Buyers and Builders
00:00:53 · Giuseppe Balzano
[00:00:53] S1: So I'm gonna try to to have an answer, which is not too not too dissimilar to what I gave you last time. Because in the end, you know, when you speak freely and with honesty, what happens if you always give the same answers? Hopefully. I had a good mentor. A good mentor that built one company, Harvard University, and he still has the company, and he's now forty two years. And, you know, I think when you when you learn from people that are shaped differently from what the market ecosystem is teaching sometimes, you know, with these short time periods, you know, optimizing for the short term, and you see... You can see the benefit, you know, of compounding, not just from a from a money point of view, because my choice, our choice is the the bad one. You know? We we have to wait for maybe thirty years before seeing some assets. You know? It's fine. You know? It's fine. And why is that? For me, it's psychological. For me, it's the idea of leaving a legacy. People in the future, you know, will remember, hopefully, about maybe this meeting, you know. It's gonna be my my first and last year interview, as someone, you know, did twenty five years ago. And maybe remember that before the success, there was nothing but a person that just wanted to start. You know? I think that is big enough or or small to start. On the on the kids and and second generation, as you know, you know, our business is to deal with this kind of entrepreneurs. And and every time there is an... Every time they sell they sell, you know, in the end, there is an issue with the with the transition. You know? And I think it's it's very difficult. I I don't know if my kids would be enough or I would be enough or the company would be enough. This is a... In the end, it's a three side, you know, kind of partnership to make that happen. But it's a hope, you know, having someone in my family in the future, running the business as a face of the company. Or maybe, you know, it's just a dream and and a hope, and it's not gonna happen. But the way and the spirit and the ambition, the goal, the drive from my side is that. I've been trying to build something for the for the long long term. And I think when you when you attach your... When you link your your drive to this kind of motivation, you're making different choices.
00:03:34 · Giuseppe Balzano, Mikk
I'm not optimizing for selling seven years, which means I'm not optimizing for volume. I'm not optimizing for, you know, numbers. You know, my my North Star is quality, people. I want to have good people with me. So I think it's just different, you know, and and for for how I'm done and how I've been educated by my family, this is the the ikigai, the the best spot for for myself. [00:04:01] S0: You mentioned you had this mentor. What a mark he has left on you. So maybe you can share a bit, like, how were the conversations? Because I think earlier in our careers, we see some people and we we want to become them. It's so true in sports, wanting to become an athlete, wanting to go to Olympic Games, becoming a professional athlete. I had this when when I started playing poker. I just really wanted to play online poker first and then in person in Las Vegas. I accomplished that. I never became like a world class or anything, I became decent. But in your story, it's it's just so much more that this one gentleman had a huge impact on your life and decision making. So maybe you can share a bit more about those conversations yet.
00:04:55 · Giuseppe Balzano
[00:04:55] S1: Yeah. Yeah. It it... It's it's more. You know? It's more. Of course, you you learn from people, and the the younger you meet these people or you learn from other people, the better or the more they shape you. On the other side, I think there is a component of nature, you know, and how how you... How you're done, how you think. You know, I still have my investments I did when I was 15, 16 in the public market. You know, I still have those shitty and sorry for the world companies. You know, I like to own. It's it's also in relationships. You know? I think I I think I told you, you know, if if you find a good wife and you like your wife, why should you change your wife? You know? This is something I still think sometimes. Maybe it's my Italian angle jumping in. But but honestly, that, you know, that mentor is a successful entrepreneur, and I saw him in a meeting. It was clear that he knew something more than other people. Or maybe it was just me. It was a super junior, you know, not knowing anything about anything. Sawing this guy, knowing the truth, you know, of things. And I I I got curious. I got curious, and I get stout. You know, I explained what I wanted to do. Mhmm. That was eight years ago. So I wanted to do something different. Not now. And I can explain, of course. But this idea of building my own company for the future of of myself, you know, and then my family has been with myself, you know, ever, I think. So that guy, I think, was just a way for putting together thoughts and having a a... You know, an example to follow. And then from there, you know, this guy is still here. He's he's he's investing in in my company. He's an important governance member. So it's a person that I'm still learning from in some way. So I don't know if that... If the answer was was enough, but I think it's not... There's not there's not just one thing happening or just one meeting that says, oh, yeah. This is the answer. You know? It's more than that. It's a it's a long term kind of relationship, you know, lunch and dinner and, you know, other meetings, and you see... Also, you see how this person is behaving with other people, with other shareholders, with other investors, with other partners, you know, and and you make the case as an example for you to follow. I think this is what happened in my case.
00:07:19 · Mikk
[00:07:19] S0: And when was the time that now is the right moment, now is the right time to do it? Because you have interesting background use. You can share it yourself, but there was... You were around Family Office Capital, but then you also... You were a GP of a VC fund. So maybe you can give a quick background on how it all got started.
00:07:37 · Giuseppe Balzano
[00:07:37] S1: It's easy. And sorry for bay... So for being straight and and, you know, as the French will say. I I just got sick of it. You know? That that that that kind of positions are intermediaries. You know? They are middlemen. You are earning the trust and putting the trust in someone else, you know, in some way. Hopefully, you're making some some money in the in the in the between, but you were not in charge of anything. You're in charge of finding deals. You're in charge of finding family offices. You're in charge of finding, you know, LPs maybe for the fund. But you're not building anything. You know? You're not a key man, you know, person that is the face of an... A successful, you know, entrepreneurial business. So I think what changed is I was turning 30. I was 29, almost 30, and I was ready. I was... I I wanted to do something on my own, you know, and building something for the future as a company. Don't get me wrong. You know, I was I was doing a fund. You know, I was doing other deals with with syndications and several asset classes, private equity, venture capital, real estate, and so on. I was investing... I'm investing my own money in the public market, but you're not leaving a legacy. You're just, you know, making more money, maybe, hopefully hopefully. Maybe you're buying a better house. You're you're buying a boat in the future. But I think at one point, I just said there is more than that. You know? And and the idea, again, is very psychological. It's not I want to make 1,000,000,000, or I want to do 50 deals. It's not that. It's more, you know, let... Let's make it. You know? Maybe in the future, we will see... We will be seen as the the most important industrial group in Italy and maybe in Europe. You know? That is more powerful and and something that drives me more. You know? And the only way to do that is to to build a company. This is this is what happened. I think I just, you know, reflected. Sometimes, you know, it's important to do so.
00:09:49 · Mikk
[00:09:49] S0: And what is the thesis, and why this thesis?