pref shard 752 00:33:16,040 --> 00:33:17,920 Speaker 3: What you don't want me is me making a bunch 753 00:33:17,960 --> 00:33:19,680 Speaker 3: of money while you're being two to part And so 754 00:33:19,800 --> 00:33:21,880 Speaker 3: we got really so that was a big part of 755 00:33:22,040 --> 00:33:24,200 Speaker 3: the PREF and then ninety million debt. 756 00:33:24,160 --> 00:33:26,520 Speaker 1: Is the other side of our So debt always gets 757 00:33:26,560 --> 00:33:27,160 Speaker 1: paid first. 758 00:33:27,320 --> 00:33:29,880 Speaker 3: Yep, Debt first, PREF second, US third. 759 00:33:30,040 --> 00:33:32,280 Speaker 2: So in other words, the way you've structured it in 760 00:33:32,480 --> 00:33:35,960 Speaker 2: order to make it attractive in terms of risk mitigation 761 00:33:36,880 --> 00:33:40,520 Speaker 2: financial risk mitigations is that obviously debt's going to get 762 00:33:40,520 --> 00:33:42,360 Speaker 2: paid first because that's what the lender is going to 763 00:33:42,440 --> 00:33:45,280 Speaker 2: insist on lenders don't take do it anither way. But 764 00:33:45,400 --> 00:33:49,200 Speaker 2: then the first equity round that. Let's say in the 765 00:33:49,240 --> 00:33:52,880 Speaker 2: example you're saying to raise twenty twenty mili, they get 766 00:33:52,960 --> 00:33:55,480 Speaker 2: paid before you do. And if there's something leftover after 767 00:33:55,560 --> 00:33:57,960 Speaker 2: the else you get paid. Is it pref just to 768 00:33:58,200 --> 00:34:01,440 Speaker 2: dividends or is it pref tox as well on capital 769 00:34:01,480 --> 00:34:04,160 Speaker 2: as well. So if you sell, they get paid first. 770 00:34:04,800 --> 00:34:07,640 Speaker 2: If there is self for any reason, they always get 771 00:34:07,680 --> 00:34:08,279 Speaker 2: their money first. 772 00:34:08,360 --> 00:34:10,600 Speaker 3: Yeah. So part of that is, and it's what we've done, 773 00:34:10,719 --> 00:34:13,480 Speaker 3: is we've put a PREF on the exit to an 774 00:34:13,520 --> 00:34:15,759 Speaker 3: i RR of eight percent. And that's really not really 775 00:34:15,800 --> 00:34:19,120 Speaker 3: about when we're forecasting well above eight percent, but it 776 00:34:19,200 --> 00:34:21,120 Speaker 3: was really about the ugly if things go toast, you 777 00:34:21,600 --> 00:34:23,600 Speaker 3: get your money back in eight percent before I get paid. 778 00:34:24,800 --> 00:34:29,239 Speaker 3: And I'm not a typically pessimistic person, but the lens 779 00:34:29,280 --> 00:34:31,759 Speaker 3: I've really been focused on right now is it's so 780 00:34:31,920 --> 00:34:34,399 Speaker 3: easy to sell the upside of these things, but it's 781 00:34:34,480 --> 00:34:37,480 Speaker 3: like the money doesn't really need to that's the easy part. 782 00:34:37,560 --> 00:34:38,520 Speaker 3: What does it look like? Ugly? 783 00:34:38,680 --> 00:34:40,000 Speaker 1: And to mitigate the bad side? 784 00:34:40,160 --> 00:34:40,880 Speaker 3: Yeah, and what is that? 785 00:34:41,360 --> 00:34:43,239 Speaker 1: And that's you're right. I think that's too. 786 00:34:43,200 --> 00:34:47,440 Speaker 2: Many people don't concentrate on mitigating through structure, through the 787 00:34:47,520 --> 00:34:50,160 Speaker 2: legal structure, what is the downside? 