Real Estate Investing School Podcast – Episode 175

How Ryan Pineda is Building a Real Estate Empire

Date: July 15, 2024
Host: James Faucet
Guest: Ryan Pineda

Overview

This episode features an in-depth conversation with Ryan Pineda, a former pro baseball player turned prolific real estate entrepreneur, educator, and content creator, recorded live from Ryan's office in Las Vegas. The discussion covers Ryan’s unique journey from baseball to business, his strategies for scaling real estate operations, leveraging social media, hiring, entrepreneurship mindset, work-life balance, faith, and his most recent focus: dominating digital marketing in real estate.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Authentic Branding & Social Media (01:34–02:22)

• Authenticity as a long-term strategy: Ryan emphasizes being genuine in the era of social media.

  • "If you try to build your brand, it’s hard to fake it long term. You better just be authentic. Be you." — Ryan (01:34)

• Challenges of building an online presence: Both host and guest agree it's not easy to be authentic at first—eventually, you have to just be yourself.

2. Ryan’s Background: Pro Baseball to Flipping Houses (02:22–06:42)

• Family Influence & The 2008 Crash:

  • Ryan’s mother was a realtor, his father an entrepreneur; both lost everything during the 2008 crash.
  • “I was forced into being an entrepreneur… I was literally forced into making it happen.” — Ryan (04:24)

• Early hustling out of necessity: Flipping couches, playing online poker, substitute teaching.

• Starting real estate: Licensed realtor during college/offseason; hated driving clients, preferred finding and executing deals.

• Transition to flipping: Inspired by Brandon Turner’s book around 2015; flipped 50–60 houses while still playing baseball.

3. Scaling & Delegation: Learning to Build Teams (06:43–12:31)

• First hires out of necessity: Managed 20 flips while still playing; hired a project manager.

• Key lesson: “I learned I didn’t have to do everything… Most entrepreneurs miss that part.” — Ryan (11:03)

• Full-time business leap: Left baseball in 2017, scaled flips to 150 deals/year with an actual team.

4. Leveraging Social Media for Business Growth (12:31–15:44)

• Early impact: Even “a couple thousand followers” led to significant deal flow and funding.

• 2019 pivot: After a mastermind with Brandon Turner and Investor Girl Britt, Ryan started intentionally building his social brand.

• COVID acceleration: Dedicated time to TikTok/YouTube; rapid growth in education, brokerage, tax firm.

5. Hiring Philosophy: Generalists First, Experts Later (16:07–19:03)

• Entrepreneurs’ struggle: Most don't hire due to cash flow and pride—fear no one can do things as well.

• Building with “generalists”: Early hires are jack-of-all-trades; experts come later as business justifies it.

  • "Everyone's going to be a generalist to start… The business has to earn its way there.” — Ryan (18:10)

6. The Pain of Growth: Navigating Plateaus (19:09–22:08)

• Growth is not linear: “You grow, plateau, then have to take the pain—financial or otherwise—for the next jump.”

  • “During the downswing… you feel pain and want to retreat. But good entrepreneurs… figure it out, and that's what leads to the next level.” — Ryan (20:40)

• Avoiding complacency: Must have a higher purpose—taking care of self, providing for family, now “bringing people to Jesus.”

  • "The reason most people become complacent is because they're selfish. Their needs are taken care of, so they don't feel the need to work." — Ryan (23:18)

7. Standards, Accountability & Leadership (25:51–29:15)

• On setting standards: Codify expectations, be “nitpicky” to uphold the culture and standards.

  • "I would err on the side of being nitpicky… that's the only way to hold standards." — Ryan (25:51)
  • “If they can't hang, they can't hang… There's 8 billion people in the world.” — Ryan (27:22)

• Reinforcement: Standards must be repeated constantly—“You literally have to tell them every day.”

• Attracting like-minded people: High standards attract those who appreciate them, repel those who don’t fit.

8. Working IN vs. ON the Business & Role of Marketing (30:18–35:12)

• Short-term vs. long-term work: Early hustle is all short-term, but investing in long-term (e.g. content) yields exponential future payoff.

• Ryan’s digital marketing focus: Fed up with agencies, brought all marketing in-house; paid for expertise and trained his own team—saw it as a long-term investment.

  • “I made the choice… around Thanksgiving of last year… My goal in the next year is to devote myself fully to just digital marketing.” — Ryan (35:12)

9. Marketing Mastery: Creativity, Ad Testing, & Lead Kitchen (35:36–44:36)

• Ryan’s approach: Applied organic content principles to paid ads, outperforming “industry standard” agencies.

  • “I was like, let me do it myself... And sure enough, freaking smacked.” — Ryan (37:48)

• Lead Kitchen genesis: Created because he cracked the code for Facebook ads in real estate, then scaled it for clients.

• Dual problem-solving: Most real estate investor “lead gen” fails because of two problems: high lead cost and poor sales teams.

