Ben's evolution from architect to the founder of his own development company has taken him through roles as a project manager and a ten-year tenure at General Projects. In 2024, he founded his firm, More, with a provocative mission: "fixing broken real estate".

His core message is that as a developer, you need a combination of financial fluency and communication to secure investment.

“If you are reliant on someone else to explain the financial environment you aren't a developer—you're just a passenger”, he said.

 Here are our top seven takeaways from Ben’s talk.

 The two-minute rule

If you cannot clearly explain how much money goes into a deal, the hold period, and the exit value in two minutes, investors will not take you seriously.

 Time is your greatest risk

Perhaps the most significant revelation for architects is that time kills development projects faster than cost overruns. Every month spent waiting for planning or vacillating on a design choice dilutes your profit.

 Build up your network

You don’t need a subscription to expensive data sets like CoStar to find deals. You need relationships.  Whether it’s a planning consultant, a structural engineer, or an investor, your network is what allows you to find and fund opportunities early.

Embrace complexity

Instead of competing in the open market where everyone is bidding on"clean" sites, look for friction: Seek out buildings with technical challenges, tricky conservation listings, or confusing use classes.

Ask the "dumb" questions

The financial world is buried in jargon and acronyms—much like the architectural world.

 Directness wins

Whether you are seeking equity or asking for a job, straight-talking and persistence are vital in an entrepreneurial environment.

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Nick Glendinning, founder of Nest Development,will be talking about the advantages of developing outside London on March 25th. Book here

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