#EntrepreneuroftheWeek – Tomer Maor
#Post1 – Round Two
Hey friends!
This is my second time as Entrepreneur of the Week (the first one was about three and a half years ago — here’s a throwback: link).
I’ll try not to repeat myself too much (though, to be fair, I’m still the same person — so some things might sound familiar 😅).
As before, my posts will be a bit different from what you’re used to seeing here.
I’ll try to bring some legal insight (but hopefully not the boring kind!) into topics that come up in the life of a real estate investor in the U.S.
This time, we might even slaughter a few sacred cows 🐄 —
talk about things that barely existed the last time (AI, for example?),
and share some lessons and stories from the past few years.
I’m Tomer Maor — or as my kind American friends like to call me, Mr. Mayor 😎
I’m 44, married to Gali (the absolute best ❤️),
and we have two boys — Alon (11) and Oren (6) — the lights of our lives.
We live in Brookline (yes, with two i’s — it’s near Boston, not Brooklyn, NY).
We originally came here for Gali’s postdoc at Harvard.
She’s since finished and now works in biotech.
We’ve now survived our eighth winter here (and if you’ve ever been through one, you know why we count winters, not years ❄️).
We came “for five years”… so I guess we’re slowly becoming those Israelis who “moved for a year” and 20 years later are still here 😅
I started my law practice here almost five years ago.
(For those who didn’t read my first post: I’m an attorney licensed in Massachusetts, New York, and Israel,
and I established the U.S. branch of our family law firm, originally founded by my late grandfather.)
In that time, I’ve had the privilege of working with nearly 800 people —
some just starting out, and others seasoned developers and entrepreneurs.
When I try to describe what it feels like to write here again,
the only word that comes to mind is “humbled.”
In the U.S. real estate investing world, there are countless success stories —
I’ve been lucky enough to be part of many,
to meet so many of you,
and occasionally even help along the way.
Early on, I decided to focus on working with real estate investors.
I discovered the incredible community around this field —
groups like this one, Nadlan USA Forum, Deal Maker by Rafi Mizrahi, and others —
and I realized that I could bring genuine value to the table.
Like any business (especially one based on professional services),
the start was slow — until…
That “until” moment — the turning point — is what Malcolm Gladwell calls the Tipping Point.
(A friend gave me the book back in the early 2000s — highly recommended if you’re building a business!)
It’s that moment when slow, steady progress suddenly accelerates —
when small efforts compound into real momentum.
Looking back, I’ve had two clear tipping points:
1️⃣ When I developed a service for opening U.S. bank accounts remotely.
2️⃣ When I started working with larger developers on complex projects, finding creative legal solutions to big deal challenges.
Gladwell describes three forces behind every tipping point:
The Law of the Few – you don’t need many people, just the right ones.
The Stickiness Factor – ideas that spread easily.
The Power of Context – a shift in environment that triggers change.
In my case, I know exactly who those “few right people” were —
and I’m endlessly grateful for them. 🙏
This week, I’ll try to share useful, thought-provoking content —
things that can help you avoid mistakes and legal traps,
and maybe even see some common industry practices in a new light.
Yes, we might challenge some popular ideas.
We’ll also talk about the importance of working with real professionals,
of recognizing what you don’t know,
and remembering that the most dangerous person is the one who thinks they know everything.
Last time, my posts were based on real-life cases I’d seen —
we’ll do something similar this round, but with a new twist.
I hope you’ll find value in it,
and I’ll try to make it as enjoyable to read as it is for me to write.
To my brother and friend Naor Gozlan — thank you for inviting me again.
Let’s dive in.
(And yes — as a proper sequel — I’m keeping the same opening picture: me and my partner, then and now.)