  • "Now we're solving two problems… That's what all these other lead generation companies don't solve." — Ryan (40:04)

• Creativity as a differentiator: Postcards, PPC, cold calls—low creativity. Social media ads require constant creative iteration.

10. Pursuit of Mastery & Going Deep vs. Wide (44:36–63:48)

• Competitive background: Constantly “wanted to be the best” in whatever he does, but not always at once.

  • “Whenever I wanted to do something, I solely devoted myself to that thing for a period of time until I felt like I had achieved my goal.” — Ryan (46:16)

• Shiny object syndrome: Admits to going wide at times, but best results come from deep focus (especially when ventures align).

  • “I’ve had other businesses that have failed… cost me money and reputation… If I have lead kitchen, that’s clearly aligned with Home Run Offer… triple effect.” — Ryan (61:07)

• Advice from Neil Patel: “You should focus on real estate—you’d make way more money.” Ryan admits Neil’s right: “Real estate is my core competency.”

• Content strategy: Ryan prefers blending real estate, business, lifestyle, and faith in his content/podcast, even if it “hurts money” in the short term, because it expands relationships and long-term opportunity.

11. Real Estate Strategy, Passive Income & Business Building (69:21–74:57)

• Flipping is foundational:

  • “You gotta learn how to flip houses. It teaches you finding deals, construction, raising money.”

• Passive income myth: Rentals aren’t truly passive—same with businesses. The real value of rentals: long-term wealth storage.

  • “It’s far easier to build passive income through building a business than it is through building a portfolio.” — Ryan (71:45)

• For everyday investors: Buying rentals is best. For entrepreneurs: build cash-flowing business, then invest/stash in real estate.

12. Faith, Adversity & Life Perspective (74:57–80:48)

• Faith journey: Grew up Christian, but truly tested after being released from the Oakland A’s—uncertain, directionless, but learned to trust God’s broader plan.
  • “Faith is like a muscle… as you keep trusting and He keeps providing, your faith keeps increasing.” — Ryan (75:40)
  • “Everything is for your good. The tough times, the good times, everything’s for your good. And I truly believe that now.” — Ryan (79:07)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On hiring and delegation:
  "Most entrepreneurs miss that part… I was forced into it, so I’m grateful." — Ryan (11:03)

• On personal growth cycles:
  “What growth really looks like is you go up a little bit and then you plateau… you either take the pain that leads to the next stage or you stay plateaued.” — Ryan (19:23)

• On entrepreneur motivation:
  “Once your initial circle is taken care of, what happens next? I want to bring people to Jesus... It has to be so much bigger than just me.” — Ryan (22:31)

• On standards:
  "There is no other way around it… If they can't hang, they don't need to work here." — Ryan (27:22)

• On business synergy:
  “If I have Lead Kitchen, that’s clearly aligned with Home Run Offer and coaching… It’s going to have a triple effect.” — Ryan (61:07)

• On focus vs. variety:
  "It’s a balance. What are you truly optimizing for? More money, more impact, or fun? For me, I’m finding myself going deeper and deeper into real estate.” — Ryan (63:41)

• On adversity and faith:
  “God’s refining me somehow… I don’t know where this leads, but I know I’m being refined.” — Ryan (80:06)

Important Timestamps

• 00:00–02:22: Introduction, authenticity in personal branding.
• 02:23–06:42: Ryan’s background, struggles, family context, and entry into real estate.
• 08:48–10:14: Retiring from baseball, first hires, early delegation.
• 12:31–15:44: Social media’s business impact, intentionality post-2019.
• 19:09–22:08: Growth plateaus, mindset, complacency vs. purpose.
• 25:51–29:15: Management style, standards, accountability.
• 30:18–35:12: Working in vs. on the business, internalizing marketing.
• 35:36–44:36: Lead generation, creativity, and digital ads (Lead Kitchen).
• 44:36–63:48: Pursuit of being the best, going deep vs. wide, aligning opportunities.
• 64:00–68:23: Podcast/content strategy, building relationships outside real estate.
• 69:21–74:57: Strategy for new investors, “passive income,” business vs. rentals.
• 74:57–80:48: Faith, adversity, and long-term life perspective.

Episode Flow & Tone

Ryan’s style is direct, driven, and honest, peppered with entrepreneur grit and Christian faith. The conversation flows easily between tactical business strategies and broader life philosophies, maintaining a conversational, sometimes humorous but always purposeful, tone.

Useful for Listeners Who:

• Aspire to scale their real estate or any business
• Struggle with delegation, hiring, and mindset barriers
• Want to learn about integrating social media for business growth
• Are curious about the realities of entrepreneurship and leadership
• Value transparent discussions about personal growth, faith, and purpose

Links Mentioned:

• Lead Kitchen — Ryan’s real estate digital marketing agency