Transcript:

This idea of that lost in the sauce mentality for a lot of our portfolio companies, where oftentimes so much stuff is happening that it's hard for them, and they fall victim to common pitfalls—whether it be mission drift, capital stagnation, or lack of communication. But I would love for us to just think about what are some of the characteristics of portfolio companies and investors that come to us that we know are really aligned to sustain excellence. That's a great question. There's a lot that goes onto that list as well, but I would say in a common sense, if I think about all our portfolio companies that are really doing a phenomenal job, what common characteristic traits do they have? One is communication. It's a big one, good or bad. I would say good news needs to travel fast, and bad news needs to travel even faster, especially in business. Let us know, we'll try and help. I think communication's a big one. You don't have to have an extremely firm grip on your financials, but you have to know where they're at and be able to send the right stuff over so people know what we're looking at so that we can help. I think driven, obviously, is a big one, but it almost just comes along with it. Most of these entrepreneurs are just hungry and driven and want their business to grow. And when we see that and all they need is help, it is easy to lift that person up higher when they're already doing a great job and just need to be told which direction to run to. I love that when I think of some of the top characteristics, communication is at the top for me as well. It's so easy, when in doubt, to pull away from conversations and pull away from communication, and I think it's one of the biggest signs that we notice anytime we're working with an investment firm, company, organization, or a portfolio company. When there's a lack of communication, that tells us that oftentimes things are going to get missed, and lack of clarity comes with that, so communication is definitely a big one. Another thing that you mentioned around characteristics, I think there's some humbleness, that yeah, our expectation isn't that you have all the answers. And even for ourselves, how many reports have we looked at where we've had to relook at their financials differently or really learn as well? I think being humble to understand that everybody is out to support you and bring your vision to life is key. The characteristics of someone who is willing to learn, who is coachable, and who understands that we are here to build trust and support their vision is one of the biggest characteristics I see in some of the most successful ones we've been working with.