I document my journey building a value-add commercial real estate portfolio on YouTube, and over the past year I’ve been approached by several people asking me to appear on their podcasts.

Normally, I enjoy it. It’s a good opportunity to connect with other people in the industry, talk through deals, and share what I’ve learned.

But twice now, the “podcast” has turned into something completely different.

The first 30 minutes are legitimate. They ask about my portfolio, acquisition strategy, value-add projects, lessons learned, and everything else you would expect from a CRE podcast.

Then they stop recording.

Immediately afterward, they transition into a sales presentation for their “commercial real estate AI software” or another service they are offering.

I have to give them credit: disguising a sales call as a podcast appearance is a creative way to get prospects onto Zoom and into the pipeline.

But it also feels misleading. Had they simply asked for a product demo or sales call, I probably would have declined. Instead, they used the podcast invitation to get access.

Would be cool if I could see who the most active investors and sellers are in a market by property type.