2021 Ones to Watch: Andy Weiss, Dansker Capital Group

Name: Andy Weiss

Title: Commercial Mortgage Broker

Company Name: Dansker Capital Group

Real estate associations or organizations that you are currently a member of:
Chabad Jewish Business Network (co-founder); Real Estate Emerging Leaders (REEL) (co-founder); AIPAC’s Real Estate Division (YP Board Member)

What recent project, transaction or accomplishment are you most proud of?
In January of 2020 I was a founding member of the Dansker Capital Group. 60 days later, by March of 2020, I was at home looking at an empty pipeline (and empty stores and streets out my window). When we set off to build a better mortgage brokerage, our team had no idea what kind of hurdles we would face starting a company in 2020. Luckily, we have great clients and great referral sources and we stuck with them through the turmoil, as they did with us. I could not be more proud, not just of having made it through one of the most adverse business environments in New York’s living memory, but of having come through to the other side stronger than ever.

How do you contribute to your community or your profession?
I am extremely active in the NYC Jewish community and have been fortunate to find a career that blends my passion for building community and connecting people with the ability to earn a living for myself. I have been very active with AIPAC, Chabad, UJA, JNF and others. A great example is the Business Network for Real Estate that I created with my Rabbi on the Upper East Side. Together we created an event series in which we have brought together hundreds of New York’s up-and-coming real estate community members to network. The organization has also afforded me the opportunity to interview some of NYC’s top developers such as Ofer Yardeni, Jonathan Kushner and Laurent Morali.

How do you keep your team motivated despite conflicts and obstacles?
As a broker, you face rejection and failure every day – that’s what you sign up for. I am constantly consuming content that inspires me through a variety of media and I also work with a business coach. I often find myself recommending new content to my team and others, whether it be a quote, book, podcast, Instagram post or anything else that resonates with me. A recent book I read that I would recommend is “The Art of Extraordinary Confidence” by Dr. Aziz Gazipura.

Who was/is your mentor and how did s/he influence/help you in your career?
I consider myself fortunate that when I decided to become a commercial mortgage broker I was put in touch with my mentor and business partner, Andrew Dansker. As someone with a technical background, I needed to devote myself to learning the soft skills involved in sales and negotiations to become successful. Andrew has set a culture for me, and all our partners, to engage in our work with honesty and integrity. Beyond being a strong role model, he is thoughtful about pushing a positive and forward-thinking mindset on all his mentees. To be successful at anything one must go through countless failures. I owe much of my success to having someone like Andrew to support and coach me day in and day out.

What did you want to be when you grew up?
When I was young, I always told myself that I wanted to be an accountant (I was a weird kid…). I remember getting it ingrained in my mind that accounting is the language of business. I was good with numbers and in college I studied accounting, finance and economics. I ultimately became a CPA (and a CFA charter holder) and worked at PwC for the first five years of my career, specializing in valuation and transaction services for securitized products. I am glad that I followed that path for a while – I feel like it gives me a big leg up on my competition in the brokerage business.

What led you to your current profession?
I was led to my current profession by following my passion for building community as well as my desire to further hone my knowledge and understanding of finance and accounting. I love to build relationships with people and have a knack and passion for connecting people – I get to do this every single day and I truly feel blessed.

Top three things on your bucket list:
Start a family; Run all major world marathons; Travel to every continent.

Favorite quote:
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit” – attributed to Aristotle (apparently it wasn’t him – quote remains the same!)