An Interview With Eden Gold
A young person must prioritize impact to succeed in business. Your business does not move forward until people are moved, logically or emotionally, to invest in you, buy your product, or form a partnership. This means your messaging, product, and persona must resonate with people on some level, but certainly a deep enough level that they can be influenced by you. Sales is about building relationships — and this can occur even if you don’t directly know someone. If a person hears you on a podcast, appreciates your branding, and needs your service, trust can be built.
The entrepreneurial landscape is more vibrant and challenging than ever, with young entrepreneurs at the forefront, driving innovation and redefining the boundaries of success in the business world. These dynamic individuals are not only creating new products and services but also building sustainable business models that thrive in today’s fast-paced, technology-driven environment. Their journeys are filled with lessons of resilience, strategic innovation, and the relentless pursuit of growth. As part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Matthew Schneider.
Matthew Schneider serves as the CEO of e-States PropTech Inc and is regarded as an influential figure among Generation Z. His entrepreneurial journey spans roles such as a teenage novelist, to leading small-cap and derivative trades in the stock market. Matthew has carved a niche for himself in the PropTech sector, with proficiency in leadership, startups, asset securitization, and tokenization. His experience as an entrepreneur and CEO has helped him develop skills in communication, marketing, finance, and business law. His guiding principles include a strong work ethic, decentralized command, and making a positive impact. Matthew enjoys music, fitness, and self-discipline, with interests in music production, weightlifting, and embracing challenges. His dedication to hard work, accountability, and setting commendable goals makes him a respected leader in his network.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive into our discussion about young entrepreneurs, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?
I’ve always loved building things, and that pattern started when I was programming and hosting game servers at 10 years old; then, I aspired to be a YouTuber and created content weekly. In high school, I published a novel and released over 70 songs. A friend approached me and invited me to trade the stock market and we co-founded a market analysis group. Eventually, my capital dwindled and I worked on an e-commerce project while DoorDashing. One evening, my cousin sat down with me to discuss his experience in commercial real estate; he identified high entry barriers as a problem that needed resolving. I returned to him with a business plan and we started building our current startup, e-States. I’ve faced many trials and failures but never gave up — now our company is trailblazing the real estate & tokenization industries.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?
I was sitting in a high-end bar in Milwaukee — a place I don’t frequent often because I don’t like spending money — next to a great friend of mine who also runs a business and we were sitting across from two people who, we later found out, were running imaginary businesses. This was at a time when our crowdfund round was beginning and the name of e-States was becoming known outside of my network. I’ve noticed that even a little bit of achievement and publicity will attract egomaniacs like a moth to a flame; one person offered to invest a lump sum and provide in-kind services while the other needed an advisor for his tea venture. It did not take long before their houses of cards came crashing down, but it was disappointing that they had gotten me involved; the investment, for example, was calculated into our pro-forma for the next few months and would cover upkeep costs. This soon disintegrated and we resorted to paying out of pocket, utilizing funds that should’ve been spent elsewhere. What’s remarkable in both circumstances is that karma seems to have done its job: the law is catching up to them and I made a lot of great friends along the way — plus valuable experience that forces me to investigate people who want to work with me.
You are a successful individual. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Be consistent: when you show up everyday and can be relied upon, people will entrust you with responsibility and feel comfortable around you. A person who is not dependable will develop a bad reputation and then be excluded from new opportunities. Be confident: this cannot be taught by books or YouTube videos and requires you to have firsthand experience in your chosen field. There are two components to confidence: competence, which means you actually know what you’re talking about, and wit, which means you’ll come with up something good to say even when you don’t know what you’re talking about. Be charismatic: show a deep interest in other people and present yourself as someone they want to be around.
I put all three in action fairly routinely. For example, when talking to investors, these Three C’s come in handy every call. I’m consistent in my personality across meetings, written posts, and guest appearances. The investor sits down knowing my reputation and doesn’t have to brace for a volatile encounter. Then, because I’ve been in so many investor calls and have spent years studying the intricacies of my industry, I’m prepared for every question and can return an answer that’s as accurate as possible. Finally, a little charm is welcome in any conversation. Obviously, you want to get along with the other person, so be attentive, respectful, and build rapport.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview about young entrepreneurs secrets to rapid growth and success. To start, how would you define success?
Until you experience this firsthand, it’s hard to define success as the positive impact you have on other people. Fortunately, as e-States continues to grow, I’ve met many people who feel blessed to be working with us in some capacity. Being in commercial real estate, everything has a dollar value attached to it, but these folks are interested in something bigger (and I think this is becoming increasingly popular with Gen Z): societal impact, improving wellbeing, and leaving a legacy. As dollars become inflated and countries war over currency, there’s a metric that can’t be manipulated: how you’ve made people feel and how they use that experience in their own life.
