Aspiring entrepreneurs should not approach the real estate world expecting instant success, real estate developer, entrepreneur, and president of T. Wall Enterprises Terrence Wall said in a lecture Tuesday.
“I did it one step at a time, over time. So that’s how you want to do it,” Wall said. “If you want to get started in business, your own business, don’t try to go from zero to 60 miles an hour overnight.”
Wall spoke to Kehoe Fellows about his career as a real estate entrepreneur at the final installment of this semester’s Executive Speaker Series. Wall first founded T. Wall Properties LLC, where he served as CEO until 2012, when he left to found and run T. Wall Enterprises.
Wall graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s in Real Estate Investing and Appraisal.
“I started in technology and created the first technology investment fund in Wisconsin,” Wall said. “I interviewed 110 startup companies, and invested in 11.”
Of those 11, Wall said, all went out of business except for one.
“It’s called Prevagen, a memory supplement, and it now does $110 million in sales a year and I helped get them going,” Wall said.
Wall said his move to real estate was not built on cataclysmic success, but by methodically moving up to create the empire he has today.
“When I started real estate, I bought one property at first, then I bought another property. Then I got some land, and built one-story buildings, then I built a two-story building,” Wall said. “Eventually I did a three-story building, and then a four-story building. Then after that I went to eight stories, and eventually I’ll be doing a 15-story.”
The most successful entrepreneurs are the honest ones, Wall said
“One lender, when I was partnered with my brother-in-law early on, told me, ‘I won’t make you a loan as long as your brother-in-law is involved with you as a partner . . . he’s dishonest. I won’t make him the loan, but I’ll make you the loan,’” Wall said. “I got him out, and the lender made me the loan business people want to deal with honest business people.”
Wall also spoke about the history of property rights and how crucial they were to the development in America.
“Originally in England, the land was owned almost entirely by the crown, the church, and the government,” Wall said. “The colonists came here first for freedom of religion. Then the government started giving away land, so hordes of people started coming here for free land.”
The right to own property and to develop it was a key part of the American system, Wall said.
“By owning land, you had personal liberty. You could practice your religion. You could farm your land. You own the goods and the goods created the crops. You could then sell those crops and create wealth. And what’s the most important thing about owning land? What can you do with it? Develop it and build on it,” Wall said.
Americans have the unique ability, Wall said, to leverage their personal land to develop independent wealth, which is why America has the vast middle class it does today.
“What created the middle class in America was land, because if I own the land, I can get leverage. I can use the land as collateral. I could work the land with my bare hands and labor, and leverage the land to build wealth for myself,” Wall said. “This is the difference between the rest of the world and the United States of America when it was formed.”
More recently, Wall co-founded Glazd, an app that automates renters insurance tracking and lease compliance.
“I was sick of trying to collect paper certificates from tenants, and then they would cancel behind my back,” Wall said. “When you sign your lease you get a Glazd addendum. Hit the QR code and boom, up comes the app. In 60 seconds you will have your insurance policy and that was very innovative when we launched this four years ago.”
Senior Nathan Furness said Wall’s life story serves as a phenomenal example for students seeking to succeed in the business world.
“Terrance Wall’s talk was an absolute masterclass in what it takes to succeed in the world. Few people possess the combination of business acumen, wisdom, and commanding presence that Terrance Wall brings to the table, and hearing a man of his caliber share his insights was an incredible privilege and a reminder of what greatness in this world actually looks like,” Furness said.
This Executive Speaker Series talk was the sixth and final of the semester, and James McClure, operations manager for business programs at the college ,said he encourages students to attend and learn from successful entrepreneurs like Wall.
“The Executive Speaker Series events are a great opportunity for Hillsdale students to meet highly successful businessmen and women who love Hillsdale College and are eager to help Hillsdale students,” McClure said. “Even if a speaker doesn’t work in an industry you are interested in, the career and leadership advice and wisdom they share are applicable regardless of what you do in your life.”
