The Purpose of Wealth/Scott Saslow - Family Offices, Impact Investing, Greta Thunberg ~ Spark of Ages Ep18

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Episode Description:
Ever think about coming up with a world changing idea that brings you and your family untold amounts of wealth?  But after that, what do you do?  Once you becoming a king, how do you manage your kingdom?  

Scott Saslow, the visionary founder and CEO of One World Investments joins us to discuss his new book, "Building a Sustainable Family Office," revealing the intricate roles family offices play in blending wealth management with impact investing. Discover the challenges they encounter in achieving sustainability and their immense potential in driving social change.

We explore the booming trend of impact investing, where a staggering one-third of publicly managed capital is now focused on sustainable strategies. Learn how visionary investors are making both financial and societal gains, with early stage support from Family Office investing. Scott dispels common myths about impact investing and highlights the crucial mindset shift needed among wealth owners to harness its full potential.

Curious about how family offices are adapting to generational shifts? We explore strategies for engaging these entities, leveraging their expertise, and involving younger generations in decision-making. Scott also underscores the importance of building a collaborative impact ecosystem, emphasizing community over individual gain. And we never miss a chance to turn our topic into a game, with the Spark Tank, offering an insightful look into truth versus fiction in the business world. Don't miss out on these invaluable insights and strategies for making your investments work for both your wallet and the world.

Scott Saslow LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-d-saslow-46620/

One World Investments: https://www.oneworld.investments/

Building Sustainable Family Offices by Scott Saslow: https://www.oneworld.investments/book


Producer: Anand Shah & Sandeep Parikh
Technical Director & Sound Designer: Sandeep Parikh, Omar Najam
Executive Producers: Sandeep Parikh & Anand Shah
Associate Producers: Taryn Talley
Editor: Sean Meagher & Aidan McGarvey
 

#entrepreneur #familyoffice #impactinvesting #innovation #growth #sales #technology #innovatorsmindset #innovators #innovator #product #revenue #revenuegrowth #management  #founder #entrepreneurship #growthmindset #growthhacking #salestechniques #salestips #enterprise  #business #bschools #bschoolscholarship #company #companies #smartgrowth #efficiency #process #processimprovement #value #valuecreation #funny #podcast #comedy #desi #indian #community

Website: https://www.position2.com/podcast/

Rajiv Parikh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajivparikh/

Sandeep Parikh: https://www.instagram.com/sandeepparikh/

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:07

Hello and welcome to the Spark of Ages podcast. I'm your host, rajiv Parikh. I'm the CEO and founder of Position Squared, an amazing growth marketing company based in Silicon Valley. So, yes, I'm a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, but I'm also a business news junkie and a history nerd. I'm fascinated by how big world-changing movements go from the spark of an idea to an innovation that reshapes our lives. In every episode, we do a deep dive with our guests about what led them to their own eureka moments and how they're going about executing it and, perhaps most importantly, how they get other people to believe in them so that their idea could also become a spark for the ages. This is the Spark of Ages podcast. In addition to myself, we have our producer, sandeep, who will occasionally chime in to make sure we don't get two in the weeks with tech jargon. Yeah, yeah, I'm going to keep it honest here. I'm going to keep it on the level, as the kids say.

Speaker 1: 1:07

Today's guest is Scott Saslow. Scott Saslow is the founder and CEO of the Palo Alto, california-based One World Investments, which provides investment capital and advisory services to help organizations scale social impact. One World also manages an early-stage impact investing fund. Over his career, scott has been a founder or founding team member of seven startup businesses. Prior to founding One World, scott was the founder and CEO of the Institute of Executive Development, or ExecSite, supporting executives in global 2000 organizations including American Express, blackrock, intel, time Warner and the US Navy. Scott also worked for Siebel. I don't think you've heard of Siebel.

Speaker 2: 1:50

I haven't heard of Siebel.

Speaker 1: 1:51

They were eventually acquired he was in diapers, yeah, and Microsoft Corporation in leadership roles. Scott is a graduate of my favorite business school, harvard Business School and Northwestern University.

Speaker 2: 2:02

There's other business University. There are a few.

Speaker 1: 2:04

There was just that one.

Speaker 2: 2:06

It happens.

Speaker 1: 2:06

There's more. He got his MBA and a BA in economics at Northwestern MBA from Harvard. He has authored over 25 articles for publications such as Forbes and Directorship and has been interviewed and quoted in Harvard Business Review, bloomberg and Businessweek. Scott, welcome to the Spark of Ages.

Speaker 2: 2:23

Glad to be here and just so you guys know, most of that is kind of true.

Speaker 1: 2:31

That's what we want to get to, is what's not. You had ChatGPT.

Speaker 2: 2:33

Do your bio for you and didn't fact check it. It happened. It's not an hallucination yet, but when we dial out, that's what's up, that's awesome.

Speaker 1: 2:40

I'm really happy to have Scott here, because he has such a wide ranging set of experiences and he's taught me a lot about social impact investing, and so I just love to share all that with you. What I'm really excited about learning, scott, is what you're doing. Most recently, I think you mentioned that you are about to release a new book in the next month. Tell us about it.

Speaker 2: 3:04

Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here. The book is really exciting. The book is in part, my own story, but it's also reflective of 20, 30 some folks that I interviewed. The title of the book is Building a Sustainable Family Office. For those that may not know, a family office is generally the infrastructure, the people and the process and the legal entities that a wealthy person will set up to help them manage their wealth. But it does a whole bunch more than that. It does investing in accounting and taking care of taxes and estate planning. It's also where families will generally house their philanthropic activity, so if they have a family foundation or if they're using a donor advice fund and it also supports the family in various ways. So these are just. As a student of business, I find these business entities very interesting. There's a small number, something on the order of 10,000 in the world. They represent the order of $6 trillion in total wealth, which is a big number.

Speaker 1: 4:08

That's a huge number.

Speaker 2: 4:09

Slightly, slightly huge, but it's actually less than 10% to what that number will grow to in the next two decades. So, the point is, this is a small but yet very powerful group of investors and individuals and families, and I thought it'd be really interesting to dig into them and understand what makes them tick. How can they be more efficient? How can they be sustainable in terms of their ability to be effective and lasting organizations? So is this like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Speaker 1: 4:38

This is that kind of thing.

