Industry-Specific Career Paths

I was in Copenhagen a few weeks ago for fashion week, and this time my girlfriend came with me for a few days. Getting an outsider’s perspective of fashion week was pretty eye-opening — How do all these people have so much luggage? Why don’t they smile at the hotel? Don’t they know they’re staying here for free? She couldn’t help but point out just how up and down the whole thing was for me. There’s no simple contentment at fashion week — I was either energized or exhausted, excited or drained. Now that I’m back to my real life in Berlin, I can’t help but think about how fashion week — actually, just working in fashion in general — is catastrophically bad for your mental health. This is not an industry that’s well known for treating people well, and that’s before we talk about money. It’s funny, for an industry that is so openly consumerist, nobody talks about how they afford their lavish lifestyles. It’s an open secret that fashion is overrun with nepo babies, but if you’re not sitting on a trust fund then you’re still pressured to spend, spend, spend like the rich kids. Again, you can imagine the toll that puts on people — this isn’t just a tough industry to work in, it’s one that constantly reminds you of what you’re lacking (do you own any archival Margiela? Will you ever own any archival Margiela?). Sure, comparison is an inevitable part of being human, but fashion takes it to extremes — and it’s not good for us. This week's newsletter is about the emotional and financial toll that working in fashion puts on us, and you can read it here: https://lnkd.in/d_f6q6Bp

Which Sectors in Real Estate Are Family Offices Likely to Invest in Now? As family offices consider where to allocate their capital, real estate remains a primary focus. Its tangible nature, potential for steady income, and ability to hedge against inflation make it an attractive asset class. However, the specific sectors within real estate that capture family office interest are shifting based on evolving market dynamics, long-term goals, and generational priorities. Family offices are increasingly focused on specific real estate sectors that align with their long-term goals and investment strategies: 1. Multifamily Housing: A preferred sector due to stable cash flows and growing demand in both urban and suburban areas. There's also rising interest in affordable housing, driven by both impact investing and market needs. 2. Industrial and Logistics: The e-commerce boom continues to drive demand for warehouses and distribution centers. Family offices are particularly interested in last-mile delivery properties. 3. Medical and Life Sciences: Healthcare-related properties offer stability and long-term leases, making them attractive. The aging population also drives demand for senior living facilities. 4. Hospitality: With the rebound in travel, there’s renewed interest in hotels, resorts, and unique experiential properties. 5. Office Space: Investments focus on flexible office solutions and properties with strong sustainability credentials, adapting to hybrid work trends. 6. Student Housing: Consistent demand, resilience during economic fluctuations, and long-term leases make student housing appealing. It also offers opportunities for global diversification. Investment Strategies - Family offices leverage their significant capital and long-term perspective through: 1. Direct Investments and Partnerships: Direct control and flexibility in niche markets are key benefits, often complemented by strategic partnerships. 2. Value-Add and Opportunistic Strategies: Higher returns are sought through investments in properties needing redevelopment, with a focus on market timing. 3. Long-Term Holdings and Legacy Projects: Real estate is used to preserve wealth across generations, with a focus on long-term capital appreciation and legacy-building. 4. Geographic Diversification: Family offices are increasingly investing globally, partnering with local experts to mitigate risks and tap into emerging markets. Family offices remain committed to real estate, leveraging their unique advantages to navigate and capitalize on market opportunities. #familyoffice #familyoffices

Breaking the Class Ceiling After my last post on fashion’s misogyny problem, one comment from stopped me mid-scroll: “The industry is still dominated by women who come from wealth… These girls can afford to do internships for free. Therefore have no incentive to speak up and make a change from within. Some class diversity is the missing piece.” As someone who grew up in a working-class family, it resonated with my lived experience, the PRs that loved the sound of their own voives and the C-suite executives that amplified my imposter syndrome. My reply was simple: True class diversity is the missing piece — and it’s often the most overlooked and/or misunderstood one. Because while some corners of fashion are dominated by privileged (largely white) women, the men sitting across the table are often even more privileged (and even more white). The truth is, privilege isn’t just about gender or ethnicity. It's a gatekeeping of all "others". It’s about class — who can afford to stay, to intern for free, to take risks without ruin. As a recent CNN Style feature (link in the comments) pointed out; “McQueen wouldn’t have made it today. He needed a benefactor in Isabella Blow. There aren’t that many people like Izzy kicking around now.” It's a quote that stirred the comment section, but I wholeheartedly agree. It's not impossible for a child of a taxi drivers to make it 2025 but it's extremely unlikely. Why? With tuition fees up 41%, London rents over £20,000 a year, and catwalk slots costing £30,000, the pathway for working-class creativity has all but collapsed. British Fashion Council CEO Laura Weir is trying to change that — waiving show fees, taking designers back into schools, and decentralising access to opportunity. “It is profoundly difficult to be working-class in Britain,” she told CNN. “The barriers are numerous.” And she’s right. But the barriers are deeper rooted than those faced by emerging designers. Also, those barriers don’t end with design. They cut across PR, publishing, marketing, styling — all the “invisible” creative labour that makes fashion function. And into the wider creative industries too! Fashion’s next frontier isn’t just gender or race diversity. It’s class too. Because when only the privileged can afford to create, we lose what made fashion radical in the first place: risk, urgency, and the raw brilliance born from having nothing to lose. Give working-class kids access to the arts — and history shows what happens. You get McQueen. You get Westwood. You get revolution.

