Episode 187: When Cutting-Edge AI Meets the World of Self-Storage

Announcer (00:04):

This is the Self Storage Podcast.

Scott Meyers (00:08):

Hello Everyone and welcome back to the Self Storage Podcast. I’m your host, Scott Meyers, and on today’s episode we have Tyler Sellers here who’s going to talk about automated underwriting using ai. So Tyler, welcome to the call.

Tyler Sellars (00:22):

Thank you very much for having me, Scott. It’s a pleasure.

Scott Meyers (00:24):

Well, I’ve been looking forward to this. I missed the clubhouse where you were on with a gang. I had another meeting and I heard you knocked it out of the park and begin to look into, because this is the first I heard of you. I heard looked into and heard of some folks that are utilizing AI and some other tools to really shorten the timeframe or at least maybe get the data into an underwriting model until we can really apply our own principles to it and looking at a facility and a particular project in the ways that we need to. But it looks like you’ve taken it even a step further. So if you would, let’s tell Stellar origination a little bit about yourself and how you got started in the business and then let’s dive into this incredible tool. I can’t wait.

Tyler Sellars (01:02):

Cool. So I mean it’s full circle here I think because I believe that I purchased my first group of self-storage facilities thanks to you. And so I think this is quite a fascinating thing for me to be able to come back and enjoy as a guest, not only as a listener, so thanks for having me, but I started my journey in tech coming out of high school and university, working for a group of tech companies. And then from there, tech is an interesting one. You tend to work for eight to 12 months on a company and then they lose their financing or whatever it may be or lose a runway. And so I just decided in order for me to create some sort of a healthier lifestyle for myself and some stability, I should invest in some other asset classes just rather than a salary. I went from there, went on to a group of podcasts including this one, realized that self storage was an interesting class and then started investing in both multifamily and self-storage. During Covid, I released a lot of my multifamily and transfer that wealth over to self-storage, and that’s where I’m at today.

Scott Meyers (02:05):

Perfect. Our journeys are very similar and glad to hear that you got some solid foundation and footing in this. And obviously we love the asset class and the difference similar journeys as we come out of a multifamily and other commercial forms of real estate. The underwriting is very similar, however it operates a little bit differently and we look at each one of those line items a little bit differently. So tell us a little bit about the differences once you begin underwriting self storage versus multifamily and some of the other commercial asset classes that you found just from a plain underwriting standpoint before we get into the tech side.

Tyler Sellars (02:39):

Yeah, so I think if I were to build the underwriter solely by myself, this would not be a great platform to be honest, which is why I’ve brought on some really great co-founders and advisors into the group that have alleviated a lot of those early stressors that you have in building any kind of company or product. And that’s been our success. I’ll be honest, it’s just me. It’s the whole group and that’s really important to us at Cactus. For my story, I was an asset manager of under a hundred million in assets under management. So my portfolio wasn’t certainly the same size as some of the customers that we’re servicing now. And I wanted to make sure when I was building this product that it was both servicing mom and pops such as myself, family businesses and family wealth, but also institutional wealth. And so now we’re working with publicly traded REITs on their underwriting and the demand is much different, I’ll be honest, but the whole basis of cactus is to transfer that knowledge base of those billion dollar funds into a mom and pop as well, so everyone can gain the access, everyone can gain the resources that are really necessary in this field.

(03:44):

When you’re competing against a U-Haul for example, and you’re just a mom and pop, how do you know what your underwriting is the right way of doing things for your class B or class C facility when you’re competing against a next door neighbor of class A? So for me, that was really important. Also, self-storage is an interesting one to underwrite because it’s not just about the models, although the models are really important. It’s really about how you think of things that differentiates a good underwriter to another underwriter. And the honest truth is that large institutions, just because they have a number of people doing an underwriting together and a number of resources behind them, doesn’t technically mean that they’re great at underwriting either. So we’ve certainly seen this in our side and it’s probably one of the main reasons why Cactus has gained quite a bit of early traction is simply due to the fact that it’s a demand on every side of things and time is of essence getting to an LOI, getting it off market as fast as possible and then furthering your due diligence from there and doing it properly is really important.