Speaker 2: 4:39

At the very top of the scale, sure, the Gates and the billionaires of the world, and it includes a lot of other investors that may not be household names, but they've accumulated wealth through some way, some form of another, and they're trying to figure out how to best manage that. There's a whole bunch of other elements that go into trying to manage and grow family offices that make them not very sustainable, and that's really where the idea of the book came from. Is, you know, these are entities that often will kind of crash and burn. We've witnessed a whole bunch of these, and so I find the topic fascinating and kind of intellectually interesting. On one level, it's also related to the work of One World. My belief is, the more healthy these family offices can be, the more likely they will be efficient and generous as it relates to their own philanthropy, as it relates to their own impact and sustainable investing. So that's how it ties to that broader one.

Speaker 1: 5:36

It's a really interesting intersection because most people would not like one of the things we like talking about is great innovators Right, would not like one of the things we like talking about is great innovators right. And so to fuel that innovation, first of all there's innovators in the sense that a lot of these folks, they build a lot of wealth, whether it's in traditional businesses or in something that we've never heard of or never built before, and it turns into something I think family offices typically start at people who've built about $100 to $200 million in wealth.

Speaker 2: 6:05

About right.

Speaker 1: 6:06

Something like that, and then it just goes up from there. They're looking for a way to manage that money so that they can do what they want to do afterwards and have somebody professionally manage it. Or it can be a way for them to fuel their ambitions in terms of putting that money towards areas of interest for them, and that includes potential impact investing or social investments or charitable investments. It's a way for them to push that in. So the $7 trillion that you say is going to grow to $74 trillion right $7 trillion.

Speaker 1: 6:38

If you look at it compared to the US economy, that's about a third of the yearly US economy. Right, US is about over 20 plus trillion dollars. That's a big third of the yearly US economy. Us is about over 20 plus trillion dollars. That's a big chunk of that, and so there's a lot of money that's being put to work that could be put to work in more innovative ways than typical pension fund investing or endowment investing or even personal investing.

Speaker 2: 7:00

That's exactly right, and so it's really up to the principals or the owners of this capital and these offices to figure out not only how they want to invest. Sometimes they're very keyed into it and then other times, quite honestly, they're not. They'll hire someone and say show me some great numbers, show me some great returns. That's all I really need you to do. There's other investors and I fall in the latter camp where I'm actually really keen to know how are those dollars being used? Who's making money from my money? How are they making money? Am I in agreement with that? Does that kind of align with my values? And I'm someone who wants to push it as far as I can.

Speaker 2: 7:41

I understand the role that philanthropy has the nonprofit sector and philanthropic dollars to support a lot of that activity. That's huge. We need to support that as much as we can. But the real dollars? I think what we learned in business school what is it? The Willie Sutton rule? Why did he rob banks? That's where the money is. So the real money is in the public markets and the capital markets Right, and if you could influence how those dollars are invested, how they move around, if you could influence how companies think about their own mission. This gets into some of the topics around ESG investing, which I know has been politicized just like everything, everything else.

Speaker 2: 8:22

I think I read today that water has been politicized Water Literally everything, which is a bit of a shame. But that aside, it's really this notion that dollars as an investor, yes, you can and should get a return for your investment. But I think that's really just table stakes If you say I'm just looking for a return.

Speaker 1: 8:40

Then you can do kind of like Warren Buffett says what would you advise your family to do with your wealth?

Speaker 1: 8:44

He's like, well, I'll put in a bunch of stock index funds. Now, of course, what he's doing is he's doing the giving pledge, where he's going to give over 50, or probably 90%, to all kinds of foundations, including the Gates Foundation, so he's actually going to put that money to work to help other folks. I think what you're getting at is I can take money and I can put it in the S&P 500 or a bunch of different index funds and let it run passively, or I can do something really clever and innovative, and I think that's what that's, I think, some of what's guiding you right. I think you have access to family office as well, and you've talked to so many of them and there's more they can do, and many of them, many of the folks that who've been at these family offices they come from like there's the original one that creates the wealth, and then they say, hey, what else can we do? We can really make a difference with this. Let me help you do that.

Speaker 2: 9:35

So I think you have a lot of stories like that, and so that is the whole notion and really sustainable investing that's probably the umbrella term that includes other types of values, aligned investing, if we want to use that kind of phrase or concept. That is both in public markets, that's certainly in private markets. Sometimes in the private markets that's specifically referred to impact investing, where you're actually funding a for-profit business. That's building a solution to a problem a social problem, environmental problem to a problem a social problem, environmental problem. You're actually developing some sort of way to deal with an issue that the capital owner cares about. But my point is it's even their opportunities, really across all asset classes.

Speaker 2: 10:15

So that's in real estate, that's in the public equities, that's in the credit markets, and so that's something that OneWorld is trying to do. With a capital base that we have, which is relatively modest, we're saying what are all the ways we can support sustainable investing? And the key thing for us this is really important is we believe there are opportunities to do this and we have proven this thus far in a non-concessionary way. What's a concession? I see Sandeep's very confused. He's giving me that kind of furled eyebrow.

Speaker 1: 10:46

look, I thought concession Sandeep, with you corning peanuts at a game. Is that what concessions are?

Speaker 2: 10:52

Yeah, it's big league chew right.

Speaker 2: 10:56

May I offer an alternate definition? No, so the notion is basically, as an investor, given the amount of risk that you want to take on, you need to be compensated for that risk. And it is a true statement that there are some sustainable and some impact investments that are what's called concessionary. They do not meet the market rate. If the market rate in a given asset class might be 8% or 15% or 4%, you may achieve that minus something concession I'm giving. Instead of the 4%, I'm getting 3%. The reality is a subset of all the sustainable investing that happens is actually designed to be concessionary and is done at a concession, meaning the majority is non-concessionary. You're actually hitting the rates that you get.

Speaker 2: 11:44

And this is really important because I do think the first wave of sustainable investing and supporting these kind of impact companies and whatnot, there's those that believed, kind of on moral grounds, this was a good thing to do. I have a responsibility. I need to make the world better. I care about issues X, y and Z. I want to both be an investor but also make a difference through this money, not just get a return, and that's great. There's nothing wrong with that philosophy. But my point is, I think the first wave of impact in sustainable investors weren't as financially sensitive to the return they're getting. We're now at a point in the public markets. The statistic I think I've most recently heard is we're up to about a third of all publicly managed capital is being invested in some sort of sustainable strategy.

Speaker 1: 12:32

So what are some examples of that?

Speaker 2: 12:34

Well, I mean, it might be something around the environment, right? You say, okay, look, one of the causes I care about is climate change and dealing with companies. So therefore, I want to, either, as an impact investor, invest in companies that are tackling climate change. Maybe it's an innovative carbon capture technology, it's putting carbon into cement and it's still being done as a business. This isn't a nonprofit, but it's something that we believe achieves both. It's a good, scalable business, but also has some sort of environmental impact. Or maybe it's something related to healthcare or public education.

