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

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Key industry storylines for 2025

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(00:00:00) - Intro

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