Onward, a Fundrise Production

Latest Episodes:

27: Understanding AI and its implications Sep 29, 2023

As artificial intelligence has dominated headlines over the past year, it’s become increasingly critical for everybody to understand AI, due to its likelihood to impact each and every one of us. In this latest episode of Onward, join Fundrise CEO Ben Miller and co-host Cardiff Garcia for a conversation that aims to reveal some of the big picture ideas driving AI’s current growth, along with the potential ramifications of those changes — and why it really is worth getting excited over. In terms of impact, Ben and Cardiff explain, we’re beginning to be able to rely on AI to perform tasks as vital and varied as weather forecasting or performing medical diagnoses. The financial outcomes of these leaps are staggering, according to recent reports and projections by some of the world’s largest accounting and financial firms, some expecting annual GDP growth to triple, directly attributed to AI’s ability to automate 40-70% of all workers’ activities. So where does that leave the labor market, people’s day-to-day lives, and investment opportunities in infrastructures that will help govern a whole new technological paradigm? Join Ben and Cardiff in this latest episode of Onward to find out.
Have questions or feedback about this episode? Drop us a note at Onward@Fundrise.com.
Onward is hosted by Ben Miller, co-founder and CEO of Fundrise, and Cardiff Garcia, co-founder of Bazaar Audio and host of the economics-focused podcast The New Bazaar (after spending many years as the co-creator and co-host of NPR's The Indicator podcast).
Podcast production by The Podcast Consultant. Music by Seaplane Armada.
About Fundrise
With over 2 million users, Fundrise is America's largest direct-to-investor alternative asset investment platform. Since 2012, our mission has been to build a better financial system by empowering the individual. We make it easier and more efficient than ever for anyone to invest in institutional-quality private alternative assets — all at the touch of a button.
Please see fundrise.com/oc for more information on all of the Fundrise-sponsored investment funds and products, including each fund’s offering document(s).
Want to see the specific properties that make up and power Fundrise portfolios? Check out our active and past projects at www.fundrise.com/assets.

26: The Insider's Lobbyist: How lobbying really works, with David Carmen Aug 25, 2023

In our latest episode of Onward, Fundrise CEO Ben Miller is joined by David Carmen, founder of the Carmen Group and one of the top lobbyists in the nation. He has worked on some of the most important issues of the past nearly half century — from 9/11 to Softbank’s $22B acquisition of Sprint. With increasing polarization and political dysfunction, many may feel that our democracy is at risk. Most people don’t know why, let alone how we might fix it. With nearly 40 years as a Washington-DC-insider, David Carmen has real knowledge and concrete suggestions that he argues could bring us into a new era of effective government.
Have questions or feedback about this episode? Drop us a note at Onward@Fundrise.com.
Onward is hosted by Ben Miller, co-founder and CEO of Fundrise, and Cardiff Garcia, co-founder of Bazaar Audio and host of the economics-focused podcast The New Bazaar (after spending many years as the co-creator and co-host of NPR's The Indicator podcast).
Podcast production by The Podcast Consultant. Music by Seaplane Armada.
About Fundrise
With over 1 million users, Fundrise is America's largest direct-to-investor alternative asset investment platform. Since 2012, our mission has been to build a better financial system by empowering the individual. We make it easier and more efficient than ever for anyone to invest in institutional-quality private alternative assets — all at the touch of a button.
Please see fundrise.com/oc for more information on all of the Fundrise-sponsored investment funds and products, including each fund’s offering document(s).
Want to see the specific properties that make up and power Fundrise portfolios? Check out our active and past projects at www.fundrise.com/assets.

25: The Big Bang: The origin of modern real estate and banking Aug 18, 2023

In this latest episode of Onward, Fundrise CEO Ben Miller and co-host Cardiff Garcia give us a tour of the economic landscape that was once the status quo: a world where local lending institutions called S&Ls — or thrifts — were the primary way individuals saved for and financed home ownership. However, due to a confluence of events, including rocketing inflation similar to the past 18 months’, S&Ls found themselves in a period of acute insolvency. As Ben and Cardiff explain, a series of regulatory blunders, bailouts, and bad actors then caused the crisis to deepen, eventually leading to a total shutdown of the S&L framework, forcing our financial system to perform a hard reset. In the process, the long financial era that had begun in the 1930s came to an end, and our modern era began. Out of the Savings and Loan Crisis arose some of the most basic pillars of today’s economic system, fundamental to how we now think about and handle money, including national banks, banks as mortgage providers, public REITs, and the entire industry of private equity real estate. Ultimately, the Savings and Loan Crisis was so instrumental to shaping our monetary systems today that to truly understand modern finance, we need to look back at that explosive event that set the trajectory our economy still follows.
Have questions or feedback about this episode? Drop us a note at Onward@Fundrise.com.
Onward is hosted by Ben Miller, co-founder and CEO of Fundrise, and Cardiff Garcia, co-founder of Bazaar Audio and host of the economics-focused podcast The New Bazaar (after spending many years as the co-creator and co-host of NPR's The Indicator podcast).
Podcast production by The Podcast Consultant. Music by Seaplane Armada.
About Fundrise
With over 1 million users, Fundrise is America's largest direct-to-investor alternative asset investment platform. Since 2012, our mission has been to build a better financial system by empowering the individual. We make it easier and more efficient than ever for anyone to invest in institutional-quality private alternative assets — all at the touch of a button.
Please see fundrise.com/oc for more information on all of the Fundrise-sponsored investment funds and products, including each fund’s offering document(s).
Want to see the specific properties that make up and power Fundrise portfolios? Check out our active and past projects at www.fundrise.com/assets.