Speaker 2: 13:07

There are really a variety of causes or ways that dollars can be put to work to do both, to both serve as a good investment. And the point I was just making was it's really important. We're at a stage now and that's why I share that one-third statistic where it's really becoming more mainstream, and for that to continue, investors need to see this is not a money losing proposition compared to what I might be able to get with a traditional investment. So that is not only the way in which we're trying to do that with the relatively small capital base we have, but we're trying to actually be kind of good advocates for this practice that sustainable investing can and is being done in ways where there's no financial law. In fact, some would say it can be additive.

Speaker 1: 13:55

It could be better. You should be able to do better. It shouldn't be this concessionary notion where you make less. It should actually be better. You've been investing in some of these companies. Do you want to list a couple of your favorites?

Speaker 2: 14:09

The ones that I think are doing some really interesting things that we'll hear a lot more of. One is in the Bay Area, in the East Bay in Oakland. It's called Lilac Solutions and they've developed a process by which they can refine lithium from these kind of salt brines where lithium as a mineral exists. Typically it's a very cumbersome, environmentally hazardous, expensive, long process to mine lithium. They've developed a way to do that much more efficiently. It uses one-tenth the water and lithium, as we know, is very key for the transition to electric batteries, non-polluting vehicles and powering the whole electric economy.

Speaker 1: 14:50

I'm not allowed to put them in my checked luggage.

Speaker 2: 14:52

Exactly Be careful where you pack them. Thank you, sandeep. Good point, so that's just a fun one. On the more technical side, we've also gotten excited over the years in sustainable food right. Our food systems, I think, need a lot of innovation to be more healthy for everyone involved, from the farmers to the planet, to the people eating the food products. So we've supported sustainable food products over the years. Some alternative protein type companies, crickets- the great pizza topping Sandeep is saying where are my crickets?

Speaker 1: 15:26

I saw an investment recently by investing in a special company that knows how to make black flies at scale. You can use that as meal for shrimp and there's going to be a huge protein shortage. This is a way to lower the cost and higher volume shrimp production because there are fewer diseases coming out of it. So it's kind of a quadruple win. I never knew that we needed to produce more black flies.

Speaker 2: 15:49

That's insane Okay.

Speaker 1: 15:51

Can I step back a little bit and just ask Scott what's a day in the life of Scott Sassler?

Speaker 2: 15:56

There's probably some combination of the following. It's never in the same order, right. Especially these days it has been very much focused on the book. The book is about three weeks from being launched, so we're in the final stages there and over the last couple of quarters that's been probably 30, some percent, 40% of the portfolio, of my kind of time portfolio. Another third is probably related to the early stage investing. So that's either looking at new opportunities to invest in, speaking with and thinking about the existing portfolio and which of those are looking to do follow-on financings and which of those we want to participate in. So I'd say that's another chunk of activity. And then I'd say the third bucket is probably more of a general bucket related to my own family office and managing that, so that's coordinating with some of the other professionals we work with. Whether that's on the investment side or the legal side or the accounting, there's always plenty to do there.

Speaker 1: 16:54

All these different things every day, you know, towards all the different areas that you're looking at. What are the problems that you see with impact investing that you and One World are working on today as part of that day in the life?

Speaker 2: 17:07

Yeah Well, I think this first problem, if you will, is this broader misunderstanding I alluded to earlier that impact investing equals concessionary or impact investing. Oh yeah, yeah, that's kind of like philanthropy, right, I mean it's a great way for me to lose money.

Speaker 1: 17:26

Exactly, or maybe I'll just get my money back. I'll get my money back and I'll do some good. Thank you. So that puts you in a different world when it comes to how you think about how you invest right. It's a pseudo philanthropy slash investing thesis.

Speaker 2: 17:41

Well, look, I think it's great that there's consent, just like I think it's wonderful and there'll always be pure philanthropy. You give money to a cause or an organization and you know you're not going to get any financial return. That's existed since the start of time and we should put as much resources behind that as we can. I also think that concessionary where it's not market rate investing is a good thing for those investors that have the appetite and desire and say, look, I want to do this. I like supporting for-profit businesses that are tackling solutions. In addition to you know, every impact investor is probably also a philanthropist. But where I get most excited and where I'm trying to kind of make a change is to say, especially to wealth owners that haven't ventured into impact or sustainable investing, it can be done without the concessionary part. So if that's your hang up, that you're like no, no, no, I must hit my. You know if it's a fixed income, you know it needs to be 4% or if it's, you know, developing markets, that you know I need a certain percentage, that there are opportunities to do that. Now that can be hard to find the opportunities. It's not as prevalent as your mainstream investments or the opportunities that you might see.

Speaker 2: 19:00

I mean the founding story of Wonderworld. There was, I think, back to it was 2015. And I was speaking to a really bright woman, a recent grad out of Stanford Business School, and she was talking about her startup. Her startup was really designed to tackle climate change by helping ranchers that have these huge grasslands. Innovative ways for the ranchers to rotate the cattle that we're feeding on the grasslands, and doing it in a more efficient way, would greatly help to sequester carbon in the grasslands. It was very kind of simple idea, but something really difficult in practice to pull off, and she was approaching it from a software perspective. She said this is a data problem. We know where this data lives right now in a bunch of silos this, that and the other. We're going to pull it together. We're going to build a business. I know these ranches will pay for it because they'll be more productive, they'll make more money.

Speaker 2: 19:55

This isn't asking them to do a favor, but the point was here was this really great entrepreneur with this really interesting business idea? And I said well, yeah, you're a recent grad, it's 2015. It's raining money here in Silicon Valley. Times must be good. And she's like yeah, all my classmates, that's exactly what they're seeing. It doesn't matter what they're doing. They're getting money thrown at them. But for me, some investors are turned off by the idea that I'm trying to both build a business, but I also have this environmental goal that I'm trying to kind of think about and solve for, and to me that really seemed I mean both a shame from a societal perspective, but also like there's money on the table. There needs to be a better way for great entrepreneurs like you, christine, and investors out there like me and many others that I know that are looking for these opportunities. So that's really been one of the things that we tried to do over the years with OneWorld is connect entrepreneurs and investors in new and innovative ways, and I think there's just great ways to connect them.

Speaker 1: 20:59

Wealth of ideas to put all this together. Really, you're connecting the dots. You're the guy that's going all right. There's all this money out there in family offices that we need to align their values with these entrepreneurs that are doing these great things to help the world.

