Elevating CRE: A Knowledge-Driven Industry Revolution
Commercial real estate has always been relationship-driven, but the most successful leaders know something else: knowledge compounds faster when it's shared freely. While others guard their playbooks, the smartest leaders are building an entire industry that thinks, operates, and performs at a higher level.
This newsletter exists to accelerate that transformation. Below you'll find the resources, frameworks, and tools that world-class CRE leaders use to build better teams, optimize properties, and create lasting value. Many of these resources I have listened to and read for years, others are new to me - Let me know which ones you are already utilizing and the ones I need to add to the list in the comments!
🎙️ Podcasts Every CRE Leader Should Know
Business Strategy & Leadership
BUILDINGS with Janelle Penny - BUILDINGS is the voice of experience in the commercial building industry. We are passionate champions of buildings – for the structures themselves; the people who design, build, maintain, manage and improve them; and for the community created at this intersection of form and function.
Acquired with Ben Gilbert & David Rosenthal - Learn the playbooks that built the world's greatest companies.
The Knowledge Project with Shane Parrish - Learn from the best to apply their insights to your life.
Masters of Scale - Leaders share lessons and strategies that have helped them grow.
Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy - Conversations with the best investors and business leaders in the world.
Harvard Business Review's IdeaCast - A weekly podcast featuring leading thinkers in business and management.
Walker Webcast with Willy Walker - Brings renowned leaders and brilliant minds together for engaging conversations.
Acquisition.com's The Game with Alex Hormozi - Lessons Alex has learned on his path from $100M to $1B in net worth.
CRE-Specific Intelligence
The Trepp, Inc. Wire Podcast - Stay up to date with all things commercial real estate
America’s Commercial Real Estate Show with Michael Bull, CCIM - Each week since 2010 economists, analysts and industry leaders including show host Michael Bull share market intel, forecasts and strategies.
No Cap CRE Daily - Each week co-hosts Jack Stone and Alex Gornik break down the latest headlines with some of the most influential and entertaining figures in commercial real estate.
NAIOP :Inside CRE - Interviews with commercial real estate leaders who share industry and career insights.
Leading Voices in Real Estate with Matt Slepin - Interviews some of the most successful, interesting and entrepreneurial people who shape our cities and the build environment.
Propmodo Podcast / Decoding Real Estate - Exploring how emerging technologies affect our built environment.
Institutional Real Estate, Inc. Podcast (IREI) - Stay up to date on the current institutional real estate investment market.
Cash Flow Connections with Hunter Thompson - Insights into the intricacies of commercial real estate investing through interviews.
PropTech & Building Innovation
Tangent Proptech with Ed Cohen, Jeff Berman and Zach Aarons - A podcast community for Proptech and real estate leaders, investors, operators and innovators.
Proptech Espresso with Mark Hurst - Learn everything you need to about Proptech from the investors, entrepreneurs and visions at the forefront of the revelotion.
The PropTech VC Podcast with Zain Jaffer - Explore the new wave of digital transformation that is disrupting real estate.
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📚 The CRE Leader's Library
Systems & Process
Atomic Habits by James Clear - Why systems beat goals every time
The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt - Throughput and bottleneck theory for any operations pipeline
The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande - Simple tools that prevent costly mistakes
The Toyota Way by Jeffrey Liker - Lean culture and continuous improvement for property ops
Leadership & Management
High Output Management by Andy Grove - The definitive manager's operating manual
Turn the Ship Around by David Marquet - How to build leader-leader teams instead of leader-follower
Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin - Accountability cultures and after-action processes
Clear Thinking by Shane Parrish - Decision-making under pressure and removing failure loops
Strategic Thinking
Principles by Ray Dalio - Decision rules and culture design for portfolio-scale operations
Measure What Matters by John Doerr - OKRs that actually move business outcomes
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📺 YouTube Channels Every CRE Leader Should Subscribe To
The B1M - Story-driven breakdowns of major construction and development projects
Practical Engineering with Grady Hillhouse, P.E. - Clear explanations that help asset and facilities teams make better technical decisions.
The Engineering Mindset - HVAC, electrical, and building-systems explainers ideal for training technicians and new PMs on how systems actually work.
City Beautiful with Dave Amos - Urban planning and site selection concepts that inform leasing, access, mobility, and community engagement.
Not Just Bikes - Street design, transit, and placemaking insights that translate to mixed-use strategy and ground-floor activation.
Industry bodies & codes
ULI Urban Land Institute - Research, development trends, and leadership talks that support underwriting and board-level discussions.
BOMA International - Property-operations insights, benchmarking, and conference recaps to sharpen building management playbooks.
