00:00:00 · Mikk, James Andersen
[00:00:00] S0: Today, I'm joined by James Andersen, co founder of Clearview Capital, a Stamford, Connecticut based lower middle market private equity firm. He co founded in 1999, managing 2,000,000,000 in assets. And over twenty seven years, Clearview has completed over 150 transactions, helping its exited portfolio companies achieve an average of 2.5 times EBITDA growth. And James has recently stepped back from day to day management to focus on investing his own capital through his family office. And today we'll talk about what it takes to build a successful private equity firm, lessons learned from three decades in private equity, how the investment landscape has changed and why he's decided to begin a new chapter with his family office. James, welcome to the show. [00:00:49] S1: Thank you. Glad to be here. [00:00:51] S0: I think it's super important to mention that guys listening can stay connected with you through your Substack You Read It Here, which I highly recommend for your fresh and candid takes on all things business, investing and life. And I'll put the link in the show notes as well. [00:01:09] S1: Great. Thank you. [00:01:10] S0: A mutual friend of ours told me he recently played baseball... Sorry, basketball game with you. And there were guys in twenties and thirties, former athletes, Call Your Own Fault. And he said you were you were there playing, going as hard, if not harder than some of the 25 year olds. So let's maybe talk a little bit about competing and this and having this athlete mindset. Where where does it come from?
00:01:10 · Mikk, James Andersen
[00:01:10] S0: A mutual friend of ours told me he recently played baseball... Sorry, basketball game with you. And there were guys in twenties and thirties, former athletes, Call Your Own Fault. And he said you were you were there playing, going as hard, if not harder than some of the 25 year olds. So let's maybe talk a little bit about competing and this and having this athlete mindset. Where where does it come from? [00:01:39] S1: I don't know. I guess I've always been like that. I mean, when I was younger, I was an athlete myself. I didn't I didn't play football like those guys did. But I've always enjoyed competing, try to stay in shape. And I will say every fiber of my body hurt after playing basketball with 25 and 30 year olds. [00:02:01] S0: Okay. Okay. So next, let's talk about being ambitious because there's a lot of folks listening there in late 20s, early 30s, late 30s, really going after it. So let's go step by step and let's take even maybe a step back. Before you build anything yourself, we oftentimes tend to underestimate what is the price of all this. So I want to start with something you wrote that I found interesting. We live in a world where a lot of people want success, the freedom, financial rewards and opportunities. But I often wonder how many people don't understand what it really takes to really get there. So you wrote this piece called Tired All the Time. And I went through it a few times before our conversation. So maybe you can elaborate a bit what was on your mind when you were writing this.
00:03:02 · James Andersen, Mikk
[00:03:02] S1: Well, specifically, was talking about the trade offs that come in building a business. And actually, I think the thing that bothered me was you hear people all the time say, oh, you know, on my deathbed, nobody ever wished they spent more time at the office. And I hate that expression, because life isn't that simple. Know, because nobody on a deathbed, I think, ever said, Oh, I wish I hadn't built that business. Like, there are always trade offs in life, and there's a finite amount of time in the day. And for me, my family always came first, but that didn't mean there weren't times that I had to make sacrifices to do things to make this business be successful. And it's just life. You make trade offs all the time. And the thing that gave for me was I was tired all the time. Like, I had to go a million miles an hour all the time. But I'm glad I did because now I have a wonderful family. I stayed connected at all times to my kids, and I was able to build a successful business, but it didn't come it came basically at the expense of everything else. Like, I like to say, I don't have any friends except my kids' parents, my kids' friends' parents, because there's just enough time for anything else. [00:04:22] S0: And you said as well, it was all worth it. [00:04:25] S1: It was. I mean, I I... I've I've lived a full life. Like, I I didn't spend a lot of time just sitting around watching TV. Like, did things that I thought were, at least for me, were fulfilling.
00:04:25 · James Andersen, Mikk
[00:04:25] S1: It was. I mean, I I... I've I've lived a full life. Like, I I didn't spend a lot of time just sitting around watching TV. Like, did things that I thought were, at least for me, were fulfilling. [00:04:37] S0: Me and my friends, we are these guys in the early stages of our careers. And of course, we're having those conversations because kids at home. And that's why I think this conversation with a guy like yourself being a few decades ahead of us, it's important to ask those questions because you have lived through it. [00:04:57] S1: Yeah, look, you're going to miss things. You will. You can't be in your kids' lives every minute of every day. And by the way, that's probably not good for them. There's a lot of over parenting that goes on as well. Your kids need to be able to be independent early, and there's no reason why they can't do that. But it doesn't mean that you can't stay connected. Can find ways to do it. Like, before cell phones, and I'm old enough now where we didn't have cell phones when I got started, I did one little thing every night I was traveling. I'm a terrible artist, but I would draw little stick figures and send them a fax, which basically said, What did daddy do today? And my wife would read that to the boys if I wasn't home, and that was my little way of staying connected. And then when I came home, I could talk about all those things that I sent a fax about. And like I said, I only did two things. I worked on this business, or I spent time with my family. There wasn't anything else. And that was all I needed. That's all I wanted.
00:04:57 · James Andersen, Mikk
[00:04:57] S1: Yeah, look, you're going to miss things. You will. You can't be in your kids' lives every minute of every day. And by the way, that's probably not good for them. There's a lot of over parenting that goes on as well. Your kids need to be able to be independent early, and there's no reason why they can't do that. But it doesn't mean that you can't stay connected. Can find ways to do it. Like, before cell phones, and I'm old enough now where we didn't have cell phones when I got started, I did one little thing every night I was traveling. I'm a terrible artist, but I would draw little stick figures and send them a fax, which basically said, What did daddy do today? And my wife would read that to the boys if I wasn't home, and that was my little way of staying connected. And then when I came home, I could talk about all those things that I sent a fax about. And like I said, I only did two things. I worked on this business, or I spent time with my family. There wasn't anything else. And that was all I needed. That's all I wanted. [00:05:57] S0: When you're having those conversations with folks like younger folks, do you think folks really understand how much effort it requires to really build a firm like this?
00:05:57 · Mikk, James Andersen
[00:05:57] S0: When you're having those conversations with folks like younger folks, do you think folks really understand how much effort it requires to really build a firm like this? [00:06:08] S1: Well, the answer is probably no, and that makes sense. I didn't know either. And I think most entrepreneurs just put their heads down, and if they, if, look, we did a whole bunch of business playing before we started this business, and, you know, we were two weeks in and we threw it out because we were absolutely clueless. But I think if you really understood, as an entrepreneur, what can go wrong and how hard it will be, most people wouldn't do it. Because, the, you know, the chance of success, if you really lay out what all the risks and challenges are gonna be, is pretty low. But you can't think about it that way, and I didn't. I just put my head down, and you just do it, and you look back and say, Wow, that was really hard. But okay, lots of things in life are hard. Nothing in life is easy. Nothing comes without effort and risk and failure, quite honestly. And the question is, what do you do with that? Do you keep going, or do you give up? I just chose to keep going. [00:07:05] S0: Could you talk about your years in having this engineering job in Egypt? Because this is something you've been writing about as well, failure makes strength.