Speaker 2: 21:16

This is correct. Yeah, the book is not quite at that level, because the book is actually taking a step back and saying look before family office X, y or Z, you can, you know, and it's your call, right? I am never going to tell anyone what they need to be doing or should be doing with their funds. But the point is, the biggest concern that family offices have is how to keep the work that they're doing and the wealth they've created and the good fortune they've been part of, how to keep that going, how to have the subsequent generations participate in that, how to have them also be wealth creators, not just be inheritors and take the money and buy a bunch of houses, but do something meaningful with that.

Speaker 2: 21:58

So that is something that every family office I've ever come in contact which is now got to be north of 100, they all have this concern. They're terribly scared about spoiling their children. They realize that they're in a unique situation and they're going to be treated very differently than a lot of other people and they don't really like that to a large degree. So they're happy and proud about the wealth they've created. They want to be generous and share with their family. They do not want their kids spoiled at all. They'll do anything to avoid that, I mean. And what you see is that they quite honestly and often will lie and hide the wealth, not even tell about it until they're 40, 50, 60 kind of thing.

Speaker 1: 22:38

Right To make them work for it, to make them feel like because I think a lot of them they earned it on their own. They created some business, some idea and they grounded and pounded and made it happen, and they don't want their kids to feel like, wow, life is so simple, I just have to do a couple of things, and I think that's how they feel, that way.

Speaker 2: 22:55

Absolutely Not. Let them get this idea that, hey, I can just coast because I have this big money cushion to fall back on, but by the same token, sometimes that practice can backfire and there can be a lot of lost opportunity for the broader family. So, in any event, the point is, what I wanted the book to do is just start from the perspective of look, any given family you have, whatever the level of wealth might be, how do you maintain that? That's the table stakes. You want to maintain that, but you also want to have a mission for your wealth and your family office. You want to think about what's the purpose of it.

Speaker 2: 23:32

It's okay, you're not a bad person if you say well, my number one concern is me and my kids, and I want to have money and we want to go to nice resorts and buy nice things. That's okay, you've earned that. But the point is that's table stakes. Let's take it to the next level. What else could you be doing that would really engage your kids, the next gen? They're millennials or Gen Z. Well, let me tell you this whole notion of sustainable investing that really resonates with them. And if you're not doing some of that, I'm not saying go jump in head first if that's not for you, but you might want to try it.

Speaker 1: 24:07

So the thinking is let's take a step back, because you said, like I think, about 30% of them fail after 40% every time it's passed in a generation.

Speaker 2: 24:18

So it survives.

Speaker 1: 24:20

And so, instead of furthering it away, let's have some more purpose behind it. Let's at least design it so it doesn't just disappear. And I think you're taking a lot of what you've learned, because part of one of your earlier startups was in the area of executive development, executive leadership. So in part of that you're driving, helping people understand their purpose and then driving that into action, and it sounds like you're melding together these multiple experiences. You also your family has a family office. You also have you know, you've been with entrepreneur, a lot of entrepreneurs. You've also done executive development and now you're also an impact investing, which people have, impact investing as well as philanthropy. So you've seen all sides of this and you're bringing it all together in this book.

Speaker 2: 25:03

Exactly right and it's interesting I mean back in the family to the family office conversation the learning aspect that they can be benefiting from the learning journey that these offices can some of them do, but many of them I think it's still an opportunity for them. It's really interesting to put on my learning and development hat and look at it from that perspective and say, okay, what are the skills and capabilities they need? How do they develop that? I think we're going to see a lot more of that going forward and, yeah, to your point, ultimately it's in service of achieving what you want to achieve out of that pool of resources.

Speaker 1: 25:38

So I imagine it's got to be tough to be persuading family offices to allocate the capital in certain ways. Right, it's got to be tricky. So what's your advice? To say, a social entrepreneur seeking capital from them? Is it really tough? No, and then how do they get to it?

Speaker 2: 25:55

Right. So family offices will not be told how to invest. Typically, they're very savvy business people, leaders, thinkers, investors. No one, especially me, will come and say, hey, you need to do this, you need to invest this way or that way. The book is not about. This is how you should invest your money. The book is about how do you keep your family office healthy and sustainable and build it so it's built to last. That book is about how do you keep your family office healthy and sustainable and build it so it's built to last. That's exactly what the book does and, I think, what's in large demand.

Speaker 2: 26:26

To your question, maybe more pointedly, when they decide if and when a family and I think the research shows somewhere between 40% and 50% of family offices are already supporting sustainable investing in some way, shape or form Maybe they're not doing it across the whole balance sheet. Maybe they've chosen a few asset classes. They've said because of my next gen, we're doing some impact investments and that's a great way for me, as the older principal, and my 20-something or 30-something to work on something together. We have fun. Where it's about entrepreneurship, you can relate to it, et cetera. That's a great technique, one of many but what I would say is look, I mean family offices.

Speaker 2: 27:03

Most of them care pretty deeply beyond things just around how do I get a return and how do I file my taxes on time, and so forth. So it's a question of finding out what are their interests. Right, if you're in contact with a principal directly, you can ask them. You know what are the things they care about, what are the things they work on? How are they tackling it through philanthropy? How are they perhaps already tackling it through investing and using the for-profit, you know business model?

Speaker 1: 27:28

So will they find you because they already have a fund out or they already have an initiative through various organizations, or do you, as a budding entrepreneur or someone who's built something, go looking for that? How would I access it if I'm an entrepreneur?

Speaker 2: 27:43

Well. So how do you crack the family office market is the question.

Speaker 2: 27:48

So, yeah, it can be a little tough. I've actually written about this on Impact Alpha and a few other places. You will start to meet individuals who either work as a principal at a family office or work as an executive, a hired individual who is out there looking for opportunities. You can build relations and try and understand what's their timeline. How do they want to be involved?

Speaker 2: 28:11

Typically, just like any investor class, I think family office principals love beyond the dollar support so they can really find a win-win. Let's say there's a family office that made its initial source of money was through real estate. If you're a real estate business seeking capital, you don't just want their capital from that family office, you want their expertise, knowledge, networks, contacts and so forth. So I'd say that's another key thing with any investor type Understand what are all the levers that a given family office has to pull, because the family will certainly be more excited where they can not only write a check but then maybe be involved or lend their expertise, help to socialize that sort of thing. But it can be tricky. Arguably, most family offices tend to be pretty closed off and they want to stay private.

