2021 Ones to Watch: Yaakov Zar, Lev

Name: Yaakov Zar

Title: CEO and Founder

Company Name: Lev

Real estate associations or organizations that you are currently a member of:
Mortgage Bankers Association, NFX Guild

How do you keep your team motivated despite conflicts and obstacles?
Hiring incredible people is my number one focus. When your team is themselves driven by the challenges ahead of them and they have a high bar of quality for every single piece of output they generate, they are usually able to continue through, and in fact, excel, when facing challenges, they’re able to resolve conflict quickly through open and direct discussion and they don’t need babysitting. When that happens, it’s magical. So if I spend double or triple the time hiring the best, I’ll end up spending a small fraction of time managing them.

What did you want to be when you grew up?
I always wanted to be an architect. I was intrigued by the creativity and massive impact you can have by building a huge building that the whole city can look at, work from, etc. I haven’t thought about it before, but I guess that entrepreneurship and building businesses has kind of a similar, if not even more significant, impact on the world and community. You’re building a brand, a service, a value, an employer – and there are so many people engaged with it in a way that is much more impactful than what any individual can be or do.