24: The case for a recession Jul 05, 2023

In the latest episode of Onward, Ben and Cardiff work through one of the most confounding questions currently poised for the economy: What do we make of two seemingly contradictory data sets, where one is telling us that the economy is generally healthy, while the other says we remain precisely on track for a full-blown recession, according to all historical precedent? This source of cognitive dissonance recently sent Ben down a path of research, which has led to a critical observation: Before every recession in recorded Fed history comes a “Great Lag” — an average of 10 months between when the Fed reached peak interest rates and when the subsequent recessions actually began… resulting in a devastating average total stock market decline of -43%. Taking this data into consideration, the task of navigating the recession still hasn’t even started — in fact, we still haven’t even entered the first inning, as Ben says. If many companies are already strained in the current market, with current interest rates — as we’ve seen borne out in some sectors of commercial real estate — they certainly are not prepared for the the multi-year marathon of economic hardship that this data forecasts. So, despite the relative calm of our current economic moment, Ben points out that right now is the moment to prepare for what is almost certainly a recession still lingering on the horizon.
Have questions or feedback about this episode? Drop us a note at Onward@Fundrise.com.
Onward is hosted by Ben Miller, co-founder and CEO of Fundrise, and Cardiff Garcia, co-founder of Bazaar Audio and host of the economics-focused podcast The New Bazaar (after spending many years as the co-creator and co-host of NPR's The Indicator podcast).
Podcast production by The Podcast Consultant. Music by Seaplane Armada.
About Fundrise
With over 1 million users, Fundrise is America's largest direct-to-investor alternative asset investment platform. Since 2012, our mission has been to build a better financial system by empowering the individual. We make it easier and more efficient than ever for anyone to invest in institutional-quality private alternative assets — all at the touch of a button.
Please see fundrise.com/oc for more information on all of the Fundrise-sponsored investment funds and products, including each fund’s offering document(s).
Want to see the specific properties that make up and power Fundrise portfolios? Check out our active and past projects at www.fundrise.com/assets.

23: Debt ceiling crises, with Noreen Harrington May 15, 2023

Noreen Harrington’s background in finance has involved working on everything from running Treasuries for Goldman Sachs to helping manage the creation of the Euro. In this latest episode of Onward, she joins Fundrise CEO Ben Miller to help us better understand why the upcoming debt ceiling crisis in the United States is a serious threat to economic stability. Today, there are a number of macro crosswinds in play including China’s challenge to SWIFT banking and the rise of digital currencies. These factors set the stage where a politicized debt ceiling crisis threatens to put the fundamental credit and reputation of the US dollar on the line. As Noreen explains, “If we default even one day, I think the ramifications could be on your children and their children.” Even so, from an investing perspective, Noreen validates one of the primary ideas we’ve championed at Fundrise for the past several months, as The Great Deleveraging unfolds: “I think if you have liquidity, there'll be an unbelievable opportunity coming for you to have rescue capital.”
15:05 Noreen's Perspective
Have questions or feedback about this episode? Drop us a note at Onward@Fundrise.com.
Onward is hosted by Ben Miller, co-founder and CEO of Fundrise, and Cardiff Garcia, co-founder of Bazaar Audio and host of the economics-focused podcast The New Bazaar (after spending many years as the co-creator and co-host of NPR's The Indicator podcast).
Podcast production by The Podcast Consultant. Music by Seaplane Armada.
About Fundrise
With over 1 million users, Fundrise is America's largest direct-to-investor alternative asset investment platform. Since 2012, our mission has been to build a better financial system by empowering the individual. We make it easier and more efficient than ever for anyone to invest in institutional-quality private alternative assets — all at the touch of a button.
Please see the Fundrise Flagship Real Estate Fund website (http://fundriseintervalfund.com), Fundrise Income Fund website (http://fundriseincomerealestatefund.com), and Fundrise Innovation Fund website (http://fundrise.com/innovation) for more information on each fund, including each fund’s prospectus. For the publicly filed offering circulars of the Fundrise eREITs and eFunds, not all of which may be currently qualified by the SEC, please see fundrise.com/oc.
Want to see the specific properties that make up and power Fundrise portfolios? Check out our active and past projects at www.fundrise.com/assets.

22: The case for optimism, with Cardiff Garcia May 05, 2023

If you’ve listened to Onward regularly, you know that Fundrise’s CEO Ben Miller has been a perennial contrarian when it comes to assessing the outlook for the economy, especially as markets have overheated and behaved irrationally. So, this latest episode of Onward might surprise you, as Ben gives the floor to co-host Cardiff Garcia, who treats us to a fundamentally different perspective — a full-throated case for economic optimism, as we look ahead to 2024. Ben and Cardiff’s conversation begins with an assessment of the aftermath of the COVID pandemic, where so many of the social, economic, and political upheavals that paved the way for historic inflation also set the stage for fundamentally positive effects on economic productivity, technological adoption, and true cultural change. While the first benefit of these COVID responses was immediate stability, the second boon, our hosts argue, has yet to become fully visible: a new era of growth and productivity.
Have questions or feedback about this episode? Drop us a note at Onward@Fundrise.com.
Onward is hosted by Ben Miller, co-founder and CEO of Fundrise, and Cardiff Garcia, co-founder of Bazaar Audio and host of the economics-focused podcast The New Bazaar (after spending many years as the co-creator and co-host of NPR's The Indicator podcast).
Podcast production by The Podcast Consultant. Music by Seaplane Armada.
About Fundrise
With over 1 million users, Fundrise is America's largest direct-to-investor alternative asset investment platform. Since 2012, our mission has been to build a better financial system by empowering the individual. We make it easier and more efficient than ever for anyone to invest in institutional-quality private alternative assets — all at the touch of a button.
Please see the Fundrise Flagship Real Estate Fund website (http://fundriseintervalfund.com), Fundrise Income Fund website (http://fundriseincomerealestatefund.com), and Fundrise Innovation Fund website (http://fundrise.com/innovation) for more information on each fund, including each fund’s prospectus. For the publicly filed offering circulars of the Fundrise eREITs and eFunds, not all of which may be currently qualified by the SEC, please see fundrise.com/oc.
Want to see the specific properties that make up and power Fundrise portfolios? Check out our active and past projects at www.fundrise.com/assets.