Speaker 1: 29:01

So there's not this listing of here's all the family offices and their interests. I met a person the other day who, family, made a lot of significant wealth in real estate and they were interested in agricultural technology, so they created a $30 million seed fund. They are just running their own venture fund. I ran into another one where, instead of making the normal returns you make by diversified investment, they're interested in helping buyouts of certain types of companies. Right, and they just they're leaders of those office. Go, look for them, go look for these things. So a lot of times you may just be searching for places as an entrepreneur, places to go, and you're just going to what may be a fund, and that fund may happen to be totally backed by a family office.

Speaker 2: 29:46

Could be, or indirectly. I read the statistic that $1 in $10 into all startups come from family offices. That's true, not directly. A lot of them are indirect, right, because family offices invest in funds which then invest in startups. So yeah, family offices do play a major role in entrepreneurship already, but, granted, it can be a little tricky to actually identify a specific one.

Speaker 1: 30:08

What do you think about the generational differences? Are you seeing that, in terms of how this plays out, boomers versus millennials, gen Z.

Speaker 1: 30:18

In terms of how they manage the capital, how they manage the family office or how they even think about manage the capital, how they think about their purpose, how they end up guiding the whole story together, Because you were saying a lot of people, some people don't even know that their family has great wealth till four or 50 years old. So I mean, I think you've actually run across some of these younger folks who do get involved and then do make a difference as part of trying to drive impact for their family office.

Speaker 2: 30:44

Yeah, it's true. So I'd say there's number one, a trend toward being more open and involving more the younger generation. I think it was more, you know, kind of the older generation. You know, I think about my father and his generation. My father was born in the depression, okay, and then he went on to become a successful businessman, but he came from pretty modest means and I think his attitude around sharing, communicating that wealth to my family myself and my two siblings was a little bit driven by, you know, his circumstance and what shaped him as a young kid and I'm sure he felt like, well, okay, the family's doing well, now that that is true, but that could change.

Speaker 1: 31:30

I mean, he saw how quickly things can change and you know, people were wiped out in a heartbeat right and they didn't know it and all of a sudden this wave came.

Speaker 2: 31:39

Absolutely. I just spoke with another family office based up in Seattle. They were a fourth generation family business in the real estate and they were very fortunate to have sold the family business right before the 2008 crash. And so had they not, it would have been a very different story. So I guess the point is the older generation is more they have the perspective that money comes, money goes, don't get too used to it kind of thing, which I think is healthy to a large degree. But I also see younger kind of 20-somethings, 30-somethings. To the extent that they're involved in their family office and some are, some aren't they're very keen to see how the dollars can do both. Right, can provide a return that makes the financial managers happy and the other members of the office happy Okay, we're getting a return. But that it's also some sort of purpose behind it, some sort of way to support the causes that they care about.

Speaker 1: 32:36

Do you ever get into this thing where there's like the, you know, like so suddenly, when I deal with think about this with our parents? Right, they are immigrants from India. They came here with very little. They're used to saving everything. They never throw away anything. The ultimate pack rats and we're more like we've seen life a little differently. We're more likely to spend on some things. We'll fix more things. We're willing to do that. I think it's that we value time as money, Time as money.

Speaker 1: 33:02

Whereas our parents' generation is like no, no Money as money only and don't value time at all. They'll spend five hours on the phone trying to get a $20 discount off their flight.

Speaker 2: 33:13

Yes, or sign up for credit card offers to get free miles. That's how they're wired.

Speaker 1: 33:21

They are so scrappy and clever, but is there this thing where you run into it related to this topic, which is like saving it versus giving it away, and there's that tension between these offices, between the key members of the office.

Speaker 2: 33:35

You know it's interesting.

Speaker 2: 33:36

I think that you are seeing some examples. There's a few very kind of public examples of family offices where they've decided not only do we want to give a significant proportion of the wealth away, we want to do that during our lifetime. Maybe you've heard of this concept of a drawdown foundation where it's like no, no, no, not when I die and I'm 60 or I'm 80, like I want to start doing it now and get the pleasure and the benefit of doing that now and create good for the world today, not in 40 years, like the climate or education system. You know, we need that today, we need those dollars. So you are seeing some examples of that, which is great.

Speaker 2: 34:14

You know, in Silicon Valley, I think one of the trends that seems to have gained a little bit of traction in certain crypto and other kind of crowds here, this kind of what is it effective altruism, this notion that, well, we're going to focus really hard on working and making a lot of money and then one day we're going to give it away. I don't know, I'm a little suspect toward that. I think sometimes that kind of sounds like they're just justifying not doing anything.

Speaker 1: 34:43

It's like it's like the chase for the sake of the chase, yeah no, no, I'm like really focused on making money at all costs today yeah, see that building in the university. It's gonna have my name on it yeah right so.

Speaker 2: 34:57

I'm careful not to judge some of these trends and whatnot. Don't worry, scott, I can Exactly. I'll be neutral, you'll do the dirty work.

Speaker 1: 35:07

I think there is some of that tension right and it makes sense because the people are coming from different circumstances right Now, when you think about not just your book and all these different businesses that you've started. I'm going to go more towards the thing that we care about at Position Squared, which is go to market.

Speaker 1: 35:20

So, let's talk a little bit of go to market, just a little bit. You've seen so many different companies and how they go to market across different types of businesses, but even in your own initiatives you've done your own go to market right, Because you're building a network, a multi-sided network. What did you do and what did you feel like worked? What experiments worked for you?

Speaker 2: 35:41

yeah, it's interesting. I mean I've I I realized kind of now in retrospect I and maybe, maybe it's a libra.

Speaker 2: 35:48

That's my zodiac sign of balance makes so much sense, kind of like two-sided marketplaces. I I really believed in trying to serve that role well and try to do it in such a way that it's beneficial to both sides, and that I wasn't seen as, let's say, yet another provider. I was trying to do something to build the marketplace where everyone wins. And I don't know, I guess I enjoyed trying to and probably, quite honestly, why did I try to do that in a few different businesses? It was this notion that you know that that's how you get more scale right. If you can not just be yet another provider but you can actually do something for the whole ecosystem, that's pretty cool. So I mean you know.

Speaker 2: 36:39

Back to the impact investing yes, we are an impact investor. We take money and we put it into for-profit social and environmental impact companies. However, we try to do and you know this Rajiv, you guys in Position Square has been great supporters over the years of a lot of the events and the programming and the community building. So it's more than just like we're a fund. We're going to kind of heads down, not really share with anyone else what we're doing and just try to eke out the best percentage. I'd say how some investors. That's their point of view and if it works for them, great. But we're more like hey, let's be collaborative, let's bring in more people. Yeah, maybe I'll bring in more investors and I'll actually remove a seat from myself at a table or on the cap table of a company, kind of thing, but it's still good for the overarching industry. So I'd say it's that it's saying like can we be a player on the field proverbial field but how do we do something that all the players benefit from?

