Learning the biz as a broker (even for a short period of time) is very helpful. Focus on sucking up as much knowledge and data as possible. Also, if your goal is to build an UW platform and begin funding on your own quickly, only broker deals to funding sources that allow you to monitor the performance of your deals daily so you can learn which deals work out and which don't. Watch your brokered portfolio very closely, its by far the cheapest way to begin learning about the nuances of underwriting.