Take a quick look at my picture: see the grey. I love it because it's hard earned experience you can only get through time.

I grew up in Kentucky where people had more handshake contracts that written ones. If it were up to me, we'd still be doing that. But times have changed and now we have to put everything on paper - so we do written contracts and we do our research.

Joining the Marines just reinforced my belief: work hard, play harder. Be honest and keep your word. Life doesn't need to be more complex than that.

In most cases, everything checks out. Which is great as long as you also have a good plan. Wishful thinking and overinflated returns are quick to see and easy to verify nowadays. I really like the philosophy of "trust but verify."

That's why my investors know, when "Daniel has a deal, it's the real thing."