Available for Consulting

StephenBackholm

Systems ArchitectReal Estate Investment

I build the operational backbone that allows real estate investment companies scale. The systems, marketing engines, and workflows that turn a busy team into a predictable one.

TEL623-229-6571 BASEPhoenix, AZ · Nationwide
Career path

The Path

2008 to Present
10+ Years experience

Boutique Web Development Agency

Founding Partner

For more than a decade I built and ran a boutique web development firm, serving everyone from small businesses to large companies. We shipped the full range, from marketing sites to complete business systems, including custom CRMs, booking platforms, and operational software shaped around how each client actually worked.

I sold my stake in 2018 after a successful ten-year run.

10+ years at the helm Custom CRMs & booking systems Successful exit
Google · Waymo

Waymo Self-Driving Car Project

Canary-Level Testing & Systems Behavior

Google recruited me onto the Waymo autonomous vehicle program, where I was part of the canary-level testing team. I worked closely with the engineers to sharpen system performance and vehicle behavior. It was precision work, the kind where the loop between testing and engineering has to be airtight.

During this time, I had an underlying interest of learning about real estate and getting into the business. During my off time, I took action to independently make my way into real estate. I worked nights and weekends independently to source opportunities and bought my first two investment properties during this stretch, which is where the next chapter started.

Autonomous systems testing Engineering collaboration 2 properties acquired
1 Year · Full-Time Pivot

Real Estate Pivot

Raw Land Acquisitions · Startup Team

I left Google to go all-in on real estate and learn the investment business from the inside, I joined a local investment company and worked alongside the owners to spin up their raw land division. During this time, I was responsible for developing their land acquisition strategy, building their CRM and sales process for future employees, as well as learning the business inside and out, including underwriting, acquisition and disposition strategies, including seller finance, land entitlement, development requirements, restrictions and more.

Department startup Acquisitions strategy
6.5 Years · Arizona to Nationwide

Nationwide Wholesale Startup

Founder · Buying & Selling at Scale

I launched my own real estate investment and nation-wide wholesale company. I built a very small team & started by buying and selling properties in Arizona focused on distressed sellers and solving real problems. After approx 3 years we expanded nationwide and have closed deals in more than 28 states with a verity of traditional and creative transactional structures.

From the point of nationwide expansion, I turned my attention to the operations layer, building scalable systems and processes that helped to streamline and automate portions of each role to increase the output of each team member. We closed in excess of 550+ transactions and consistently set new record highs year over year. I eventually packaged that same operational playbook and rolled it into working in a consulting capacity with other investment and wholesale companies. This leads to my current focus.

550+ transactions YoY record growth Nationwide team Role-level automation
Mid-2025 to Present

Operations & Systems Architect

Consultant · Retainer + Profit Share

I stepped back from the transactional side to consult full-time. Today I partner with a small and select group of real estate investment and wholesale companies, I focus on building the operational tools, system architecture, marketing playbook, and AI workflows that help them grow.

Select client roster Retainer + profit share AI-first operations
How I help partners scale

Building your company an operating system to fuel growth.

Everything I provide was built, tested and proven inside my own company at first: lead generation systems, acquisition pipelines, disposition strategies, transaction coordination processes, with an added layer of AI-driven workflows that keep it all running while cutting out the constant oversight and need for manual input.

The result is a business that scales on process instead of headcount. Roles are documented, the right things are automated, and the whole operation is measurable. The only truth is proven systems, KPI's and numbers, no theories, no fluff.

Independent Projects

R&D · Software

Alongside my current client work, I am developing an independent suite of software systems and tools designed to optimize both internal and client-facing business processes.

These solutions address operational gaps both inside and outside the real estate industry, with one clear purpose: to eliminate the common breakdowns, bottlenecks, and outdated manual processes that slow businesses down.

We are living in one of the most exciting technological eras in history. Artificial intelligence now gives operators the ability to solve problems that previously required massive teams, complex infrastructure, and significant budgets.

My focus with these projects is to bridge the gap between antiquated processes and the next generation of business systems, creating bulletproof tools that allow companies to operate leaner, move faster, and become more profitable than ever before.

Focus 01 · Real Estate

Tools for operators

Purpose-built systems for real estate investment and wholesale companies, drawn straight from running one at scale. They close the operational gaps these teams hit every day, across lead flow, follow-up, coordination, and reporting, with AI handling the heavy lifting in the background.

Focus 02 · Cross-Industry

Simple solutions for everyday friction

The same approach, applied well beyond real estate. I spot the recurring problems operators run into across industries and ship focused, easy-to-use tools that solve them. Every build starts from a real gap and stays deliberately simple, meant to fuel growth rather than add complexity.

Capabilities

Platforms & Core Competencies

One idea runs through all of it: capturing more of the business than a manual team ever could. A standard sales floor depends on people to remember, follow up, and chase. I move that work into systems and workflows that touch every lead, every time, so revenue stops slipping through the gaps human attention always leaves behind.

01 · CRM

CRM Platforms & Architecture

Deep, hands-on experience across the major platforms. I build, customize, and optimize each one around how a business actually operates, then wire in the workflows that make it run.

Platforms
Salesforce Podio GoHighLevel Monday.com + adjacent stacks
02 · AUTOMATION

Workflows & Automation

I design, build, maintain, and continuously tune the automation layer that sits on top of the CRM. That covers lead and database management, engagement and re-engagement sequences, and product and service sales campaigns, all engineered to convert a higher share of the pipeline than manual outreach ever does.

Build Tools
n8n Make.com Native CRM automation
03 · GROWTH

Marketing, Funnels & Sales Performance

I run marketing campaigns end to end and manage the sales teams that work them, driving leads and optimizing hard for performance. On the funnel side, I handle landing page design, development, testing, and deployment, including side-by-side split testing, all tuned to KPIs and tracked against the numbers that actually matter.

Focus Areas
Campaign management Sales team leadership Lead generation Landing page A/B testing KPI tracking & optimization
04 · AI & AGENTIC

AI & Agentic Systems

I design and develop agentic workflows that take real work off people's plates: automating day-to-day admin, optimizing sales teams, and handling mid- to high-level operational tasks through systems that think and act rather than just trigger. That extends to AI voice campaigns and AI-driven communications, all built to scale output without scaling headcount.

Focus Areas
Multi Role Agentic workflows Admin task automation Sales optimization AI voice campaigns Operational AI systems Learning & improvement loops Hermes · OpenClaw Claude Teams Scheduled tasks & cron jobs
05 · FOUNDATION

Operations & Real Estate Systems

All of it rests on two things: full command of every internal process inside a transactional real estate investment company, and a decade spent building custom CRMs, booking systems, and business software from scratch. I'm fluent in both the operations and the engineering behind every build.

Focus Areas
Operational architecture RE investment systems Custom software development Process design & scale