What happens when a former Zillow exec jumps back into production and builds one of the most successful teams in Northern California — from scratch? You get Colby Culbertson, founder and CEO of Culbertson and Gray Group at eXp.
In this episode of Real Estate Insiders Unfiltered, dive deep with Culbertson on:
- How he grew from 6 to 175 agents in five years
- Why he starts every recruiting call trying to talk people out of joining
- The one requirement his team must meet — or they’re out
- The culture-killers that quietly destroy teams
- Why “ego” is the real enemy of collaboration
This episode is equal parts blueprint and gut check for leaders who actually want to scale something meaningful.
Highlights
Culbertson unpacks the real story behind his 875-unit, $545 million volume business. He shares why culture eats production for breakfast and why his team runs more like a startup than a traditional brokerage.
You’ll learn:
- Why he counter-recruits top agents (and what he tells them in the first five minutes)
- The onboarding challenge every agent must complete before joining
- His “no asshole” rule — and how it even applies to $50 million producers
- How a shared tech stack keeps 175 agents aligned
- Why some agents are terrible negotiators (and how to fix it)
- What Zillow got right — and where it still misses
Culbertson built a scalable, culture-driven business using systems, honesty and a ruthless focus on the right people — not just more people.
Connect with Colby Culbertson on LinkedIn.
Real Estate Insiders Unfiltered is now exclusively on Inman. Tune in for agent- and team-focused content on Mondays and leadership interviews on Wednesdays each week. Listen on Apple or Spotify.
James Dwiggins is the Co-CEO of NextHome, Inc. and co-host of Real Estate Insiders Unfiltered.
Keith Robinson is the Co-CEO of NextHome, Inc. and co-host of Real Estate Insiders Unfiltered.
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