21: Bonus Episode: The fundamental nature of the universe, with Amanda Gefter Apr 18, 2023

In this bonus episode, our host Ben Miller interviews a special guest, the science writer Amanda Gefter, to discuss some of the most intriguing and consistently mind-blowing ideas from her book about cutting-edge physics and cosmology, Trespassing on Einstein’s Lawn. Departing from Onward’s usual topics — the economy, what’s happening in the markets, and Fundrise — Ben asks Amanda to explore a few of the fundamental (but deeply unintuitive and surprising) ideas that underlie the architecture of quantum physics and the behavior of our universe. Over the course of their discussion, they touch on the importance of Einstein’s relativity; why “variance” is at the core of how we define "something" vs. "nothing"; the surprising nature of Hawking radiation; the balance of elegance and practicality in John Archibald Wheeler’s writings; the mechanics through which the universe may eventually "restart"; why perspective always matters; and much more. Join Ben to understand and celebrate the important ways that Amanda’s work has helped push knowledge forward, which is, ultimately, what Onward is all about.
Have questions or feedback about this episode? Drop us a note at Onward@Fundrise.com.
Onward is hosted by Ben Miller, co-founder and CEO of Fundrise, and Cardiff Garcia, co-founder of Bazaar Audio and host of the economics-focused podcast The New Bazaar (after spending many years as the co-creator and co-host of NPR's The Indicator podcast).
Podcast production by The Podcast Consultant. Music by Seaplane Armada.
About Fundrise
With over 1 million users, Fundrise is America's largest direct-to-investor alternative asset investment platform. Since 2012, our mission has been to build a better financial system by empowering the individual. We make it easier and more efficient than ever for anyone to invest in institutional-quality private alternative assets — all at the touch of a button.
Please see the Fundrise Flagship Real Estate Fund website (http://fundriseintervalfund.com), Fundrise Income Fund website (http://fundriseincomerealestatefund.com), and Fundrise Innovation Fund website (http://fundrise.com/innovation) for more information on each fund, including each fund’s prospectus. For the publicly filed offering circulars of the Fundrise eREITs and eFunds, not all of which may be currently qualified by the SEC, please see fundrise.com/oc.
Want to see the specific properties that make up and power Fundrise portfolios? Check out our active and past projects at www.fundrise.com/assets.

20: The Cascade, the Great Deleveraging’s next chapter Apr 03, 2023

In the weeks since Silvergate, Signature, and Silicon Valley Banks’ respective failures, observers around the world have found ways to classify each collapse as the result of specific, isolated circumstances. But our hosts at Onward see something much different: a systemic, likely global crisis in the financial markets, playing out very close to what we projected in our November 2022 episode, “The Great Deleveraging” (https://fundrise.com/education/onward-episode-10). In a direct follow-up to that episode, join Fundrise CEO Ben Miller and co-host Cardiff Garcia for an analysis of how the recent bank crises are strong evidence that The Great Deleveraging is in full swing, along with a forecast on what is likely to happen next for the economy — a phase that Ben has deemed “The Great Cascade,” as the impacts of the liquidity crisis reverberate across multiple sectors of the market, with profound effects. There’s even an event on the horizon that Ben believes is likely to be the straw that “breaks the turtle’s back — toppling turtles, all the way down.” Listen to the episode to find out what that straw is likely to be. (And listen to the original Great Deleveraging episode (https://fundrise.com/education/onward-episode-10), if you need a refresher in turtle cosmology.)
Have questions or feedback about this episode? Drop us a note at Onward@Fundrise.com.
Onward is hosted by Ben Miller, co-founder and CEO of Fundrise, and Cardiff Garcia, co-founder of Bazaar Audio and host of the economics-focused podcast The New Bazaar (after spending many years as the co-creator and co-host of NPR's The Indicator podcast).
Podcast production by The Podcast Consultant. Music by Seaplane Armada.
About Fundrise
With over 1 million users, Fundrise is America's largest direct-to-investor alternative asset investment platform. Since 2012, our mission has been to build a better financial system by empowering the individual. We make it easier and more efficient than ever for anyone to invest in institutional-quality private alternative assets — all at the touch of a button.
Please see the Fundrise Flagship Real Estate Fund website (http://fundriseintervalfund.com), Fundrise Income Fund website (http://fundriseincomerealestatefund.com), and Fundrise Innovation Fund website (http://fundrise.com/innovation) for more information on each fund, including each fund’s prospectus. For the publicly filed offering circulars of the Fundrise eREITs and eFunds, not all of which may be currently qualified by the SEC, please see fundrise.com/oc.
Want to see the specific properties that make up and power Fundrise portfolios? Check out our active and past projects at www.fundrise.com/assets.

19: How we broke the British pound, with Rob Johnson Mar 17, 2023

In the wake of Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse last week, Onward host and Fundrise CEO Ben Miller sits down for an interview with the economist and trader Rob Johnson, one of the most experienced investors in the world at the fault line of government and finance. Having served as a Managing Director of the Quantum Fund, Chief Economist of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, and currently as president of the Institute for New Economic Thinking, Rob has worked closely with policymakers across the entire political spectrum. Ben and Rob use the 1992 breaking of the British pound as a historical reference point and centerpiece for the orbit of their discussion. That event formed out of a collision of geopolitical forces, interest rate policy, and cross-institutional financial interactions, all with significant parallels to the world today. And, as Ben and Rob discuss, the pound’s collapse had implications that went far beyond a single bank or country’s ability to function — it ushered in a new era of the power and peril of global finance.
Have questions or feedback about this episode? Drop us a note at Onward@Fundrise.com.
Onward is hosted by Ben Miller, co-founder and CEO of Fundrise, and Cardiff Garcia, co-founder of Bazaar Audio and host of the economics-focused podcast The New Bazaar (after spending many years as the co-creator and co-host of NPR's The Indicator podcast).
Podcast production by The Podcast Consultant. Music by Seaplane Armada.
About Fundrise
With over 1 million users, Fundrise is America's largest direct-to-investor alternative asset investment platform. Since 2012, our mission has been to build a better financial system by empowering the individual. We make it easier and more efficient than ever for anyone to invest in institutional-quality private alternative assets — all at the touch of a button.
Please see the Fundrise Flagship Real Estate Fund website (http://fundriseintervalfund.com), Fundrise Income Fund website (http://fundriseincomerealestatefund.com), and Fundrise Innovation Fund website (http://fundrise.com/innovation) for more information on each fund, including each fund’s prospectus. For the publicly filed offering circulars of the Fundrise eREITs and eFunds, not all of which may be currently qualified by the SEC, please see fundrise.com/oc.
Want to see the specific properties that make up and power Fundrise portfolios? Check out our active and past projects at www.fundrise.com/assets.

