Industry Spotlight - Justin Brogna

Industry Spotlight

Justin Brogna

Thrive Lending

Justin Brogna, Chief Operating Officer

Thrive Lending

Justin Brogna serves as the Chief Operating Officer for Thrive Lending. He is responsible for overseeing the Thrive Lending Fund, which includes sourcing and funding of the loans. Prior to Thrive, Justin worked for nearly 20 years at various large banks in Austin. In many of his previous banking positions, Justin was responsible for creating, growing, and maintaining multi-million dollar loan portfolios. He understands how to navigate the intricacies of the lending business, in particular, and is excited about applying that expertise to Thrive Lending. Justin has a strong business development background and believes that excellent customer service is tantamount to any successful business.

Justin has two children and they enjoy boating, bikeriding, and spending quality time together.

Q: How did you first get involved in real estate, and private lending specifically? I spent most of my career in banking, working as everything from teller to President. Most of that experience was related to real estate lending. I’ve been fortunate to personally invest in real estate as well. My partners at Thrive offered me an opportunity to exit the banking world and join them. Private lending was a natural evolution for me to marry my lending and first-hand real estate experience. It’s been awesome and I haven’t looked back.

Q: How have you seen Thrive Lending grow and expand in the last few years? A little over 5 years ago, Thrive was a fractionalized hard money lender originating roughly $17MM a year. Today, we manage two funds and generate close to $90MM in originations a year. Our average loan size has grown to over $4MM. We are lending to sophisticated borrowers with more quantifiable data to make credit decisions and have been able to extend our lending presence to several major metros across the country.

Q: How has your company vision evolved from Day 1 to Today? I don’t think our vision has necessarily evolved, but I do think the execution of it has. We have always been dedicated to congruence. We believe it’s important for all stakeholders to succeed. As the company has grown and flourished, we have been able to help more borrowers and investors fulfill their goals all while achieving our own.

Q: What does success look like for you? Security and abundance.

Q: What advice would you give your younger self? Always stay true to yourself.

Q: What mistakes have you seen others make in this industry? How does Thrive Lending avoid making those same mistakes? At times it seems the industry can have a ‘follow the herd’ mentality. This creates artificial competition and drives LTVs higher than they should be and drives down pricing. We have avoided the follower mentality by finding a niche in the marketplace, offering unique loan structures and solutions, while simultaneously being able to avoid taking undue risk.

Q: What is your favorite quote? Rules are for those who do not understand what the rule makers want. -Somebody

Q: How is Thrive Lending responding and adapting to the COVID-19 crisis? We are taking a very proactive approach to portfolio management and risk mitigation. Our level of communication with current borrowers has increased significantly. We are updating our underwriting policies and procedures as well making sure our loan structures match current market conditions. We are shifting our expectations on loan production and focusing on opportunities where we have an abundance of experience and local resources.

Q: How is Thrive leveraging this market disruption to their advantage? We are taking this time to form a New Market Fund. The fund will allow us more flexibility to adapt to current market conditions today and also as they change in the future.The idea is to manage risk while maintaining a strong market presence of active lending.

Q: If you were stranded on a desertisland with access to one book, onesong, and one movie, what would they be? Book: Where the Sidewalk Ends –Shel Silverstein Song: Three Little Birds – Bob Marley Movie: Gladiator