788 00:34:50,600 --> 00:34:51,560 Speaker 1: And that's what prefs do. 789 00:34:52,040 --> 00:34:55,360 Speaker 3: And I've been so focused on clearly, if we deliver, 790 00:34:55,800 --> 00:34:57,600 Speaker 3: I want some gravy out of this, because that's me 791 00:34:57,760 --> 00:35:01,000 Speaker 3: delivering for you and I in an investment. But what's 792 00:35:01,040 --> 00:35:03,280 Speaker 3: the opposite of that is me not delivering well sorely, 793 00:35:03,360 --> 00:35:05,920 Speaker 3: I shouldn't get my big clip right. And look, we're 794 00:35:05,960 --> 00:35:08,200 Speaker 3: putting in some serious equity into this. We've spent five 795 00:35:08,239 --> 00:35:10,319 Speaker 3: and a half million a date on the das. We've 796 00:35:10,320 --> 00:35:12,080 Speaker 3: put two and a half million into detailed design that 797 00:35:12,160 --> 00:35:15,719 Speaker 3: started last week, and so we've got large capital. We're 798 00:35:15,719 --> 00:35:18,719 Speaker 3: tipping the existing operating businesses in, so we've got profitable 799 00:35:18,760 --> 00:35:21,839 Speaker 3: operating businesses that are both going in and we've got 800 00:35:21,880 --> 00:35:24,480 Speaker 3: our primary residential lot in this deal, so there's one 801 00:35:24,520 --> 00:35:27,680 Speaker 3: hundred and sixty residential apartments going in the freehold. So 802 00:35:27,800 --> 00:35:29,560 Speaker 3: there's a there's a full whack there and a lot 803 00:35:29,600 --> 00:35:32,200 Speaker 3: of equity going on on our side. But I still 804 00:35:32,200 --> 00:35:34,279 Speaker 3: say to the guys as like my partners, and we're 805 00:35:34,280 --> 00:35:36,800 Speaker 3: all on the same we need to respect that frontline 806 00:35:36,840 --> 00:35:39,440 Speaker 3: capital because they're taking We've been here for a long time, 807 00:35:39,560 --> 00:35:41,240 Speaker 3: we know it, we smell it, We're in the detail. 808 00:35:41,320 --> 00:35:43,680 Speaker 3: These people are putting money in and so we are 809 00:35:43,760 --> 00:35:46,880 Speaker 3: not being I guess over it's clearly not giving more 810 00:35:46,920 --> 00:35:48,560 Speaker 3: than we need to. But we've got to find that 811 00:35:48,680 --> 00:35:51,200 Speaker 3: middle balance to unlock made you don't unlock the money. 812 00:35:51,280 --> 00:35:54,080 Speaker 3: I don't have a wave pool. And so I have 813 00:35:54,200 --> 00:35:56,400 Speaker 3: been really and it's been I mean, I'm loving it. 814 00:35:56,480 --> 00:35:59,440 Speaker 3: I'm enjoying the learning. I mean KPMGM, I can never 815 00:35:59,480 --> 00:36:01,399 Speaker 3: run slow down and just tell me what that acronym means, 816 00:36:01,560 --> 00:36:05,040 Speaker 3: irs and like and for me, I can't go to 817 00:36:05,120 --> 00:36:07,880 Speaker 3: the next level until I understand it. And sometimes it 818 00:36:07,960 --> 00:36:09,920 Speaker 3: slows it. I wouldn't say it slows the project down, 819 00:36:09,960 --> 00:36:12,560 Speaker 3: but the guys in the room, the guys that went 820 00:36:13,040 --> 00:36:18,080 Speaker 3: to UNI I find it until you can tell me 821 00:36:18,200 --> 00:36:19,960 Speaker 3: in a simple way where I understand it. 822 00:36:20,160 --> 00:36:22,520 Speaker 2: Then it's too complex the structure you'd explain it, you're 823 00:36:22,520 --> 00:36:25,160 Speaker 2: going about explain so yeah, and if you're selling it 824 00:36:25,200 --> 00:36:27,719 Speaker 2: at the end of the day, and if it's too complex. 825 00:36:27,640 --> 00:36:29,880 Speaker 3: What I'm starting to smell With a few meetings. And 826 00:36:31,000 --> 00:36:32,600 Speaker 3: I remember one of the meetings I had earlier with 827 00:36:32,680 --> 00:36:36,240 Speaker 3: the guy down Byron. He looked at my early structure 828 00:36:36,239 --> 00:36:38,399 Speaker 3: and just said, from a real estate point of view, 829 00:36:38,480 --> 00:36:40,960 Speaker 3: like I love where you're at. But unless I got 830 00:36:41,000 --> 00:36:44,279 Speaker 3: some of that real estate in the deal, it's it 831 00:36:44,360 --> 00:36:46,200 Speaker 3: doesn't fly. It doesn't smell right. You can give me 832 00:36:46,239 --> 00:36:49,040 Speaker 3: a twenty percent