18: The $50B contrarian, Ira Lubert Mar 01, 2023

When it comes to ambitious investing, many people make the mistake of chasing glory and fame — at the expense of sound judgment and real financial results. But not Ira Lubert, chairman and co-founder of Independence Capital Partners and Lubert Adler Partners, and the guest on our latest episode of Onward. Ira has instead spent decades content to stay out of the limelight, while architecting a family of funds now worth roughly $50B. Ira’s activities in real estate, equity in tech and health care, life sciences, debt funds, and more, have contributed to the vast and varied portfolio that has slowly accumulated and grown under his stewardship for years. Join Fundrise CEO Ben Miller as he talks to Ira about his key insights from his professional experience, including the importance of having extremely flexible timelines, when to deploy capital, balancing equity and debt, and more.
Have questions or feedback about this episode? Drop us a note at Onward@Fundrise.com.
Onward is hosted by Ben Miller, co-founder and CEO of Fundrise, and Cardiff Garcia, co-founder of Bazaar Audio and host of the economics-focused podcast The New Bazaar (after spending many years as the co-creator and co-host of NPR's The Indicator podcast).
Podcast production by The Podcast Consultant. Music by Seaplane Armada.
About Fundrise
With over 1 million users, Fundrise is America's largest direct-to-investor alternative asset investment platform. Since 2012, our mission has been to build a better financial system by empowering the individual. We make it easier and more efficient than ever for anyone to invest in institutional-quality private alternative assets — all at the touch of a button.
Please see the Fundrise Flagship Real Estate Fund website (http://fundriseintervalfund.com), Fundrise Income Fund website (http://fundriseincomerealestatefund.com), and Fundrise Innovation Fund website (http://fundrise.com/innovation) for more information on each fund, including each fund’s prospectus. For the publicly filed offering circulars of the Fundrise eREITs and eFunds, not all of which may be currently qualified by the SEC, please see fundrise.com/oc.
Want to see the specific properties that make up and power Fundrise portfolios? Check out our active and past projects at www.fundrise.com/assets.

17: Inside the VC playbook — After a tech bubble collapse Feb 10, 2023

Mind games and “dirty term sheets.” These are the kinds of potential pitfalls that await tech entrepreneurs and employees in the financial landscape of 2023, especially those particularly in need of fresh infusions of venture capital. In this latest episode of Onward, Fundrise CEO Ben Miller walks co-host Cardiff Garcia through another set of fascinating — if often unforgiving — complexities arising from today’s high interest rate environment. Now that capital is no longer flowing freely and willingly from investors across the country, what options do tech leaders have when their companies’ valuations plummet in comparison to the sky-high estimations from just last year? As Ben emphasizes once again, when we’re uncertain about the future, we should always look to the past. Using lessons learned from the 2000 tech bubble collapse, Ben illustrates for us how a company seeking venture capital in a harsh financial environment like today’s has a choice. They encounter a fork in the road: Is it more prudent to take a down round and accept a lower valuation? Or better to accept structured money and dirty terms, while maintaining the high value assessments assigned during the fundraising of earlier rounds? All this and more in the latest episode of Onward.
Have questions or feedback about this episode? Drop us a note at Onward@Fundrise.com.
Onward is hosted by Ben Miller, co-founder and CEO of Fundrise, and Cardiff Garcia, co-founder of Bazaar Audio and host of the economics-focused podcast The New Bazaar (after spending many years as the co-creator and co-host of NPR's The Indicator podcast).
Podcast production by The Podcast Consultant. Music by Seaplane Armada.
About Fundrise
With over 1 million users, Fundrise is America's largest direct-to-investor alternative asset investment platform. Since 2012, our mission has been to build a better financial system by empowering the individual. We make it easier and more efficient than ever for anyone to invest in institutional-quality private alternative assets — all at the touch of a button.
Please see the Fundrise Flagship Real Estate Fund website (http://fundriseintervalfund.com), Fundrise Income Fund website (http://fundriseincomerealestatefund.com), and Fundrise Innovation Fund website (http://fundrise.com/innovation) for more information on each fund, including each fund’s prospectus. For the publicly filed offering circulars of the Fundrise eREITs and eFunds, not all of which may be currently qualified by the SEC, please see fundrise.com/oc.
Want to see the specific properties that make up and power Fundrise portfolios? Check out our active and past projects at www.fundrise.com/assets.

16: On the state of the market, with the creator of a $1T financial innovation, Schecky Schechner Jan 20, 2023

Fundrise CEO Ben Miller is joined by Schecky Schechner, Managing Director and Co-Head of US Real Estate Banking at Barclays Capital, for a wide-ranging and technically insightful conversation in this latest episode of Onward. As Ben points out, Schecky is credited as one of the co-inventors of Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities (CMBS) in the wake of the S&L crisis in the late ‘80s, a securitization innovation that has since become a trillion-dollar system, earning Schecky his reputation as a living legend in the real estate world. Ben and Schecky’s conversation opens with a broad discussion on the current state of the market before moving into a recap of our “Great Deleveraging” thesis. They then go on to discuss a wealth of additional topics and key financial ideas, including how securitization is a democratizing force in financial markets; why the late 1980’s were “the Big Bang” for real estate finance; why the idioms “A rolling loan gathers no loss,” and “Extend and pretend,” might have a major impact on the American economy over the next twelve months; and much more.
Have questions or feedback about this episode? Drop us a note at Onward@Fundrise.com.
Onward is hosted by Ben Miller, co-founder and CEO of Fundrise, and Cardiff Garcia, co-founder of Bazaar Audio and host of the economics-focused podcast The New Bazaar (after spending many years as the co-creator and co-host of NPR's The Indicator podcast).
Podcast production by The Podcast Consultant. Music by Seaplane Armada.
About Fundrise: With over 1 million users, Fundrise is America's largest direct-to-investor alternative asset investment platform. Since 2012, our mission has been to build a better financial system by empowering the individual. We make it easier and more efficient than ever for anyone to invest in institutional-quality private alternative assets — all at the touch of a button.
Please see the Fundrise Flagship Real Estate Fund website (http://fundriseintervalfund.com), Fundrise Income Fund website (http://fundriseincomerealestatefund.com), and Fundrise Innovation Fund website (http://fundrise.com/innovation) for more information on each fund, including each fund’s prospectus. For the publicly filed offering circulars of the Fundrise eREITs and eFunds, not all of which may be currently qualified by the SEC, please see fundrise.com/oc.
Want to see the specific properties that make up and power Fundrise portfolios? Check out our active and past projects at www.fundrise.com/assets.

