Podcast
Billion Dollar Backstory
Hosted by Stacy Havener · EN
Host Stacy Havener brings you the storytelling tips, sales strategies, behavioral secrets, and inspirational stories that help YOU turn your words into dollars. Learn from sales and marketing experts. Meet finance and investment leaders, founders and fund managers who have made it, and the ones on the rise. Because there are people behind the portfolios. Their stories matter. So does yours.
Presented by:
Ultimus Fund Solutions // www.ultimusfundsolutions.com
GemCap // www.geminicapital.ie
@stacyhavener // www.billiondollarbackstory.com
27episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
155: The Story Allocators Need Before They Say Yes | Story Snacks Series
3d ago00:04:57Tap to summarizeEvery fund manager wants the story that gets allocators to lean in and say yes every single time they tell it. So, this is often a hard pill to swallow…A story that actually works doesn't always get you a yes. A powerful story either gets you a heck yes or a heck no, but never a maybe. And even though hearing heck no is uncomfortable, getting closure in sales is everything (so you don’t waste your time on allocators who’ll never be the right fit). That’s why in this Story Snack, Stacy’s sharing the one kind of story that gets allocators off the fence without fail. She’s also breaking down how to own the sharp edges in that story that’ll help allocators finally decide: this is for me. Or it isn't.Listen in to learn:Why "maybe" is the outcome you should be trying to avoidHow to connect who you are, why you invest the way you do, and who your strategy is built forWhy your differentiators need to attract and repelA question that’ll help you find your sharp edges fastThis is Story Snacks, a bite-sized, jam-packed series for fund managers who are ready to master strategic storytelling in under 20 minutes a week. ---Running a fund is hard enough.Ops shouldn’t be.Meet the team that makes it easier. | billiondollarbackstory.com/ultimus- - -Thinking about expanding your investor base beyond the US? Not sure where to start? Take our quick quiz to find out if your firm is ready to go global and get all the info at billiondollarbackstory.com/gemcap
Transcribe →154: Want More Allocator Meetings? Start Here. | Story Snacks Series
1w ago00:11:20Tap to summarizeThe capital-raising memo says: pitch harder, send the long intro email, and voilà, meetings.Stacy Havener never got that memo.She came into this industry as an English lit major who wanted to be a college professor. Finance was a means to an end, not the whole plan. She had no idea there was a "right" way to do capital raising.So she just led with what she knew best, which was storytelling and creating human connection. It wasn't until someone tapped her on the shoulder and said, "What are you doing? Because you keep raising money," that she realized what she was doing was different.Different, and working.She took her high school soccer coach's fund from $1M to $500M in two years. Then joined a firm at $17M and helped grow it to $5B in three.In this Story Snack, she's breaking down exactly how and why the answer is never more volume, more cold emails, or more at-bats.Listen in to learn: Why "get more meetings" is the wrong goal if the meetings you’re getting aren't convertingHow to use small, genuine "gives" to build trust before you ever ask for a meetingWhy give, give, give, ask beats pitch, pitch, pitch every timeThis is Story Snacks, a bite-sized, jam-packed series for fund managers who are ready to master strategic storytelling in under 20 minutes a week. ---Running a fund is hard enough.Ops shouldn’t be.Meet the team that makes it easier. | billiondollarbackstory.com/ultimus- - -Thinking about expanding your investor base beyond the US? Not sure where to start? Take our quick quiz to find out if your firm is ready to go global and get all the info at billiondollarbackstory.com/gemcap
Transcribe →153: “We Only Back Established Managers.” Cool. Now What? | Story Snacks Series
2w ago00:07:41Tap to summarizeWhen an allocator says "We only work with established managers," it can feel like a door closing in your face. And the natural instinct is to pry it back open by explaining yourself, defending your track record, and making a case for your fund. Stacy Havener's advice: don't go there.Because handling objections to close deals is a thing. It's just not the right thing in this moment.That’s why, in this episode, Stacy’s breaking down what to do instead when you keep hitting the same wall in meetings.Listen in to learn:Why "too small" or "too new" is usually a timing mismatch, not a hard no The three words that change the whole vibe: "Tell me more." The questions that uncover real requirements around AUM, allocation size, and track record How to capture their language so your follow-up actually lands when the timing is rightThis is Story Snacks, a bite-sized, jam-packed series for fund managers who are ready to master strategic storytelling in under 20 minutes a week. ---Running a fund is hard enough.Ops shouldn’t be.Meet the team that makes it easier. | billiondollarbackstory.com/ultimus- - -Thinking about expanding your investor base beyond the US? Not sure where to start? Take our quick quiz to find out if your firm is ready to go global and get all the info at billiondollarbackstory.com/gemcap
