Welcome to The Business Academy.
This week I had an interesting experience.
I attended the Wharton Chief Investment Officer (CIO) conference.
It was a small event. There were only 250 people in the room. But many of the power players in finance were there including Cathie Wood of ARK, Josh Kushner of Thrive, the leadership from the Nebraska Endownment, Harvard Endowment, and many more.
If you add up the money controlled by the people in this room it amounts to well over $250 Billion.
There was a lot of power in this room.
I accidentally sat at lunch with one of the Managing Directors of the Harvard Management Company, and it reminded me of a little lesson that I learned a long time ago but had forgotten.
Here are a few things you should know about the Harvard Management Company: They manage $51 Billion. They are a marquee investor. If you bring on the Harvard Management Company as an LP in your fund, you are then able to open any door anywhere and raise money from just about anyone. Their brand is powerful.
My lunch partner very kindly spent the majority of our time together educating me on how to get an investment from their team.
But it wasn't what I expected...
He said one line that I'll never forget.
No matter how good your track record is. I'll find someone doing the same exact strategy with a better track record. You are unlikely to get an investment from us on your track record alone.
I was shocked by this comment. I assumed that if we worked incredibly hard, we would develop a great track record and that would open the floodgates for endowments.
But that's not true.
Think about it...
This is the Harvard Endowment...
They must receive hundreds of pitches a day.
Every single investor in the world comes to them for capital.
So how do you break through? How do you get into the building if the door is closed for you?
You don't wait outside hoping the door opens. You search for a window or side door.
Years ago a fairly popular book called The Third Door, by Alex Banayan broke onto the scene. It followed the trajectory of an 18-year-old boy as he worked to meet famous people to interview, and the lessons he learned doing so.
He shares a concept called the "Spielberg Game".
This was a game Alex played with himself as he worked to meet Steven Spielberg. The Spielberg Game has 3 elements: 1) do something unique 2) find an inside man 3) ask for their help to bring you in
The advice I got from my friend at lunch was exactly this.
You need a warm introduction from someone we know and respect.
That's the secret shortcut to many of your goals.
Think of your own life. Here are two scenarios of people applying for a job in your department:
Applicant #1 goes through an online application and takes time to do the at-home quiz. They perform very well.
Applicant #2 is friendly with the CEO of the company. The CEO introduces them to you, they do well on the quiz as well.
Who are you more likely to hire? I think for most people it will be applicant #2.
From now on, I'm going to write down my top 1-2 goals and write down the windows I need to jump to get to those goals.
I encourage you to do the same.
Write down your main goal (get a job, meet your partner, start a company, get an investor) and write down a list of ideas that will get you a high-quality referral to this person.
Remember you still need to be good. But you need to be more than good to succeed. You need to be strategic.
The world is incredibly noisy.
Being "smart and good" is just not good enough.
If you've had to use a third door in your life, career or relationship let me know. I'd love to hear about it.
Have a great week,
Sieva
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Disclaimer: nothing here is investment advice. Please do your own research. The information above is just for information and learning.
