Happy 9th Birthday Compass!

Nine years ago today Robert Reffkin founded Compass and has grown it into a national brokerage with a high value on people, agent resources & integrity. 

I joined Compass when it was only 6 years old and making any change is always hard...it challenges you to audit your habits, your systems, your methods. The first challenge I faced after joining Compass was familiarizing myself with all of the resources at my fingertips. This challenge became an even greater struggle when I found that these resources were always changing. My first reaction was frustration...no sooner had I figured out a tool than it changed, it was rearranged, it was different until I realized that it was better, it was being constantly improved. I came to understand quite quickly that I could let the change frustrate me or I could embrace that the changes were improvements. Compass was working so hard and fast that many times, basic tools or functions changed multiple times in just a matter of days all with a singular goal: to improve!

Another characteristic of Compass I experienced is that they are always listening, they want feedback, they want to know what works & what does not. It is empowering & encouraging to work for a company that has qualities & characteristics that are very human and as I go into my 4th year with Compass in its 9th year, I'm sharing a few of the highlights of the last 9 years at Compass from founder Robert Reffkin: 

In our 1st year, Ori Allon and I founded “Urban Compass” to try and improve the apartment rental experience in New York City with “neighborhood specialists.” Mayor Bloomberg came to the office to announce our official launch as part of his daily press conference.

In our 2nd year, we realized that apartment sales was a bigger market than rentals in New York City and transitioned to hiring great agents to provide a great real estate experience. We shifted our entire strategy in a matter of months and partnered with Leonard Steinberg as our first top agent.

In our 3rd year, we rebranded from Urban Compass to Compass and expanded outside of New York to Washington, DC, Miami, Boston and Los Angeles. We learned a huge amount about opening new markets and the regional nature of our business, which has guided us ever since.

In our 4th year, we welcomed hundreds of agents from across the country for the first time and hosted our first national REtreat. I’m grateful to every entrepreneur who took a chance on a young company like ours, putting their faith in the idea that, together, we could make the real estate experience better for everyone. These early agents built the foundation of our culture and our company. 

In our 5th year, we launched our Collections tool to empower agent-client collaboration and articulated our mission: to help everyone find their place in the world.

In our 6th year, we launched our Compass Entrepreneurship Principles, expanded to all of the remaining Top 20 markets in the country and grew our team and joined forces with some remarkable brokerages to become the largest independent brokerage in America by sales volume.

In our 7th year, we launched or expanded Compass Concierge, Bridge Loan Services and Coming Soons/Private Exclusives to help agents win more listings by helping your clients sell their homes faster for more money.

In our 8th year, we faced a pandemic and an economic crisis and found a way to support each other and see abundance anyway. We launched a whole suite of Virtual Agent Services, Video Generator, Digital CMA, Livestream Open Houses, Livestream Tours and more to help agents navigate these unprecedented times — which agents did with resourcefulness and resilience.

In our 9th year, we went public on the New York Stock Exchange!

This year Robert Reffkin published his book No One Succeeds Alone sharing his path, process & principles. Here is more information or obtain a copy.