HINGE
HINGE
Real estate is a very local business. You have to know a city— its neighborhoods, its local values, its politics. Working outside of New York taught me that I wanted to focus on being a big fish in the best pond there is—New York City. Easier said than done. Most of the people who have succeeded in real estate in New York are from established families with a long history in the city. For a newcomer like me, with no family money, knowing essentially nothing, it was a different proposition. As an outsider, I gravitated naturally toward neighborhoods that were evolving. I was attracted to projects where you had to add value by improving the property or changing the zoning and uses. If I had inherited property, I might never have had the incentive to do that. Now I see that I was far more ambitious than I realized, as well as focused and competitive. Those qualities made me wait in the freezing cold in February for three days as a teenager for a chance to buy a car for $9.99. That’s how I got my ROTC scholarship to UVA. That’s why I worked overseas to pay off my loans, then quit and came to New York. Something was always driving me to do better. And every time I accomplished something, I wanted to do more. One success was not enough. I just kept forging ahead. DAVID WALENTAS, FOUNDER
TWO TREES MANAGEMENT
You must publish this. Fortune Favors the Brave teaches one what it takes to progress, to make it, to “do good” as well as “do well.” What you’ve accomplished is mind‑boggling as well as truly inspirational. This should be the number one case study at Harvard Business School. DAN LUFKIN, FOUNDING PARTNER
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D A V I D
W A L E N T A S
DONALDSON, LUFKIN & JENRETTE
10/27/25 3:22 PM