Brian Ruszczyk: Earth First Ventures

Summary

Podcast Summary: Brian Ruszczyk — Earth First Ventures

Podcast: The Investor with Joel Palathinkal
Host: Dr. Joel Palathinkal
Guest: Brian Ruszczyk, Earth First Ventures
Date: October 9, 2025

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Overview

This episode explores the career journey and venture activities of Brian Ruszczyk, a veteran in private banking and wealth management who transitioned into food technology and sustainable investing. The conversation focuses on his path from global banking leadership—especially across Latin America and Europe—to co-founding Earth First Ventures, a firm innovating in aquaculture, plant-based foods, and cellular agriculture. Ruszczyk shares personal stories, industry insights, and lessons learned, offering a window into how capital, sustainability, and new technologies are shaping the next chapter of food and impact investing.

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Guest Background & Early Career

[01:37 – 10:22]

• Origin & Education:

  • Grew up in Connecticut, U.S., son of an earth science teacher, and became fluent in Spanish through a high school exchange in Latin America.
  • Studied Latin America extensively and attended Johns Hopkins for graduate school.

• Banking Career Path:

  • Started at JP Morgan in the early 1990s, sent to Mexico City due to language skills.
  • Led Latin America private banking for JP Morgan, then moved to Geneva 20 years ago, where he still lives.
  • Later transitioned to Deutsche Bank, covering Greece and Turkey, especially focusing on private banking for wealthy families and family offices.

"I started in the business of private banking … back when there was no private. There was no venture capital. It didn't exist."
— Brian Ruszczyk, [08:37]

• Lifestyle Reflections:
  • Geneva's safety and quality of life contributed to his decision to stay ("gravyard of ambition" for ambitious professionals, but ideal for work-life balance).

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Key Insights on Banking, Global Markets & Offshore Wealth

[10:22 – 19:53]

• Emerging Markets Focus:
  • Differing appetites and behaviors among wealthy investors in Brazil, Chile, Greece, and Turkey; emerging market risk led to capital moving offshore.
  • Offshore wealth strategies serve as stability amid political and economic upheaval.

"I can't think of a single wealthy family in Latin America that has the bulk of their assets onshore."
— Brian Ruszczyk, [15:42]

• Structural Industry Shifts:

  • Swiss banking secrecy has eroded; more regulation and automatic information sharing among countries.
  • Rigorous compliance cultures post-2008 financial crisis; banks had to vet clients extensively.

• Client Vetting & Ethics:

  • Strong rejection of "PEPs" (Politically Exposed Persons); worked only with verifiable entrepreneurial wealth, not political fortunes.

"We weren't allowed to bank those individuals. We couldn't touch those individuals. We had a hard and fast rule in Latin America. No politicians, past, present, and future."
— Brian Ruszczyk, [17:53]

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Transition to Entrepreneurship and Venture Investing

[19:53 – 26:10]

• Motivation to Go Independent:

  • Desired independence after long corporate career; wanted to focus on niche impact with flexibility.
  • Maintained relationships with global families—many became clients in the new venture.

• Entry into Food Technology:

  • Accidental entry, catalyzed by consulting for former banking colleagues.
  • Helped raise $358 million in capital for 8F Pure Salmon, a Singapore-based firm scaling land-based Atlantic salmon farming using Israeli RAS (Recirculating Aquaculture Systems) technology.

"If we want to continue eating Atlantic salmon, we need to figure out a different way to produce it. And that's exactly what this company does."
— Brian Ruszczyk, [20:58]

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Aquaculture and Impact Investing: Deep Dive into Pure Salmon

[23:42 – 39:51]

• The Problem:

  • Overfishing, ocean pollution, disease (e.g., sea lice in salmon), and the environmental havoc of open net pen aquaculture.

• Land-Based Salmon Farming Solution:

  • Recirculating systems on land replicate natural environments without antibiotics, chemicals, or hormones.
  • Higher fish density, lower mortality, eco-friendly—addresses sustainability, food security, and supply chain issues globally.
  • Video presentation showcased facility design, impact, and the global vision of the company ([31:00 – 33:51]).

"We're producing locally on land. So we tick a lot of boxes for ESG and … impact investing, low carbon footprint, no chemicals, no hormones, no antibiotics."
— Brian Ruszczyk, [27:31]

• Scale and Model:

  • Early facilities in Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Israel; plans for expansion in Indonesia and Canada.
  • Planning to become the world’s largest land-based salmon producer.

