Tierra Capital LLC, Real Estate Investment

Fun: having fun is important; it brings teams together during tough times and animates the good times. Working with people that love what they do is essential to having fun.

Profitability: profitability is critical to building a strong capital base, rewarding performance and attracting and keeping the best people, both in business and philanthropy.

Scalability: we value business models where output is exponentially related to the inputs, so that we can maximize our reinvestment into our business, family, friendships, and community.

Sustainability: a building that functionally, aesthetically and operationally performs longer than average maximizes profit and minimizes strain on our environment. Tierra draws upon LEED design principles, when feasible and in real estate, looks for business models that are designed to last for the long term.

Pride: taking pride in what one does is an essential ingredient for success.

Service: in business we serve serve the community, our customers and our company. We must continually ask how we can better serve them all.

Location: central Texas offers some of the best long-term investment opportunities of anywhere in the world. We enjoy living and working in Austin, in the heart of the U.S. We also recognize our global interdependence and stay connected with global trends through our foreign exchange trading, and the exchange of ideas among our international networks.

Beauty: beautiful architecture, for example, has the power to attract and inspire tenants and distinguish itself from property where aesthetics were not a consideration. Aesthetics do matter and when done with the human spirit in mind, it helps us transcend our daily tasks and experience something greater than ourselves.

Utility: customers buy the better products. Tenants rent space to use it and the better a space serves the tenants, the more loyal the tenant. Every square inch must serve the user by providing features that directly address unmet needs. In the case of philanthropy, utility reminds us that feeling good is not enough - we must take measure of how well we are serving those that need our help.