Transcribe →152: How to Talk Process Without Losing the Room | Story Snacks Series
3w ago00:05:41Tap to summarizeIf you’ve ever thought, “Okay, I have to cover process… but I can literally see their eyes glazing over,” you’re not alone. Because when you walk through your process like everyone else, allocators don't hear "rigor." They hear "table stakes," and they're already half checked out by the time you get to the good part.In this episode, Stacy Havener breaks down how to fix that without scrapping the slide entirely. Listen in to hear:How to cover process without just reading the boring slide out loudThe fastest way to make your process feel different (even if the slide isn’t)The one line Stacy wants you to stop using when talking process (because it’s a big fat nothing sandwich) ---Running a fund is hard enough.Ops shouldn’t be.Meet the team that makes it easier. | billiondollarbackstory.com/ultimus- - -Thinking about expanding your investor base beyond the US? Not sure where to start? Take our quick quiz to find out if your firm is ready to go global and get all the info at billiondollarbackstory.com/gemcap
Transcribe →151: €8B Founder Turned Family Office CIO: Harald Berlinicke on Allocator Trust, LinkedIn, and Why “Give Give Give” Wins
May 2701:07:45Tap to summarizeAt 15, Harald Berlinicke got a front-row seat to Black Monday during a bank internship outside Berlin. It was total chaos, with people yelling "SELL!" and a 20% drop in a single day.Most people would have run away from that pressure. But Harald ran toward it. And that's the day he knew he wanted to be in finance.Decades later, he's the guy on the other side of the table as a fund selector and family office CIO, with a surprisingly impressive LinkedIn presence for someone who will tell you straight up that he's an introvert.In this episode, Stacy sits down with Harald to talk about the human side of selection and why "give, give, give" beats "pitch, pitch, pitch" every single time.Listen in to hear:Harald's Black Monday origin story and how that early chaos shaped his view of markets and decision-making Why "people do business with people" is painfully true in fund selection His playbook for building relationships on LinkedIn as an introvert The provocative CFA poll he ran and what that debate says about where the industry might be headedMore about Harald Berlinicke: Harald Berlinicke, CFA is CIO of the fifth-generation Max-Berlinicke-Erben family office in Berlin, where he oversees a multi-asset portfolio with a focus on asset allocation and manager selection. He co-founded New Bond Street Asset Management in London and served as Partner and Head of Structured Credit Investments, growing the boutique to a peak of €8B AUM. He later spent 2014–2023 at Scope Group as Director of Alternative Investments and now advises independently-owned investment boutiques. A CFA charterholder since 2003, Harald is also a long-standing CFA Institute volunteer and a widely followed voice on LinkedIn known for making complex investment topics accessible. ---Running a fund is hard enough.Ops shouldn’t be.Meet the team that makes it easier. | billiondollarbackstory.com/ultimus- - -Thinking about expanding your investor base beyond the US? Not sure where to start? Take our quick quiz to find out if your firm is ready to go global and get all the info at billiondollarbackstory.com/gemcap
Transcribe →150: The Biggest Mistake First-Time Fund Founders Make in Year One | Story Snacks Series
May 2000:07:32Tap to summarizeSix months into launching your fund and already feeling like you're making every mistake in the book?You're in good company. That's exactly how the founder who wrote in is feeling. And honestly, year one can do that to a person. The chaos is real. The second-guessing is real. The wondering-if-anyone-will-ever-take-you-seriously is very, very real.In this Story Snack, Stacy Havener tackles the fear that tends to sit underneath all of it:"I'm too early to be taken seriously."It's not irrational. It's just not the whole story. And if you believe it too hard for too long, it might be the thing that keeps you invisible when you could be building real conversations.Listen in to hear:The year-one myth Stacy calls BS on: “don’t market until you have 3 years of track + $100M–$200M AUM”Why year one gets derailed more by business decisions than investment decisions (products, partners, hires, marketing choices)Who you should be talking to early (innovators + early adopters) and why they don’t play by the “come back later” rulesThis is Story Snacks, a bite-sized, jam-packed series for fund managers who are ready to master strategic storytelling in under 20 minutes a week ---Running a fund is hard enough.Ops shouldn’t be.Meet the team that makes it easier. | billiondollarbackstory.com/ultimus- - -Thinking about expanding your investor base beyond the US? Not sure where to start? Take our quick quiz to find out if your firm is ready to go global and get all the info at billiondollarbackstory.com/gemcap
