
The Cost of Overhiring: What I Learned Building and Cutting a 260-Person Team
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About this listen
In this episode, real estate investors struggling with team growth get the brutal truth about scaling from Ivo Draginov's $36M exit story.
Ivo Draginov went from Bulgarian immigrant plumber to building a 260-person real estate tech company that sold for millions. But here's the twist—when he was forced to cut 220 employees, his company actually became MORE productive.
Brandon Bateman sits down with the founder of Batch Leads and Batch Dialer to break down the brutal truths about scaling real estate businesses. Ivo shares the costly mistakes that nearly bankrupted his profitable company, how to spot A-players versus order-takers in interviews, and why staying lean might be better than chasing massive growth.
Whether you're running a 3-person fix-and-flip operation or managing a 20+ person wholesaling machine, this conversation will change how you think about hiring, scaling, and building sustainable real estate businesses. 💡
📖 What You'll Learn:
- The difference between strategic thinkers and order-takers (and how to spot each in 15 minutes)
- Why over-hiring killed their profit margins despite $36M in revenue
- How to structure titles and roles when scaling to avoid costly mistakes
- The exact framework for deciding when to cut team members vs. double down
- Why 40 employees can be more productive than 260 (real case study)
- How to avoid the "moving goalpost" trap that keeps entrepreneurs always wanting more 📈
🕐 Time Stamps:
00:02 - From Bulgarian Immigrant to Real Estate Mogul
03:02 - Building Batch Leads: The Software That Changed Everything
05:00 - First Exit: Selling to PropStream for Millions
07:08 - To Scale or Stay Small: The Ultimate Business Dilemma
12:24 - The Hidden Costs of Rapid Growth
18:35 - Cutting From Wholesale to Software: Strategic Pivot
23:16 - Hiring Mistakes That Cost Millions
29:28 - How to Spot A-Players vs Order-Takers
36:50 - When Good Employees Become Growth Bottlenecks
42:24 - Crisis Management: Losing Key Team Members
44:39 - The CEO's Hardest Job: Defining Reality
49:43 - Over-Hiring Trap: When More People = Less Results
57:48 - What's Next: Batch Data and Serving Enterprise Clients
#RealEstateInvesting #Wholesaling #RealEstateBusiness #TeamBuilding #Scaling #RealEstateEntrepreneur #FixAndFlip #PropertyInvesting #BusinessGrowth #RealEstateMarketing #Hiring #Leadership #RealEstateTech #BatchLeads #PropTech
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