How I Built A $3.4 Billion Dollar Real Estate Business, And You Can Too... 🏠🏆 | Founders Club ft. Sharran Srivatsaa

Jul 16, 2019

Sharran Srivatsaa is famous for growing Teles Properties 10X in five years, expanding from one office to 22, from 35 agents to 600, and from $300M in sales to $3.5B. But what you may not know is that Sharran endured some serious challenges along the way. In fact, he suffered through some hungry days early in his college career—going so far as to face off with a raccoon in a dumpster for a Subway sandwich and a box of Pop-Tarts!

Connect with Founders Club Host Oliver Graf on Instagram

Today, Sharran serves as a serial entrepreneur and sought-after keynote speaker whose thought leadership has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post and Forbes, among many other publications. On this episode of Founders Club, Sharran sits down with Oliver to share his sage advice for entrepreneurs, explaining how he tackles to-dos, why he recommends getting a coach early on, and what you need to know about negotiating an acquisition.

Sharran weighs in on the future of the real estate industry and offers insight around the strategies he used to recruit and retain top talent at Teles. He also walks us through the marketing and pricing pieces of his legendary listing presentation and addresses the power of scripting and role play to win business. Listen in to understand how Kingston Lane is working to give agents their time back and get inspired to own your brilliance—and create tomorrow today!

Key Takeaways

[1:30] The impact of Sharran’s 5am Club

• Started to improve personal health
• Grew organically to 4K people

[7:33] Sharran’s approach to creating tomorrow today

• Make list of things to accomplish night before
• Helps entrepreneur avoid overwhelm

[16:36] How having to dumpster dive in college shaped Sharran

• No meal points at beginning of freshman year
• Take more risks, less afraid to lose than most

[20:11] Sharran’s first entrepreneurial experiences

• Sold ethernet cable in dorms ($57K in 3 weeks)
• Programming contest led to joining startup

[26:16] The power of scripting to win business

• Explain how home fits in overall marketplace
• Frame self as data expert (next record price)

[33:50] Sharran’s move from investment banking to real estate

• Passive investor in Teles, principal asked for guidance
• Grew from 35 to 600 agents + $300M to $3.5B in sales
• Strategy to recruit great people vs. sell more homes

[39:46] How Sharran recruited for Teles DNA

• Agents who identify with mission don’t want to leave
• Identify team member who embodies and deconstruct

[45:24] How Teles attracted top talent

• Build ‘pearl necklace’ along California coast
• Systematize processes to give agent time back

[51:59] Sharran’s advice around acquisitions

• Shop business every year, feedback = goals for year
• Separate team into acquisitions and business growth

[57:24] The common terms of an acquisition deal

1. Get cash or stock upon sale
2. Earn out over 3- to 5-year period
3. Bonuses based on milestones

[1:06:56] How to negotiate an acquisition deal

• Identify 3 things you can’t live without
• Ask what’s important to them beyond $ terms

[1:11:16] Sharran’s insight on the job of a leader

• Think ahead re: bigger + better future
• Develop cadence to connect with team

[1:18:57] Sharran’s approach to tackling to-dos

• Put to-dos on calendar rather than list
• Aim for 100% say-do ratio
• Do what brings joy and hire out rest

[1:30:25] Where Sharran thinks the industry is headed

• Agent as quarterback (relationship manager)
• Banks, institutional buyers entering space

[1:39:46] Sharran’s famous listing presentation

• Build buyer avatar with client in real time
• Anchor pricing discussion in data
• Establish winner-sinner range

[1:56:39] How Sharran systematizes training

• Theory-practice-role play-mastery
• Role play 5 minutes/day in group setting

[2:04:19] The idea behind Kingston Lane

• Agent hand in database + go away
• Done-for-you systems generate appointments

[2:10:16] Kingston Lane’s 4-step Hero Process

1. Context bridge
2. Urgency loop
3. Story ask
4. Goodwill river

[2:22:25] Sharran’s advice for getting to the next level

• Pay for mentor or coach early on
• Invest amount that’s painful but doable

Connect with Sharran

Sharran’s Website

The 5am Club

Kingston Lane

Kingston Lane Podcast

Connect with Oliver

Big Block Realty

Oliver on Facebook

Oliver on LinkedIn

Resources

Sharran on The Passionate Few

Article on Sharran in Entrepreneur

Douglas Elliman

Roland Frasier on Founders Club EP005

Dean Jackson

Greg Reid on Founders Club EP008

Vivid Vision: A Remarkable Tool for Aligning Your Business Around a Shared Vision of the Future by Cameron Herold

Closing Table Mastermind

Kingston Lane Mastermind

Andy Stavros

Keri Shull

Peter Loewy

Jason Capital

Neuro-Linguistic Programming

Monday

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