BiggerPockets

Origins and Founding Story

BiggerPockets emerged from the frustration of a high school teacher who sought authentic real estate investing advice but found the existing landscape filled with questionable information. Joshua Dorkin, working as an educator at the time, had obtained his real estate license and purchased some property, but quickly realized that having a license didn't make him expert enough to succeed in real estate investing.^[1] After becoming fed up with what he perceived as inauthentic advice from late-night television personalities and get-rich-quick schemes, Dorkin decided to create his own online community as a way to help himself learn.^[1]

The platform was officially founded in 2004, initially serving as a social network specifically designed for real estate investors.^[2] Dorkin's vision was to democratize the space of real estate investing by creating an authentic community where investors could connect and share genuine experiences.^[1] What began as a personal solution to find reliable information quickly grew into something much larger, as Dorkin realized that BiggerPockets was helping more people than just himself.

Community Growth and Engagement

The platform experienced remarkable growth over its first decade of operation. By 2015, BiggerPockets had attracted 256,000 active members and was generating impressive engagement metrics.^[2]^[3] During that period, the community was scoring 783,000 unique visitors and approximately 5 million page views in a 30-day span, with users averaging between 1,600 to 2,000 new forum posts daily.^[2]^[3]

The early years required significant personal investment from Dorkin, who was simultaneously managing his teaching career while building the community. He often found himself playing dual roles as both an active community participant and moderator, leading to what he described as a period where he "really didn't sleep much."^[1] The demands of running the network, podcast, and publishing content alongside his day job eventually reached a breaking point, prompting Dorkin to expand his team and formalize the business structure.^[4]

Key Personalities and Leadership

While Joshua Dorkin established the foundation of BiggerPockets, Brandon Turner emerged as another central figure in the platform's growth and popularity. Turner, a real estate investor in his own right, became the co-host of the BiggerPockets podcast and developed a significant social media presence.^[5] Over the past decade, he has attracted 250,000 followers to his Instagram handle @beardybrandon and has been instrumental in creating content that has earned the podcast over 100 million downloads.^[5]

Turner's approach combines motivational speaking with investment evangelism, targeting a millennial audience with the message that buying and renting out homes can provide a path to wealth and financial freedom.^[5] His influence extends beyond content creation, as he has leveraged his social media following to raise capital for his real estate investment company, Open Door Capital, which has reportedly raised close to $100 million over a year and a half period.^[5]

YouTube Presence and Content Strategy

BiggerPockets has established a substantial presence on YouTube, with their channel accumulating 1.24 million subscribers and over 119 million total video views as of May 2025.^[6]^[7] The channel joined YouTube in March 2007 and has since published 3,725 videos, maintaining a consistent upload schedule of approximately 3.75 videos per week.^[7]

The channel's content focuses on practical real estate investing education, with recent videos covering topics such as property acquisition strategies, market analysis, and investor success stories.^[8]^[9] Their video content maintains an average length of 26.08 minutes, which is longer than similar channels in their category, suggesting a preference for in-depth educational content over shorter, more casual videos.^[7]

Podcast Success and Reach

The BiggerPockets podcast has become one of the platform's most successful content offerings, consistently ranking as the number one real estate show on iTunes.^[5] By 2015, individual episodes were averaging 41,500 listeners, and the show has since grown to achieve over 100 million total downloads.^[2]^[5]

The podcast is currently hosted by Dave Meyer and maintains a regular publishing schedule on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.^[7] The show focuses on breaking down real estate investing strategies that work in practice, featuring interviews with successful investors and providing actionable advice for listeners at various stages of their investing journey.^[10]

Current Platform Offerings

Beyond content creation, BiggerPockets has evolved into a comprehensive platform offering multiple tools and resources for real estate investors. The platform includes calculators for various investment scenarios, market analysis tools, deal-finding resources, and educational courses.^[10] They also offer a premium subscription service called BiggerPockets Pro, which provides additional tools and resources for more serious investors.^[11]

The platform has maintained its commitment to providing authentic, practical advice rather than following the typical real estate education model of promoting expensive courses and mentoring programs.^[1] This approach has helped differentiate BiggerPockets in a market often criticized for predatory educational products and unrealistic promises of quick wealth.