• Private Equity Structure Insights:

  • $358M fund structured traditionally (7+1+1 years, GP/LP 2 and 20).
  • Noted that some ultra-wealthy families are now avoiding traditional funds—prefer direct investment to avoid lockups and fees.

"Some of our families ... built their own in-house go direct teams … avoiding the managers … and writing checks directly for ... whatever they’re interested in. ... They’re turning away from the traditional PE structure."
— Brian Ruszczyk, [36:20]

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Broader Food Tech & Alternative Protein Innovation

[39:51 – 50:51]

• Expansion into Vertical Farming:

  • Launched Crate to Plate, using hydroponic containers (Freight Farms tech) for urban food production—pesticide-free, low-carbon, and seven days fresher than imports.
  • Owns EM franchise for this brand and technology.

• Plant-Based and Fermentation Investments:

  • Investing in a UK plant-based alternative protein company (fermentation-based, already in Sainsbury supermarkets), focusing on scalability in emerging markets.

"No pesticides, no herbicides, no fungicides because it's hermetically sealed. We produce locally for local consumers. ... And our produce is seven days fresher by the time you do supply chain …"
— Brian Ruszczyk, [43:00]

• Value Proposition:
  • Leverages strong local partnerships for market entry in Brazil, Turkey, Chile, etc.; provides strategic scaling support, capital, and know-how.

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Cellular Agriculture: The "Holy Grail"

[45:48 – 50:07]

• Lab-Grown Meat & Protein:
  • Believes this is a future game-changer for food sustainability and carbon reduction.
  • Technology to produce animal protein by growing cells in vitro is advancing (mentions KFC’s launch in Russia, Memphis Meats’ large raise).
  • Not yet mainstream but "the train has left the station".

"We think this is a big game changer, Joel. We think this is the holy grail of the production of protein and is the future. ... The technology exists today to produce chicken fillets and fish fillets and steaks in a lab by removing the original cell from the animal without slaughtering the animal and reproducing that cells grow."
— Brian Ruszczyk, [47:48]

• Impact:
  • Potential to greatly reduce land use, emissions, animal suffering, and reshape the environmental impact of protein consumption.

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Investment Model Innovation & Industry Outlook

[50:51 – 55:56]

• Investment Criteria:

  • Focused solely on food tech with impact—requires ESG, lower carbon, local production, and meaningful innovation.

• Direct-to-Cap Table Model:

  • No fund lockups, no management fees, no carry.
  • Compensation through equity from capital recipients—aligns with new investor preferences, especially family offices.

"There's no management fee, there's no carry, and there's no lockup. This resonates with our clients today."
— Brian Ruszczyk, [55:51]

• Raising Capital using STOs:
  • New fundraising method: Security Token Offerings (STOs), leveraging blockchain for innovation, transparency, and potential disruption of investment fund structures.

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Reflections, Quotes & Life Advice

Entrepreneurial Reflections

• Ruszczyk emphasizes that his entry to entrepreneurship was late, but he loves the independence and creativity compared to large banks.
• Encourages listeners to “stay creative, stay innovative”—banking compliance culture stifled dynamism.

"I wish I had done it sooner. I wish I had jumped sooner … the banking industry for me lost its creativity and it became very much of a compliance box … but I love my independence. … Stay creative, stay innovative."
— Brian Ruszczyk, [53:26] & [55:24]

• Success in food tech was “accidental,” stemming from relationships and readiness to pivot into new trends.

Advice for Entrepreneurs and Investors

• Don’t let security prevent you from jumping into entrepreneurial ventures.
• Value creativity and openness to accidents or opportunities that aren’t planned.

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Segment Timestamps

• Brian’s Background and Banking Career: [01:37 – 10:22]
• Switzerland, Offshore Wealth, and Market Observations: [10:22 – 19:53]
• Becoming an Entrepreneur and Entering Venture/Food Tech: [19:53 – 23:42]
• Deep Dive: Land-based Salmon Farming & Impact: [23:42 – 39:51]
• Expansion into Plant-based, Urban Farming, and Fermentation: [39:51 – 45:48]
• Cellular Agriculture & Food Tech Future: [45:48 – 50:51]
• Investment Structure Innovation: [50:51 – 55:56]
• Life Advice on Creativity & Entrepreneurship: [52:04 – 55:24]
• Closing & Reflections: [55:56 – End]