(04:46):

So underwriting’s interesting too. If I can add that you might end up with zero occupancy every single month because your month to month is very similar to a hotel, so you need to underwrite with that understanding. There’s also promotions that you need to put in place. There’s phase one, phase two expansion plans. There’s a number of line items that need to be mentioned within an underwriting to be properly done and be able to then sell that off to the LP if you’re raising capital.

Scott Meyers (05:17):

Well, I have a lot of questions surrounding that, Tyler, but let’s do this. Let’s say somebody just hears about you or they’re introduced to you by way of this podcast and they reach out to you to say, Hey, I’m very active in the marketplace looking at mom and pop deals and I want to be more efficient in things that are coming into my funnel or I just want to get better at underwriting or both, what are they going to find? What are the next steps when they contact you and your company?

Tyler Sellars (05:42):

So you can go to tri cactus.com and sign up for the wait list or gain access through the demo. It goes directly to my profile so you can gain access to my calendar and we can have a quick chat. That’s how I want to keep things for a significant period of time. I’d like to know who I’m working with as well and I really do want to help. This is not just a software where I’m selling this to millions of people, but I really do want to help on a one-to-one basis as well. I am the user and then I understand the struggles that these users are going through, the way that it works with Cactus and the reason why we’re being utilized by small brands all the way to big brands is because of how simplified we’ve made it to be able to make sense for anyone at any stage.

(06:25):

So it’s important to note that underwriting should be a three phase step. The first phase just gathering the insight into the demographics, geographics of the market as well as maybe crime rates, the wind, how much you’re going to pay potentially on insurance, property taxes, what’s the overall income levels of this particular market and what’s your competitive analysis? That should be your analysis primarily first before even submitting an LOI. The next step on top of that is to then get into the financials of the facility so that we call a quick analysis. The first analysis is free. You type in an address in cactus when we get to launch. And so the idea is that you type in an address, you get those demographics, geographics, crime, all that kind of stuff. And then you are able to create a quick analysis. And the quick analysis is a lower level analysis where it just allows you to make a financial decision on, yes, I want this off market, I want to go into this deeper, and it takes just five minutes in cactus, whereas typically it would take around an hour.

(07:27):

So we do save quite a bit of time and that’s the basis of the AI tool. So our AI tool is a drag and drop tool where you’d be able to drag and drop an OM a T 12 cashflow, rent roll, whatever it may be into cactus. We take all of that information so you’re not inputting data manually into an Excel. And then we do an analysis with you and we handhold you throughout the analysis process, but we work quite nice with people that are well advanced in their Excel models as well. So you can export the Excel model from Cactus and you can also import your own Excel model into cactus. And so we do play nice within any of those fields, but it is really important for us to be able to mention that those three phases are quite drastically different in the underwriting process.

(08:11):

And that third process that I hadn’t mentioned yet is the full analysis. That’s when you’re getting into modeling gp, LP splits, waterfall, what it might look like on your cashflow from operations to capital events, financing, any kind of details. And then we’re providing benchmarks as well based on our AI data. So it’s a really impactful tool for anyone from small investments that is really just getting started all the way to those larger institutions that just need access to a better system than taking eight to 12 hours just to get a financial model done and then submitting that to a marketing team to be able to raise the capital.

Scott Meyers (08:49):

So how many of your folks would you say are utilizing you on all phases? In other words, I see a need for each one of those levels. I would guess that most people and including myself and anybody that is on our acquisition side would probably want to fill out a form with the information that we have to send over to you. So importing into your form to be able to do the first blush to determine, as you mentioned, hey, are we going forward with this and we would like to pursue it? And then getting a little further down the path. I imagine there’s some learning that goes into how we would actually syndicate these projects and what we’re looking for in terms of the benchmarks, and that requires a little higher level of handholding and I guess learning. So throughout all of this, maybe describe the process and then this is like any relationship, you want it to be long-term relationship and especially with underwriters so they understand, they get to know how you underwrite and how you look at projects, how you, your company and the technology then continue to learn as we go deeper in the relationship with your company.

Tyler Sellars (09:58):

Yeah, great question. So I’ll start with the latter question and then I’ll move my way backwards onto the process of how it works with cactus. So we’re working with a group of investors that have signed up for early access. They joined our wait list. I was kind of curious why these larger groups or institutions were trying to gain access to cactus so early on I didn’t certainly expect that kind of traction. And so they wanted better access to data, they wanted better time management of their team and their acquisitions team so that they’re not just sending this off to VAs and then making multiple million financial decisions based on a utilized Excel model template that they’ve been sent to the va. So the whole purpose of cactus is to allow for those potential VAs or in-house staff to be able to properly underwrite with data backing it.

