Hello, my name is Richard Wilson. I run an investor club called Family Office Club. I'm a relative expert on hosting conferences, especially investment conferences, and running an investor community. We get asked every hour of the day how people figure out which investment conferences, communities, founder associations, and clubs are worth being part of.

Just like you conduct due diligence on an investment or a company you may invest in—whether it’s a private equity fund or a real estate fund—I want to provide strategies on conducting due diligence on an investor club or an investment conference you may attend. There are tricks of the trade that you just don’t know to ask about or look into if you’re not from the space. So, let’s start with some basics.

First of all, a lot of people who run investment clubs, platforms, or conferences don’t really have a full team, a formal team, or a professional business. They may run one event per year and have some volunteers. You can't really see who's on their team when you look at their website because they don’t have much of a team—maybe just a one, two, or three-person organization. The quality of the event may not be very consistent in that case. So, ask who's on the team. Look at who’s on the team and ask how big the team is. That should be the very first thing you do.

Next, a lot of people use a trick in this industry where they say, “These are all the past investors who’ve been at our events.” Maybe 19 years ago, they had Tony Robbins at one of their events, so on their event page, they’ll show all of the past speakers. But then you ask about the upcoming event, and there may only be 12 or 3 speakers on stage. They’re showing you all the past speakers because the number of speakers at the actual event you’re going to attend may not be that amazing. Sometimes, they’re transparent about it, and sometimes they try to get you excited about past speakers, even though the current event might not have many exciting speakers. So, make sure to keep an eye out for that.

Another thing is to look at the speakers who are at the event and ask yourself: “Is this person going on stage to sell me something, or is this an amazing speaker I’m going to learn a lot from?” Is this a peer founder, investor, or someone I could partner with and do business with, or is this someone selling a service?

I got frustrated while speaking at over 200 events in 17 different countries before starting to host our own events—about 300 now. A lot of companies would put people on stage who are just service providers selling something. There were not many actual investors, family offices, publicly traded companies, or people who could do joint ventures or co-GP deals. It wasn’t very valuable.

We also found, and still find, that many events don’t have enough speakers on stage per day. If someone’s format is more workshop-style or mastermind-style, that’s great. Those events can be very powerful. But, if you’re looking at investment conferences to attend—major investment events with several hundred people in the room—I would really look at the number of speakers who will be there over the whole event.

Here’s what usually happens: They may have 45 speakers over a 3-4 day event, or even 70 speakers, but they’ll have 3 different streams going on at the conference. Let’s say you’re good at paying attention (not ADHD like most founders), and you actually sit there and listen to 80% of the content, so maybe you’ll see 55 of the 75 speakers. But, here’s the thing: A lot of investment conferences have two to four streams going on at the same time. That’s marketed as a good thing. Sometimes it can be, but when there are 3 different streams, you’re missing two other pieces of content that you have no idea about—no idea what was said, or whether you could be working with those speakers.

Even if you're sitting there attentively, you’re missing most of the content. Out of those 55 speakers, you’ll likely only see 25 speakers on stage, and many of them are just service providers and sponsors. So, it’s important to keep that in mind. Are there multiple streams? Is there just one stream? Are the people on stage actual investors or powerful people you can connect with, or are they service providers selling things? Who’s on the team, and who makes up that team?

The final thing I'd really dig into is the track record of the company. How many events have they hosted, and for how many years? You learn a lot after doing something hundreds of times. Also, look into the thought leadership and the track record of the founder and team. If someone is hosting a great event or running an organization, how do you de-risk your time?

It doesn’t matter what they’re charging; you’re really investing your time in being there. That’s the most expensive thing for any successful founder. What are their values? Are they aligned with your values? How do you tell that? Can you see other content they've released? Can you look at a book they've written, their blog posts? Check out their YouTube channel—we have over 1,000 videos for you to check out. Watch five random videos and see if the things we talk about actually add value and make you lean forward, making you want to learn more—or does it sound like something boring, something you’ve heard 900 times before?

Look into the thought leadership. If you can't find any books they've written, YouTube videos they've released, or examples of their content online—and if you don’t get tens of thousands of dollars worth of value from their thought leadership—then that might tell you something about the organization. It might not be the best use of your time.

The reality is, we’re all very busy. Most of us, if you’re an eye doctor who’s been practicing for 17 years, you could probably help others vet eye doctors and say, “Ask these five things, look for these seven things.” That’s essentially what I’m doing here because I’ve run our investor club, Family Office Club, for 17 years now. We’ve hosted 300 events. I go to every single event—I’ve never missed one. I script every single discussion panel for all 16 discussion panels at our large investor summits. I go to every mastermind and help teach the mastermind, and I don’t want to get bored at our own events.

After doing this 300 times, we keep it dynamic, fast-moving, and maximize the number of investors and powerful partners on stage. If someone doesn’t fit the values my family stands for—values like going out of your way to help good people and being a good human being with high integrity, with the long-term in mind, respectful, kind, polite, and professional—then they’re not coming back to our event, and they won’t be speaking again. That’s how you build a true community.

At Family Office Club, we are a community. We don’t sell conference tickets. It’s really about being part of a fun, exciting community of peer founders and investors. So, I hope you’ll check us out and come to one of our events and compare it to other events and communities you’ve been part of.

To learn more, go to FamilyOffices.com or you can text me or WhatsApp me directly at 305-333-1155. Thank you.