Startup Grind Dallas hosted Herb Weitzman, chief executive officer and chairman of The Weitzman Group and Cencor Realty Services, last night at The Dallas Entrepreneurship Center’s new location at the West End.

During the event, Weitzman discussed his humble beginnings: he began his career at Henry S. Miller, a titan in the real estate industry.

“My role was entrepreneurial from the day I stepped out of college,” Weitzman said. “I worked [at Henry S. Miller] on a commission basis.”

After working in the industry for nearly 30 years, Weitzman founded The Weitzman Group, a commercial real estate brokerage firm that now ranks as the largest retail real estate brokerage force in Texas and one of the largest regional commercial real estate firms in the nation.

Weitzman says that, despite his undeniable success, the fear of failure continues to drive him. “You can overcome a lot of things with personal drive,” he said. “A lot of people who are really successful had failures in the beginning.”

For Weitzman, surviving the “real estate depression” from 1986-90 was one obstacle. He discussed this difficult time with Startup Grind Dallas Director Lee Blaylock. “How you approach those hard times is telling,” Blaylock said.

Weitzman encouraged entrepreneurs to work for success early in their career. “You have to do it early. That’s when you have the time and can take the risk,” he said. “That’s also when you have more creativity. “

Local entrepreneurs interested in networking with their peers are invited to attend Startup Grind Dallas’ events. See its upcoming meetings here.