15: The largest real estate developer in the world, Steve Ross Jan 14, 2023

In the latest episode of Onward, Fundrise CEO Ben Miller gives us the opportunity to listen in on a conversation with one of the most experienced and influential figures in real estate today: Steve Ross, the largest real estate developer in the world. In addition to being the co-founder and chairman of RSE Ventures and owning the Miami Dolphins, Steve is the chairman and founder of Related Companies, the real estate firm behind the Time Warner Center in New York City, plus the 18 million square foot Hudson Yards project, the largest private real estate development in the history of the United States. Ben and Steve’s conversation covers a broad range of topics, drawing on Steve’s vast experience of over 50 years as a major player in the real estate industry. They discuss how real estate funding has changed over the decades, how experiences from past financial crises can help investors today, and the importance of affordable housing for the future of the American economy.
Have questions or feedback about this episode? Drop us a note at Onward@Fundrise.com.
Onward is hosted by Ben Miller, co-founder and CEO of Fundrise, and Cardiff Garcia, co-founder of Bazaar Audio and host of the economics-focused podcast The New Bazaar (after spending many years as the co-creator and co-host of NPR's The Indicator podcast).
Podcast production by Seaplane Armada and The Podcast Consultant. Music by Seaplane Armada.
About Fundrise: With over 1 million users, Fundrise is America's largest direct-to-investor alternative asset investment platform. Since 2012, our mission has been to build a better financial system by empowering the individual. We make it easier and more efficient than ever for anyone to invest in institutional-quality private alternative assets — all at the touch of a button.
Please see the Fundrise Flagship Real Estate Fund website (http://fundriseintervalfund.com), Fundrise Income Fund website (http://fundriseincomerealestatefund.com), and Fundrise Innovation Fund website (http://fundrise.com/innovation) for more information on each fund, including each fund’s prospectus. For the publicly filed offering circulars of the Fundrise eREITs and eFunds, not all of which may be currently qualified by the SEC, please see fundrise.com/oc.
Want to see the specific properties that make up and power Fundrise portfolios? Check out our active and past projects at www.fundrise.com/assets.

14: Year-End Performance in Depth & Investment Strategies for 2023 Dec 30, 2022

In anticipation of the upcoming publication of Fundrise’s 2022 year-end letter to investors, CEO Ben Miller is once again joined by Kendall Davis, Head of Investor Relations and Investor Operations, for an in-depth analysis and conversation about the Fundrise portfolio’s 2022 performance.
This episode is indispensable to any listener interested in better contextualization of and perspective on our portfolio and its outlook, whether that’s understanding how we so handily outperformed public market analogues; how we adjusted our strategy and fortified our portfolio over the past several years in anticipation of the sweeping 2022 market downturn; and why, looking ahead, we’re in a position of enviable investing strength, as we’ve prepared to take advantage of this next stage of the market cycle.
Some of the topics Kendall brings to the conversation for Ben’s consideration include:
- Why Fundrise NAVs are down, particularly in the Flagship Fund.
- Why defensive positioning, involving low debt and high liquidity, is so important today, and why we’re set up for potentially once-in-a-cycle investment opportunities in the months and years ahead.
- What signals like an inverted yield curve tells us about what to expect and where we are in the market cycle.
- What an optimistic Ben Miller (whose staunch market realism sometimes sounds like pessimism) looks and sounds like. (Listen until the end of the episode to find out.)
- And much more, all covered in Ben and Kendall’s conversation.
Have questions or feedback about this episode? Drop us a note at Onward@Fundrise.com.
Onward is hosted by Ben Miller, co-founder and CEO of Fundrise, and Cardiff Garcia, co-founder of Bazaar Audio and host of the economics-focused podcast The New Bazaar (after spending many years as the co-creator and co-host of NPR's The Indicator podcast).
Podcast production by The Podcast Consultant. Music by Seaplane Armada.
About Fundrise: With over 1 million users, Fundrise is America's largest direct-to-investor alternative asset investment platform. Since 2012, our mission has been to build a better financial system by empowering the individual. We make it easier and more efficient than ever for anyone to invest in institutional-quality private alternative assets — all at the touch of a button.
Please see the Fundrise Flagship Real Estate Fund website (http://fundriseintervalfund.com), Fundrise Income Fund website (http://fundriseincomerealestatefund.com), and Fundrise Innovation Fund website (http://fundrise.com/innovation) for more information on each fund, including each fund’s prospectus. For the publicly filed offering circulars of the Fundrise eREITs and eFunds, not all of which may be currently qualified by the SEC, please see fundrise.com/oc.
Want to see the specific properties that make up and power Fundrise portfolios? Check out our active and past projects at www.fundrise.com/assets.

13: Forecasts for 2023: Scenarios, Systems, and Pattern Recognition Dec 19, 2022

Join your Onward co-hosts, Fundrise CEO Ben Miller and Cardiff Garcia, to wrap up 2022 in the same way we started it: with a session of scenario planning.
Ben and Cardiff each share their predictions for what the next year might bring, including possibilities that are both very likely and, admittedly, a little more far afield. We learn the premise and implications of the “80/20 rule” for inflation, what Ben means by the phrase “a recession incession,” and what it looks like when the stock market “PEGs down.” Beyond that, a quick review of the implications of The Great Deleveraging, the subject of our November 14 episode — less of a predication and more of a glimpse of the horizon, as Ben emphasizes that a financial liquidity crunch is already in motion, even if many players in the financial world aren’t ready to talk about it publicly.
But then, Ben has something a little more radical in store, as he introduces an entirely new framework of Scenario Planning for thinking about the future, based on an understanding and extrapolation of inorganic and organic systems. An inorganic system is made up of inanimate objects, while an organic system is composed of living entities. If a key component of success is pattern matching, then a common mistake is misreading the way a system is likely to behave.
Like a wild population of animals or insects that grows too fast, overwhelming its food sources and habitat, will we see a system’s sudden collapse? It all comes down to determining which economic trends follow a common biological pattern of a J-curve or an S-curve, and which have the potential to buck predictable trajectories entirely, like an evolutionary leap or a deadly mutation.
As Ben and Cardiff discuss, there could be major benefits for anyone who can stay ahead of the curve, whatever shape that curve may take.
Have questions or feedback about this episode? Drop us a note at Onward@Fundrise.com.
Onward is hosted by Ben Miller, co-founder and CEO of Fundrise, and Cardiff Garcia, co-founder of Bazaar Audio and host of the economics-focused podcast The New Bazaar (after spending many years as the co-creator and co-host of NPR's The Indicator podcast).
Podcast production and music by Seaplane Armada.
About Fundrise
With over 1 million users, Fundrise is America's largest direct-to-investor alternative asset investment platform. Since 2012, our mission has been to build a better financial system by empowering the individual. We make it easier and more efficient than ever for anyone to invest in institutional-quality private alternative assets — all at the touch of a button.
Please see the Fundrise Flagship Real Estate Fund website (http://fundriseintervalfund.com), Fundrise Income Fund website (http://fundriseincomerealestatefund.com), and Fundrise Innovation Fund website (http://fundrise.com/innovation) for more information on each fund, including each fund’s prospectus. For the publicly filed offering circulars of the Fundrise eREITs and eFunds, not all of which may be currently qualified by the SEC, please see fundrise.com/oc.
Want to see the specific properties that make up and power Fundrise portfolios? Check out our active and past projects at www.fundrise.com/assets.

