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Sam Johnson
Senior Vice President at Montgomery Street Partners
Professional Background
Sam Johnson, CFA, is a highly accomplished commercial real estate professional known for his extensive expertise and diverse experience across various sectors including investment due diligence, asset management, development, and mezzanine lending. With a robust background that spans both Canadian and U.S. markets, he brings a wealth of knowledge to the rapidly evolving real estate landscape.
Throughout his career, Sam has worked on a significant number of high-profile real estate transactions, showcasing his proficiency in acquisition and disposition strategies. He has demonstrated a unique ability to effectively navigate complex deals, evidenced by his selected transaction experience that includes notable projects such as the Boston Office Portfolio Joint Venture Syndication (Disposition), the Back Bay Portfolio (Acquisition), and life science properties in Boston and Cambridge (Mezzanine Debt Investment). These achievements highlight his strategic vision and solid understanding of the market dynamics.
Sam’s experience is not limited to the transactions, as he has also excelled in development roles. His qualifications include underwriting, permitting, design, and project execution, all crucial components of successful real estate development. His negotiation skills have been vital in securing entitlements for major development projects, further solidifying his reputation as a formidable leader in the field of asset management and development.
Education and Achievements
Sam’s academic background is equally impressive, having studied at some of the most prestigious institutions. He completed a Bachelor of Commerce with a Triple Concentration in Finance, Economics, and Entrepreneurial Studies at McGill University, a well-respected global institution known for its strong focus on business and commerce education. Additionally, he pursued another Bachelor of Commerce in Economics at the University of Toronto, which has greatly endowed him with a comprehensive understanding of the economic factors that influence real estate markets.
Further enhancing his academic credentials, Sam studied at Universität Mannheim in Germany, where he reinforced his Bachelor of Commerce with a Triple Concentration in Finance, Economics, and Entrepreneurial Studies. This diverse educational background has equipped him with a multidisciplinary approach to real estate investment and management, enabling him to assess opportunities from multiple perspectives.
In August 2016, Sam earned the prestigious Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation, reflecting his deep commitment to professional excellence and ethical standards in financial management. As a CFA Charterholder, he demonstrates a strong foundation in investment analysis and portfolio management, vital skills for his role in real estate investing.
Organizations and Career Progression
Over the years, Sam has held several key positions within leading real estate firms, making significant contributions to each organization. Currently, he serves as a Senior Vice President at Montgomery Street Partners, where he continues to leverage his expertise to drive investment performance and project success.
Prior to this role, Sam was a Director of Investments at Oxford Properties Group, a premier real estate investment, development, and management company. In this role, he was responsible for overseeing various investment projects and had a considerable impact on the firm’s overall success. His tenure at Oxford was marked by a series of accomplishments, including advancing projects through different phases of investment and management.
Before becoming a Director, Sam was an Associate in Investments at Oxford Properties Group, where he played a critical role in the valuation and analysis of real estate investments. His career began at Hullmark Developments Ltd as an Associate in Commercial Real Estate, where he honed his skills in deal-making and strategic investment.
Early in his career, Sam gained foundational experience as an Analyst in Investments & Finance at Oxford Properties Group, where he assisted in the financial analysis of major transactions, setting the groundwork for his future successes in the industry. Each role in Sam's career path has contributed to his comprehensive understanding of the commercial real estate sector and his capability to lead complex and high-stakes projects.
Achievements
Sam Johnson has been instrumental in facilitating high-value transactions and asset management initiatives that underscore his value in the real estate industry. His notable achievements include the execution of multiple acquisitions and dispositions in both Canadian and U.S real estate markets, as outlined in his extensive transaction history. In particular, his involvement in the $2.2B ORC Debenture/Revolver Financing for corporate debt issuance stands out as a significant contribution to the financial landscape of real estate investment.
Another hallmark of Sam's successful career is his adeptness in managing complex projects, improving value through capital investments, and enhancing asset performance. His experience in negotiating permits and entitlements for transformative development projects reflects his commitment to operational excellence and strategic foresight.
In summary, Sam Johnson's career is characterized by a stellar educational background, comprehensive experience across major real estate transactions, and a demonstrated ability to capitalize on investment opportunities. His ongoing contributions to the commercial real estate sector have established him as a reliable expert in investment and asset management, making him a sought-after professional in the industry.
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Clay works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Clay offers several powerful features including:
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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
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- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Clay is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Clay is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Clay as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Clay offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Clay takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Clay encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Clay work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Clay is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Clay is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Clay is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Clay offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Clay offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Clay for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Clay accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Clay offers extensive integration capabilities. Clay introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Clay supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Clay also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
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Clay is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Clay stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Clay excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Clay is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Clay offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Clay's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Clay has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Clay is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Clay beneficial.
Clay offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Clay offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Clay's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Clay offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Clay focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Clay also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Clay offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
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Clay's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Clay has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Clay a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Clay's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Clay's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Clay has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Clay's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Clay as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Clay eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.