What unconventional strategy did you employ that significantly contributed to your startup’s growth, and why do you think it was so effective?
As my personal definition of success changed and I realized that much more can be accomplished by winning and influencing the right people, instead of chasing money and treating it as a sole solution to all problems, our startup’s public perception improved. The cliche to this is “people over profits.” Our story became enveloped in building communities, supporting environmentally & socially-positive projects, and moving humanity forward by means of wealth creation and sustainability. The foundation of each principle is how it improves the lives of other people. Naturally, this resonates with people because it’s fairly uncommon for a corporation — besides those that have become professional at masquerading their intentions — to have the general population’s best interest in mind.
We saw tremendous growth once we figured out what our story was really supposed to be and created an emotional bond between our business model and the hearts of others.
Can you share a critical pivot point in your startup’s journey and how you navigated the decision-making process?
Many of our decisions have revolved around the readiness of our product. We first wanted to go to market in late autumn of 2023 and have an industrial property fund as our first investment offering. The lending sentiment at the time made the deal timeline almost impossible for us to accommodate and both parties decide to pass. I then began searching for our next property and encountered The Edison, a 32-story mass-timber skyscraper being developed in our headquarter city, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I reached out to the developer, The Neutral Project, and they were enthusiastic about getting started. We still encountered some technical issues that gave us no option but to get scrappy but we were officially a legitimate business and our popularity began to increase.
Overall, these were tough decisions to make. The company needed revenue but we also forced ourselves to wait for the right deal, which meant covering upkeep costs out of pocket. From there, we realized our team had to grow to make up for our weaknesses and give us human capital for scaling. There’s consequences to every decision, whether good or bad, and one small adjustment can completely reshape the future. I think things played out nicely.
How do you balance the need for rapid growth with maintaining a sustainable and healthy company culture?
This is a layered question because sometimes imbalance is necessary to get things done. I’m always the first to take on that burden and lead the way but we enter periods in which we must hustle with diminishing returns. We’re in the high-stakes situation of raising capital and meeting institutional expectations. That being said, under normal circumstances I think we offer a lot of balance because we’re not the usual corporate environment. I try to encourage individual pursuit and filling time with items that are meaningful. We don’t really have busywork, and in areas where there is a lot of pencil-pushing, we’re trying to build automation systems. At the end of the day, hard work towards something we’re passionate about feels worthwhile.
In what ways has your personal definition of success evolved since the inception of your startup?
As I mentioned, my definition of success transformed from something tangible to the intangible impact I have upon other people; this is a little more difficult to measure but I have, more than ever, people who talk with me and say that they aspire to be like me. This is utterly fascinating and I think I could disappear (hypothetically) and know that I did something admirable with the 22 years that I’ve been here. Once you have someone compliment you in this manner, you wonder how many more people you can inspire just by living to a higher standard. Of course, this means I have to undergo more challenges and raise my expectations if I’m doing to be deemed extraordinary, but the more unique and spectacular you are, the more capability you have to influence people. Ordinary and normal are gone with the wind; it is the strange and bold that have a lasting effect.
Based on your experience and research, can you please share “5 Things You Need to Succeed as a Young Person in Business?”
1 . A young person must study mastery to succeed in business. This is an intricate concept and so I’ll refer you to Robert Greene for the details. Anyone seeking excellence needs to become a master at a particular skill or field of study. This requires intense commitment and mentorship, plus creativity and social intelligence. I’m not even going to claim that I’ve climbed this mountain as it can take a lifetime; however, you should make this a priority and set out to learn everything possible about whatever you’re passionate about (your life calling). For me, I’m still sorting out what particular niche I might fall into ten years from now because I’m currently active in several different but adjacent projects. This is okay though because one must keep an open mind. Make it your objective to study something incredibly thoroughly and become an expert; then, use that knowledge to bend the rules or drive innovation.
This also plays into the ideas that everyone wants to be respected or acknowledged — but you can’t allow that to happen too soon. You want people to acknowledge your dedication or work ethic instead of seeking validation or praise. In contemporary terms, you need to put your head down and grind.