12: Owner-Developer of the World Trade Center, Larry Silverstein Dec 13, 2022

Join Ben Miller, CEO of Fundrise, for a conversation with a very special guest on this episode of Onward: Larry Silverstein is the founder and chairman of Silverstein Properties, the owner-developer of the World Trade Center, along with a remarkable portfolio of other major properties that have defined New York City life and the Manhattan skyline for decades.
The interview gives us a tour of both Mr. Silverstein’s life and the history of New York, as he recounts his experience investing in a number of influential New York properties. Each acquisition also highlights a different stage in financial history, showcasing a defining moment in the country’s and New York’s economic cycles.
As Mr. Silverstein tells the story behind the acquisition of each piece of real estate, he imparts investing insights that remain critical to investors today. Those experiences include making the decision to invest during a struggling market — such as when he bought 711 5th Ave., in a declining New York — or the challenges of leasing a million square feet of commercial space — such as when he developed 7 WTC. Ultimately, when Ben asks what advice Mr. Silverstein has for investors today, he recommends, “whatever you do, think long-term” and to invest “in quality.”
Have questions or feedback about this episode? Drop us a note at Onward@Fundrise.com.
Onward is hosted by Ben Miller, co-founder and CEO of Fundrise, and Cardiff Garcia, co-founder of Bazaar Audio and host of the economics-focused podcast The New Bazaar (after spending many years as the co-creator and co-host of NPR's The Indicator podcast).
Podcast production by The Podcast Consultant. Music by Seaplane Armada.
About Fundrise
With over 1 million users, Fundrise is America's largest direct-to-investor alternative asset investment platform. Since 2012, our mission has been to build a better financial system by empowering the individual. We make it easier and more efficient than ever for anyone to invest in institutional-quality private alternative assets — all at the touch of a button.
Please see the Fundrise Flagship Real Estate Fund website (http://fundriseintervalfund.com), Fundrise Income Fund website (http://fundriseincomerealestatefund.com), and Fundrise Innovation Fund website (http://fundrise.com/innovation) for more information on each fund, including each fund’s prospectus. For the publicly filed offering circulars of the Fundrise eREITs and eFunds, not all of which may be currently qualified by the SEC, please see fundrise.com/oc.
Want to see the specific properties that make up and power Fundrise portfolios? Check out our active and past projects at www.fundrise.com/assets.

11: Bonus Episode: Investor Q&A November 2022 Nov 28, 2022

This week, we have a special treat from Onward: our first bonus episode, dedicated entirely to discussing and answering important questions about Fundrise, sourced directly from Fundrise investors. Kendall Davis, head of investor relations and investor operations, joins Ben Miller, Fundrise CEO, to share some of the topics on our investor community’s minds. As always, discussing Fundrise is just a starting point, as each question about the company opens a door into much broader discussion about the economy, its current state, and some fundamental ideas about how finance works.
Join Kendall and Ben to learn more about how Fundrise is prepared not only to mitigate losses in a downturn but to thrive; why leverage is the only way smart people go broke; how the focus of real estate investment strategies shifted from up-and-coming urban areas to the Sunbelt; and how Fundrise collaborated directly with the late Marty Dunn, former Deputy Director and Acting Director of the SEC, to find the best way to safely democratize access to real estate investing, within the framework of financial regulations.
Have questions or feedback about this episode? Drop us a note at Onward@Fundrise.com.
Onward is hosted by Ben Miller, co-founder and CEO of Fundrise, and Cardiff Garcia, co-founder of Bazaar Audio and host of the economics-focused podcast The New Bazaar (after spending many years as the co-creator and co-host of NPR's The Indicator podcast).
Podcast production and music by Seaplane Armada.
About Fundrise
With over 1 million users, Fundrise is America's largest direct-to-investor alternative asset investment platform. Since 2012, our mission has been to build a better financial system by empowering the individual. We make it easier and more efficient than ever for anyone to invest in institutional-quality private alternative assets — all at the touch of a button.
Please see the Fundrise Flagship Real Estate Fund website (http://fundriseintervalfund.com), Fundrise Income Fund website (http://fundriseincomerealestatefund.com), and Fundrise Innovation Fund website (http://fundrise.com/innovation) for more information on each fund, including each fund’s prospectus. For the publicly filed offering circulars of the Fundrise eREITs and eFunds, not all of which may be currently qualified by the SEC, please see fundrise.com/oc.
Want to see the specific properties that make up and power Fundrise portfolios? Check out our active and past projects at www.fundrise.com/assets.

