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Self-service storage is an American phenomenon. While self-storage facilities exist in Europe and Asia, the business overseas does not come close to the scale and demand in the United States over the past decade. Self-storage is a direct monetization of American overconsumption so any bet on the industry is a bet that Americans will keep buying so much stuff that they’ll always need to rent extra space to store it.

In a time where the economy is contracting, institutional and retail investors are looking for defensive businesses that deal in essentials. Self storage companies have become attractive as stable, recession-proof, operationally lean lean real estate businesses where cash flows in every month, overhead is minimal, and the customers literally do all the heavy lifting themselves.

In this episode, we’ll cover the business of self storage, how the industry’s success rides on the death of the American Dream, how it all relates to skyrocketing home prices, wages stagnation, inflation - and how one company has remained the uncontested industry leader since the 1990’s.

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0:00 More Space for Life
8:06 The American Dream
11:55 Supply-Side Economics
15:58 Sponsor Intro
17:42 Sponsor Break
19:07 Leader in Fragmentation
23:40 A Lean Real Estate Startup
28:04 Big City