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Notable Quotes

• “Geneva is a parking lot. It's where families come to park their assets in a bank for safekeeping for future generations.” — Brian, [13:36]
• “Our fish are no antibiotics, no chemicals, no hormones.” — Brian, [26:16]
• “Urban farming … goes straight to the same similarities. No pesticides, no herbicides, no fungicides because it's hermetically sealed.” — Brian, [43:00]
• “The technology exists today to produce chicken fillets and fish fillets and steaks in a lab by removing the original cell from the animal without slaughtering the animal and reproducing that cells grow.” — Brian, [47:48]
• “Stay creative, stay innovative.” — Brian, [55:24]

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Memorable Moments

• Video walk-through of a land-based salmon farming facility, showcasing the scale and technology ([31:00 – 33:51]).
• Discussion of the “direct-to-cap table” investment model as the future for large family offices.
• Perspective that true innovation in food tech today is happening at the intersection of new production technologies and new capital-raising structures.

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Engaging, insightful, and rooted in a lifetime of lessons navigating global finance and now food sustainability, this episode is a must-listen for investors, entrepreneurs, and anyone curious about the future of food and capital.

Transcript

[A]

Welcome to the Investor, a podcast where I, Joel Palo Thinkle, your host, dives deep into the minds of the world's most influential institutional investors. In each episode, we sit down with an investor to hear about their journeys and how global markets are driving capital allocation. So join us on this journey as we explore these insights with this. You know, that's the main thing. Absolutely.

[B]

You always do, Joel. I've been doing this for 30 years, Joel. I've always been having fun.

[A]

Yeah. Cool. I think we'll be live in one second. All right, cool. So we're live. This is the VC Family office web show. And we've got Brian. Don't kill me with the last name, but it's Ruzik. Okay, easy, easy. Only two syllables. All right, well, hey, try. I'm not gonna torture you with trying to say my last name, so it's fine. We're even. Well, hey, you know, welcome to the show. Thank you for taking time. You know, we've had some great discussions the last few weeks, just kind of learning a little bit about you. So why don't we kick it off? Why don't we learn a little bit about your early life? Where'd you grow up? I think you're in the Islands now and you were in Geneva for some time. So why don't we take a step back and learn a little bit about who you are? What did your parents do? Where'd you grow up? What did you study in school? And maybe just take us on your journey to Vienna.

[B]

Yeah, so, yeah, that's a long journey. So I grew up in Connecticut, the shadow of New York. I was just out your way, Actually, I just landed this morning back in Geneva. I live in Geneva, actually. I've been here 20 years. Our company's based in the Cayman Islands, but I live in Geneva. And, yeah, my dad came from a teaching background. He ran the planetarium and earth science in New Canaan High School in Connecticut. And I actually had the great fortune when I was 15 of trucking off to Latin America on an exchange program through these typical AFS YFU programs. And, yeah, that brought Latin America into my life. I picked up Spanish. I lived with a family. I never stopped studying Latin American history and so on and so on. I did undergrad and graduate school, and then my first posting out of grad school after Johns Hopkins was with JP Morgan, and I got shipped off to Mexico City because I spoke Spanish. And so when they were building out that business, it was early 90s, and I have been for the last 25 years, always been involved in banking. So JP Morgan, Deutsche. I ran the Latin American business for JP Morgan towards the latter part of my five years with them, which was a total of 18 years. And I was always involved in.

[C]

Family.

[B]

Offices and private banking. Always throughout my entire career before I went independent. And that was a coverage of Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Santiago. And then from Sao Paulo, I got shipped off to Geneva with JP Morgan, where I've been now for 20 years. But I was still covering the Latin American business for the Swiss arm of JP Morgan.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

So call it Brazilian wealthy families with their Swiss bank accounts. But at J.P. morgan, Geneve. Swiss. Right. So I did that for my entire career, Joel. I didn't deviate from the path. I was a trader. I did all of the investment portfolios, both advisory and discretionary. I managed the equity portfolios, the swap book, the call spreads, anything the client wanted to do in their portfolio is what we did. And we worked with the top tier families across the region, which is mainly.

[A]

So it was mainly wealth management, I.

[B]

Guess for families, it was wealth management.

[A]

Got it. But you guys also.

[B]

With the JP Morgan umbrella and so that, you know, that was the top families across the region.

[A]

Yeah. And you guys handled insurance as well, Right? Or was that another partner of yours that handled like we did? We had a. We had a.

[B]

It was an external partner. Ipg.

[A]

Got it.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay. Yeah, no, it's great.

