Ryan Serhant Reveals the Simple Mind Trick That Helped Him Build a ‘Billion-Dollar Empire’

Real estate mogul Ryan Serhant has revealed the simple mind trick behind his lucrative business empire, lifting the lid on the way of thinking that helped him to create a “billion-dollar business empire.”

The 40-year-old Serhant. founder spoke out about his business successes—and his most pivotal career moments—in a new interview on the “School of Greatness” podcast, explaining how his mindset has changed since he turned 40 earlier this year.

Opening up about how he made the decision to launch his own brokerage in September 2020 after more than a decade of working for someone else’s business, while revealing how he has continued to build his company to become what the podcast describes as a “billion-dollar empire.”

According to multiple reports, Serhant is now worth an estimated $40 million, while his company is said to have racked up more than $580 million in sales in 2023 alone.

So what’s the secret to his success? The father of one says that’s simple: It’s all about focusing on his “future” self.

Why am I doing this?

Having turned 40 this summer, the reality TV personality says he spent a good amount of time reflecting on his past mistakes, noting that he spent about “20 years” of his life trying to feel important—a mindset that he now knows to be a waste of time.

“Remind me again why I’m doing this?” he says he told himself. “I realized I spent the last 20 years trying to feel important instead of feeling happy.”

The entrepreneur who previously starred on the Bravo show, “Million Dollar Listing New York” as a listing agent, pivoted to launching his own real estate business, Serhant. And, his reality TV show, “Owning Manhattan,” made waves when it debuted on Netflix this year.

“The importance of it all, I thought made me happy,” Serhant adds. “But what really makes me happy … is it the work? All of it makes me happy. My superpower is my capacity. I do get very very excited about the building and about work. I do like work. I do get passionate about the work and creating more tomorrow than I did today.”

He says he would tell his 70-year-old self, “You’re never going to remember your tasks; you’re only going to remember your adventures.”

He adds, “And as much time as I spend on email and in meetings, I’m never going to sit there when I’m 70 and remember that email. But I will remember the adventures. And I will remember the stories.”

He says he wants to make sure he doesn’t spend his life just “human doing” but “being a human being.”

Billion-dollar business

Serhant goes on to reveal his mindset while building his billion-dollar real estate business.

He says, first off, he’s no longer put off by obstacles in his path.

“I used to think things in the way are obstacles, but what stands in the way becomes the way,
he reveals. “That’s been helpful.”

So when it came to launching his own show—”Owning Manhattan”—he decided to pursue a different path that would gain him even more fame (and money).

“Netflix is the largest global distribution network on planet earth,” he says, adding that the entire process took two years from preproduction to casting and filming. But, just like that, his life changed when the series dropped.

“My life changed overnight,” he says. Even though his role on “Million Dollar Listing” brought him fame, “people would recognize me as the real estate guy,” he says.

Netflix brought a whole other level. He saw his subscriber growth leap with 1.3 million new subscribers on his social media platforms, thanks to the streaming show.

“Now I say, Netflix happened. I’ve never seen follower and subscriber growth” to that scale, he says, adding, “It’s been “wild for business, wild for recruiting.”

‘Only good as your last deal’

This response to the show is one way he keeps the focus on growing, he says.

“You are only as good as your last deal,” he insists. “So if I did a TV show, that’s amazing. What do you do with it? How do you make it work for you? You have to be constantly moving.”

He admits: “It’s also exhausting, but for me it’s fun to think about new things.”

Billionaire mindset

Serhant meets a lot of billionaires, and he’s learned that “their No. 1 asset isn’t their money it’s their time,” he says. He notes that he often does “nine-figure deals by text” or using the Signal app.

He says billionaires also are thinking about how to consider things in “100x.”

“That’s had a huge influence: one, how I manage my time, but it’s a huge influence on me building my business,” he says. “How do I build a business that I can scale to 100. Why take a small swing, why not take a big swing?”