(10:46):

And that’s really the core functionality of Cactus. Now, cactus ai, essentially the idea there is that you can type into cactus any kind of questions that you have for it on this analysis and at a very high level it’ll answer and give you access to that data that you’re looking for. For example, year six cashflow, can you tell it to me on this particular property, if you’re building a fund, you can group a bunch of properties together in your underwriting so you have a fund view versus just a clear property to property level view. But how it works with Cactus is that first step is really important, so just putting in an address, we’re able to get quite a bit of information just from that. And so you start with an address, it’s free to use, you start with that, you get demographics, geographics, that kind of stuff that I had explained earlier.

(11:34):

The next step is our first paid tool and that’s launching in a month. So the people that are signing up for the wait list or for the underwriter are gaining access to that in a month’s time. And that’s the quick analysis. So within five minutes you’re able to do a financial model and then submit an LOI to the seller and get it off market. The next underwriting piece, the third piece is something that we’re building now and that has about 250,000 different calculations in that tool. So it’s a huge tool that we’ve been able to bring down to a simplified UI model or a user interface. So what you’re actually seeing on this screen, and it’s really important for us to simplify things rather than it being an Excel model, which is very difficult to share with others and market to others. You’d have to guide them through in a share screen or some sort of communication with them to say, okay, if you were to look at B 17 right there on the cell, you’ll see cashflow is this number and what that means is X, Y, and Z.

(12:39):

And so what we’re essentially doing is we’re removing that need. We’ve been able to calculate the number of course with accuracy, but then also communicate with your investors or communicate with your team at any size and then at any level, so operations can communicate with marketing, clearly financials can communicate with operations, everyone can communicate and collaborate together, which I think is a real powerful place because how it typically works as you have your acquisitions manager going through the Excel model and then submitting that over to your marketing team to build a nice presentation for you to start raising that capital. And so many things get lost, so many questions come up and it’s really frustrating from an acquisition manager’s perspective because typically the same almost every single underwriting, but there’s various things that change. So is this a development deal? Is this an expansion deal?

(13:31):

How many phases are there? What LPs are we looking for? So there’s certain characteristics that Cactus is just smarter at in doing and allowing that collaboration. So that’s the real power of cactus. And so that’s why it’s really important for us to differentiate between the three phases of Underwritings because each place takes a different user and typically what we end up seeing is the smaller institutions, so the a hundred million or less in assets under management really enjoy the quick analysis. And then anything beyond that typically from a hundred to 500 plus are utilizing the full analysis. And so anyone that has joined our advisory or design partners, they’re utilizing that today. And then we’re going to get to launch in the full analysis in around October or November of this year. So the quick analysis launching next month and the full analysis launching in the fall of 2024.

Scott Meyers (14:19):

Okay, so Tyler, let’s say I’m not at that a hundred facility level or on a regular basis, but we are buying 12, 15, 20 facilities a year and I want to utilize a model perhaps yours that gets to know me and understands the size of my organization and I want it to look at underwriting from the way that we manage properties because that is quite a bit different in terms of a large REIT who is going to be managing in a different fashion, they have a different cost, they have more overhead and their expense and expense categories are different and higher in most cases. So how do you handle the two? There’s probably two questions in there, but how do we get to, for folks like myself, how do we get to an underwriting model utilizing your company that gets to know us a little bit better and underwrites the way that we do? And then I’m curious as to how you go about doing so is it just that simple that it begins to be customized and your team understands how we look at the facilities or is it just in another bracket, whereas if you’re a reap that you know that expense ratios for advertising and regional managers or district managers and there’s these additional layers are just going to be at this level, how do you approach the difference between the two levels if you will?

Tyler Sellars (15:32):

Yeah, so great question. The honest truth is that we’re not going to be perfect for everyone right out of the box. We need to start learning from our users and then gathering that insight. But the basis behind that three underwriting perspective, the three steps is because each step kind of requires a different set of needs. And that third step, if I can just speak of that a little bit more, goes into the customization a lot more of course than a quick analysis. The quick analysis basis point is that we just want it to get off market and we want to have some severe understanding of what is going on within this particular property to have a little bit of confidence to at least get it off market and then go from there. The next step is the full analysis of course, or the full underwriting, and that’s quite customizable.

