Yesterday was Veterans Day, and I want to step back and say thank you.
To every man and woman who has worn the uniform, and to the families who carried the weight at home: thank you. Your service was years of your life given to something larger than yourself.
My path started as an Army infantryman and led to Special Forces, where I served as a Green Beret and combat diver. The leadership principles I learned there still shape how I manage other people’s money.
Here are four military leadership principles I still use every day.
- IPlan first
- IIPrepare for failure
- IIITrust the right people
- IVLead from the front
01 — Plan First
The mission is won or lost before you step off
In Special Forces, we spent far more time planning than executing. We studied the terrain, the routes, and every assumption that could break. The outcome was decided before anyone left the planning room.
Lending works the same way. The moment that matters most is the day we decide whether to make a loan. That is when we study the property, borrower, and exit strategy.
A deal that doesn’t meet our standards is not an opportunity missed. It is a problem avoided.
If you worry that one wrong decision could undo decades of saving, that worry is reasonable. Careful planning exists to prevent exactly that.
A private conversation with Edwin on how every loan in Blue Bay Fund I is planned and protected.
02 — Prepare for Failure
Always have a plan for when the plan fails
Every operation we ran had a PACE plan: Primary, Alternate, Contingency, Emergency. Communications would fail. Weather would turn. We assumed it and planned accordingly.
That mindset is why I believe in first lien lending. When Blue Bay Fund I makes a loan, we hold the senior position, secured by real property.
How this protects your capital
Every loan stays under 70% loan-to-value (LTV). LTV compares the loan to the property’s value, so a $650,000 loan on a $1,000,000 property is 65% LTV. That leaves a cushion of equity between the loan and the asset.
A $650,000 loan on a $1,000,000 property leaves $350,000 of equity between the loan and the asset, inside the fund’s ceiling of under 70% on every loan.
You can breathe a little easier knowing those safeguards are in place before the first dollar moves.
The fund presentation walks through where Blue Bay Fund I sits in every loan, and why being first in line matters.
03 — People First
People matter more than equipment
The first SOF Truth is simple: humans are more important than hardware.
Humans are more important than hardware.
A loan is a relationship with a person. What have they built before? Do they communicate when a project hits a delay, or do they go quiet?
Character shows up long before a problem does, so we review every borrower’s track record before we lend.
04 — Lead from the Front
Never ask anyone to take a risk you won’t take yourself
In the teams, leaders went where their men went. That principle builds trust that no title or rank can manufacture.
That’s why I fund every loan personally before any investor capital is deployed. If I’m asking you to trust our process, I should be standing right beside you inside it.
At Blue Bay Fund I
How these military leadership principles show up at Blue Bay Fund I
Questions about the principles of leadership in the military
What are the military leadership principles?
The U.S. Army has long taught eleven principles of leadership. Edwin D. Epperson III focuses on four: plan first, prepare for failure, put people first, and lead from the front.
What are the SOF Truths?
The SOF Truths are five principles from U.S. Special Operations Command. The first states that humans are more important than hardware. While all of these are vitally important, the human domain, in any venture, can spell success or failure.
You can have a great project with a lousy real estate investor and you risk losing everything. You can have a great project that turns South, but with a stellar real estate investor, you can make it out with success.
What is a PACE plan?
A PACE plan is a military planning method with four layers of backup: Primary, Alternate, Contingency, and Emergency. As an 18E, that’s the job nomenclature of a Green Beret Communications Sergeant, I am intimately familiar with the importance of clear communication and having a backup plan for your backup plan.
How do military leadership principles apply to investing?
At Blue Bay Fund I, military leadership principles mean careful underwriting, first lien loans under 70% loan-to-value, close borrower vetting, and Edwin funding every loan personally before investor capital is deployed.
What does first lien mean?
A first lien means the lender holds the senior claim on a property and is first in line to be repaid if it is sold or foreclosed. This is critical in protecting my investor capital and ensuring that capital preservation and dependability of our investments’ cash flow is stable and secured.
In Closing
The Bottom Line
The principles that kept teams safe in the field are the same ones I use to protect capital today. Plan first, prepare for failure, trust the right people, and lead from the front.
Whether you served, love someone who did, or built something worth protecting, you deserve that kind of care.
For many people I work with, their capital represents decades of discipline. It deserves the same seriousness we brought to every mission.
This week, take a moment to thank a veteran. Call the friend who served. Remember the ones who didn’t come home, and the families who still carry that loss.
Fund Manager of Blue Bay Fund I, with more than 150 deals originated.
With Honor,
Edwin D. Epperson III,
Manager & CEO
Soli Deo Gloria
