A Conversation with Brad Hargreaves, Founder of Thesis Driven

I am excited to announce our first episode of the RIZZ Podcast, I sat down with Brad Hargreaves, founder of Thesis Driven and a recognized voice in PropTech innovation. We discussed marketing strategies, lessons he learned along the way, what actually has driven growth and the advice he wish he knew earlier.

From General Assembly to Common to Thesis Driven

Brad’s background and accolades are impressive! He co-founded General Assembly, the global tech trade school, and later launched Common, a residential real estate operator that pioneered co-living and micro-apartment living. Today, he leads Thesis Driven, a paid newsletter with over 12,000 subscribers and a rapidly growing podcast surpassing 100,000 listeners.

The Launch of Thesis Driven

In October 2022, after stepping away from Common, Brad launched Thesis Driven with a targeted list of ~800 real estate professionals, mostly institutional investors and industry insiders who had followed his previous work. The first newsletters included data-rich deep dives on topics like ADUs, office-to-resi conversions, and the role of data in development. These early issues were widely shared, helping establish the brand and build a paid subscriber base.

LinkedIn: The Growth Engine

When it comes to marketing, LinkedIn has been one of Brad’s most effective social channels.  Despite early success on platforms like Reddit, Hacker News, and Twitter, those traffic spikes rarely translated to conversions. LinkedIn, on the other hand, consistently delivers paying customers for his newsletter, courses, and data tools.

One of Brads most viral posts surprisingly was not even real estate related. It was a post about a new rail link and the hypothetical journey from Portugal to Singapore. More recently, posts focused on capital raising and real estate strategy have proven to drive leads and course sign-ups. Today Brad has a LinkedIn presence with 20,000 followers!

Lessons from Common

Reflecting on Common, Brad shared that the biggest lessons weren’t about marketing, but about product-market fit. While Common had no issue filling units, the challenge was understanding what developers and owners wanted. Early on, the company pushed unconventional floor plans that made financing tricky. If he could do it over, he’d focus more on addressing owner objections and aligning with industry expectations.

Marketing & Business Development Advice

Brad coaches early-stage real estate tech companies and stresses to, "start at the bottom of the funnel". Before chasing leads at scale, refine the conversion process. Understand your buyers, test sales motions with a few qualified prospects, and build up. Only then should companies start investing in big content or paid campaigns, when they can assign a dollar value to each lead and optimize accordingly.

Staying Informed Amid the Noise

When new subscribers join Thesis Driven they’re encouraged to check out voices like Notorious Rob and Maximum New York, a curated list of other high-signal sources in the space. Brad acknowledges the content overwhelm but stays informed by prioritizing quality over quantity, diving deep into specialized content that informs his own takes and thesis-building.

Thanks for reading. I’d love to hear your thoughts on my first podcast episode! If you found the conversation helpful or if there’s a topic about marketing or business development you would like to hear more about—drop us a message.