Building From the Ground Up with Nick Khamsopa

A kid from Thailand lands at JFK, looks up at the towers in Manhattan for the first time, and decides he's going to figure out how to build one of those. Nick Khamsopa is now an affordable housing developer in New York's Hudson Valley and the founder of Hudson Housing Lifestyle, working inside the state's push to build 800,000 units by 2030.

This conversation covers the long road from union apprenticeship to land development, the project that made him realize he was on the wrong side of the deal, and why he thinks the only real business education is the kind you get from failing. Key Topics: Learning entrepreneurship through trial, error, and repeated failure Moving from construction and contracting into land development Recognizing who is actually capturing the value in a deal How New York State's affordable housing initiative and subsidies work What affordable housing really means, and the misconceptions around it Building a business on relationships and mutual benefit Union roots, local labor, and keeping money in the community Marketing and visibility as a founder who'd rather stay behind the camera Featured Guest: Nick Khamsopa (Affordable housing developer and founder of Hudson Housing Lifestyle in New York's Hudson Valley) Notable Quotes: "You can't go to school and learn it.

You have to go out and fail." (Nick Khamsopa) "The more you fail, the more knowledge you'll gain." (Nick Khamsopa) "Some of the buildings I built 30 years ago, I drive by and I still get goosebumps." (Nick Khamsopa) "Money is great, but if you don't enjoy it, money is not gonna make you happy." (Nick Khamsopa) Connect with our guest: Nick: and Hudson Housing Lifestyle on Instagram Follow Could Be Pretty Cool News: @couldbeprettycool | | couldbeprettycoolnews.substack.com Keywords: affordable housing, real estate development, creative entrepreneurship, Hudson Valley, New York housing, construction industry, union labor, land development, workforce housing, founder story, business networking, entrepreneurship advice Learn more about your ad choices. Visit