Anthony Marguleas
Real estate agents are often siloed, figuring out what’s next on their own, with no support from their brokerage. Agents usually get the most relevant feedback and best practices from other top-producing agent peers, but it is no easy task to find the right community and maintain those relationships.
Anthony Marguleas, the founder of Los Angeles market-leading Amalfi Estates, is a big believer in collaborating with other agents. Though he belonged to several mastermind groups, he struggled to find a group where he wasn’t the biggest producer at the table.
Then he partnered with Side to scale Amalfi Estates from the market leader in Pacific Palisades to all of Los Angeles and created a new group called The Ten.
“I wanted to get the top-producing teams together to share what they are going through and their best practices,” said Marguleas. “We want to help each other grow to $1 billion in annual sales. That’s where the name comes from: It’s a play on both the ten digits in 1 billion and [initially] the top ten agent partner teams at Side.”
Each member of The Ten (which has now expanded beyond ten teams) facilitated over $100M in real estate sales last year. The group meets monthly over Zoom to talk through the unique challenges they face as owners of high-volume boutiques — like scaling to new markets and retaining top talent.
Kelli Griggs
“I had longed to have the type of collaboration with other ‘rock stars’ that I have now, but it didn’t seem possible because I didn’t think I should share—what I built was so unique,” said member of The Ten, Kelli Griggs, founder of Navigate Realty and Side partner. “Each member gives their insights and expertise so freely because we are not competitors. We’re all just high-performing founders who truly want each other to succeed.”
Samantha Tov, co-founder of Portfolio Real Estate, fully agreed. “Being able to collaborate and exchange what works and what helps increase our business is so valuable. Being able to come together is a game-changer.”
Some members of the group are actively pursuing ten-digit production levels (with Brett Jennings, founder of Real Estate Experts, on track to reach that goal later this year). Others don’t care about the exact number—the journey matters more than the destination. They just want to stretch themselves and grow their business as much as possible alongside their peers, who offer accountability, best practices, and support.
“If you help another team, they will help you later,” said Marguleas.
Samantha Tov
Not all mastermind-style groups are effective, whether due to a mismatch of goals or too much geographic overlap. But members of The Ten are seeing results.
“The reason this one works is that there is trust and a plentiful mentality,” said Marguleas. “The extra special component of The Ten is that you have some of the most successful real estate team leaders in the country coming together all experiencing similar things regarding growth, retaining top talent, lead generation and more. Each team leader has a ‘superpower,’ something they do better than anyone else.”
For Wilson Leung, founder of Own Real Estate, the group’s power comes from what they share but also what they each do differently. “What Side has created and facilitated is perfect: We are all independent in our respective locations and similar in production, yet very different in how we conduct and source business. This allows us to learn from each other.”
Wilson Leung,
And that learning has made a significant difference.
“My business has grown from $20M to $170M this year,” Griggs said, “and I believe collaboration is one of the major reasons why. Iron sharpens iron, and the partners at Side are indisputably the best agents in the business.”
Marguleas added, “Side knows that every top-producing agent is an entrepreneur and provides a level of support that allows them to reach their full potential. Thanks to our partnership with Side, our team — which facilitated $180 million in 2020, our best year to date — is on track this year for $550 million in sales, more than a threefold increase.” With Side’s support, and through his involvement in The Ten, Amalfi Estates is taking his business to new heights.