Transcribe →149: “Emerging Markets” Is Misbranded. Sloane Robinson, CIO, Edward Lam on Scaling from £1M to £3.5B and Rethinking EM Risk.
May 1301:12:09Tap to summarizeWhat if the biggest problem with “Emerging Markets” is the name?Edward Lam thinks that label has been doing the category a disservice for decades.Today, he’s sitting down with Stacy to zoom out and question the category…then zoom back in to what that means for portfolios, risk, and real alpha.Edward grew up in Hong Kong, went to boarding school in the UK, and landed in EM in 2004. He had no training program or mentor, just four walls of books he was determined to read. By the time he left, he’d taught himself accounting, built a research function from scratch, and was running a fund that grew from £1M to £3.5B.Listen in to hear: How Edward built his own training program from scratch and why that became one of his biggest edgesWhat "subordinate currency regimes" means and how it changes everything we thought we knew about EM risk The tension between building something investable and staying true to the thesisWhat scaling from £1M to £3.5B actually looks like when you have to earn every rung yourselfWhy he walked away from asset management, what the gap taught him, and what brought him backMore About Edward Lam: Edward Lam entered the fund management industry in 2004 as an analyst at Emerging Markets specialist Lloyd George Management, covering Taiwan and technology. In 2007, he co-founded Somerset Capital Management, where he served as Head of Research and chaired the investment committee. In 2010, he launched Somerset’s EM Dividend Growth strategy, scaling it from a ~$1.5M seed to nearly $4B AUM. Edward left Somerset in 2020, then joined Sloane Robinson in 2023, became CIO, and launched the SR Ocellus fund in 2024.In his free time, he enjoys reading about the history and philosophy of finance, including many areas that others (based on feedback) find boring. ---Running a fund is hard enough.Ops shouldn’t be.Meet the team that makes it easier. | billiondollarbackstory.com/ultimus- - -Thinking about expanding your investor base beyond the US? Not sure where to start? Take our quick quiz to find out if your firm is ready to go global and get all the info at billiondollarbackstory.com/gemcap
Transcribe →148: The LinkedIn Comment Strategy That Actually Builds Trust | Story Snacks Series
May 600:06:53Tap to summarizeCommenting is one of the most underrated relationship builders on LinkedIn, especially if you want to stay on people’s radar without cranking out content nonstop.But most people comment in a way that does nothing, or worse, makes things weird.You know the two classics: 1. “Great post!” (nothing burger)2. And the thoughtful comment followed by an immediate pitch DM. (instant ick)In this Story Snack, Stacy Havener breaks down how to comment in a way that actually builds familiarity and trust over time, without sounding awkward, annoying, or desperate. Listen in to hear:How to choose which posts to comment on so allocators and prospects start seeing you everywhere (in a good way)The “what NOT to do next” move that instantly turns goodwill into cringe (and what to do instead)The mindset shift that will help you stop overthinking and start commenting like a real friend giving out high-fives (not weird pitch slaps) Because the people who’ve consistently shown up for Stacy on LinkedIn? She’d run through a wall for them. That’s what you’re building toward when you do this the right way. Tune in to learn the right way to approach commenting on LinkedIn. This is Story Snacks, a bite-sized, jam-packed series for fund managers who are ready to master strategic storytelling in under 20 minutes a week. ---Running a fund is hard enough.Ops shouldn’t be.Meet the team that makes it easier. | billiondollarbackstory.com/ultimus- - -Thinking about expanding your investor base beyond the US? Not sure where to start? Take our quick quiz to find out if your firm is ready to go global and get all the info at billiondollarbackstory.com/gemcap
Transcribe →147: He Found Finance Through One Thin Thread of Chance. Now He's Making Sure Others Don't Have to. Meet Laurie Robathan, Founder of Fairfield.
