The One-Minute Rule This Investor Uses to Nail Every Pitch

0:02We're a single family office here in New York City. That's right. You don't mess with the bull. You get the horns. Go Knicks. So we invest in primarily growth stage venture crossover investments. So sector agnostic. It's a little easier to say what we don't invest in. We don't do real estate. And we don't do funds. But everything else we look at, we tend to look series B on. And what's the question? What else am I supposed to say? Maybe some invest. So you've talked about your investment structure. You talked about the tech. How deep do you get into the tech? Are you more frontier science? We're really actually pretty sector agnostic.

0:42We do a lot of biotech and life science. We do have expertise in that space. When it comes to deep tech, we usually have to bring in someone on the outside to help with diligence. We're not PhDs or chemists. Our focus is less on the tech and more on the timeline to exit. So for us, it's more, do we see this company scaling quickly enough to go through an IPO within a few years? It's less about, is this the most incredible technology in the world? Some of it is, but we wouldn't recognize that. So what we're looking for is a scalable company. It's very much about the team. It's all about the team, really, because there's a lot of incredible technology out there.

1:27But if we don't believe that the company has the leadership to bring that technology through to an exit, then you're a scientist. We love scientists. Scientists are incredible human beings. Just learn when it's time to hire a CEO. That is my advice to all of the brilliant people that have all the brilliant technology and the life-saving work. Please learn how to hire somebody that can get you to the commercial stage once you have educated them on your brilliance. That would be my word of advice there. And that's great advice. So Lisa, if they are not at the stage where they brought on that CFO or that other leadership support who has experience implementing the ideas, is that something you'd pass on?

2:12Or do you get involved in helping them get to that stage or bring it on? Or that's not your take? So for us, I'll give an example. There was a technology I saw that might have been the most exciting thing I've seen in years. I think it's actually a game-changing technology when it comes to climate science and energy. It's so relevant. It's probably the best tech I've seen, and we were really close to investing, but the founder is just not a CEO, and the guy just won't get out of his own way. When he hires a CEO, we might go in. No, it's not my job to run your business or to find you a CEO. My job is to evaluate you as a team.

2:54Are you ready? Do I think you have what it takes? If you don't, that's great. Develop it. Learn it. Come back to me when you've got your act together. That's for me. I also think if you are a great leader, a great CEO, a great technologist, and just a terrible public speaker, that's okay. Hire someone to represent you. Do not go into a pitch meeting and bore me in a minute. If I'm bored in a minute, why would I want to work with you for a year. Just think about that, right? It's so much about the people. And you also have to think you're going to work with these people, you're going to know these people, it's a relationship.

3:33If somebody talks at me, and they can't actually process what I've asked them, they're just on their set pitch, and you realize they're not actually interacting with you at all like a human, they're just repeating what they've been taught, that's a clear sign to me that you are not going to be able to navigate a business. I want someone that's flexible, that understands that they might have to change their point of view. They might have to cooperate with someone else. So if I don't like the person, I don't care how good your business is. I'm not going to invest with you. And Lisa's advice is unisex.

4:07That goes for the men as well as for the women. So be careful. Don't get Lisa bored. Never bore me. And then my humor, right? So a priest, a rabbi, no, I'm joking. I'm not going to. If we have time at the end, we'll go there. But we have had some very good insights from the two panelists so far that I want to bring up before we go to our next panelist. And both of them have raised the important point that you have to be careful to whom you are writing that check, right? and it's about the people and it's about the people more so than about the idea but at the same time both of them also brought forward some great ideas Camille mentioned in innovation in the energy space and the importance of being involved there and impact focus and then Lisa talked also about the venture space and she's very focused on the direct deals and in the direct deals even more so the relationship matters.

5:08So I think some important takeaways already about where their successes have sprung from. Hi, I'm Richard C. Wilson. Our community has closed over$1 billion of transactions. We have over 16 million registered members across 100 plus LinkedIn groups. And I own billionaires.com and run Family Office Club. Over 19 years, we've hosted 300 live events. I've built 50 of our own AI tools. And between the billionaires I've interviewed, the centimillionaires who have spoken on stage and over a thousand decamillionaires who have presented, we've found there's three things that really can build your wealth.

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6:26We've hosted 300 live events. We have 17 million social media group members and followers. We have the number one YouTube channel on Family Offices. We have the number one most popular podcast on Family Offices. You can learn more about us and our membership options at familyoffices.com. We have 30 in-person events planned in 2026 and another dozen events this year. Please go to familyoffices.com to learn more.