Speaker 1: 37:46

Lately I've noticed you have a podcast to talk about your book. You're finding folks who have purpose as well as building their family office. In general, it sounds like that's your favorite approach. Is the community approach over the heads down, just pumping down a list and chasing folks and getting them on zoom calls?

Speaker 2: 38:08

Exactly. I think that's a good observation. And then the other, I suppose, is I always like this idea of trying to own a niche and really like find something that you feel you do really well. Depends, right. If your ego and your personality type is like I want to be in the big pond and big visibility, then that may not work and there's part of me that feels that way and operates that way, but I think more so. I'm very comfortable like a true entrepreneur, like I'm going to be doing something that might feel a little weird, wacky, different black sheep, I'm going to be way over here. But you know what, if I can actually get good at that and if that's an area that happens to grow a little bit in importance, then I mean in 2015,.

Speaker 2: 38:52

Sustainable investing and all that that was not well known. I mean that's for sure and some of that's luck. It's not like oh, it was genius. I saw the trends, you know, but I was like that's a space that I just think is really cool. So I always think that that's kind of good advice to anyone is just like find something that you really get excited about, find a way to become really good at. You know some sliver of it where you're, that you know you're that person or you're that firm.

Speaker 1: 39:20

I think you've talked a lot about what sparks you, but if there's a person, a historical event, a person or a movement that inspires you today, who or what would that be?

Speaker 2: 39:32

Well, honestly, this might sound a little corny, but like a lot of One World, and what was behind that was my kids. I have two daughters, you know, one's in middle school, one's in high school, and in 2015, when I started my work in this whole area, they were still pretty young. But you know, like anyone who's had kids will say, those are life changing events and they change your perspective on you and your purpose on this earth and how much time you have left on this earth and all those issues in a really healthy way. And so a lot of One World, I think is not just for my two kids, but it's kind it a few times.

Speaker 2: 40:17

Today, the millennials and Gen Z they just seem to be wired in a way where they are very concerned about finding purpose in their life. They're very concerned about the environment. They're very concerned about companies and jobs, that where they can have their cake and eat it too. Yes, a job, and it's challenging and it's interesting, but it's also making a difference. Maybe I'm a young soul as opposed to an old soul, like I really resonate with that generation and I hope they, you know, I hope they kind of keep it up and that those ideals don't kind of fade away, as they maybe hit their thirties.

Speaker 1: 40:53

So is there a person that captures that for you?

Speaker 2: 40:56

Greta Bromberg, the activist, the environmentalist from I think it's Sweden, the young environmentalist. It's not just her as an individual, but again kind of that younger generation Someone. In her case it's really, I think, inspiring. Here you have a pretty young individual who was really able to bring a lot of attention to the issues that she cared about, I mean in a pretty unapologetic way and a very inspiring way. So yes, here's to you, kiddo.

Speaker 1: 41:30

Yeah, we stan Greta. That's pretty amazing. Before we go to our game, I have one more question I'm always trying to discover. Is a person motivated to do what they're doing today by what they did as a child, or did they did as you go through it? Come upon what you did. Did you have a grand plan at 15, 14, 12?

Speaker 2: 41:56

I was always yes and no, so I always loved the idea of being in business. I think you know, even when I was in high school, I knew I wanted to work in business and go to business school. In particular, I chose my college specifically because it did not have a business school. It was a liberal arts college and I was an economics major the discipline science, as they say. But I chose that because I did have kind of this game plan. What a nerd I was and still am. To be honest, whatever 17, I was like yeah, yeah, no, I want to go to like a liberal arts and then I'm going to go get an MBA. I love the idea of becoming kind of a professional again, whatever it was I'm choosing Now.

Speaker 2: 42:38

That said, I had no idea these fields of impact, investing and social entrepreneurship and family office none of that was on my radar at all. So it is kind of interesting. I mean, I have worked in a variety of different careers and industries and that's my ADD. I'll just get too bored if I'm in one kind of place doing one thing. The leadership development I did. That was my longest. That was 12 years in the same industry.

Speaker 1: 43:01

That was a lot. We're approaching that.

Speaker 2: 43:04

With one world. It's kind of nine years in.

Speaker 1: 43:06

That's amazing. Shall we jump to the game? The game, okay. Well, scott, this has been really fun chatting with you, getting to know you, but now it's time to really test you. So welcome to the Spark Tank. This is where two CEOs enter and only one of you gets Greta Thunberg's handshake.

Speaker 1: 43:29

This week is all about social good initiatives as it relates to profitability. So in one corner we have Scott Saslow, the impact investment guru, ready to prove that doing good is good for the bottom line to profitability. So in one corner we have Scott Saslow, the impact investment guru, ready to prove that doing good is good for the bottom line. And in the other corner, we've got my brother, rajiv Parikh, the marketing maestro, here to show us that even he has a heart, or at least knows how to market.

Speaker 1: 43:49

To those who do, we're playing three rounds Better than the Grinch Playing three rounds of two truths and a lie. Your task is to identify the lie. I'm going to read them out, you're going to mentally lock in your answers and then, on the count of three, you're both going to raise your hands and give me a one, two or three as to which one you think is the lie. All right, so let's find out who's got the business acumen to spot the feel-good fib. I'm going to dive in and find out. Here we go. Dive in and find out. Here we go. Ready Round one. We're ready, ready.

Speaker 1: 44:21

Okay, I'm going to read three statements. One of these is a lie. Nike's Dream Crazy campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick led to a 31% increase in online sales in the week following its release. Pepsi's controversial Kendall Jenner ad attempting to co-opt social justice movements resulted in a 15% boost in sales in the quarter of its release. Or Airbnb's we Accept campaign, promoting diversity and inclusion, led to a 10% increase in bookings within the first month of its launch. Which of these do you think is the lie? One Nike's Dream Crazy campaign. Number two Pepsi's Kendall Jenner ad. Or number three Airbnb's we Accept campaign. I'm ready, yes, three, two one Time for two.

Speaker 1: 45:11

You both chose two and you are both yes correct. That's right, I'm winning. That was one heck of an ad. It was widely criticized for trivializing social issues and ultimately led to a decrease in brand sentiment. I don't remember that being popular didn't do well in kaepernick being done really well and because I know someone. I had a little bit of inside track on airbnb so I knew that something might happen.

Speaker 2: 45:37

This game has an asterisk now Sorry. The Kendall Jenner was pretty ridiculous.

