30 Seconds of Gold

by Austin Fanburg (MBA’27) and Beth Clemens (EMBA’27)

Last month, Austin Fanburg (MBA’27) and Beth Clemens (EMBA’27) joined thousands of industry peers in Miami for the CRE Finance Council’s January Conference, the largest commercial real estate convening in the nation. While the agenda was packed with market forecasts and networking galore, the most poignant reminder came from opening keynote speaker Chris Voss. The former FBI negotiator and CEO of the Black Swan Group kicked off the event by reminding us that in every 90-minute conversation, there are likely only “30 seconds of gold.” 

The challenge is filtering through the noise to find them. So, without further ado, here are our 30 seconds of gold from the conference:

The Georgetown Edge

Our brand as Hoyas carries significant weight, as evidenced by the mention of Georgetown students not once, but twice, during the opening remarks. Institutional reputation is a powerful advantage.

Relationships Drive Deals

What do you do when you have no leverage? You rely on “tactical empathy.” In real estate, where complexity and egos often stall progress, the only variable that truly affects deal timelines is the strength of your relationships.

Coachability is Still Priced at a Premium

Technical skills are viewed as table stakes, but coachability is a differentiator. In a volatile market, the ability to internalize feedback and apply it rapidly is more valuable than static expertise.

Silence is Strategic

The most effective operators and dealmakers understand that real breakthroughs take place during moments of silence. Mastering “the pause” is often more persuasive than the pitch itself.

Operational Scaling

Most firms (and young professionals) chase capital before they are ready to manage it. The bottleneck is rarely the availability of funding, but rather the operational infrastructure required to manage it effectively, as firms often underestimate how long it takes to build the reporting discipline and execution capacity needed for scale.

Due Diligence is the New Deal Structure

Diligence has shifted from a pre-closing checkbox to the primary driver of outcomes. In an environment of narrowing development opportunities, depth of investigation dictates the terms of the transaction. In practice, diligence is where teams either build conviction or reveal fragility, shaping not just whether a deal closes but how durable it proves to be.

The Generalist Specialist

Success requires a dual perspective: operating as a multifaceted professional at the firm level while maintaining discipline in your specific lane at the individual level. Mastery comes from understanding the big ideas across multiple disciplines without losing sight of core execution.

The Invisible Work

The real work is in the preparation, and if you haven’t figured it out already, the alumni network matters. A lot. A bit of research and proactive outreach opened doors and filled our schedules with invaluable learning opportunities before the conference had even begun.

Taken together, these moments suggest that in today’s market, advantage is built less through prediction and more through preparation and execution.

Hoya Saxa!