IRR and maybe your numbers are awesome, 833 00:36:49,080 --> 00:36:51,120 Speaker 3: a pref the hell out of it. But if I'm 834 00:36:51,120 --> 00:36:53,000 Speaker 3: paying to improve your land that much, I want some 835 00:36:53,120 --> 00:36:55,200 Speaker 3: of the uplift in the land. And I drove back 836 00:36:55,239 --> 00:36:56,759 Speaker 3: that's an hour and twenty to where I am are 837 00:36:56,840 --> 00:37:01,279 Speaker 3: in Quarter. And he's a pretty substantial businessman and it's 838 00:37:01,320 --> 00:37:04,279 Speaker 3: been around, very well known guy, and I'm like, he's right, 839 00:37:04,719 --> 00:37:06,440 Speaker 3: And so I've got three partners. I now need to 840 00:37:06,480 --> 00:37:07,759 Speaker 3: go and say we've got to tip some of the 841 00:37:08,680 --> 00:37:11,560 Speaker 3: gravy of this in and they're smart people. 842 00:37:11,600 --> 00:37:13,400 Speaker 1: They get it, well, do you keep having iterations? 843 00:37:13,440 --> 00:37:15,120 Speaker 2: And I think that's and I think what most people 844 00:37:15,120 --> 00:37:16,920 Speaker 2: don't understand is that they always look at these deals 845 00:37:16,960 --> 00:37:18,799 Speaker 2: when they're done and think, well, I loved it about 846 00:37:18,880 --> 00:37:21,560 Speaker 2: do that deal. But really they've got to be prepared 847 00:37:21,560 --> 00:37:23,800 Speaker 2: to go through all the shitty iterations. You have to 848 00:37:23,920 --> 00:37:26,960 Speaker 2: keep going through iteration after iteration after iteration and see 849 00:37:27,000 --> 00:37:29,440 Speaker 2: it works few but also it works for the investors. 850 00:37:29,840 --> 00:37:32,520 Speaker 2: Without the investors' money, there's no deal at the end 851 00:37:32,560 --> 00:37:32,880 Speaker 2: of the day. 852 00:37:33,280 --> 00:37:37,000 Speaker 3: And that's that's come to light a lot more recently 853 00:37:37,080 --> 00:37:39,279 Speaker 3: for me, like a lot, and it's been a really 854 00:37:39,320 --> 00:37:42,640 Speaker 3: interesting learning curve because it's and you can call it 855 00:37:42,719 --> 00:37:45,080 Speaker 3: respective invester capital. I mean, if you don't respect, you're 856 00:37:45,120 --> 00:37:46,920 Speaker 3: not kidding that. It's as simple as that, right, and 857 00:37:47,320 --> 00:37:50,040 Speaker 3: the good investors you can get some passionate money and 858 00:37:50,120 --> 00:37:51,520 Speaker 3: that sort of fun money, and there is some of 859 00:37:51,560 --> 00:37:54,680 Speaker 3: that around, but it's rare. This is a really big 860 00:37:54,760 --> 00:37:57,479 Speaker 3: project and it deserves the right capital. Will go slow 861 00:37:57,480 --> 00:37:59,080 Speaker 3: if we have to, We will take our time to 862 00:37:59,120 --> 00:37:59,799 Speaker 3: get the right money. 863 00:38:00,120 --> 00:38:02,160 Speaker 2: If you own, don't raise it, if you don't get 864 00:38:02,200 --> 00:38:03,800 Speaker 2: the debt, does a twenty million have to go in. 865 00:38:04,560 --> 00:38:06,759 Speaker 2: So in other words, it's got a condition precedent. It 866 00:38:06,840 --> 00:38:09,759 Speaker 2: says your money, you the investor, don't put any money 867 00:38:09,760 --> 00:38:11,320 Speaker 2: in unless we can get the loan approved. 868 00:38:11,320 --> 00:38:13,560 Speaker 3: So yeah, so where it's say sixty million equity coming 869 00:38:13,600 --> 00:38:15,320 Speaker 3: in that will sit. So let's say you are my 870 00:38:15,400 --> 00:38:19,280 Speaker 3: investor at sixty that will sit in a lawyers trust account, 871 00:38:19,280 --> 00:38:23,120 Speaker 3: conditions precedent to unlock it. If we don't unlock it 872 00:38:23,160 --> 00:38:24,600 Speaker 3: within a period of time you get it back, you 873 00:38:24,680 --> 00:38:27,920 Speaker 3: won't zero risk including interest going back. And I think 874 00:38:27,960 --> 00:38:29,640 Speaker 3: there's been a couple of pools in Australia that have 875 00:38:29,760 --> 00:38:31,960 Speaker 3: tried that and chewed up a small amount, not big numbers, 876 00:38:32,040 --> 00:38:36,040 Speaker 3: but chewed up some investor capital. And we made a commitment. 