Keyser’s tenant-only brokerage is a testament to success through selfless service.

Rejecting — nay, rebelling against — the business-as-usual cutthroat culture he found permeating the real estate industry, Jonathan Keyser founded his firm, Keyser, 10 years ago on a different philosophy. And cut cutthroat down to size — as he shared when he spoke to us last year: Jonathan is animated as he talks about how he “created this entire firm on this idea of what if, in arguably one of the most cutthroat, ruthless industries in the world, what if you could create extraordinary success by just trying to help as many people as possible?”

Says Jonathan, “We just hit our 10-year anniversary, which is really exciting because most companies, 96% of companies, don’t even make it to 10 years.”

He’s eager to talk about what he calls “an extraordinary run” as he shares, “It’s gone from crazy idealistic, people telling me I’m nuts vision, to one of the largest independent firms of our kind in the country.” And he explains the reasoning and the benefit of two operating principles: representing the user or tenant only and working only from referrals.

“And so it becomes this: The more people we help, the more they go tell others about how great we are and how we help them, then those people we can help. And it just becomes this, it’s like a ripple effect, like a pebble in the pond. And to us it’s so inherently simple, right?”

As he talks about helping people, Jonathan shares his knowledge of trends in the real estate market. For instance, he says, “So when there’s pressure in the market, which there certainly is now, and people are using this sort of small-R ‘recession’ term a lot, people are looking for how they can cut costs. And so we tend to be someone that can help them significantly in this area. … that’s where a firm like ours has really flourished in this time, where really we’re given a high degree of opportunities to serve. And a lot of that is helping companies figure out a way to reduce their spend and to better manage their real estate.”  And this, of course, requires an understanding of Keyser’s clients’ needs as employers, which Jonathan also addresses in his discussion of the market.

Jonathan’s insights on people and motivations add power to his standing as Social Capital CEO. Furthermore, he says, “If you really love on people, you really look for what they really need, not just kind of the surface needs. And so we love the community, and everybody knows that if you need anything, call your favorite Keyser member and, no matter what it is, we’ll try to help you with it. … We’re here for a higher calling and we want to change the business world through selfless service. And that’s what we spend all of our time trying to do.”

Being in that successful 4% of businesses that survive 10 years is “amazing,” Jonathan says. But, more importantly, he says, “I think it sheds credibility to the fact that you truly can create success by doing business this way. And if we can show that you can do it in arguably one of the most cutthroat industries in the world, I believe anybody can do it anywhere.”  That means you, too — so click on the link below and listen in on this conversation.