00:36:28 · Mikk, Brett Kelly
[00:36:28] S0: I've highlighted on my notes when doing research on you, I'd like to know more on your take on permanent capital versus traditional private equity and the seven to ten year fund mandate. Your thoughts on this. [00:36:41] S1: Yeah. So I don't think private equity mandates are seven to ten years. I think that's fake news. I think they're three to five years. And importantly, what's most important about the capital in a business is that the capital will drive the velocity of the business. So if you've got fast money, the business has to move fast. And not all businesses are really designed to move that fast. So when you've got a lot of people like we do in accounting, you can't move faster than those people can change. So I think there's an inherent mismatch between the velocity of private equity money and the velocity of accounting for it. And I think that's... [00:37:20] S0: What are some of the biggest headaches for you at this stage? You have this extremely clear system when someone has a question, you send them a document or a book, they'll get an answer. [00:37:33] S1: Just financing. So now our challenge is to get the financing in a corporate structure that allows us to grow the full potential of the business. So I spend a lot of time on financing trying to work out the best way to finance our growth that is capital efficient and isn't dilutive to share. [00:37:53] S0: And on the HoldCo level, could you describe your hiring process?
00:37:53 · Mikk, Brett Kelly
[00:37:53] S0: And on the HoldCo level, could you describe your hiring process? [00:37:58] S1: Well, we a 17 step process to hire people. It's a system that is firstly values oriented and we look pretty rigorously at people when we get it right. We don't always get it right, but when we do, we follow our process and it all works out pretty well. [00:38:16] S0: Do you need to be a former accountant in order to [00:38:20] S1: know? Definitely no. It might not be an advantage we think because often people come with the prejudices and the bad habits of the businesses that they grew up in. [00:38:28] S0: We covered past, we talked a little bit about the present on how you run the business. What about the near future? How much do you need to expand outside of US considering them in The US because there's so much opportunity there?
00:38:28 · Mikk, Brett Kelly
[00:38:28] S0: We covered past, we talked a little bit about the present on how you run the business. What about the near future? How much do you need to expand outside of US considering them in The US because there's so much opportunity there? [00:38:42] S1: Yeah, so really the game is get our company listed on an appropriate stock market, stock exchange, get a dual class structure to maintain long term control of the business model, raise the right type of capital, ideally constellation staff fifteen year debentures so that we can grow enormously and rapidly. So that is the first piece of the puzzle structure and capital. From a strategy perspective, you know if anyone listens to the Acquired podcast episode on Starbucks really that's what we intend to do. We intend to take the model into every market that invites us in with firms that are interested in being part of our group. And I think that we can own a thousand accounting. Currently we own 35. So there is no real lack of opportunity for us. [00:39:42] S0: What about you personally? And what comes to mind if I say the word focus? What I'm trying to understand is you've built a large firm, done so many different acquisitions on different continents. At the same time, there is an extremely clear system on absolutely everything. When I asked about something, you say hiring 17 steps. When it comes to post acquisition, there are like two zero four steps. How have you been able to put it all together? Like it must be not
00:40:11 · Brett Kelly
[00:40:11] S1: So I think you have to have a fanatical commitment to what you're doing to do anything substantial and world class. At a personal level for the first five years I didn't have a holiday. I never worked Sunday but I worked from 03:30 in the morning till seven and then eight till eleven every day. So I think that's very important. A lot of work. I think you have to have a unique sort of way of looking at things and not be scared of the status quo. Most people sort of just like the status quo and they're too scared to do anything different. And then I think, so you have to be a bit crazy to believe that what you think makes sense actually makes sense. I think you need to find great people that share your vision. You can't be a leader without followers. So you need to have people that believe in your vision of what's possible and even if they don't believe in it they're prepared to work in the organisation. While you prove out your model I think that's really important and I think you probably need to love what you're doing. You need to actually like it. A lot of people don't love what they're doing. To a great degree, you'll love whatever you're good at, particularly as a man. But you can't do the work that you need to do, which is enormous, without some passion for either way. So you have to have any, a internal wellspring of meaning, like a well where you get water. So yeah, it has to be the place, you know you have to build your life on top of a well you know so everyone knows that you need to live near a well where the water is otherwise you're gonna die. So if you think of your life here's a well that's where the water is for you, not for me, but for you, you have to build your life as close to that well as you can. The further away you get from water, the more likely you are to die. And so people will meet me, and they would meet me and they'd say, Brett, you've got so much energy for what you're doing. Why is that? And I'm like, well, I'm building my life and my business on a well of meaning. I genuinely believe that disease comes from dis ease and that most dis ease stress that people are experiencing in modern society comes from money, comes from relationships and money. So their relationship to themselves, to gone and to others into money.
00:42:48 · Brett Kelly, Mikk
Now I can't those other things are hard to do but we can help people organise their money, have a clear plan for their money and to keep scorecards against their progress against that plan to take action, to be organised, have a plan, take action, keep scorecards against their money. We can help them do that. And I believe that reduces their stress. That reduces the pain that they are in at a cellular level so that they don't get sick. Maybe then they can focus on developing themselves and their relationship with their partner and their kids and their community. So I genuinely believe that as an accountant when I sit there and meet with someone and I make their life better and I bring down their stress in their shoulders and they know where they are and they know where they're going, we deliver this emotional value that changes their lives. That means that I can get up every day and do that. I don't feel stressed about doing that. I don't feel like that's any effort. I never feel like I'm working, you know, at all because all I do is I go from helping this person to helping that person to helping this person. And whether that's people within our business or a client, it's sort of the same thing. And I just that means I can do it all day, every day, no problem except Sundays. I take Sunday off so I can stay normal, connected to who I am and where I'm trying to go. So that's the game. [00:44:24] S0: Brett, that has been fascinating. I can see the passion.
00:44:24 · Mikk, Brett Kelly
[00:44:24] S0: Brett, that has been fascinating. I can see the passion. [00:44:28] S1: That's part of what we're doing. And look, in our industry, accountants don't have any passion. They don't have any energy generally for what they're doing. The firms are very stale and low energy. So there's not a lot of competition. That's the other side. The bar is pretty low. [00:44:48] S0: Okay, Brett. Again, I'm very happy that I reached out to you. This will be one of those episodes I keep going back and I'm sure people listening will keep going back as well because you're a public company or almost like building in public. And you're the person behind this. This is fascinating. So thanks a lot for sharing your story.