Welcome back to Exit & Equity, the email for serious self storage owners.

It’s Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and if you’re like me, you’re already mentally checked out. The deals can wait. The underwriting can wait. The LinkedIn posts can definitely wait.

So instead of our usual deep dive, here’s my reading/listening/learning list. No affiliate links. No sponsored content. Just the stuff that made me better at this business. Take what’s useful. Ignore the rest. And have a great Thanksgiving.

I read a lot of real estate books this year. Most were generic garbage—“10 secrets to passive income!” or “mindset hacks for millionaires!” Spare me. These four (okay, five) were different. They changed how I evaluate deals, think about risk, or operate my business in tangible ways.

Abundance by Ezra Klein & Derek Thompson – Abundance is about why America struggles to build big things anymore, from housing to infrastructure. It opened my eyes to how regulatory red tape can stymie development. For a self-storage operator, that meant rethinking how I approach entitlements and local opposition. The key insight: focus on being a builder in an era of NIMBYs. This book gave me a contrarian optimism that we can create more (storage, housing, anything) if we fix the incentives. It sharpened my sense for markets where growth is welcomed, not strangled.

Slow Productivity by Cal Newport – This one might seem off-topic, but it saved my sanity. Newport’s philosophy is simple: do fewer things; work at a natural pace; obsess over quality. As a data-driven operator, I’m prone to taking on too much. Slow Productivity taught me to trim the noise and execute on what matters most (like improving one facility’s ops at a time, not launching five new projects at once). The result? Less burnout, more deep work. It’s a reminder that in self-storage, focus and consistency beat frantic expansion.

The Science of Scaling by Benjamin Hardy – Scaling a business isn’t just “do more” — it’s a science of its own. Hardy’s book (cowritten with entrepreneur Blake Erickson) drove home that 10x growth requires letting go of 2x thinking. It made me look at my self-storage operations with fresh eyes: What processes break if I double my portfolio? Where do I need systems or people (not just my own hustle) to scale sustainably? One key lesson was to identify bottlenecks early and build a culture that can handle exponential growth. For a storage operator, that meant standardizing workflows and delegating more. This book was a kick in the pants to build a business that runs on process, not heroics.

Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke – A former poker pro teaches decision-making under uncertainty — basically my life as an investor. Duke’s core lesson: don’t equate the quality of a decision with the quality of its outcome. We humans love to “result,” judging decisions by how things turn out. In self-storage, that’s dangerous. A bad deal can get lucky, and a good decision can have a bad short-term outcome. This book taught me to focus on making the right calls based on probabilities and data, not on hoping every deal is a home run. I started running “premortems” on deals (imagining they fail and asking why) and evaluating my choices with a clearer head. The mindset shift: think in probabilities (“Is this acquisition a 70/30 bet in my favor?”) and be willing to walk away if the odds aren’t good — even if the story is sexy.

How to Measure Anything by Douglas Hubbard – Self-storage runs on data, but some things (like “market demand” or “risk”) seem hard to quantify. Hubbard basically slaps you and says: anything can be measured with the right approach. Even intangibles can be quantified. This book changed how I underwrite facilities. I started quantifying risks I used to gloss over — climate risk, operational uncertainty, lease-up velocity — by assigning ranges and probabilities instead of shrugging. The key takeaway: if a factor matters, find a way to measure it (even if roughly). Doing this has made my models more realistic and my investments less prone to nasty surprises.

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My inbox overflows with newsletters. 90% are thinly veiled ads for syndications or recycled press releases about the latest REIT acquisition. Here are the ones I actually open, because they deliver data or insights I can’t get elsewhere.

Prinsights – by Nomi Prins. Prinsights is a macroeconomic newsletter that cuts through Wall Street BS. Nomi Prins is a former Goldman MD turned truth-teller on global finance. Why do I, a storage guy, care? Because macro matters. Her weekly analysis of credit markets, Fed machinations, and geopolitical shifts gives me context for my investments. She’s been warning about tightening liquidity and its impact on real estate lending. That heads-up helped me secure fixed-rate debt before rates jumped. I read Prinsights every week to gauge the economic tides we’re swimming in.

Accredited Investor Insights – by Leyla Kunimoto. This Substack is unique because it’s written from the LP (limited partner) perspective. Leyla and her team dissect private market deals, alternative assets, and portfolio strategy for high-net-worth investors. As a syndicator/operator, reading the LP viewpoint is invaluable. It’s shown me what savvy investors are scrutinizing these days (fee structures, downside protection, sponsor track records) and has influenced how I communicate with my investors. It’s a BS-free zone with deep analysis on everything from private equity trends to due diligence checklists. I probably only fully digest 75% of each issue (it’s dense!), but it consistently makes me smarter about the broader investment landscape.