(16:22):

It’s really important to note though, as I shared before that we do play nice with Excel. So if you have a certain model that you really, really love and you just want to continue using that, the basis of cactus is that we automate a lot of the processes and we can automate all of the processes for you as well if cactus is hitting the nail for you. But if we’re not, you just export the Excel from cactus. So we take all of our 250,000 calculations, export that into an Excel that is condensed and makes a lot more sense to a human eye, and then you can add that to any of your Excel models by adding an additional tab and tying in your numbers and your calculations to the Excel model that we’ve just extracted from Cactus. So it’s just a two type approach versus this thing that is 17 tabs and has everything kind of broken out into a million different things and can be quite difficult like it shared for a marketing team to truly understand on how to communicate this properly, the basis of cactus is you drag and drop a document, you put in your scenarios, you put in your particular way of underwriting or your particular way of operating a business that may be different from the current buyer or the current seller, sorry.

(17:35):

And then you go out and you can share that. You can share it with collaborators of course, so your operations team or whoever it may be in-house. But then you can also create a deal room and that deal room is essentially a beautified landing page for you to be able to then share that your LPs and the deal room can actually be embedded within your offerings page on your website. So it doesn’t have to drive anyone outside of your website just to get that understanding of what this particular new future opportunity is. You can just showcase that on your website using cactus. So we build out all of the PDF presentations, we build out the Excel model for you, we build out the landing page for you, and that’s really a powerful piece that we’ve seen of users use in Cactus.

Scott Meyers (18:18):

Well, that’s a huge benefit because obviously the rest of it is manual and you’re talking about a couple of different departments that flows through and a delay. And we know that in the world of raising capital that we don’t like delays and we can’t wait for those items typically. So looking forward to seeing what that looks like in terms of how the information now flows through because there’s going to be a whole lot of folks on this call, including myself, I’m going to be very interested in seeing that as well. And so another question that raises as you discuss the offering is do you sell then your own spreadsheet? You say it’s Excel based or an entryway into putting the data in. Let’s say somebody comes to you and they aren’t new or they’ve got a clunky Excel and they want to begin using something that has true tested, proven formulas, macros, everything works some well, can they just buy that off the shelf if you will, or get access to that first and just begin with you instead of trying to marry the two together and ending up with a two tab system?

Tyler Sellars (19:20):

Yeah, so the basis of cactus is to replace Excel at some point as well. If you really do not want to use an Excel template, you don’t have to with Cactus, you don’t need that Excel for it to work. We handhold you throughout the entire onboarding process directly in the app through a software. It replaces Excel for many. The reason why I mentioned the Excel model is because I do realize that there are quite a few prideful Excel users and they really do love their models and so we end up really working nice within that as well. But the whole basis point is Excel is not a great tool for you to do the full underwriting process including market data, including benchmarking, including competitive analysis. And so our software just does a better job at the full story as well as sharing that story to investors in the future.

(20:09):

So you don’t have to use Excel to work with Cactus, you can simply just sign up for the software and we handhold you through the whole thing. You’ll see my ugly mug in the app itself and I’m showcasing to you through a video of how to do each step if you need to. And so that’s the basis of cactus is we’re working with billion dollar funds and we’re leveling the playing field for mom and pops to be able to gain access to that information as well. And that’s the thing that I’m most prideful of what Cactus is today, is that we are really leveling the playing field thanks to new developments and software and AI and a really great way of utilizing AI in the best way. So one way that we do AI for example, of course is in the extraction of the document saves a ton of time.

(20:57):

You just drag and drop an OM or T 12 cashflow rent roll, like a share into the analysis and we extract that data. So no more inputting the data, but then the next step that’s really cool, like I shared before, is you actually being able to communicate with an AI system that understands your data that you’ve already input and be able to communicate and answer questions that you may have. So your marketing might have questions on things that they just don’t want to bother the acquisition manager on. They could simply ask those questions to the system and it can answer it. The third piece of our AI is competitive analysis. So we take all of the competitors in your three to five mile radius, we look at them, we see if they have a website, a phone number, we have notes on them, the pros and cons based on the Google reviews that have been provided.