Where is crypto going next? Analysis of 1,000+ job postings from 17 crypto unicorns signal evolution from a retail playground and monkey jpegs into institutional-grade financial infrastructure. Here's what the industry is hiring for: 🏦Enterprise roles underscore paths to becoming B2B infrastructure ↳Enterprise product teams: CoinTracker building "0-1 initiative" for enterprise with dedicated engineering teams ↳ProServ channels: Multiple companies targeting CPAs, law firms, and financial advisors ↳Sales armies: Hiring of institutional sales managers across major markets ↳Self-custody infrastructure: Anchorage is developing solutions that let institutions maintain control while using crypto rails 🤝Partnerships become the new moat ↳Banking relationship managers at Bitpanda and Gemini to "manage relationships with global institutions" ↳Partnership roles at CoinDCX focus on "sourcing, acquiring, and onboarding business partners" ↳White-label infra teams at Paxos are building systems to power enterprise stablecoins 🌎Geographic expansion and cross-border frontiers building payment corridors via stablecoins ↳Regional stablecoin teams: Bitso is building dedicated teams for peso (MXNB) and real (BRL1) backed tokens ↳APAC expansion: Nearly every unicorn is establishing Singapore/Hong Kong presence ↳Regulatory navigation: Country-specific compliance roles (Bulgaria for Bitpanda, Australia for KuCoin) enable market entry ↕️Vertical specialization signals maturation as horizontal platforms move into offering tailored, industry-specific solutions ↳Institutional trading: Fireblocks and Matrixport are building specialized prime brokerage capabilities ↳Government services: Chainalysis is creating teams with security clearances for law enforcement ↳Real estate: Multiple companies hiring for tokenized property initiatives 🔒Security & compliance underpin adoption ↳Regulatory strategy roles: Ledger's "Head of Regulatory Affairs Americas" tasked with "influencing favorable digital asset regulation" ↳Fraud prevention infra: Trust & Safety teams at Gemini focused on APP fraud and UK banking requirements ↳Compliance automation: Multiple companies hiring for AI-powered AML and KYC systems The most interesting signal? Most of these roles don't even mention "crypto" in their titles or descriptions anymore. They're hiring for "payment specialists," "institutional sales," and "banking relationships." Crypto is moving from trying to replace the financial system to becoming the upgrade path for it. P.S. CB Insights August launch just 10x'd our hiring insights coverage. Uncover insights about companies’ strategy and product investments based on their job openings. Check it out.

🌟 CRE Market Insights: 2025 Transaction Volume Forecast 📊 Over the past two decades, U.S. commercial real estate (CRE) transaction volumes have mirrored economic cycles, with dramatic peaks, sharp declines, and remarkable recoveries. As we approach 2025, all signs point to a pivotal year for the industry, with transaction volumes projected to rebound to $375-$400 billion, up from the recent low of $300 billion in 2024. 🔍 Why This Matters: 1️⃣ Historical Context: 📈 2007 Peak: $571B 📉 2009 Drop: $52B during the financial crisis 🚀 2021 Record: $900B, fueled by low interest rates ⬇️ 2024 Slump: $300B amid rate hikes and economic uncertainty 2️⃣ 2025 Drivers of Growth: 💸 Easing Interest Rates: Lower borrowing costs could reignite deal-making. 💼 Debt Maturities: $600B in loans maturing will compel sales and refinances. 🤝 Narrowing Bid-Ask Spread: Stabilizing cap rates and pricing will bridge buyer-seller gaps. 🔄 The Cycle Doesn’t Lie We’re entering the recovery phase of the 18.6-year real estate cycle, a time historically characterized by rapid transaction growth and opportunity. Those who act decisively now stand to benefit as the market gains momentum. 💡 What This Means for You: Sellers: 2025 could be the year to capitalize on improving conditions. Investors: Smart money knows timing is everything—position yourself for success. Brokers: Transaction volumes are set to rise—prepare to seize opportunities. I’ve included a detailed chart highlighting the historical trends and projections for CRE transaction volumes. 📈 👋 Let’s Chat: Whether you’re buying, selling, or looking to invest, I can help you navigate this evolving landscape: ▶️ For Sellers: I conduct property audits and provide AI-driven insights to help you make informed decisions. ▶️ Active Investors: I specialize in sourcing off-market opportunities and navigating 1031 exchanges. ▶️ Passive Investors: I focus on Midwest opportunities to help grow your portfolio. 💬 Let’s connect and discuss how you can position yourself for success in 2025! #CommercialRealEstate #CRE #Leadership #Investing #RealEstateTrends

