#34- Funding, Mentors, and Tough Self-Talk with Elizabeth Francisco, President & Co-Founder of ResMan (Part 2)
the bonus episode with Elizabeth Francisco - part 2 of an amazing conversation with the president & Co-Founder of Resman
My conversation with Elizabeth was so great, we quickly realized it needed to be two episodes.
This second bonus episode is all about:
Getting funding for ResMan.
Finding a mentor to continue your career growth.
How men and women network differently - and how it might be holding you back!
Knowing when it’s time to dream bigger and why sometimes that means having a serious look in the mirror.
Tune in and hear Elizabeth Francisco, of ResMan, share all of her hard-earned knowledge! We promise you won’t want to miss this.
Did you know the first thing about running a software company?
Nope! The business model was so shockingly different from Multifamily Operations.
In the beginning, we were bootstrapped. We literally piggybacked off our Sequoia office space and had our development teams working after hours. When we first started this, I realized we were going to have to raise money, and not everybody wanted to hear that. But that didn't stop me. I started making phone calls on my own. I remember one day, in particular, calling people all morning and leaving messages. No one would call back. I didn’t give up, though! I was driving down Highway 121 in Dallas, Texas on my way from my house to work. I decided to call this particular private equity group via bluetooth while driving.
I'll never forget what happened next! The CEO answered the phone. I was totally prepared to leave yet another message, but he answered the phone. “This is Todd Gardner.” And I'm like, “THE Todd Gardner?”
I started babbling because I was so unprepared to talk to him! Bless that man, he took it all in and he helped me. He even sent over a document of SaaS metrics. I didn't even know what some of those acronyms meant. So, he set up a call to go over them with me. We weren't tracking any of them, by the way. We had to really take a step back. That was basically my SaaS-for-dummies into a packet that he sent me. While we weren’t the right fit for their investment model, he helped me get my first two pitches out of the way.
In hindsight, it’s incredible how things worked out. He said he never typically answered the phone, but that day he happened to walk by while it was ringing and just picked it up.
All I could think was, “Thank God you did!”
It’s the craziest story, but it really happened that way.
How would somebody go about finding a mentor? What advice would you give them?
Oh, this is my favorite topic. It really does come down to networking.
First of all, I would ask someone in a position that I’d like to eventually be in to be my mentor. I would also encourage that if you have the opportunity to attend a local association event, take advantage. You'd be surprised who you meet there. People are gracious in this industry. I hear other people that come in from outside the industry comment on that all the time, we are a family. Which makes sense! After all, we are multifamily!
There are a lot of people in different stages of their careers and they are usually more than willing to help. My supplier partners helped me when I was coming up through the ranks, even as a property manager. I can't tell you how many times I relied on a supplier partner, in whatever role I was looking to grow into, and they offered their help and experience. So don’t exclude considering a supplier partner as a mentor too!
The shortcut to advancing your career?
It’s all about building your network.
Statistically, men typically network two to three tiers above their current position whereas women statistically network maybe one tier above or at their same level. And I’ve seen this to be true while attending conferences now as a supplier and watching how people interact. I've seen groups of property managers that all tend to stick by their regional supervisor. You don't see them stretching out to interact with their regional VP or someone above them and it’s even rarer to see them network with others outside of their own company.
That's one of the things I would encourage people to do more than anything. Remember, learning the hard way sucks. So you want to find people that are two or three tiers above you, or where you're trying to get to, they have probably already been through the hardest times. They have learned those lessons and they can share knowledge with you so that you can navigate your own path more effectively. Truly is a shortcut!
“If you’re not willing to invest in yourself and you don’t believe you’re worth the effort and your future career self is not worth the effort, then why would I?”
What would you say to someone who feels stuck in their multifamily career path?
Ok, so here’s a little tough talk for all of us.
I think you have to take a step back and be willing to do some self-evaluation. You have to be willing to ask yourself some tough questions. One of the things I get asked a lot is, “What do I need to do to grow my career?”.
Before I give any advice, I'm going to push back. First, I'm going to ask what you've done to invest in yourself, outside of work. Because if you're not willing to invest in yourself, if you don't believe you're worth the effort, and your future career is not worth the effort, then why would I?
The key to my entire career has been the level of effort and investment I was willing to put in myself. The great thing about this industry is if you come into it with the right mindset and you're willing to sacrifice some of your personal time to continue to grow your own skills you can literally move up through the ranks in four to six years from entry-level to a mid-level management position or higher. And what’s incredible about that is you're running a multimillion-dollar business and getting all the business acumen that comes with it.
Practical steps to ask for what you want (and dream bigger!):
Don’t wait for someone else to create your career. Don’t let someone else plan it for you.
If you’re thinking about taking another job offer, consider sitting down with your current supervisor and saying, “This is what I'm trying to get to. I feel like I've done a lot. I've done X, Y, and Z (and be ready to back it up with facts and data). I'm worth this.”
Hopefully, they will take a step back and realize that you are right. Most of the time, if you’re indeed right about what you’ve accomplished and brought to the table, they’ll acknowledge it.
They may also come back and say they don’t agree. And that’s another opportunity to say, “Okay, I hear you. I want to learn, help me make a plan of what I need to tackle and ask what do you need to see from me so that I can earn it.” Then you should work on executing that plan. But again, take it on yourself to make sure there are checkpoints and set those follow-up meetings.
If you get to that point and you've delivered on those results and they're still not willing to reward you appropriately, then you need to ask yourself if you're in the right company.
If you're not, then you need to make a change and take that leap.
>>Tune in to the episode to hear Elizabeth’s advice on making a pros and cons list BEFORE you make a change. Whether you choose to stay or not, that list can help you in your job hunt.<<
So what's next for ResMan and what's next for you?
Well, ResMan is still on its way and we still have a lot to conquer out there. I am grateful that the platform that is ResMan gives me an opportunity and a way of giving back. I love this industry. I wouldn't be here today and I wouldn’t have been able to provide for my family if it hadn't been for multifamily. So the passion for our users is real.
We have a lot of people from outside of the industry coming into multifamily and with that comes new ideas and new opportunities.
I'm trying to figure out where I can help people with their multifamily journey, especially other women. I'm doing a lot of speaking about empowering women. But that’s not to say that women need any special treatment. I don't think any of us want anything just because we're female. We want to earn it. But then again, I can also tell you that there were people who pulled me up. They saw my potential before I did.
I want to be that for other women.