Speaker 1: 45:42

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I wonder if Coke sales went up for that. All right, so far we're tied Round. Number two Starbucks' Race Together campaign, which aimed to spark conversations about race relations in their stores, led to a 15% increase in coffee sales during the campaign period. Number two Dove's Real Beauty campaign, promoting body positivity and self-esteem, led to a 700% increase in sales over a decade. Patagonia's worn wear program, which encourages customers to repair and reuse their clothing, led to a huge influx of new customers, reporting that 70 percent of all worn wear online sales in 2022 were from first timers. All right, all right, so start number, one number two is dove, number three is patagonia.

Speaker 1: 46:34

Here we we go. Three, two, one.

Speaker 2: 46:38

Ding Okay, Scott thinks.

Speaker 1: 46:39

Patagonia's was BS, it turns out. The only BS is that stuff in that Starbucks mug. Yes, rajiv, you get this, answer Turns out. The campaign, while it generated widespread discussion, was met with a lot of criticism for being superficial and opportunistic and having very minimal impact on sales. The real beauty one, I think, is one of the biggest winners of all time. Yeah, how, uh? I I think that's a, uh, an example of fantastic marketing, where this was the one where they would, uh, they would have a sketch artist who would, um, talk to the person, like be separated from the person through a curtain, and that person would describe themselves and they would draw that versus how the person actually looked. Well, let's get to the beauty of who wins this game, Round number three. Here we go.

Speaker 2: 47:35

How many rounds are there, by the way?

Speaker 1: 47:36

This is the final round.

Speaker 2: 47:37

So you got to make it up right here, Scott. This is your chance, Scott.

Speaker 1: 47:40

And I do have a tiebreaker, so if you do make it up, we got one more, all right. So these get a little wilder, okay, a Japanese company created a poop-powered motorcycle, so these are sorry, I should say All three of these are more. They're less well-known companies and they're more like ideas they had that they actually implemented versus the lie will be. One that did not is totally untrue. This is not a real company that did this.

Speaker 2: 48:10

Got it.

Speaker 1: 48:10

So number one a Japanese company created a poop-powered motorcycle that runs on biogas generated from animal waste. Number two a Canadian, company Bullshit. Get it Bullshit. Sorry, yeah, could be bullshit, pure BS. A Canadian company sells unicorn tears gin, donating a portion of fares going to music education programs. Which of these initiatives never happened? Okay, here we go. Three, two, one Ding. You both said two and you'll both be crying unicorn tears. Because you're both wrong, it turns out that that is a real company with a real initiative.

Speaker 2: 49:01

But there's no unicorns.

Speaker 1: 49:05

That is the brand name. They didn't strap a bunch of horns onto horses' heads and claim they were unicorns, though I'd love to see it, it is in fact the german car company that did that, did not launch a carpool karaoke service. That's not real. Sadly, scott, you did not take down my brother uh, he reigns supreme, I know, this never happens this is this really never happens, really, uh, so congratulations usually you're somewhat intelligent, not today, I guess, do you?

Speaker 1: 49:37

want to throw in the tiebreaker, see if you can double or nothing. You want to try it? Sure, do you want to try the?

Speaker 2: 49:41

tiebreaker. Do we have time Now that you put that on the table?

Speaker 1: 49:44

of course, Now we have to do it. Okay, double or nothing.

Speaker 2: 49:46

This is your chance of beating me. Bring it on.

Speaker 1: 49:58

I'm so used to letting all right here, if you get it. These again are more, uh, more of the same of the of the last one, where these are initiatives that may or may not have happened. Okay, a company in iceland created a beer brewed with whale testicles, which proceeds going to marine conservation efforts, that's beautiful a german company created a fart wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, hold on why?

Speaker 2: 50:17

would they take the? If they're concerned about ocean health, why would they be messing with whale testicles? The best way is not to touch any whale testicles.

Speaker 1: 50:27

Here's what I'm going to assume about the whale testicles is that it was already.

Speaker 2: 50:32

they were already harvested, I assume that they're not going out hunting whale testicles. I don't even need to hear the other two.

Speaker 1: 50:37

I'm just voting one. This is my favorite round so. I'm so glad we're doing this round.

Speaker 2: 50:42

I'm shooting three, but I know my answer. You're going to want to hear these. Let's go Number two.

Speaker 1: 50:49

They're all interesting and scatological. This is all very Simpsons-y.

Speaker 2: 50:54

You can look into Sandeep's subconscious. This is the segment that will definitely be cut from the show.

Speaker 1: 50:58

Okay, here we go.

Speaker 2: 51:05

A.

Speaker 1: 51:05

German company created a fart-neutral underwear line that uses activated carbon filters to neutralize the smell of flatulence, with a portion of the proceeds going to climate change research.

Speaker 2: 51:14

Okay. I saw that at one of Scott's events.

Speaker 1: 51:21

Just remember that two of these are real. Okay, just remember that.

Speaker 2: 51:25

One of those two are real. Okay, that is so good.

Speaker 1: 51:34

Number three a UK company launched knitted knockers, handmade prosthetic breasts for breast cancer survivors, made by volunteers and donated to those in need. So two of these are real. One of these is a lie. Do?

Speaker 2: 51:43

you have your answers locked in.

Speaker 1: 51:44

This is your chance, scott to beat me.

Speaker 2: 51:46

Your tie goes to the guest.

Speaker 1: 51:49

Yeah, this is worth two points. Basically, I'm going number one baby, what do you got Scott's going number one. I want to produce an outcome, so I'm going to say three. Amazingly, you did produce an outcome, but the outcome was that you're both wrong. So Rajiv remains in the lead, and that is right. Folks, you can get beer brewed with whale testicles, with proceeds going to Marine Conservation.

Speaker 2: 52:15

Office.

Speaker 1: 52:15

This is a real product called Havur 2, made by the Stedgy Brewery.

Speaker 2: 52:20

I love it. I love it so throw one back if you find yourself in Reykjavik. Yeah, these are some good companies that you might get wrecked at Reykjavik with whale testicles. And I think awesomely.

Speaker 1: 52:32

There's this UK company that does knitted knockers for prosthetic breasts, a real organization with chapters worldwide. But yes, I like number two because I feel like there's a real need. Yeah, alas, it's a real blow to the Parikh family. There is no fart neutral underwear line. So thanks for playing, thanks for entering the Spark Tank. Rajiv you win one, greta.

Speaker 2: 52:55

Thunberg, I'm honored to be the first guest that did not beat Rajiv.

Speaker 1: 53:00

I don't think you're the first, but you are in small company.

Speaker 2: 53:05

He's like, this never happens. Wow, all right.

