Today, I welcome Ryan Hermansky to the Investing Secrets Podcast. Ryan got his start in the most unlikely place, the cannabis industry, before finding his real lane in private lending. Today he's President of Private Money Funding, stepping in where banks simply won't: funding midsize commercial deals the big institutions ignore, and closing in two weeks or less what many banks would take up to six months to do. We kick things off with Ryan's origin story and how he and his partners built a private lending fund from the ground up. From there, we dive into the real mechanics of the business: why perfectly qualified borrowers get turned down by banks, how he underwrites every deal assuming it fails, and how his fund pays investors a 9% return that compounds monthly with zero lockup. We close on why so many of his borrowers come to him burned out by the SBA, and where he sees the opportunity in private lending in 2026 and beyond. If you're looking to understand how private money works in commercial real estate, and how to generate hands-off returns without the headaches of owning property, this episode delivers a clear look inside a corner of the market that most investors never see. Welcome, Ryan, to The Investing Secrets Podcast…

Follow Ryan:
Website: https://www.privatemoneyfunding.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-hermansky-a235248/

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Today, I welcome Joel Friedland to the Investing Secrets Podcast. Joel has spent 45 years buying single-tenant industrial buildings around Chicago. But in 2008, with 50 buildings, seven banks, and $70 million in personal guarantees, he nearly lost everything. He walked away from deals for a full decade and came back at 60 with one rule: buy all cash, zero debt, so his investors can never lose their money to a bank again. Today he runs Brit Properties, where he syndicates industrial buildings completely unlevered. Debt-free syndications. We kick things off with Joel's origin story and the brutal 2008 lesson that reshaped how he thinks about risk and leverage. From there, we dive into the mechanics and the math of debt-free investing. We close on why he trusts operators with battle scars over those who claim they've never lost investor capital, and the one investing secret he's built his entire career on. If you're serious about industrial real estate, downside-first investment strategies, and building durable wealth without betting the house on leverage, this one delivers hard-won wisdom from someone who has been through four downturns and learned from every single one. Welcome, Joel, to The Investing Secrets Podcast…

Follow Joel:
Website: https://www.britproperties.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joel-friedland-5508a791/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@investingwithjoel

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LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3L2sTc7
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Today, I welcome Sequoya Borgman to the Investing Secrets Podcast. Sequoya’s path to running his own private equity firm spans two decades inside the industry. A CPA by training, he spent years at top PE firms working on M&A alongside the best in the business. He eventually made partner, but being one of a thousand partners meant he couldn’t drive the direction of the firm - so in 2017 he walked away from the W-2 and started fresh. Today, Sequoya is the founder of Borgman Capital, a lower-middle-market private equity firm that has acquired more than 20 businesses, buying older family-owned and founder-led companies in industrial manufacturing and food, where his team is often the first institutional investor. He’s also built an industrial sale-leaseback real estate arm and launched Pass the Hat, giving accredited investors direct access to his deals. We kick things off with Sequoya’s origin story - how walking away from a partnership, and surviving a first deal that collapsed, set the foundation for everything that followed. From there, we dive into the real mechanics of the business: how he structures leveraged buyouts, what actually drives the multiple you pay for a company, and the value-creation levers most people misunderstand about private equity. We close on where he sees the biggest opportunities heading into the second half of 2026 - the wave of aging baby-boomer owners who need to sell, why the best-performing funds were born in down markets, and the one investing secret he’s learned to live by. If you’re serious about understanding private equity, alternative investments, and how sophisticated investors buy and build real businesses for outsized, tax-efficient returns, this one delivers. Welcome, Sequoya, to The Investing Secrets Podcast…

Follow Sequoya:
Pass the Hat: https://www.passthehat.com
Borgman Capital: https://www.borgmancapital.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sequoya-borgman-8a6057a/

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LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3L2sTc7
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