🔍 Are Tariffs the Problem—or an Opportunity in Disguise? What if rising tariffs on imported goods could actually benefit certain sectors of the economy—like real estate? A recent article in North Jersey dot com highlights how New Jersey companies are adapting to potential tariffs on imports from China, Mexico, and Canada. While these tariffs may increase costs for businesses, they’re also driving a shift toward domestic production and automation. This creates challenges—but also significant opportunities—for real estate investors. Key insights from the article: 1) Rising Costs: Tariffs could raise the cost of imported goods by 10-25%, forcing companies to absorb these costs, reduce profits, or pass them on to consumers. 2) Domestic Manufacturing: Businesses are exploring local sourcing and production to reduce reliance on imports, creating potential demand for domestic manufacturing spaces. 3) Automation Investments: Companies are turning to automation to offset rising costs, increasing the efficiency of domestic production. What Does This Mean for Real Estate Investors? 1) Industrial Real Estate: As companies onshore manufacturing, demand for warehouses, logistics centers, and industrial spaces will likely grow, presenting an opportunity for investors in this asset class. 2) High-Tech Facilities: Automation requires specialized infrastructure, increasing demand for advanced industrial spaces near key manufacturing hubs. 3) Workforce Housing: Increased domestic production could lead to job growth in manufacturing regions, creating opportunities for multifamily investors to provide housing for local workers. The Opportunity: While tariffs may pose challenges, they’re also accelerating a shift to domestic production and innovation. This creates a unique chance for real estate investors to benefit from the increasing demand for industrial properties and workforce housing. Are you considering the potential to invest in industrial real estate or housing near manufacturing hubs? How do you think these shifts will shape the future of real estate investing? #PowerOfPassiveRealEstateInvesting #YourLegacyOnMainStreet #BuildingWealth

20 years ago, creating perfect waves required an ocean. Today, technology has turned artificial waves into real estate's most interesting opportunity. Here's why: The most opportunistic US real estate investors are quietly acquiring land. Not for office towers or housing developments, but for surf parks. Projects like Austin Surf Club (Discovery Land and Kelly’s Wave Parks) are the first movers. But more are coming, including everything from Aventuur and Wavegarden. Market signals I'm watching: • Premium surf parks generating $32K-$50K per day in wave revenue alone • Land requirements: 5-15 acres near population centers • Development costs predictable: ~$30M plus land • Institutional investors restricted by mandates around "proven" asset classes This goes way beyond surfing. We're looking at the next evolution in experiential real estate development. For investors: • Multiple revenue streams: Wave facilities, retail, hospitality, real estate appreciation • Limited competition: High barriers to entry protect early movers • Proven amenity model: Similar to how golf courses transformed land values in the 1980s • Prime locations still available near major population centers Technology is proven, economics are validated, and early movers are securing prime locations. But the window for early investment won't stay open forever. Interested in learning more about alternative real estate investment opportunities? Let's talk. I help investors – institutional and retail – access and evaluate deals in emerging asset classes. P.S. Building or investing in experiential real estate? I'd love to share what we're learning about this space.

