BPCON2023 Review 4 and Tesla Valves

A look at the latest Bigger Pockets Convention and fixed geometry check valves

Bigger Pockets Convention 2023

For those who don’t know, bigger pockets is one of the largest real estate communities on Earth. I am a member and it has helped me immensely. They have blogs, books and podcasts that give people the opportunity to learn more about real estate with out having to spend thousands of dollars on education. So, when I heard about the bigger pockets convention for the first time, I looked into it. I saw that the location was in Orlando and figured this would be the best time to go and see what the convention was all about. The convention was separated into 3 days, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

Looking at the entire convention as a whole, I would say the experience was worth it, but will not be something I am going to do in the near future. The biggest reason for me to go there was that it was in Orlando, which meant I could drive there and sleep at my house, saving me money on a flight and hotel. If this was happening in another state, then I would not have gone. The speakers were great and I learned a lot from them, but it seemed like everything they talked about, could be found in a book, with exceptions to any current news. The vendors were also great, but their products and services were niche. Since I am a long term, buy and hold investor, any company that involved short term rentals or fix and flips, I never went up and talked to. This isn’t bad, but it is something to keep in mind. Another thing to keep in mind is that you will meet a lot of people, and I mean a lot. I got all sorts of contact information from lenders and investors, but none of them have reached out since the convention and none are people I will probably be investing with since I only got to meet them for a few days. There was one person I met that I ended up hanging out with the whole trip and also went to the Universal Islands of Adventure with. My advice is to focus on quality, and not quantity when it comes to meeting people. For the venue itself, the parking could be very expensive, around $30 a day, even if you are only there for a few hours. When it comes to the information provided, there was a bookstore in the center of the venue and these books were very cheap to buy. If you were looking for a specific book from bigger pockets, then that would be a great place to get it. I purchased Long Distance Real Estate Investing and Pillars of Wealth, which are both written by David Greene. I also got most of my books signed by the authors which made it worthwhile to bring all of my bigger pockets books. If I had to give the convention a score it would be 7/10. As a first time goer for the convention, I had fun connecting with other investors and learning new things, but for a price tag of around $1000, plus $600 for extra sessions on Sunday, you need to have a plan on what you are going to do there. Relationships won’t last after the convention is over and people leave to go home. Speaking with lenders is great if you are actively looking for properties to fund and have a business plan about your investing criteria, but to just go there and see what it is about or to just hang out, I would not recommend it. The bigger pockets convention is definitely geared toward business, not fun. As a result, you need to act like it.

Tesla Valve

The more simple a part is, the less likely that it will break. Adding simplicity might involve using less parts, or no parts at all. This approach was what Tesla used when creating his invention, the Valvular Conduit. A valve is like a gate that allows fluid to enter when it is opened, either manually or remotely. Some are check valves which allows a fluid to flow in only one direction. Tesla’s valve is a check valve, however, it does not fully prevent a fluid from back flowing, some will still leak out, but at a much slower rate then what the fluid was flowing from. While this might seem like a bad design, the beauty of this valve is that there are no moving parts. The way the valve works is simple. Fluid, such as water, wants to follow the path of least resistance. So Tesla design the valve to constantly disrupt this flow by having the streams separate and come back together in reverse directions if the fluid is flowing the wrong way. The flow is constantly being pushed on by itself and it reduces the speed greatly. The valve can then be stretched over a set distance to maximize the reduction in speed. If the fluid is flowing the correct way, then there is minimal disruption. This lack of moving parts helps to prevent much wear and tear that a mechanical check valve would experience. The primary use for the tesla valve is when a small amount of fluid is being used, for example, amounts in the 10^-9 to 10^-18 liters. This usually involves medical practices involving DNA or printers dispensing ink droplets. For larger applications, a pulse jet makes use of a tesla valve since it has extreme pressure changes while operating.

An excerpt from US patent issue #1329559

Principle of operation of a Tesla valve. The upper figure shows flow in the blocking direction: at each stage, part of the fluid is turned around (red) and interferes with the forward flow (black). The lower figure shows flow in the unimpeded direction (blue), Credit: Wiki User - CMG Lee

resources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_valve