Lessons from a Paperboy who built a $13M Company! | James Wahba - E54
**From delivering newspapers in 4th grade to raising millions for real estate and co-founding a thriving co-working space—James Wahba’s journey is nothing short of inspiring.**🚀
In this episode of Funds & Founders, James shares:
✅ How his childhood paper route taught him business fundamentals 📈
✅ Raising $13M at 25 for real estate development 🏗️
✅ Building one of NYC’s most iconic co-working spaces 🚀
✅ Lessons from working alongside startups like Uber, Instacart, Stripe, Airbnb
✅ Why co-founder conflicts are one of the biggest startup killers 😨
If you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, real estate investor, or startup founder, you don’t want to miss this one!
Timestamps:
00:00 - Welcome to Funds & Founders!
00:20 - James Waba’s entrepreneurial journey begins
01:14 - Growing up in Connecticut and learning business from a paper route
02:18 - The business lessons from his first job 📜
03:14 - Learning about customer retention and revenue at a young age
05:10 - From paper route to film school & shooting concerts 🎥
06:35 - Starting one of the first online streaming sites (before YouTube!)
07:54 - Partnering with Microsoft & early struggles of internet startups 💻
09:12 - Raising funds & the early days of NYC tech
12:22 - Competing in the pre-YouTube era—how streaming was built back then
16:04 - Shutting down the startup and pivoting to real estate development
17:08 - Converting industrial property to high-value waterfront real estate
19:52 - Raising $13M for a real estate project at 25
22:11 - The 2008 market crash hits—what happened next?
25:46 - Lessons learned: How to survive market crashes
28:49 - Bootstrapping vs. raising VC: What should startups do?
31:07 - The reality of investor expectations & startup funding
32:55 - Pivoting from real estate to co-working spaces 🏢
35:49 - How James built one of NYC’s top co-working spaces
39:32 - Uber, Instacart, and Airbnb worked here—what was it like?
41:14 - Why taking equity over cash would have been the best move
44:08 - The rise and fall of the co-working space model
46:50 - How to build a real, engaged community (not just a Slack group)
49:21 - Challenges of managing a co-working space & scaling it
51:34 - What James is building in Austin & his new boutique hotel project
54:45 - Rapid fire Q&A: Advice for founders, resources, and more
58:07 - Best books for entrepreneurs 📚
1:00:39 - What’s missing in the Austin startup ecosystem?
1:01:34 - Final thoughts & where to connect with James
