After having weathered some of the most volatile economic years in recent history, the highly-talented and successful duo at the helm of DH Capital is ready to hit the road for their upcoming 2023 speaking tour. Michael Kmetz and Jake Swaney are business partners who got their entrepreneurial start when they founded the oil and gas land acquisitions company, Dark Horse Minerals. Recently, they have found even greater success with their latest venture, DH Capital.
A real estate investment business focused on commercial real estate, including multi-family apartments, self-storage, and industrial properties, DH Capital was designed to thrive regardless of market conditions. “In general, people always need to store their things. People are always moving. There’s much migration going on right now in the United States. And so, that’s why many people have seen a deeper interest lately,” Kmetz says.
The journey from their early days working out of their apartments to becoming fully accredited investors was not without trials and tribulations. As the economy faces increasing turbulence, Kmetz and Swaney are preparing a speaking tour to help other burgeoning entrepreneurs succeed. For the duo, 2023 is shaping up to be a year focused on education and mentorship.
“We want to provide all the information that people need to start doing what we’re doing up front and explain in a cohesive, simplistic way where people can do it themselves and have the opportunity in return to learn and then partner with us on a deal basis,” says Swaney of their pending speaking engagements. “We’d like to continue to have more seminars, where we talk about this stuff, at different locations, across the country, West Coast, East Coast, and anywhere,” Swaney adds.
Kmetz and Swaney are lining up tour dates across the United States, targeting aspiring entrepreneurs with similar ambitions. “Our company would have developed even further than it did if we’d had that guidance. So we’re looking to be that resource for other people getting started,” Kmetz says. DH Capital intends to pay it forward, bringing various company members on tour to speak to multiple aspects of their business.
For Kmetz and Swaney, the goal is to partner with those who wish to learn, which they cite as critical when the industry entry barrier is so high. “The first year you start as an entrepreneur is the hardest because you don’t know what to expect,” Kmetz says. “It’s impossible to anticipate all the roadblocks that will come up.”
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Their upcoming speaking tour would not mark Kmetz and Swaney’s first foray into mentorship. The duo behind DH Capital has an extensive history of developing opportunities to provide mentorship within the Texas business community. A winner of the Texas Business Hall of Fame’s Future Business Legend Award, Michael Kmetz has remained involved in the organization. This December, Kmetz plans to roll out an awardee onboarding program which he and the organization have been spearheading.
Some of the Texas Hall of Fame’s most noteworthy members include the likes of Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger, Mark Cuban, Robert F. Smith, and Kendra Scott. This year, DH Capital had the privilege of attending the organization’s induction dinner. This honor has only prompted Kmetz and Swaney to double down on their desire to be of service within the business community.
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For Kmetz and Swaney, DH Capital’s 2023 tour of speaking engagements is just one of many ways to give back to others and pave the way for those coming up in their stead. As the economy continues to fluctuate, the duo aspires to provide entrepreneurs on the rise as many opportunities as possible to learn all of the information they wish they’d known before embarking on their entrepreneurial journeys.
Starting a business is challenging to say the least, even in the most promising financial situation. Swaney and Kmetz have learned firsthand that there is little more valuable than advice from seasoned professionals. No matter how many seven, eight, and nine-figure deals they close, the partners behind DH Capital will always prioritize passing their knowledge down to the next generation of entrepreneurs.
For Jake Swaney, mentorship is one of the most exciting opportunities that come along with all of DH Capital’s success. “We’ve always wanted to be the two guys that can be a mentor because we didn’t have that when we started, and that was something important we were missing and wished we had.”