What is the next step after your first deal (rental properties)

[Kevin Sha]

Newbie here. I've consumed maybe too much podcasts/blogs in the last week or so but it's always about landing the first deal and then it's supposed to get easier from there. So that's the part I'm getting stuck at and maybe not seeing the big picture yet.

If my goal is to first purchase a small multi-family to live in and rent the other spaces out. How does that first property really help me get to the next purchase quicker than the time it took for me to save up for the first property?

How do you turn that first property into 10...20...30 in just 5-10 years like I see in the titles of most podcasts?

I definitely still lack a lot of knowledge which is why this is confusing me so I'm hoping someone could help my pea brain out