Yardi Matrix Self-Storage Report – Yardi’s monthly self-storage market updates are data gold. Instead of generic “market’s fine” fluff, their reports dish real numbers: occupancy rates by region, new supply pipeline, street rate trends by unit size. I use these newsletters to benchmark my facilities. If Yardi says Phoenix rates dropped 5% last quarter and I’m flat, I know I’m outperforming (or maybe not pushing rents enough!). They also highlight which MSAs have oversupply risk on the horizon. It’s one of the few industry publications that actually has meat. I don’t have to pay for CoStar’s full analytics if I can get Yardi’s high-level data for free in my inbox.

Radius+ Weekly Update – Radius+ (a self-storage data platform) puts out a weekly email with charts and insights on the storage industry. Often it includes cool metrics like move-in/move-out trends or demand drivers in a spotlight market. The analysis is short and sweet. I appreciate that it’s written by data geeks, not marketers. It keeps me in the loop on micro-trends (e.g., increased move-ins in coastal markets post-hurricane, or which cities saw the biggest rate jumps this season). In an industry where most “newsletters” are just new facility announcements, Radius+ actually gives me usable intel.

Most real estate podcasts are 45-minute infomercials. “Hey, let me tell you about my amazing deal!” Cool story, bro. Where’s the data? Where’s the failure analysis? Here are the podcasts that actually made me smarter about storage, investing, or business operations this year:

Best Ever Real Estate Show – hosted by Joe Fairless. This is one of the few big real estate podcasts that still delivers value for me. Joe brings on a huge range of investors and doesn’t let them off easy. I especially liked an episode this year where a self-storage fund manager broke down a failed deal and what he learned (imagine that – talking about failures!). The show isn’t self-storage specific, but it’s commercial real estate MBA material. From cap rate trends to raising capital, there’s usually a nugget or two I jot down from each episode. Frequency is daily, but I cherry-pick the ones with topics or guests relevant to storage or data-driven investing.

Self-Storage Income – hosted by AJ Osborne. This is a self-storage focused podcast by one of the industry’s well-known independent operators. What I love is that AJ is an operator first, educator second – so the discussions are practical. Whether it’s how to utilize SBA loans for storage or tales from turning around a bankrupt facility, the episodes are rich with firsthand knowledge. It’s not an academic deep dive, but it is motivating and informative to hear someone who’s bought dozens of facilities talk through strategy. Best episode I heard this year was an interview with his operations manager about streamlining auctions and delinquencies – I applied a couple of those tips directly to my business.

Ctrl Alt Invest – hosted by yours truly. Shameless plug? Maybe. But I’m proud of the podcast my team and I produce for accredited investors and real estate pros. We steer clear of the usual “look how great my deal is” chatter. Instead, we dig into alternative asset strategies, often with a tech or data twist (hence the name). This year on Ctrl Alt Invest we had an episode breaking down self-storage risk in a rising insurance cost environment, and another where we brought on a climate scientist to discuss property-level climate risk models. I mention it here because, selfishly, hosting it makes me better – I get to learn from every guest. And based on listener feedback, we’re delivering real value, not a sales pitch. Episodes are bi-weekly ~30 minutes, and I always aim for one actionable insight per show.

Bonus – Outside the Industry: I don’t just listen to real estate talk. Two non-RE podcasts that sharpened my mind this year:

I’m grateful for this industry. Self-storage is one of the last real estate asset classes where independent operators can still compete with institutions—if you’re willing to do the work. I’m also grateful for a few other things:

But this week? Close the laptop. Ignore the deal flow emails. Your pro forma will be there on Friday. Spend Thursday with people who matter. Rest is part of the strategy. In fact, it’s during downtime that some of my best ideas have surfaced — somewhere between the second helping of turkey and a post-dinner walk, you might solve that problem that’s been bugging you.

If you end up reading or listening to something from my list over the long weekend, great. If you don’t, even better. Either way, I’m grateful you’re here, sharing in the journey of getting sharper and smarter in this business. Happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy the food, the family, and the break – you’ve earned it.

That’s all for today.

We are more often frightened than hurt; and we suffer more in imagination than in reality

— Seneca