(21:40):

So you have a SWOT analysis of your market to be able to then go out and say, okay, I feel confident that I can buy this facility. It has a 3.7 star. The reason why it has a 3.7 is because of these criteria that the reviews share, and I know I can do this better. It doesn’t have a website, so it’s not taking any online payments, it’s probably cash only, which is then causing quite a few frustrations for people having to go to the facility and drop off cash to whoever manages the facility only working one hour a week or whatever it may be. And I have to make sure I’m there at that one hour timeframe once a month. So you can leave notes like that for your team to be able to underwrite the deal together and we just do it better than Excel, but you can work with Excel for sure.

Scott Meyers (22:27):

Okay, so Tyler, we’ve heard garbage in garbage out and there’s multiple tools including Excel for years of people that have utilized and we’ve educated thousands of people to help them to get into cell storage. And we spend more time on the underwriting piece because this is the place where people can get tripped up more than any place else if they get it wrong. Once they can create habits and they can get it wrong dozens of times before they understand that, hey, they got a broken model or they got a broken way of thinking when it comes to underwriting. You mentioned that along the way your folks get prompts as they move through the process, but do you also, do you have an education component as well to make sure that people don’t start beginning to create bad habits or that they may not even understand what this expense, this line item expense, what’s included in that? And maybe they’re phrasing it differently than you are or they just have a wrong understanding of what this information looks like. I mean, you see what I’m getting at here is that how do you make sure that people just don’t go down the path and assume that any model Excel or your model or anything else that comes along is just going to handle it for ’em without having a true understanding of what goes into that data?

Tyler Sellars (23:31):

Absolutely. So great question. Probably your best yet well done. I think the thing that’s really fun for me on that side is that we’re working with some great coaches who have wanted to give access to their students to just a new way of doing things that does the storytelling better. And so coaches are signing up for cactus to gain access for their students and then they alleviate a lot of those processes for the students. As I shared before, the model can be broken, but what tends to happen most cases because the models are free to download or you pay 500 bucks for a template or something like that, and more often than not the model’s not broken. It’s the way of thinking. And so what we are working on is having those coaches continue their coaching business because that’s a really impactful piece of this industry.

(24:25):

But then also we do have a coaching component to the platform. And so our coach, who is the number one underwriting coach for SSA, for example, is the one that does our coaching on our platform. And so he’s the one that goes on the videos, does all the coaching components, does all the teaching, utilizing cactus as the what, but not the how. And so how is really important what we do. And so you can think about the how should I think of this, how should I underwrite this, how should I buy this facility, what are my options? And the next piece there is to put it into cactus properly. And so like you said, that garbage in garbage out is going to happen in any underwriting platform. The thing that’s going to differentiate cactus from an Excel is that we actually coach you through the process as well.

Scott Meyers (25:17):

So you know what we do over here? We’ve been investing in storage for 20 years, we’ve been coaching people on how to get into self storage for a number of years after that, as well as how to grow and scale. Each and every level involves a lot of intricacies along the way. We continue to, I don’t want to say battle, but our mantle is hey, you got to learn how to do this because if you make a mistake once, you may not just lose that battle, but you may lose the war if you make a really bad investment, you didn’t pay attention and you didn’t pay attention to the underwriting and it went south and you had to file bankruptcy or there’s a foreclosure on your record, you’re kind of out of commission for a little while. And so we certainly want to make sure that that doesn’t happen into combat against that.

(25:55):

That’s why the education and the how piece is so important. But it seems like we are being challenged with our organization or just anybody that will listen with people thinking that they can watch a couple of YouTube videos and learn how to invest and they can grab any Excel tool from somebody, even from another asset class and they’re going to be successful. They can grab and no discredit Torey or some of the other data gathering sources on properties, but we know that this stuff just isn’t solid. So tell me, what is cactus’s overall approach in making sure that people not only survive but thrive in the industry and some of the other maybe safeguards you put in place, but then also what do you do to create alongside of us another community of folks that we’re all certain that as the tide rises, that all boats not only rise with it but nobody sinks? Does that make sense?

