Episode
Tom Dunkel: Building Your Life Plan Before You Build Your Business Plan
- Podcast
- Burning The Ships
- Published
- Apr 12, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 3454
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://rss.com/podcasts/608bcapital/2721326
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Summary
In this episode of Burning the Ships, I sit down with Tom Dunkel — managing principal of Eagle Capital Investments, co-founder of U.S. Mortgage Resolution, self-storage investor, and a guy who spent ten years in corporate mergers and acquisitions before getting fired in 2006 and never looking back. Tom walks us through a career that started with aerospace deals and Harvard MBAs in DC, ran through a firing that turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to him, and evolved into a 20-year entrepreneurial journey that has generated close to $70 million in revenue. From wholesaling to distressed mortgage debt to a $55 million self-storage portfolio, Tom and his business partner Joe have built and rebuilt multiple times — and learned hard lessons each time about niching down, building teams, and creating a business that works without you. Key Talking Points of the Episode 00:00 Why niching down is the difference between businesses that succeed and ones that fail 01:41 Tom's background — William and Mary, corporate M&A, and the aerospace industry 03:21 Building financial models and raising capital alongside Harvard and Wharton MBAs 04:27 Getting fired in 2006 and why his ships were probably burned before that anyway 05:07 Having a wife and two young kids at home when the decision was made for him 05:53 Getting his face bashed in through the Great Recession as a brand new entrepreneur 06:20 Building U.S. Mortgage Resolution into a business that generated nearly $70 million 13:22 Walking out of a dream job interview because a voice in his head said don't do it 23:42 Discovering discounted mortgage notes and how his finance background made it click 34:37 Discovering self-storage through Scott Myers and doing the work before buying anything 35:52 Buying their first s…