00:02:41 · Kamran Zaki
[00:02:41] S0: That's a great question. Honestly, the people. If you take a step back, I was with Adyen for almost ten years and left them last summer. I think it was a great company. And when we had done our session on Adyen, one of the things we talked a lot about was culture and how that was critical, not just from a people standpoint, but it was so central to how we ran the business, how we made decisions, how we empowered people. So I'm still in touch with a lot of my colleagues. Luckily, a lot of them are in the Bay Area or come through here pretty often. And, honestly, that that might be a good segue to maybe your follow on question. That was a very important part of why I chose the Giant, the team at Iconiq. I'd known them for about a decade as well. They were early investors at Adyen. And in addition to having a great track record in terms of actual investment, I also found that they have a very strong culture. It's a great team. And that was really important to me after what I'd been lucky enough to experience on the Adyen side. So I miss the people, but I really cherish my new colleagues and friends. You know, the other part is obviously there's a difference between being an operative investor. And, you know, I think like anything, it's yin and yang. There's great positives on both sides and there's something you miss and eat. So overall, I think amazing experience at Adyen and really thrilled to be having an opportunity to now on the other side with Iconiq.
00:04:01 · Miguel Armaza
[00:04:01] S1: So thinking back on those days when you were on the board of Adyen and Iconiq Growth was an investor, what was it about Iconiq and also other investors that really stood out as value add? Because of course everyone wants to get there, everyone wants to, every investor wants to be regarded as a great investor, a value add, not everyone gets there. What was it for you that stood out?
00:04:30 · Kamran Zaki, Miguel Armaza
[00:04:30] S0: I think a couple of things, In general, what you want as a company from your investors is one, that they're with you through thick and thin, right? It's usually easy in the good times, but every company has bumps along the way. And you wanna make sure your team and your investors, right, are with you on that journey and are supportive. I think two, it's investors can help in a few different ways. One is through introductions, right, to potential customers. Two is if you're looking for executive talent or additions to your board once you're further along helping with those types of things. And then the third is obviously every company goes through different stages of growth and inflection points and potentially making introductions to other great founders or companies who've been there before you and how you could leverage their learnings and expertise. And I think that's what I found in many of our investors, but especially in Iconiq and back to, you know, the culture, the people, they call it the uncommon care. Right? How do you go above and beyond and how do you make sure you're earning the right to be an investor and continue being an investor for the long term? Then it'll pay back hopefully with how do you then take these great investors and how do you help them generate uncommon outcomes and then how do you help them pay it back to the society by introducing them to the next generation of great investors per se. [00:05:53] S1: Now that you're on the investor side, how do you find yourself spending your days?
00:05:53 · Miguel Armaza, Kamran Zaki
[00:05:53] S1: Now that you're on the investor side, how do you find yourself spending your days? [00:05:59] S0: Yeah, probably maybe about 70% of it is on meeting new companies and new founders, right? Building those relationships and when there's either an explicit opportunity or when you find yourself having deep conviction that this is the right team, the right company, they found product market fit. How do you lean in and partner with them to become an investor? And then probably about 30% is with existing portfolio companies and how could I be helpful, right? As I said, in different aspects of operating, international expansion, executive search, whatever may be top of mind for them where maybe I've had some experience on my journey and can sort of pay it back to them. [00:06:39] S1: So speaking of international expansion, I know from our conversations that that was something important for you back at Adyen. Not only did the company become a lot more global throughout your decade there, but you were actually part of that expansion. When you're analyzing potential investments today or companies to partner with, is that also something important to you, companies that either are global or want to become global?
00:06:39 · Miguel Armaza, Kamran Zaki
[00:06:39] S1: So speaking of international expansion, I know from our conversations that that was something important for you back at Adyen. Not only did the company become a lot more global throughout your decade there, but you were actually part of that expansion. When you're analyzing potential investments today or companies to partner with, is that also something important to you, companies that either are global or want to become global? [00:07:12] S0: Yeah, absolutely. I think you can build amazing companies in large markets like The US. But I think from a personal standpoint, I've always had a strong affinity for global. One, I wasn't born in The US originally. Right? Was lucky enough to come here like yourself and become naturalized over time. But I also think it adds a degree of complexity for the company, but it also means that they are a whole set of complex problems you're helping solve for your customers, right? Because you're helping them grow their business, not just in one geography, in multiple geographies, help them solve whatever the complexities may be, language, money movement, local payment methods, things like that in the case of Adyen. And so it's even more fun, right, to solve even more complex problems and hopefully add even more value to your customer base. So definitely always looking for great companies in general. But if they have global applicability, then I think that's one even more exciting, but also selfishly makes the opportunity even bigger.
00:07:12 · Kamran Zaki, Miguel Armaza
[00:07:12] S0: Yeah, absolutely. I think you can build amazing companies in large markets like The US. But I think from a personal standpoint, I've always had a strong affinity for global. One, I wasn't born in The US originally. Right? Was lucky enough to come here like yourself and become naturalized over time. But I also think it adds a degree of complexity for the company, but it also means that they are a whole set of complex problems you're helping solve for your customers, right? Because you're helping them grow their business, not just in one geography, in multiple geographies, help them solve whatever the complexities may be, language, money movement, local payment methods, things like that in the case of Adyen. And so it's even more fun, right, to solve even more complex problems and hopefully add even more value to your customer base. So definitely always looking for great companies in general. But if they have global applicability, then I think that's one even more exciting, but also selfishly makes the opportunity even bigger. [00:08:11] S1: Absolutely. Think we are seeing more and more companies launch with a global mindset from day zero, but there's this rejection also from the investor side. And in many cases, justified saying like, okay, you want to go global, but you got to start with one market. Your experience, the companies that nail their global expansion, what is it that they do right?