Tyler Sellars (26:50):

Absolutely. Yeah. So you and I both know, and I’m sure a lot of your listeners know as well that an OM is full of not true things, in other words. So what we tend to see is people dropping in OM and then just assuming that that’s the input, the key differentiator here is if they were to do that in Excel, Excel might say that it’s a 0% cash on cash return or $1,000 a month monthly cashflow or something like that. And that’s all the data that you’re really gathering from that. The really key important piece here is showcasing and teaching them that this might be actually a profitable deal if you can change the purchase price and if this purchase price can come down and you can showcase to the seller the different opportunities or the different reasons why this is the right purchase price, then that’s important.

(27:47):

As I said in another podcast before it’s any deal can be profitable or a good deal, but at the right purchase price, and that’s where everyone gets to get, tends to get stuck is they have a listing price and then there’s the real true price and sometimes it’s over, sometimes it’s under. And currently we’re starting to see sellers get a little bit more used to a true number, but during Covid, if we can remember the number was elevated, elevated, elevated. So we’re starting to see shifts, but what’s really important is understanding what you’re underwriting. And so I think we will get better at this as well as a provider in this service. We’re not perfect, that’s for sure. And that will come from feedback that we get from real users, but it’s in the teachings and that’s where Cactus as a software and as a service has the opportunity to be really impactful for people’s lives.

(28:45):

And something that I had just read was the National Census Survey just came out on saving the amount of savings that different demographics across the nation have in the United States. And your 18 to 25 year olds have about $28 in average savings. Your 25 to 35 have just a bit above $10,000. So I understand that it’s a very difficult time for a lot to be able to invest in real estate. And so understanding your opportunities in real estate, different financing ways of getting to closing properly is going to be really impactful for these new investors. And that’s the mission, my personal mission and my impact and cactus that I’d like to walk away from when I’m 50, 60 years old, it’s to say that I built a ton of millionaires because of my software, and that’s the basis of the cactus mission right there. And I think that we’re all on that same path.

(29:40):

You’re on path, that’s for sure. And then we are also on that path, and I think I’m only on that path because someone did it for me back in the day. One of them was you, thankfully the other one was AJ and the other one was my realtor. So my realtor being a real estate investor, taught me the value of money, taught me the value of investment and taught me how to get to closing without putting a ton of money down because I started with $0, I was in tech, but living paycheck to paycheck, jumping from business to business in between businesses, I might have to wait three months and burn all my savings before I can get the next job opportunity. So I certainly was in no position to invest in real estate. So what I did is I went online, asked a couple of my friends through social media if they would be willing to invest with me, $4,500 each.

(30:28):

I needed 5% down on $160,000 wooden frame piece of crap. But it got me started and that $9,000 at 5% down in Canada where I’m from allowed me to learn about investing. And that’s how I got started. Within the one year of investing in that property, I ended up purchasing a hundred units and then I was onto the races. I thought that this was the most amazing investment, the most amazing industry filled with incredible people started going to conferences and I thought, someone’s got to tackle this crapshoot that is going on with Excel because Excel is not answering the questions that I need to be answered to be able to make financial decisions for LPs in my business as well as that transparency piece because it’s taking me a ton of time to put in all the Excel inputs or my QuickBooks analysis and all this kind of stuff. It just was wasting a ton of time that I should be spending on actually purchasing and acquiring new properties.

Scott Meyers (31:28):

Yep, a hundred percent. And that is the piece that Storage Nation I want you to hear is that in the beginning there are lots of tools and there are lots of resources, but they are not to catch all some there is the what and the how to do things and separating those, which means that once we get a little further down the path, we’re utilizing technology, we’re utilizing these tools and these resources to speed things up, and you’re writing a check for speed. That’s 100% part of the equation and what we talk about a lot here, but it’s really truly understanding the how. And as Mr. Trump put it in his book, whether you agree with him or not, his investment philosophy is pretty solid. He said some of the best deals he ever made were the ones that he didn’t go forward with. And so there’s a huge benefit in getting to a no quicker by way of utilizing these tools and resources.

(32:18):

And then when it comes time, when you think it’s a yes to then take a step back and say, okay, well why do we think it’s a yes given the data that I have? And then that’s when it pays to have somebody with some wisdom with a few years under their belt to come alongside, as Tyler just mentioned, having mentors alongside of him to be able to make sure that he dotted his i’s and crossed all of his T’s before moving forward. Because if you do lose the battle sometimes it is the war and we’re all in this to make sure that everybody survives and thrives and continues on. So Tyler, we’ll continue the charge and promote and can’t wait to dig in a little bit further and see how once again, that we can join forces to make sure that our folks are successful. So I appreciate your time and coming on the podcast today.