Apr 2901:09:42Tap to summarize93% of the population. Almost entirely locked out of an industry that says it wants the best talent.Laurie Robathan grew up on the wrong side of that statistic. He was raised in inner-city Bristol, went to a state school, and grew up in a single-parent family. He found his way into finance through one thin thread of chance, and he's never forgotten how easily it could have gone the other way.At some point, that thread started to feel less like luck and more like a problem. Because what about everyone who never gets that thread at all?So Laurie walked away from a successful career in finance and built Fairfield in its place. It's a charity on paper, but really it's a business proposition designed to fix what he calls an inefficiently functioning labor market. Because when 80% of senior finance leaders come from just 7% of the population, that's not meritocracy. That's a pipeline problem.And he's not solving it from a boardroom. He's on trains, in school assemblies, at North London career fairs at 8pm. Doing the work.In this episode, Stacy Havener sits down with Laurie for one of those conversations that stays with you long after it's over.Listen in to hear:Why finance doesn't have a talent problem, it has an access problem Why the best person for the job may never make it to the interview room How Fairfield prepares students to belong before they ever walk through the doorWhat individuals and firms can do to helpMore About Laurie Robathan:Prior to his retirement from the finance industry, Laurie worked in the City for over 15 years, the last 10 years being at Kepler Partners LLP as Senior Partner. Before Kepler, he had roles at Scottish Widows Investment Partnership and Close Brothers Bank. As a member of Kepler’s management committee, Laurie had input into all areas of the asset management business. He holds the Investment Management Certificate (IMC) and has an MSc in Finance & Investment from the University of Bristol. ---Running a fund is hard enough.Ops shouldn’t be.Meet the team that makes it easier. | billiondollarbackstory.com/ultimus- - -Thinking about expanding your investor base beyond the US? Not sure where to start? Take our quick quiz to find out if your firm is ready to go global and get all the info at billiondollarbackstory.com/gemcap
Transcribe →146: Overcome Your Fear of Being Judged on LinkedIn | Story Snacks Series
Apr 2200:06:11Tap to summarizeYou want to post more on LinkedIn. You know it matters. You've probably even got a draft sitting there.But the fear of being judged, specifically by people who already know you in real life, keeps stopping you cold.In this Story Snack, Stacy Havener breaks down exactly why that happens, why your brain is making it bigger than it is, and how to move through it without just white-knuckling your way to the post button.Listen in to learn:The behavioral bias that makes the fear of being judged feel so intense How to make peace with your posts not being everyone’s jamThe art of owning who you are online and letting the wrong people opt outThis is Story Snacks, a bite-sized, jam-packed series for fund managers who are ready to master strategic storytelling in under 20 minutes a week. ---Running a fund is hard enough.Ops shouldn’t be.Meet the team that makes it easier. | billiondollarbackstory.com/ultimus- - -Thinking about expanding your investor base beyond the US? Not sure where to start? Take our quick quiz to find out if your firm is ready to go global and get all the info at billiondollarbackstory.com/gemcap
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