Highspire x The Build Show Podcast (How to create generational wealth as a builder)

Last month, Highspire’s CEO and cofounder Paul Atherton sat down with Matt Risinger from The Build Show Podcast to discuss:

How to create generational wealth as a construction company owner.

(To listen to the full 41-minute episode, click here.)

Most homebuilders face a hard choice at the end of their career:

Pass the operational burden to their children, who might not want it...

Or, sell for a modest 1-2 times annual earnings — even if they’ve done extremely well over the years.

For those trying to build a legacy (and not just earn a living), neither looks appealing.

But Paul lays out a third option:

Transforming your current construction business into a vertically integrated real estate investment, development, and construction company.

If you play your cards right, you can create a wealth-building machine that your kids and grandkids will benefit from over the coming decades.

Paul drops a ton of gold nuggets in this podcast that you won’t want to miss — here are some of the highlights:

#1: The 3 Pillars of Wealth-Building

Paul explains that anyone who has successfully built wealth has done three things:

1. They operated a company well to build that wealth

2. They bought and sold assets in a smart way to grow their money

3. They found a way to add value to those assets while they own them

In the construction world, this means using your existing construction business as a springboard into real estate development.

#2: Why Builders Have a Competitive Edge in Development

Most real estate developers don't come from construction backgrounds. They typically started as brokers, lawyers, realtors, or individuals who already had significant capital.

But this doesn't put you at a disadvantage — quite the opposite!

As a builder, you have a unique skillset that gives you a few advantages over traditional developers:

1. Superior cost control

You understand construction costs at a level most developers never will.

As a perfect example — Paul says:

“[That’s what] took out a lot of developers in COVID. So many syndicators went under, because their construction costs got blown out. They made a lot of mistakes.

But my partners in Highspire, they all have construction companies, and they’re real estate developers. And fortunately, things went pretty well for them because they didn't get way out over their skis with their construction estimates because they knew what they were doing.”

2. Speed and adaptability

For projects under $50-60 million, construction companies can move on deals much faster than the average developer.

3. Established industry networks

Construction companies spend years building relationships with subcontractors, suppliers, and accredited investors.

This is something many developers don’t have.

Plus, one extra perk...

Most construction companies suffer through constant boom-bust cycles.

But when they become a vertically integrated real estate developer, that tends to level out.

Because now they can use those projects to keep their people busy when the marketplace allows.

Paul also notes:

“What's interesting is even though we help construction companies become self-managed and then become real estate developers... what we found is real estate developers are coming to us to help them build construction companies for all those reasons that we just mentioned.”

Which goes to show what a massive home-field advantage you have as a builder!

#3: Two key action steps to prepare for real estate development

Becoming a developer takes time.

And, you’ll need to build up your construction business first so that you have a solid foundation to work with.

So here are the two main action steps you should take before focusing on real estate:

1. Build a powerful brand

Per Paul (and this will ruffle some feathers), most construction companies don’t have strong brands.

This cripples their potential cash flow.

So the number one thing that companies need to work on is:

• Building a good brand

• Deploying that brand effectively

• And then selling customers effectively into a company with strong accountability and simple, clear operating systems. 

2. Establish “anti-goals”

These are negative outcomes that you want to avoid as you grow your business.

I.e., “I won’t build up a company that doesn’t allow me to spend time with my wife and kids.”

It’s common to see builders ramp up their marketing and get pummeled with new leads — and then they get greedy and work 70 hours a week at the expense of their health and family.

So you want to set clear boundaries with yourself up front, especially as your workload increases.

Paul’s summary:

“Anyways, that's all I tell companies. Make sure you’ve got that market wind. And then we can fix the plane while we're flying it with good anti-goals and some simple operating systems.”

Once you’ve finished those two steps...

Then you’ll be in a good spot to think about deploying cash flow into real estate development.

We’ve focused mostly on construction advice in this email.

But if you want to hear Paul’s in-depth breakdown on:

• Commercial real estate opportunities working now in 2025 that new developers can take advantage of

• A simple method that will help you learn your market well and get comfortable with analyzing real estate deals in under 3 months

• Why the best real estate development deals are all off-market

• Whether you should buy and hold properties long-term, or buy and resell in 3 to 10 years

• The three main factors that influence the value of real estate (and which one construction companies have unique control over)

You can check out the full episode below on the following platforms:

The Build Show Podcast E166: Building Generational Wealth, Literally

• Build Show Network

• Apple Podcasts

• Spotify

Forward always,

Highspire

P.S.

If you’re interested in step-by-step coaching from Paul and the rest of the Highspire team on:

• How to sustainably scale your construction company (and turn it into a self-managing, profit-generating machine)...

• How to navigate your first steps into becoming a major player in real estate development...

• And eventually, how to raise and leverage capital to maximize your earnings (and begin building generational wealth)

We teach everything you’ll need to know inside Highspire Coaching.

For more details on the program, click here.

And if you’d like to sign up for the next cohort, schedule a consultation with us here.