877 00:38:36,040 --> 00:38:37,960 Speaker 3: A part of that detailed design. One of the conditions 878 00:38:38,000 --> 00:38:40,880 Speaker 3: precedent is build contracts in place. One of the biggest 879 00:38:40,960 --> 00:38:43,360 Speaker 3: risks at the moment to most jobs is construction. So 880 00:38:43,480 --> 00:38:45,279 Speaker 3: we've committed to making sure we get all the way 881 00:38:45,280 --> 00:38:49,280 Speaker 3: through to construction contracts, so we're not spending your new money, 882 00:38:49,600 --> 00:38:52,600 Speaker 3: investor cash on Maybe this is a job the day 883 00:38:52,680 --> 00:38:54,960 Speaker 3: your money drops in the excavator. 884 00:38:54,560 --> 00:38:57,279 Speaker 1: Because that's what built Sorry, That's what investors are worried about. 885 00:38:57,280 --> 00:39:00,440 Speaker 2: To say, what there's any building involved is the is 886 00:39:00,560 --> 00:39:04,240 Speaker 2: the cost blowouts? The construction cost because the constructions costs 887 00:39:04,280 --> 00:39:08,880 Speaker 2: these days are changing a lot of deals. So how 888 00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:10,360 Speaker 2: confident are you look that you're going to get this 889 00:39:10,400 --> 00:39:10,759 Speaker 2: deal away? 890 00:39:10,920 --> 00:39:12,840 Speaker 3: Yeah? What I'd say to people now is, I mean, 891 00:39:12,880 --> 00:39:14,200 Speaker 3: I've been on this for five and a half years. 892 00:39:15,120 --> 00:39:17,759 Speaker 3: We are now buildable and fundable the structures right. I 893 00:39:17,880 --> 00:39:20,440 Speaker 3: brought in a development director who's come from a popular 894 00:39:20,480 --> 00:39:24,200 Speaker 3: listed development company, ripping guy but really talented, and he 895 00:39:24,400 --> 00:39:27,000 Speaker 3: basically redlined every building I had in my master plant 896 00:39:27,400 --> 00:39:29,880 Speaker 3: red line, the titling red line, the structure. We've got 897 00:39:29,920 --> 00:39:33,480 Speaker 3: offers from energecs around power, all the non sexy stuff. 898 00:39:33,480 --> 00:39:35,160 Speaker 3: There's so much sex in this job that it's easy 899 00:39:35,200 --> 00:39:37,640 Speaker 3: to get what but how do you build it? Where's 900 00:39:37,680 --> 00:39:41,560 Speaker 3: the power coming from? So we are buildable and we 901 00:39:41,680 --> 00:39:45,840 Speaker 3: feel our structure, albeit with tweaks, is now fundable and 902 00:39:45,920 --> 00:39:49,480 Speaker 3: the way we've structured it, so yeah, I'm not confident 903 00:39:49,480 --> 00:39:50,439 Speaker 3: we'll get this out of the ground. 904 00:39:50,520 --> 00:39:51,680 Speaker 1: Like how many as you've been on it. 905 00:39:51,840 --> 00:39:54,040 Speaker 3: I've been on the surf park of this approach. I've 906 00:39:54,080 --> 00:39:56,239 Speaker 3: been here for sixteen years and I've been on the 907 00:39:56,280 --> 00:39:57,439 Speaker 3: surf park for five and a half. 908 00:39:57,680 --> 00:40:02,879 Speaker 2: Well that's a pretty long apprenticeship. Luke Schwager pretty hard 909 00:40:02,960 --> 00:40:05,839 Speaker 2: name to say, but good luck mate, Mark. 910 00:40:05,880 --> 00:40:07,960 Speaker 3: Thanks for having I really appreciate it and it's good 911 00:40:07,960 --> 00:40:08,200 Speaker 3: to see