2 . A young person must have courage to succeed in business. When starting out, everything you need to succeed will be out of reach. You won’t have the right network to access investors or customers, your competitors have been in the game for a while, you know less than you should, and everyone, to varying degrees, will doubt you. It’s highly likely that you will fail and many of the objections you receive are genuine. Sales, in particular, is an excruciating process when you’re still in the “chicken or the egg” stage: you need customers for revenue — revenue allows you to operate the business — but no revenue means you don’t have a functional business and therefore customers will not buy your service. You will need to email people nonstop (nearly until they block you), repeat the same menial tasks everyday, and talk above your pay grade. Imposter syndrome is quick to creep in so you need to muster the strength to overcome any mind games and pursue your passion with a delusional level of confidence.
3 . A young person must have humility to succeed in business. The entrepreneur walks an unclear line between great confidence and great humility. You don’t want to be perceived as arrogant nor ignorant. However, there comes a point at which you are no longer expressing great confidence but rather allowing your ego to dictate your decisions. I recently encountered a scenario in which I was trying to take on a role that usually takes two decades of experience to execute successfully. In real estate syndication, you need deep connections and strong relationships; these things simply cannot be rushed, no matter how ingenious you might be. I recognized that I cannot manifest capital and need to recruit a person who has the proper experience. It is better to detach, identify weaknesses, and remedy these rather than allowing the business to fail. In line with the concept of mastery, you always want to be working towards extreme expertise but valuing the journey, not the destination.
4 . A young person must prioritize impact to succeed in business. Your business does not move forward until people are moved, logically or emotionally, to invest in you, buy your product, or form a partnership. This means your messaging, product, and persona must resonate with people on some level, but certainly a deep enough level that they can be influenced by you. Sales is about building relationships — and this can occur even if you don’t directly know someone. If a person hears you on a podcast, appreciates your branding, and needs your service, trust can be built.
We can also look at impact on a larger scale. A business that can change a culture or practice (hopefully for better) is going to take precedent. Stay away from fads and instead consider how you fit into the grand scheme. In our case, ‘just another investment firm’ is a recipe to be forgotten. But a platform that fundamentally changes investment practices and gives people an unprecedented experience…impactful.
5 . A young person must be consistent to succeed in business. You cannot show up only when you feel or look good. You need to be working every single day. It’s important to note that consistency and persistence are slightly different; I talk highly of persevering even when obstacles are daunting. But consistency is about reliability; when other people begin to work with you, they want a level of predictability. This builds trust. Do not rely on bursts of motivation or perfect circumstances to be a high performer. Whatever traits you want to be known for need to be true to you, whether that’s disciplined, extroverted, or humorous.
What is one piece of advice you would give to an aspiring entrepreneur that you wish someone had given you at the start of your journey?
At this time, I am trying to delegate as much as possible and make up for my weaknesses. For a while, I thought it would be a spectacle to do everything myself and then be able to impress others by saying, “I did this all myself!” But that ambition fell short when we realized the stark reality of our startup situation: specialization is required for nearly everything we’re doing and my medium efforts would not suffice. My job needed to become attracting the right talent for these responsibilities and play the proper role of CEO, as opposed to a person of many hats. So to an aspiring entrepreneur, I say: seek out a panel of professionals who can support your mission. Then, outwork them all, give before you take, and waterfall any credit to them.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I truly believe that real estate is one of the best ways to have a scaled impact on the world. The built world is where people live, work, and relax. It can also be land for growing crops, the terraces where people walk and eat, or the absence of any human touch at all: nature. We need more people who truly appreciate these things and understand the great responsibility of manipulating the built world; a beautiful building can bring hope to a generation while brutalist, gray, concrete jungles can rob people of joy. We are literally terraforming the planet and creating something that can have tens of millions of impressions. Too often, people see dollar signs in real estate; instead, they need to see impact and pursue that. I encourage people to go out and infuse great principles into their work and build something big.
How can our readers further follow you online?
Matthew Schneider on LinkedIn https://linkedin.com/in/realmattschneider
Matthew Schneider on Instagram https://instagram.com/realmattschneider
e-States on LinkedIn https://linkedin.com/company/e-states
e-States on Instagram https://instagram.com/e_statesinc
e-States platform https://e-states.com
Thank you for the time you spent sharing these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!
About The Interviewer: Eden Gold, is a youth speaker, keynote speaker, founder of the online program Life After High School, and host of the Real Life Adulting Podcast. Being America’s rising force for positive change, Eden is a catalyst for change in shaping the future of education. With a lifelong mission of impacting the lives of 1 billion young adults, Eden serves as a practical guide, aiding young adults in honing their self-confidence, challenging societal conventions, and crafting a strategic roadmap towards the fulfilling lives they envision.
Do you need a dynamic speaker, or want to learn more about Eden’s programs? Click here: https://bit.ly/EdenGold
Startup Savvy: Matthew Schneider Of e-States Shares Their Secrets For Rapid Growth and Success was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.