Founder Friday: When Housing Gets Harder, Operators Get Interesting
Own It, Lend Against It, or Buy It Cheap. Why control beats access in a tighter-capital cycle
In a slower market, the housing story isn’t about which way prices go.
It’s about how deals get built.
The easy money is gone. Investors stopped backing the pitch and started backing the person running it.
Can you actually operate the thing you’re raising on? Bedrock, Vicktory, and Atlas each answer the same question a different way: how do you make money on housing when capital is nervous?
One lends against homes. One buys and runs mobile home parks. One buys distressed housing cheap and fixes it up.
Same asset, three seats at the table.
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🌊 Founder Friday TL;DR
Derek Vickers · Vicktory Capital Ran a 100-person sales org, then spent five years buying and fixing mobile home parks, now 51 communities deep with a 3.47x realized track record.
Mike Hills · Atlas Real Estate Runs capital markets at a 150-person platform that has bought housing below replacement cost through every cycle since 2009, now $1B and 6,000 units.
Tony Isbell, Mark McKeller, and Britt Jennings · The Bedrock Fund Built and exited residential platforms, now lending to a closed circle of pro home-flippers with inspection-verified draws and money of their own in every loan.
🏡 Vicktory Capital
Vicktory Capital is led by Derek Vickers, buying and improving mobile home parks across high-growth Sun Belt markets.
Before real estate, Derek led a 100+ person national sales team, experience that now shapes how he scales operations and systems. Since 2020 he has built a portfolio spanning 51 communities and 2,471 home sites, buying mismanaged parks and turning them around: fixing deferred maintenance, moving homes from company-owned to resident-owned, and bringing below-market rents up to market. He runs the firm with partners Paul Bennett (operations; ex-NBCUniversal, Cardone Enterprises) and Joe Faraci (three decades in real estate).
At a glance:
51 communities, 2,471 home sites since 2020; 11 currently operated across FL + AZ
3.47x average realized equity multiple across 10 fully exited deals
27 communities stabilized; 15-person in-house team
Vicktory Capital Equity Fund I: $20M raise, 15-19% net IRR target, 8% preferred + sponsor co-investment
Investor Deck | Company LinkedIn | Schedule Intro Call
🏘️ Atlas Real Estate
Atlas Real Estate, with Mike Hills leading capital markets, runs a fully in-house platform that buys housing for less than it costs to build.
Atlas was formed during the 2008-2009 crisis, buying distressed homes as other investors pulled back, then fixing and stabilizing them with its own teams. The same approach runs today across roughly 6,000 units and nearly $1B in assets. Hills has deployed $1B+ across single-family rentals, build-to-rent, and apartments over 20+ years, a decade of it inside Atlas.
At a glance:
$1B AUM across 6,000 units; 150-person in-house team
18 years across multiple downturns, 97%+ portfolio occupancy
Mid-40% realized IRRs reported on prior completed deals
Farmhouse @ 5280 (Jan 2026): 19 Denver townhomes bought 24-31% below comparable sales, 16.7% projected base return
Overview | Company LinkedIn | Schedule an Intro Call
🧱 The Bedrock Fund
The Bedrock Fund is led by Tony Isbell, Mark McKeller, and Britt Jennings, and running a lending strategy built for a closed circle of experienced home-flippers.
Isbell founded and exited RealtyBid.com, a national home-buying marketplace that moved 120,000+ homes and $1.5B+ in volume. McKeller has bought and sold 500+ homes and originated $100M+ in bridge loans. Together they lend against each property’s after-repair value at conservative levels and release construction money only after an independent inspection confirms the work. CPA Brit Jennings runs accounting and compliance. The founders keep their own capital in the fund on the same terms as investors.
At a glance:
700+ loans funded, $153.8M deployed since 2019
68.3% average loan-to-value, 175-day average payoff
8% fixed preferred, paid monthly, 12-month term, 0% management fee, SDIRA accepted
Founder capital invested alongside LPs
The Bedrock Fund Flyer | Schedule an Intro Call
🌊 Your ThinkFISH Edge
Notice what none of these founders led with. No big macro call, no hype.
Just tight underwriting and their own money in the deal.
Different strategies, same discipline.
In a market full of noise, that discipline is the signal, and it’s what separates the operators from everyone still pitching.
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