POWERS brings you inside the minds of world-class leaders who have built, battled, and succeeded at the highest levels.
POWERS digs beyond the surface with questions driven by curiosity, uncovering stories and insights rarely shared publicly. Each episode delivers timeless wisdom and hard-earned lessons that apply across business and life.
The show has earned a reputation for asking the right questions at the right moment. The focus is on timeless principles, proven through years of discipline and risk, not on shortcuts. Each conversation is direct, deliberate, and designed to leave listeners sharper than when they arrived. The aim is simple: to deliver insights that matter and can be carried into business and life.
Since its launch, POWERS has drawn a high-caliber audience of builders, investors, and decision makers. Past guests have represented companies such as Starwood Capital, JLL, Hillwood Capital, Chick-fil-A, Morning Brew, Founders Podcast, Tiny Capital, Permanent Equity, Fort, Matthews REIS, Bonobos, and ConvertKit.
At its core, POWERS is a celebration of leadership, of work that matters, and of the American spirit that makes it possible.
All content for POWERS is the property of Chris Powers and is served directly from their servers
with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.
POWERS brings you inside the minds of world-class leaders who have built, battled, and succeeded at the highest levels.
POWERS digs beyond the surface with questions driven by curiosity, uncovering stories and insights rarely shared publicly. Each episode delivers timeless wisdom and hard-earned lessons that apply across business and life.
The show has earned a reputation for asking the right questions at the right moment. The focus is on timeless principles, proven through years of discipline and risk, not on shortcuts. Each conversation is direct, deliberate, and designed to leave listeners sharper than when they arrived. The aim is simple: to deliver insights that matter and can be carried into business and life.
Since its launch, POWERS has drawn a high-caliber audience of builders, investors, and decision makers. Past guests have represented companies such as Starwood Capital, JLL, Hillwood Capital, Chick-fil-A, Morning Brew, Founders Podcast, Tiny Capital, Permanent Equity, Fort, Matthews REIS, Bonobos, and ConvertKit.
At its core, POWERS is a celebration of leadership, of work that matters, and of the American spirit that makes it possible.
#382 - Hiten Samtani - Founder @ ten31 Media - CRE is the Ultimate Business Bloodsport
POWERS
1 hour 7 minutes
7 months ago
#382 - Hiten Samtani - Founder @ ten31 Media - CRE is the Ultimate Business Bloodsport
Hiten Samtani is the founder and editorial director of ten31, a new media company focused on market-moving insider coverage of the most important and least understood industries. He is the author of The Promote, a newsletter that readers have likened to commercial real estate's answer to Matt Levine's "Money Stuff," and a publication that has built the most highly engaged audience in B2B media (open rate: 70%). Hiten founded ten31 after a decade at The Real Deal, where he ran the newsroom and shepherded coverage of the most important stories in real estate.
Chris and Hiten get into the early days of the brand, what inspired it, and why the real estate world needed a publication that’s bold, sharp, and unapologetically honest. They talk about the stories that hit hardest, what makes for a good scoop, and how Hiten has built trust with sources while keeping the content unfiltered and highly readable.
They also cover:
Why commercial real estate is full of big personalities and even bigger stakes
How operators and investors can actually get covered by the media
What it’s like growing a niche media company from scratch
Lessons from Hiten’s years at The Real Deal and why he walked away
Navigating the gray areas of journalism—anonymity, accuracy, and when to publish
Links:
Hiten on X
The Promote CRE newsletter
The Promote Podcast
A specialist playbook on how to get ink for your deal or company
Understanding the different modes of talking to the press
Key industry storylines for 2025
Support our Sponsors:
Vesto - https://www.vesto.com/fort
Better Pitch - https://betterpitch.com/
Topics:
(00:00:00) - Intro
(00:05:33) - Hiten’s journey into real estate journalism
(00:08:24) - Lesson from working at the Real Deal
(00:12:39) - Who is the audience?
(00:16:28) - Is your style of journalism unique to real estate?
(00:19:40) - What it took to launch ten31 Media
(00:27:55) - Where do you get inspiration, and how do you get access to the information you can get?
(00:35:32) - HFCs
(00:39:03) - How do you determine what is truth and what isn’t?
(00:48:42) - How can CRE companies get press?
(00:55:40) - On the record vs. off the record
(00:59:12) - CRE themes of 2024 and what to look for in 2025
(01:04:19) - Attending a Jewish circumcision ceremony in a NYC boardroom
Chris on Social Media:
The Fort Podcast on Twitter/X: https://x.com/theFORTpodcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefortpodcast
LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/45gIkFd
Watch The Fort on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3oynxNX
Visit our website: https://bit.ly/43SOvys
Leave a review on Apple: https://bit.ly/45crFD0
Leave a review on Spotify: https://bit.ly/3Krl9jO
The FORT is produced by Johnny Podcasts
POWERS
POWERS brings you inside the minds of world-class leaders who have built, battled, and succeeded at the highest levels.
POWERS digs beyond the surface with questions driven by curiosity, uncovering stories and insights rarely shared publicly. Each episode delivers timeless wisdom and hard-earned lessons that apply across business and life.
The show has earned a reputation for asking the right questions at the right moment. The focus is on timeless principles, proven through years of discipline and risk, not on shortcuts. Each conversation is direct, deliberate, and designed to leave listeners sharper than when they arrived. The aim is simple: to deliver insights that matter and can be carried into business and life.
Since its launch, POWERS has drawn a high-caliber audience of builders, investors, and decision makers. Past guests have represented companies such as Starwood Capital, JLL, Hillwood Capital, Chick-fil-A, Morning Brew, Founders Podcast, Tiny Capital, Permanent Equity, Fort, Matthews REIS, Bonobos, and ConvertKit.
At its core, POWERS is a celebration of leadership, of work that matters, and of the American spirit that makes it possible.
