Page 18 - inet magazine nov.2021

meticulous or picky about who I took on as an investment partner and to me, it was just, “Hey, bring
the money in.”

The sad part is that the relations with some of those investors wasn’t enjoyable. What I’ve learned
along the way is that I’m better at what I do if I’m working every day with people that I really enjoy
working with.
Over the last five or six years, I’ve been incredibly picky and specific about who I allow to invest in our
projects, and the number one criteria for that is, outside of being an accredited investor, is simply, “Do I
like this person? Is this somebody that I’m not going try to avoid having a phone call with or don’t want
to be in a meeting with?”

Brian: That’s fantastic. In order to do what you’ve been doing, you have to build a really powerful
network. For someone who wants to build potentially a multimillion-dollar network, what has to
happen?

Aaron: You’ve got to be the type of person that kind of network wants to be around. I talk to people
all the time that say, “Hey, I would love to have the network and the friends and the people that you’re
around.”

And I always tell them, “Well, you need to be the type of person those people want to be around.” The
question you have to ask yourself is, “What value can I provide to them?” Because that’s how you break
into networks. You don’t want to get into networks that you want and say, “Hey, what can I take from all
of you?” It’s, “What can I bring to all of you?” And you’ll be able to break those barriers if you can come
in and provide value to people. They’ll receive you with open arms.

Brian: Thank you so much for being here!

Aaron Wagner is the Founder and Managing Partner of Wags Capital, a specialized small cap boutique investment firm. He has a
diverse background in real estate, lending, debt, and private equity and venture investment, having participated full time in the
industry since 2009.

He also led his companies to a number of large acquisitions and investments outside of the real estate, including successful
companies in industries such as health technology, food and beverage, media, pharmaceuticals, and consumer products/e-commerce.
Prior to his involvement full time in real estate and private equity/business investment, Aaron played professional football. Aaron
Wagner attended Brigham Young University and Washington State University on a full athletic football scholarship and was awarded
multiple athletic awards and accolades throughout his career.

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