Like many in fashion, I started my fashion career earning ₹15,000 a month. BTW I was doing a job of 3 people at the same time - designer, merchandiser and a delivery boy. And let’s be honest… fashion schools aren’t cheap. You don’t just pay tuition; you pay for fabrics, trims, sketchbooks, software, and sleepless nights. The ROI on a fashion education vs. the salaries the industry offers? A cosmic joke. In corporate retail, categories like marketing and sales often get paid more and more importantly, credited more than the people who actually make the product. When something sells well, it’s “great marketing.” When it doesn’t, it’s “bad product.” (Side note - I wonder what will marketiers market without a product? Air? ) Designers end up taking accountability for everything, but rarely the credit or the paycheck that matches the effort. It’s been generations of underpaid product creators in fashion and honestly, it’s time this changed. We shouldn’t have to leave the industry we love just because it doesn’t value the creators enough.. especially in India. Fashion needs to start paying its designers fairly. #FairPay #FashionDesign #PayDesignersFairly #FashionBusiness #DesignCommunity #RetailIndustry

The Cutting Room Floor just shared a job posting, and TikTok isn’t having it. The podcast is looking to fill a junior-level studio coordinator role. Host Recho Omondi shared in a deleted video the position paid $55K with no benefits and requires you to be in-office five days a week in NYC working long hours. The eager applicant would juggle office administrator, bookings coordinator, and personal assistant responsibilities — all while trying to survive in a city where the average one-bedroom apartment rents for over $4,000/month. While TikTok is up in arms about this, this isn’t just about one brand or one founder. It’s a mirror held up to the fashion industry — where exploitation is embedded in the entire ecosystem. From laborers making our clothes in places like Bangladesh, China, and Vietnam making as little as $161–$350/month, to unpaid internships and underpaid assistant roles in NYC — the entry point into fashion has always required struggle masked as “passion.” You’re told to be grateful just to be in the room. But you can barely afford to live off of $2.50 pizza and the subway ride home and you’re racking up credit card debt to stay in the game. When the internet critiques Recho Omondi — or in the past, someone like Kerby Jean-Raymond — the conversation can’t stop at the individual. The system itself is broken and predatory. From the people who sew the garments to the models who wear them, the PR teams who pitch them, and the journalists who cover them — most people in fashion aren’t making “good money.” And in this economy, good money just means a livable wage. This is also why so many fashion editors, publicists, and creatives are pivoting into tech. They want to build families, own homes, and actually live off their income — not just their credit cards. The real question isn’t: Why did The Cutting Room Floor post this? It’s: Why is this still the norm?

🌏 India’s Real Estate Landscape: Institutional Growth & Emerging Opportunities I had the privilege of participating in a roundtable hosted by Private Equity Real Estate, where we discussed the robust growth prospects of India’s real estate sector. The conversation highlighted the increasing appeal of the Indian market to institutional investors and the dynamic changes that are reshaping the sector. Key Insights from the Discussion: 1. Institutionalization of Indian Real Estate: The sector has attained a strong level of institutional maturity, attracting a diverse range of global investors. From US capital in the mid-2000s to recent Japanese entries like Daibiru, India has seen successive waves of foreign investment. 2. The Rise of REITs: The introduction of REITs and the recent creation of small and medium REITs (SM REITs) offer innovative pathways for capital flow and portfolio exits, marking a key development in the capital markets. 3. The Role of Homegrown Talent: Another exciting trend is the rise of homegrown talent among private equity real estate managers. This has helped unlock greater flows of domestic capital and furthered the sector's development. 4. Navigating India’s Diverse Markets: While the opportunities are plentiful, India's fragmented real estate markets—across five states, each with its own legal framework—remain a challenge for international investors. Understanding these nuances is key to success. 5. High-touch Investment Strategy: Realizing attractive returns in India requires considerable time and effort. Real estate deals in India are like the country's food: spicy and challenging, but rewarding with the right commitment. 6. Emerging Sectors: While sectors like senior living, student housing, and education are still in the "test phase," they are on the edge of becoming major asset classes in the near future. 7. Data Centres – A New Frontier: Data centres in India are an emerging asset class. With sustainability and green power becoming critical, there is an increasing demand for development as the sector is still in its infancy. 8. Workplace Preferences: Interestingly, the majority of Indians prefer working in office settings due to the multi-generational family structures in their homes. This has implications for the future of commercial real estate, with offices remaining a primary focus for international investors. The increased maturity of India’s commercial real estate market, with large institutional deals and the rise of sectors like data centres, signals a bright future for the industry. For those of us closely following the evolution of this space, it's clear that India is at a pivotal moment in its real estate journey. #RealEstate #PrivateEquity #IndiaRealEstate #REITs #Investment #EmergingMarkets #DataCentres #Sustainability #CommercialRealEstate ANAROCK Anuj Puri PERE