10: The Great Deleveraging, a Fundrise market analysis Nov 14, 2022

For months, the hosts of Onward — Ben Miller, Fundrise CEO, and Cardiff Garcia — have discussed the many ways that the current, high inflation environment will impact the broader economy and behavior of investors. In this latest episode, Ben brings a brand new idea to the table: a specific theory outlining how our financial system is on the verge of real crisis and potential collapse. Join us to hear Ben explain how the practice of using loans as the assets for generating new loans has created a snarled chain of lending. Now that interest rates have exploded to new highs, what happens when one loan in the chain comes due, and refinancing is impossible? What exactly do we mean when we say, “Turtles all the way down”? And, lastly, how is Fundrise positioned to capitalize on what Ben calls a potentially once in a lifetime opportunity? Listen to the latest episode of Onward for answers to all these questions, and more.
Have questions or feedback about this episode? Drop us a note at Onward@Fundrise.com.
Onward is hosted by Ben Miller, co-founder and CEO of Fundrise, and Cardiff Garcia, co-founder of Bazaar Audio and host of the economics-focused podcast The New Bazaar (after spending many years as the co-creator and co-host of NPR's The Indicator podcast).
Podcast production and music by Seaplane Armada.
About Fundrise
With over 1 million users, Fundrise is America's largest direct-to-investor real estate investment platform. Since 2012, our mission has been to build a better financial system by empowering the individual. We make it easier and more efficient than ever for anyone to invest in institutional-quality private real estate — all at the touch of a button.
Please see the Fundrise Flagship Real Estate Fund website (http://fundriseintervalfund.com), Fundrise Income Fund website (http://fundriseincomerealestatefund.com), and Fundrise Innovation Fund website (http://fundrise.com/innovation) for more information on each fund, including each fund’s prospectus. For the publicly filed offering circulars of the Fundrise eREITs and eFunds, not all of which may be currently qualified by the SEC, please see fundrise.com/oc.
Want to see the specific properties that make up and power Fundrise portfolios? Check out our active and past projects at www.fundrise.com/assets.

9: Why financial history matters, with Ben Carlson of Ritholtz Wealth Management Nov 04, 2022

In this month’s episode of Onward, Fundrise CEO Ben Miller is joined by Ben Carlson, Director of Institutional Asset Management at Ritholtz Wealth Management, for a wide-ranging discussion that offers fresh, critical thoughts on the state of the market, plus new perspective on our current moment in financial history. Ben C’s additional experience as an author of multiple books and co-host of his own financial podcast, Animal Spirits, opens the door to some provocative questions, including why wealthy individuals are historically most susceptible to financial fraud. More broadly, Ben C explains, his study of financial history has shown that many factors are in flux between eras, but one element that always stays the same is human nature and people’s capacity to behave irrationally. What does that mean for investors today?
Have questions or feedback about this episode? Drop us a note at Onward@Fundrise.com.
Onward is hosted by Ben Miller, co-founder and CEO of Fundrise, and Cardiff Garcia, co-founder of Bazaar Audio and host of the economics-focused podcast The New Bazaar (after spending many years as the co-creator and co-host of NPR's The Indicator podcast).
Podcast production and music by Seaplane Armada.
About Fundrise
With over 1 million users, Fundrise is America's largest direct-to-investor real estate investment platform. Since 2012, our mission has been to build a better financial system by empowering the individual. We make it easier and more efficient than ever for anyone to invest in institutional-quality private real estate—all at the touch of a button.
Please see the Fundrise Flagship Real Estate Fund website, Fundrise Income Fund website, and Fundrise Innovation Fund website for more information on each fund, including each fund’s prospectus. For the publicly filed offering circulars of the Fundrise eREITs and eFunds, not all of which may be currently qualified by the SEC, please see fundrise.com/oc.

8: You can’t fight the Fed Oct 17, 2022

As inflation lingers at historical highs, the Fed remains set on taming it, ratcheting up interest rates and inviting a recession. In this new episode of Onward, Ben Miller, CEO of Fundrise, and co-host Cardiff Garcia do a new round of scenario planning, to better assess ten key drivers that directly influence inflation. Together they look back at their very first episode together, On inflation and uncertainty, where they discussed how to evaluate and plan for different eventualities in the economy, and update their outlooks, now that eight months have passed in a very eventful year. Optimistic? Pessimistic? Or… too tough to call?? Ben explains that understanding inflation is key because it helps us in turn understand the Fed — and, as an investor, “you can’t fight the Fed.”
Have questions or feedback about this episode? Drop us a note at Onward@Fundrise.com.
Onward is hosted by Ben Miller, co-founder and CEO of Fundrise, and Cardiff Garcia, co-founder of Bazaar Audio and host of the economics-focused podcast The New Bazaar (after spending many years as the co-creator and co-host of NPR's The Indicator podcast).
Podcast production and music by Seaplane Armada.
About Fundrise
With over 1 million users, Fundrise is America's largest direct-to-investor real estate investment platform. Since 2012, our mission has been to build a better financial system by empowering the individual. We make it easier and more efficient than ever for anyone to invest in institutional-quality private real estate—all at the touch of a button.
Please see the Fundrise Flagship Real Estate Fund website, Fundrise Income Fund website, and Fundrise Innovation Fund website for more information on each fund, including each fund’s prospectus. For the publicly filed offering circulars of the Fundrise eREITs and eFunds, not all of which may be currently qualified by the SEC, please see fundrise.com/oc.

7: Ben Gilbert & David Rosenthal (VCs and hosts of Acquired): Top investment lessons, what makes the best tech companies, and more Sep 15, 2022

What separates investments in the very best companies from the rest? In this month’s episode of Onward, CEO Ben Miller is joined by the hosts of Acquired, a podcast that looks into the stories and playbooks of history’s greatest companies, to learn where remarkable success in venture capital comes from. Together with Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal, the three discuss a range of topics, including: the importance of letting your winners ride, the story of Sony in the wake of World War II, and the Fundrise Innovation Fund. Plus, Kendall Davis is back to share questions from investors about the current market volatility and the cross-section of climate change and new home construction.
Have questions or feedback about this episode? Drop us a note at Onward@Fundrise.com.
Onward is hosted by Ben Miller, co-founder and CEO of Fundrise, and Cardiff Garcia, co-founder of Bazaar Audio and host of the economics-focused podcast The New Bazaar (after spending many years as the co-creator and co-host of NPR's The Indicator podcast).
Podcast production and music by Seaplane Armada.
About Fundrise
With over 1 million users, Fundrise is America's largest direct-to-investor real estate investment platform. Since 2012, our mission has been to build a better financial system by empowering the individual. We make it easier and more efficient than ever for anyone to invest in institutional-quality private real estate—all at the touch of a button.
This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. For more information on the Fundrise Innovation Fund, including the fund's prospectus, please see fundrise.com/innovation.