IFMA - Facility management education, tech adoption, and leadership content for FM teams.
ASHRAE - Standards, decarbonization, and IAQ/energy guidance.
International Code Council (ICC) - Code updates and process explainers that help de-risk permits, life safety, and inspections.
NFPA National Fire Protection Association - Life-safety and electrical safety education.
Energy & performance (NOI, retrofits, decarb)
Better Buildings - Case studies and webinars on energy management.
National Renewable Energy Laboratory & Berkeley Lab - Labs sharing building science, grid-interactive efficient buildings, and controls research.
Building automation & facilities training
HVAC School with Bryan Orr - HVAC School is an online source for content related to technician training in the fields of Air Conditioning, Heating, Ventilation and Refrigeration. We focus on real, applicable training for techs and contractors as well as general education resource for the industry.
Smart Buildings Academy with Phil Zito - Smart Buildings Academy provides turnkey training and development solutions for the building automation and smart buildings market.
Construction tech & project delivery
Procore Technologies - Procore is the leading technology partner for every stage of construction, connecting everyone from the field to the C-suite on a single global platform.
Autodesk Construction Cloud - Autodesk Construction Cloud connects workflows, teams and data at every stage of construction to reduce risk, maximize efficiency, and increase profits.
Trimble Building Construction - Build faster, cheaper, greener, safer. Trimble Construction puts innovative software and hardware solutions into your hands, connects them all together, and makes them easier to use.
Urbanism & market literacy
CityNerd with Ray Delahanty - CityNerd is a channel and community that embraces all things cities and transportation, approaching things with a profound love for urban environments and an analytical bent.
About Here with Uytae Lee - Videos that help you understand your city better. Currently based out of Vancouver, BC.
⚡ How Leaders Actually Apply This Knowledge
The resources above aren’t just good listening or reading - they’re gifts from leaders who’ve put in the reps and decided to share their playbooks with the rest of us. The real power comes when we apply their lessons in our daily operations:
Atomic Habits → Team Rituals, James Clear’s systems thinking shows up as weekly 1% improvements - tightening one SOP, removing one friction point, and compounding results over time.
Hormozi’s Framework → Growth Systems, Alex’s offer-channel-follow-up lens helps us treat leasing and services like product funnels - sharpening offers, clarifying channels, and tracking follow-through.
Grove’s Management Cadence → Accountability Loops, Andy Grove’s playbook turns into weekly KPI reporting, structured 1:1s, and teams managed by measurable output instead of gut feel.
Edmondson’s Psychological Safety → Stronger Kickoffs, Her research translates into setting clear team norms at project launches—surfacing issues early before they escalate into crises.
Portfolio Manager + Research → ROI Proof, Energy benchmarking and market reports let us connect every upgrade to measurable NOI impact and comps that ownership can’t ignore.
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🙌 The Giving-Back Playbook: Why Sharing Matters
We don’t just consume knowledge, we return it to the industry so the next leaders has an easier path. Every shared template, every candid lesson, every moment of mentorship creates a multiplier effect. The more we circulate knowledge, the stronger our properties, our teams, and our communities become.
📈 The Compound Effect of Industry Knowledge Sharing
Here’s what happens when we commit to learning and sharing:
Individual Impact - You make sharper decisions, build stronger teams, and grow faster.
Company Impact - Your organization becomes known for operational excellence and thought leadership.
Industry Impact - CRE as a whole raises its standards, attracts better talent, and delivers superior outcomes.
This isn’t just about staying ahead, it’s about pulling the entire industry forward.
🚀 Your Next Steps
Pick three resources from this list and engage with them this month.
Implement one new system or process based on what you learn.
Share your results with your team or better yet, with the CRE community.
Identify one way you can give back: a template, a lesson, or a mentorship moment.
The best leaders don’t hoard knowledge, they multiply it. When we raise the bar together, we build stronger assets, better teams, and a healthier industry.
About the Author
Hi, I’m Matt Faupel - Founder of FaupelX and a passionate advocate for unlocking potential in commercial real estate and beyond. Through this newsletter, I share insights, strategies, and tools to help you lead, grow, and stay ahead in a rapidly evolving industry.
At FaupelX, we’re building the next generation of AI-powered resources for property managers, owners, and industry leaders - because the future belongs to those who prepare for it today.
If you found this edition valuable, I’d love for you to share it with a colleague, join the conversation, and stay connected for future insights, tools, and opportunities. Your growth is my mission and together, we can raise the standard of what’s possible.
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Let’s unlock our full potential and build something extraordinary.