Tyler Sellars (32:59):

My pleasure. And like I said, it’s really full circle. I think the kudos should go to you. It is truly a pleasure to be a guest of course, and showcase my last couple years of work and Pridefully share that out to the world before launch. But really this only happened because of people like you in my life. So thank you, genuinely guest or no guest, thank you so much for what you’re doing, and I’d like to pay it forward with this software solution that I’ve had the luxury to be able to build.

Scott Meyers (33:32):

Well, it is my pleasure, Tyler, and it certainly is gratifying to all of us over here, our entire team, to see when somebody takes the information that we’ve been putting out for people to be able to just take advantage of, to go out into this marketplace and grow as much as they want to and buy as many facilities as we’d like to achieve whatever it is that they want to achieve in this and creating in this incredible industry. And so that just truly warms our hearts to see that people just go out and execute with it. So kudos to you as well. So now how do people begin to follow you? I know you’d mentioned early on in the call that some of this is closed and there’s a waiting list. And so how do people follow you? Keep an eye on what you’re doing and then be able to get down to a list for what you have upcoming?

Tyler Sellars (34:12):

Yeah, join the wait list anytime that you want, but the wait list is come as you go. So as they start pouring in, we start dripping access to the platform. The website is tri cactus.com, so TRY cactus.com, and you can also schedule a demo and we can actually meet each other. So that goes directly to my calendar, and I always love to meet everyone that we’re working with. It’s really fascinating some of the stories that I get to hear. And at the end of the day, yes, we’re a software solution, but we’re human to humans. So there are humans involved in this business and what we’re building and we’re servicing humans. So as much as software allows for us to scale it and service as many people as possible, the thing that makes my energy and me get out of bed is knowing who I’m supporting, who I’m waking up early for, who I’m going to bed late for. And it’s been a lot of work, lot of sweat, tears, blood, even my pencil gets quite sharp sometimes. So the idea that I’m actually helping people really makes an impact on me and allows for me to keep on pushing forward. And as we’ve accepted investors in our software, they also love to know that we’re actually helping a real need real people in this real world. So I love that side. So feel free to just reach out anywhere you can. We’re available to you on our website.

Scott Meyers (35:39):

Fantastic. And last question, Tyler, what is a book that you’ve been reading recently that you would recommend or perhaps even a book that you have gifted more than any other that’s had an impact on you?

Tyler Sellars (35:51):

It’s a weird one, and I keep on mentioning it because I keep on rereading it honestly. So I’ve been asked this question once before and I said it then, and it was months ago and I’m still rereading the book, but it’s called Things My Son Needs To Know About the World by Frederick Bachman. Frederick Bachman is a hilarious writer, so it definitely keeps my interest. And I’m not much of a reader to be honest. I like to do short form, but this book just kept me going. And as a person who wants to build a family, as someone that wants to be a dad in the future, it really made me laugh, but also taught me the importance of not only just childhood, but also in servicing the world. And that’s really what we’re here to do. And this book does a hilarious job at showcasing some funny aspects of life relationships that I think is really impactful. Regardless if you’re on the beach reading it or in your office. It’s a really impactful book on my life, that’s for sure.

Scott Meyers (36:51):

Well, always good to dig into those books as well as any others that allow you to speak into the future generation because the world needs more leaders and problem solvers, and they seem to be in short supply these days. So I’m fairly certain and glad to hear that your kiddos, whether that’s you have boys or girls, that they’re going to be well equipped because you’re already beginning to lean in. So good on you, good on you for doing so. Well, Tyler, it’s been a pleasure and Storage Nation. You have had an opportunity to listen to what Tyler is building here, and he has just begun, so all of the information that he just shared is going to be in the show notes. And Tyler, we look forward to having you back hopefully very soon on a follow up once you have more items launched and we’re getting a little more traction once you have some official launches and you’re getting some traction so that people can keep up with what it is that you’re doing and how you can help ’em in their journey in this incredible industry we call self storage. So once again, thanks again Tyler. Appreciate you being on the call and look forward to chatting with you again very soon.

Tyler Sellars (37:50):

Love it. Thank you, Scott. Have a great day.

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