For Cullan Maumus (MBA ’13), networking is serious business. And it has delivered his best ROI to date: the opportunity to be project manager and executive team member of the New Orleans Redevelopment Fund (NORF), a startup that tackles blight and renovates properties to answer the city’s growing demand for quality housing.
Cullan Maumus
Maumus met his partner, Alex Hernandez (MBA ’03), in March 2013 at Freeman Days New Orleans, a business school-organized recruiting and corporate connection event. Already working on purchasing and renovating properties in New Orleans with his friend Michael Niemtzow (BSM ’98), Hernandez saw an opportunity to scale up. Maumus’ six years of experience in general contracting looked like a good fit for NORF, which was then only an idea on paper.
Freeman Days led to a perfect marriage of talents and perspectives. After taking on market research assignments for Hernandez and Niemtzow, Maumus stepped into a full-time role at NORF in June 2013, helping to launch the company.
“As an entrepreneur, every conversation you have with a person is an opportunity for business, and networking is so important,” Maumus says. “You are always selling yourself, and you have to show confidence for your potential partner to be confident in you.”
It’s a mantra that holds true in his work today as NORF actively seeks investors for its first phase, the acquisition and redevelopment of 15 to 20 multifamily units in New Orleans. While NORF is currently focused on Mid-City, where $2 billion has been invested in hospital development and there is an influx of new residents, Maumus says the company is open to all opportunities.
“People ask me why I take so many meetings with potential clients, and I tell them I’ve removed the word ‘no’ from my vocabulary,” Maumus says. “‘No’ puts a brick wall between us and people who could be great partners down the line. Even if someone asked me if we could buy the Superdome, I wouldn’t say no. I’d say, ‘Let’s talk about it.’”
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