# Guy Gal

> Guy Gal is the San Francisco-based co-founder and CEO of Side, the real estate operating platform built to let productive agents own their brands while Side handles brokerage infrastructure behind the scenes. A Toronto-raised technology entrepreneur whose earlier video-commerce company Kingmaker was acquired by Joyus, Gal arrived in real estate as a skeptical homebuyer, changed his mind after meeting an exceptional agent, and helped turn that reversal into a platform supporting more than 600 real estate companies.

- **Role:** Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Side
- **Organizations:** Side, Kingmaker, Joyus, Matrix Partners, TheBizMedia, Kognitive, Draft Ventures, Vidyard
- **Education:** Bachelor's studies in History and Philosophy, York University
- **Known for:** Co-founded Side, which has helped launch more than 500 real estate companies and operates infrastructure used by more than 600 companies., Led Side through a $150 million Series D in March 2021 and a $2.5 billion valuation later that year., Built Side into a top-10 U.S. residential brokerage by sales volume, according to RealTrends rankings cited by Side and Inman.

## Career timeline

- **2004-2009** — Worked in business development at Kognitive in the Toronto area, ultimately serving as vice president of business development.
- **2009-2011** — Served as managing partner of TheBizMedia, a Toronto digital media business.
- **2011** — Founded video-commerce startup Kingmaker in Los Angeles.
- **2013** — Kingmaker was acquired by video-shopping company Joyus in an all-stock deal; Gal and his six-person team moved to San Francisco.
- **2013-2015** — Led business development at Joyus and advised Vidyard.
- **2015-2016** — Worked as an entrepreneur-in-residence at Matrix Partners, investigating markets and new company ideas.
- **2017** — Co-founded Side with Ed Wu and Hilary Saunders and became CEO.
- **2021-03** — Side raised a $150 million Series D led by Coatue at a $1 billion valuation.
- **2021-06** — A follow-on financing valued Side at $2.5 billion.
- **2026-07** — Side opened SideOS, its operating platform, to independent and franchise-affiliated brokerages nationwide.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Side, which has helped launch more than 500 real estate companies and operates infrastructure used by more than 600 companies.
- Led Side through a $150 million Series D in March 2021 and a $2.5 billion valuation later that year.
- Built Side into a top-10 U.S. residential brokerage by sales volume, according to RealTrends rankings cited by Side and Inman.
- Previously founded Kingmaker, which was acquired by Joyus in 2013.
- Has made more than 25 angel investments and advises early-stage founders, according to his public Wellfound profile.
- Expanded Side's technology into SideOS, made available to outside brokerages in 2026.

## Latest updates

- **2026-08** — Appeared at Inman Connect San Diego to argue that the future of real estate remains local and independent as consolidation and AI accelerate.
- **2026-07** — Announced that SideOS would be available to independent and franchise-affiliated brokerages nationwide; Side said the system already ran more than 600 companies and 30,000 transactions a year.
- **2026-04** — Side introduced AI tools designed around real estate agents' workflows.
- **2026-03** — Joined co-founder Hilary Saunders to discuss consolidation, private listings and long-term local brokerage growth on Real Estate Insiders Unfiltered.

## Links

- Website: https://www.side.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/guygal/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/mynameisguygal
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/guygal

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/guy-gal
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-27