6: Building homes for rent Aug 18, 2022

In this month’s episode of Onward, CEO Ben Miller and co-host Cardiff Garcia are joined by Fundrise COO Brandon Jenkins to discuss one of the most exciting and fast-growing segments of Fundrise’s real estate investment strategy: built-for-rent single-family housing. Plus, Kendall Davis is back to answer a few hard-hitting questions from investors.
Have questions or feedback about this episode? Drop us a note at Onward@Fundrise.com.
Onward is hosted by Ben Miller, co-founder and CEO of Fundrise, and Cardiff Garcia, co-founder of Bazaar Audio and host of the economics-focused podcast The New Bazaar (after spending many years as the co-creator and co-host of NPR's The Indicator podcast).
Podcast production and music by Seaplane Armada.
About Fundrise
With over 1 million users, Fundrise is America's largest direct-to-investor real estate investment platform. Since 2012, our mission has been to build a better financial system by empowering the individual. We make it easier and more efficient than ever for anyone to invest in institutional-quality private real estate—all at the touch of a button.
For more information on the Flagship Real Estate Fund, including the fund’s prospectus, please see fundriseintervalfund.com. For more information on the Fundrise Innovation Fund, including the fund's prospectus, please see fundrise.com/innovation.

5: Transforming Venture Capital Jul 18, 2022

In this month’s episode, we have something a bit different than our typical programming: Fundrise CEO Ben Miller talks with co-host Cardiff Garcia about a big announcement – the Fundrise Innovation Fund, a brand new investment product and our entry into the world of venture capital, the next financial sector Fundrise aims to disrupt and make available to investors of all types and sizes. Plus, Kendall Davis is back with a new batch of investor and podcast listener questions for Ben to answer.
Have questions or feedback about this episode? Drop us a note at Onward@Fundrise.com.
Onward is hosted by Ben Miller, co-founder and CEO of Fundrise, and Cardiff Garcia, co-founder of Bazaar Audio and host of the economics-focused podcast The New Bazaar (after spending many years as the co-creator and co-host of NPR's The Indicator podcast).
Podcast production and music by Seaplane Armada.
About Fundrise With over 1 million users, Fundrise is America's largest direct-to-investor real estate investment platform. Since 2012, our mission has been to build a better financial system by empowering the individual. We make it easier and more efficient than ever for anyone to invest in institutional-quality private real estate—all at the touch of a button.

4: The incoming recession Jun 15, 2022

Coming off a week where inflation hit a 40-year high and consumer sentiment came in at a record low, Ben Miller talks with co-host Cardiff Garcia about our perspective on how we think about navigating an increasingly unpredictable macroeconomic environment by focusing on fundamentals. Plus, hear a new segment where we answer questions from Fundrise investors about the current state of the economy.
Have questions or feedback about this episode? Drop us a note at Onward@Fundrise.com.
Onward is hosted by Ben Miller, co-founder and CEO of Fundrise, and Cardiff Garcia, co-founder of Bazaar Audio and host of the economics-focused podcast The New Bazaar (after spending many years as the co-creator and co-host of NPR's The Indicator podcast).
Podcast production and music by Seaplane Armada.
About Fundrise
With over 1 million users, Fundrise is America's largest direct-to-investor real estate investment platform. Since 2012, our mission has been to build a better financial system by empowering the individual. We make it easier and more efficient than ever for anyone to invest in institutional-quality private real estate—all at the touch of a button.

3: The future of private equity May 17, 2022

Today, Ben Miller and Cardiff Garcia dive deep into the past, present, and future of the private equity industry, including how it grew to become so powerful and why it may be ripe for disruption. If you've ever wanted to better understand the world of private equity investing, this episode is for you.
Have questions or feedback about this episode? Drop us a note at Onward@Fundrise.com.
Onward is hosted by Ben Miller, co-founder and CEO of Fundrise, and Cardiff Garcia, co-founder of Bazaar Audio and host of the economics-focused podcast The New Bazaar (after spending many years as the co-creator and co-host of NPR's The Indicator podcast).
Podcast production and music by Seaplane Armada.
About Fundrise

With over 1 million users, Fundrise is America's largest direct-to-investor real estate investment platform. Since 2012, our mission has been to build a better financial system by empowering the individual. We make it easier and more efficient than ever for anyone to invest in institutional-quality private real estate—all at the touch of a button.

2: On inflation and uncertainty Mar 30, 2022

On this episode, Ben Miller, co-founder and CEO of Fundrise, is joined by Cardiff Garcia, co-founder of Bazaar Audio and host of the economics-focused podcast The New Bazaar (after spending many years as the co-creator and co-host of NPR's The Indicator podcast).
Ben and Cardiff discuss the global economic environment, including the war in Ukraine and rising inflation, before diving deep into how Fundrise approaches investing in the midst of uncertainty through systematic scenario planning.
Have questions or feedback about this episode? Drop us a note at Onward@Fundrise.com.
Podcast production and music by Seaplane Armada.
About Fundrise

With over 1 million users, Fundrise is America's largest direct-to-investor real estate investment platform. Since 2012, our mission has been to build a better financial system by empowering the individual. We make it easier and more efficient than ever for anyone to invest in institutional-quality private real estate—all at the touch of a button.

1: Pilot Dec 11, 2021

In the premiere episode co-hosts Ben Miller, Co-Founder and CEO of Fundrise, and Emily Peck, Content Director at Fundrise, dive into Fundrise’s Q3 performance — “an overnight success years in the making.” Ben explains why the company is investing in single-family rentals, how millennials think about real estate, and how the commercial real estate market has yet to truly adjust to the changes set in motion by the pandemic. Plus, Ben and Emily talk about what happened to Zillow’s much ballyhooed iBuying program.
Discussed in the show:
Fundrise’s letter to investors.
Podcast production by Seaplane Armada.
About Fundrise: With over 1 million users, Fundrise is America's largest direct-to-investor alternative asset investment platform. Since 2012, our mission has been to build a better financial system by empowering the individual. We make it easier and more efficient than ever for anyone to invest in institutional-quality private alternative assets — all at the touch of a button.
Please see the Fundrise Flagship Real Estate Fund website (http://fundriseintervalfund.com), Fundrise Income Fund website (http://fundriseincomerealestatefund.com), and Fundrise Innovation Fund website (http://fundrise.com/innovation) for more information on each fund, including each fund’s prospectus. For the publicly filed offering circulars of the Fundrise eREITs and eFunds, not all of which may be currently qualified by the SEC, please see fundrise.com/oc.
Want to see the specific properties that make up and power Fundrise portfolios? Check out our active and past projects at www.fundrise.com/assets.

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