Speaker 1: 53:09

I have a final question. In your opinion, for impact investing, from what you've seen, what makes a startup successful? For impact investing, from what you've seen, what makes a startup successful? Is it product adoption, usage, profitability, or are there some other ways that you measure impact in terms of how you pick your investments and which ones will be the winners for you?

Speaker 2: 53:30

Because we're investing so early we're typically seed or pre-seed I like to say we invest in people, not products, and by that I try to take some of my talent management background and put that to work. When looking at individuals and ask myself what are the skills they have? What are the skills they need to build to be successful in what they're doing? Are they aware, do they have the self-awareness that they need to build skills and are they open to it? And I don't get terribly excited one way or the other about the product that they may have built, because the truth is I want that, I need that to change. If that product doesn't change, you know from what I'm when I'm looking at it at a pre-seed um, that that's a sign of kind of stalled progress. So, yeah, it's kind of looking at people and and also I would say it's trying to understand. You know, do they? Is this really just in their DNA?

Speaker 2: 54:31

I mean, I do think that's actually one of the things that make social entrepreneurs, if we can use that, compared compared to just the general population of entrepreneurs, they are, yes, they want to be successful at their business, they want to make money and all these typical kind of things, but they're also really passionate about their cause and kind of the purpose of the company, and so my question is how long had they been thinking about this, right? Did they just, like someone in business school, mentioned some idea about X, y, z market and therefore now they're in that market and they want to? Or, if they like, in high school and in college, and you know, since college have they been thinking about this area. So those are, those are kind of the things.

Speaker 1: 55:13

It's like a deep-seated passion. If you feel like it's a deep-seated passion, they're going to fight for it to the end Exactly.

Speaker 2: 55:21

Because I mean, it's a game of attrition, right. It's like who can stay alive the longest, you know, or maybe from our generation, you know. It's like Frogger, you know. You just got to keep going, avoid the obstacles. You know a little, half step here, half step there, and so those are kind of the things. Now.

Speaker 2: 55:42

That said, I do want to see some invention, and when I say invention, you know it could be, yes, a technical invention like this one Lilac. You know they have a chemical process they've invented and patented. But it could be, you know, they've invented a new business model or they've invented a new way of engaging, you know, the, the customer set or some of the major players in an industry that gives them the quote unfair advantage. I want to see that they've actually invented it, not that they will. That's that's kind of the trick with pre-seed and seed is like will. That's kind of the trick with pre-seed and seed is like we will do X, y, z. And then you're kind of, as an investor, saying like okay, I'm betting on your ability to create something. I want to see that you've created some of it already.

Speaker 2: 56:28

Even at the pre-seed stage there should be some element of a creation. And then you say, okay, well, it's a creation, it's, it's novel. Is it what the market needs, you know? Does it? Can it scale? You start asking those questions. So I guess I'm throwing a lie at you, but I I'd probably say the number one is back to the person, um, and hopefully it's a team of people. I mean, we have backed kind of solo, solopreneurs, but I think you know there's a saying that if you can't even like recruit a co-founder, that can be a flag, and so yeah, I am definitely biased toward at least two co-founders.

Speaker 1: 57:10

That makes a lot of sense. If you can convince at least one other person to do what you want to do with them passionately, you can change the world together, and I've seen that in some shared investments of ours. Scott, thank you for coming on our show today. We really appreciate having you. It was so much fun. Thank you for having me, and so much learning too, so I think you brought both together, so I really appreciate it.

Speaker 2: 57:30

I appreciate you guys having me. I hope there's some good learnings for your listeners.

Speaker 1: 57:38

It's a pleasure, I love the work you're doing and thank you so much. All right, that was a wonderful episode with you, know. First-time author Now first-time author Scott Saslow, multi-time entrepreneur, yeah, community builder in the fields that he's cared about, and he puts it all together, combines that, oh great. You're going to steal my takeaway. I already know it. Go ahead, fine. What's yours? You do yours first. Go first. You're younger than me, why not? No, okay, fine. Yeah, it is about the next generation that's of this brothership, so you know it was that it was the community building aspect of it.

Speaker 1: 58:18

Right, like that. Like that was the piece that really resonated to me was thinking about like hey, how are you not just creating a cool product or doing something you know, picking the right portfolio, that's best for you and for you to succeed? The thing about how, hey, how can you make sure that the entire industry that you are a part of uh can also, you know, uh, rise with the tides? I didn't realize, uh, this whole family. I didn't know a lot about family offices till, I'd say, the last decade, and it wasn't something they taught you about in business school. It wasn't something you even knew about when I was raising my first company money for my first company. It hasn't really been since more recently that I came upon this understanding that there's ways in which families manage their wealth and then how they can take that and make that form the basis of even a different set of purpose and a greater sense of purpose.

Speaker 1: 59:16

And when you listen to some of Scott's podcasts, you have a chance to post where those are. He's interviewing people who come from these family offices. But they have a greater purpose in life and they're trying to drive it via their family office. And that kind of innovation inside of what just typically is about asset allocation and wealth preservation is just really interesting. Because if you're an innovator and we're trying to spark innovators or highlight great innovators, you want to know where all this is coming from and who you might bump into and who you might meet and how that person might make a difference in the world for you. And so Scott puts it all together in just a really interesting, unique way and he writes this book Building a Sustainable Family Office all about that. Well, it really forces you to think fourth dimensionally, as we would say, from back to the future, like about future generate. Like you know, you're not just building the thing to pay the mortgage or get a new pool. You're thinking about yeah, how am I building something that's going to last you know of time and really affect my kids, their kids' kids, and what kind of world are they going to be living in? It forces you to reframe that conversation about whatever it is that you're trying to build in your companies, and I think that's a great place to be thinking about. From Jump Street, scott's the one that taught me about impact. It's why one of the funds that I work closely with is all about impact, and this is specifically with deep tech in India, and I never would have known about this if I hadn't gone to all of Scott's a lot of Scott's events and so credit to him for teaching me something new and something more interesting about how you build businesses Hopefully teaching you the same, dear listener. So thank you guys for listening.

Speaker 1: 1:00:59

If you enjoyed this pod, take a moment to rate it and comment. You can find us on Apple, spotify, youtube and everywhere podcasts can be found. That's right. The show is produced by Sundeep Parikh and Anand Shah, production assistance by Taryn Talley and edited by Sean Maher and Aidan McGarvey. I'm your host, rajiv Parikh, from Position Squared, an AI-based growth marketing company based in Silicon Valley. Come visit us at position2.com. This has been an F and funny AI-based production and we'll catch you next time. And remember folks be ever curious, but not about a guy.