We managed to adapt to the downturn and engage the market in a meaningful way. It was a great way to sharpen our skills during the most stressful situation possible. If you've been working for 10 or 15 years in an easy environment, then you're going to be less ready for something like that. In hindsight, it was the perfect time for us to launch because we could capture a large market share and differentiate ourselves from the competition too.

GlobeSt.com: What niche did you intend to fill when you started Franklin Street?

Wright: The forward strategy was more about creating offensive and defensive businesses: insurance, property management, mortgage servicing and appraisals are all defensive businesses. Those services are still needed whether the market goes up or down. There was not one integrated model that serviced the market well. There were other businesses that did many of the same things we did, but they segmented their people in silos.

In order to have an effective real estate business with many different components, it needs to be born out of integration and collaboration. It's hard to force that on a company that's been around a long time. We've literally been born working together and interacting with our different departments. Personal relationships have developed from being together and learning together. From a niche perspective, the integrated delivery of collaboration is what separates us because it's not something we talk about, it's been embedded in us from our very beginning.

ATLANTA—Franklin Street celebrated its 10th anniversary on December 6. Since its launch in 2006, the company has grown to include five business lines—real estate, capital, insurance, management and valuation—more than 250 employees and more than $3 billion in current transaction value Andrew Wright and two other partners launched the company as a multifaceted real estate business from the birth of the business in 2006, with vertically-integrated business lines encompassing the entire life cycle of an investment.

GlobeSt.com caught up with Wright, CEO and managing partner of Franklin Street, to discuss the challenges of starting a company in the worst of times. He also shares how he targeted a niche at launch in part one of this exclusive interview.

GlobeSt.com: How challenging was it to start a company right before one of the worst recessions our country has ever experienced?

Wright: If I had to look back on it, it was the perfect time to be starting a company. When you're nimble and adaptive, you're in a much better position to deal with that downturn. You don't have the large overhead expenses and the shareholder expectations to deal with. However, you still have the pressure of feeding your family and ensuring that the people you employ keep their jobs, but it played out well for us.

We managed to adapt to the downturn and engage the market in a meaningful way. It was a great way to sharpen our skills during the most stressful situation possible. If you've been working for 10 or 15 years in an easy environment, then you're going to be less ready for something like that. In hindsight, it was the perfect time for us to launch because we could capture a large market share and differentiate ourselves from the competition too.

GlobeSt.com: What niche did you intend to fill when you started Franklin Street?

Wright: The forward strategy was more about creating offensive and defensive businesses: insurance, property management, mortgage servicing and appraisals are all defensive businesses. Those services are still needed whether the market goes up or down. There was not one integrated model that serviced the market well. There were other businesses that did many of the same things we did, but they segmented their people in silos.

In order to have an effective real estate business with many different components, it needs to be born out of integration and collaboration. It's hard to force that on a company that's been around a long time. We've literally been born working together and interacting with our different departments. Personal relationships have developed from being together and learning together. From a niche perspective, the integrated delivery of collaboration is what separates us because it's not something we talk about, it's been embedded in us from our very beginning.