What they’re reading now

Susan Little
Broker, Corcoran Group

What are you reading right now, or what did you finish most recently?

“The Sell” by Fredrik Eklund. [He gives] advice about social media, how to maintain your accounts properly, be yourself and share both the professional and personal. [He also writes about] what is possible with Instagram, as opposed to something like Twitter, when it comes to converting social media into productivity.

What spurred you to read that book?

I am trying to up my online presence, and I was intrigued by his marketing abilities — he is very adept at using social media to engage with others and has a unique online presence. From the different seminars I have taken, I have learned that you look to those who do it best and try to emulate that, while finding your own identity.

Would you recommend it to others?

That’s a tough one. There is a lot of fluff in it. Do I really care what time you go to the gym and what kind of protein shake you like? But I like his optimism. Definitely for those people who know absolutely nothing about selling real estate, and for people under 25.

Ryan Williams
Co-founder and chief executive, Cadre

What are you reading right now, or what did you finish most recently?

“Platform Revolution” by Sangeet Paul Choudary, Marshall W. Van Alstyne and Geoffrey G. Parker. Platforms are technologies that connect people and resources in an ecosystem to create value — famously Uber for cars, Wikipedia for knowledge and Airbnb for rooms.

What spurred you to read that book?

My venture capital investor, adviser and mentor and I were arguing a year ago about what Cadre is, at the end of the day. Is it a platform or an old-school, traditional real estate business? When I said it was a platform, he initially disagreed with me but later sent me a link with the book title and the sentence: “You might have been right.”

Would you recommend it to others?

I think everyone could benefit from this book. Ten years from now, every business will be a technology business. Those that are not will either be re-created or destroyed. There’s also an untechnical, universally understandable vocabulary in the book, with examples and anecdotes.

Lauren Lorey
Marketing manager, GFI Capital

What are you reading right now, or what did you finish most recently?

“The Town Below the Ground: Edinburgh’s Legendary Underground City” by Jan-Andrew Henderson.

What spurred you to read that book?

I recently returned from a trip to Scotland, where I spent some time in Edinburgh and visited Mary King’s Close [a Scots term for alleyway], which is buried deep beneath the Royal Mile. It’s one of the only closes that is open to the public. The fascinating tour prompted me to pick up the book and do further research.

Would you recommend it to others?

Absolutely. It is an easy read and gives an informative overview of the history of Edinburgh and the underground city.

Has anything you read in it stuck with you?

The underground “city” wasn’t really a city. For more than 250 years, Edinburgh was surrounded by a defensive wall that was built to protect it from invasion. With the population growing rapidly and unable to build outside the wall, the city had to find unique ways to house its citizens. Subterranean housing began when underground cellars and storage rooms were first converted into living quarters. Sealed-off rooms and shops began to emerge, and they would eventually come to house the majority of Edinburgh residents. Over time, Edinburgh built on top of the existing structures, making the city more subterranean

Where do you look for insight and inspiration? To find out, The Real Deal asks leaders in the industry what they’re reading.