Gary Keller (@garykeller) is the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Keller Williams (KW), the world’s largest real estate franchise by agent count. In 2019, KW, which also ranks number one in units and sales volume in the US, was named by Fast Company as the “most innovative company” in real estate.
In 2015, Gary began driving KW’s evolution into a technology company, now focused on building the real estate platform that agents, buyers, and sellers prefer. He is competing with multi-billion-dollar, venture-backed companies using his own money. Gary is the bestselling author of The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results, The Millionaire Real Estate Agent, The Millionaire Real Estate Investor, and SHIFT: How Top Real Estate Agents Tackle Tough Times.
You can find Gary’s podcast, Think Like a CEO, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you typically get your podcasts.
Please enjoy!
Intro [00:00]
That summer Gary shadowed an accountant, a lawyer, a banker, and a realtor [06:30]
Insurance lemons into real estate lemonade [09:57]
The series of events that compelled Gary to strike out on his own [12:02]
An initial $44,000 loan and a commitment to never borrow again [25:07]
How KW became the largest real estate office in Austin in 2 years [27:20]
Playing "red light, green light” to make financial decisions [30:13]
A tough decision [31:12]
Gary prefers business disagreements to agreements [32:29]
What is a buy-sell agreement? [35:26]
The importance of separate counsel for partnerships [36:08]
Power of attorney and a hard-won family lesson [38:13]
Redefining franchising and a Dairy Queen mistake [43:02]
The McDonald’s French fry story [50:27]
Time off that led to “the most valuable asset of the company” [53:15]
Why does Gary still use a paper calendar and a pencil? [1:04:17]
A movie analogy for blocking time to get things done [1:11:03]
What is the focusing question (as outlined in The ONE Thing)? [1:14:12]
“A clear path to a lesser goal is the problem” [1:23:38]
Prioritizing important categories that lie beyond the focusing question [1:27:51]
How Gary used the focusing question with his sometimes acerbic mother [1:29:51]
Gary's exercise routine [1:32:22]
Finding true north plus my own focusing question [1:37:06]
Is there anything to which Gary categorically says no? [1:38:53]
How to accept an award with a proxy [1:46:40]
What would Gary’s billboard say? [1:47:49]
The importance of thinking big and aiming high [1:48:32]
How to stick with new habits [1:51:32]
Why did Gary agree to do this interview? [1:55:25]
Closing thoughts [1:56:53]
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About Tim Ferriss:
Tim Ferriss is one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People” and an early-stage tech investor/advisor in Uber, Facebook, Twitter, Shopify, Duolingo, Alibaba, and 50+ other companies. He is also the author of five #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers: The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body, The 4-Hour Chef, Tools of Titans and Tribe of Mentors. The Observer and other media have named him “the Oprah of audio” due to the influence of his podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show, which has exceeded 400 million downloads and been selected for “Best of iTunes” three years running.
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