[B]

And it wasn't a mainstay of our business. Our business was portfolio management. Asset asset management. Yeah.

[A]

There's got to be something about Geneva that kept you there for 20 years. So what is. Oh, yeah, it's magical.

[B]

New York to come back to headquarters.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

What. What was magical? Because I haven't been to Geneva. So what? You know, there's got to be something that kept you there. You know, is there something that you really liked about it?

[B]

Nice little town, it's safe, it's secure, it's civilized. It's Switzerland. It's. It worked for me.

[A]

Yeah. Are there better tech tax policies too? I guess with, you know, I'm an American taxpayer, so. Got it.

[B]

Yeah. Americans get you wherever you go. Right.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

That was my Latin American stint in private banking. And then my last five years, I went on to run Greece and Turkey for Deutsche Bank. And same business, private wealth management, wealthy families, family offices. And of course, Greece is a shipping country first and foremost. And so I was on the Deutsche Shipping committee in Hamburg, where we also did, in conjunction with their asset management, we did shipping loans for their core businesses. Greece is still, the country may be bankrupt and coming out of crisis, but Greece is still the world's largest shipp country. Greeks own 25% of global steel on maritime waters.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Whether it be dry bulk or vlcc, it's a shipping nation.

[A]

And were you single at the time when you were going to Greece? No.

[B]

So I ended up marrying a Chilean 28 years ago. She's probably listening to me and she's going to remind me of actually how many years it was. That was for my Latin American circuit. My girls grew one. I have two daughters. One of my eldest daughter was born in Mexico City. First posting with JP Morgan. My second was born in Miami and they both live in Los Angeles, California today in the music industry.

[A]

Got it. That's awesome. And I guess when they were younger with you, how was their experience? Kind of, because. Did they experience living in Greece for some time with you in a different.

[B]

No, because I never lived in Greece. I covered Greece from Geneva.

[A]

Sure. So you just travel there?

[B]

When I got transferred from Sao Paulo to Geneva. That was 20 years ago. I've been here for 20 years, Joel. I haven't moved since and I'm not. This is my last stop. I'm not moving. Sure. My girls grew up here in Geneva. They went to the International School of Geneva.

[A]

Got it. Yeah.

[B]

Was. Was an easier business for me to cover from Geneva because it's a two hour flight as opposed to a 14 hour flight to Santiago, Chile.

[A]

Got it. So it's easier to cover there. And can you share maybe, you know, because you've been in, you know, both countries, you know, you're American. What are of the biggest differences when it comes to investing and then just lifestyle overall between New York and Geneva?

[B]

Yeah. Well, okay, so investing, that's let's say, let's see, I've only ever covered emerging markets. Right. So Latin America, Greece and Turkey. So the investor appetite of those clients from Brazil or Chile differs very much from that of Greece or, or Turkey. So that's a buying behavior as far as lifestyle goes. This is why I guess I stayed in Geneva. New York is of course very fast paced and Wall street and it seemed to work for me here. I bike to work, I bike along the lake, I commute. We call Geneva when we get moved here, we call it the graveyard of ambition. Because once you get here it's hard.

[A]

To pull you out.

[B]

But it's also very limiting if you want to build a continued global career. JP Morgan, Geneva is not the place.

[A]

Right.

[B]

If you want to continue climbing the corporate Ladder, which I had no intention of doing anyway. I was very happy just to stay here and have my next little business, which was a great business to begin with. I started in the business of private banking, Joel, and you're a bit younger than I am. But back when there was no private. There was no venture capital. It didn't exist. We didn't have Apollo or a Leon Black. In fact, I did the first roadshow for Leon Black in Latin America. Leon Black. And I did. And I can't remember this year, but it must have been 1998, maybe 20 years ago, before Apollo was Apollo. It wasn't even Apollo 1. It was probably Apollo 0. We raised $150 million out of Latin America on his first road trip to latam, as we put him. As we put his funds on our JP Morgan platform. That was distressed credit, but this was. Hedge funds in private equity and VC are relatively new terms. By new terms, I mean a generation. They haven't been around for more than a generation. When I started in the business, there were no hedge funds. Sure. We bought equities and we bought bonds for our clients. You didn't have a Bridgewater. You didn't have a Brevin. Howard. Right. That's. Those are new industries. By new industries, I mean a generation. Right. I've been in the business for a generation. So, yeah. My last five years on running Greece and Turkey kind of led me to where we are today. Because we ended up, Joel, taking an approach that the banking industry was getting complicated for us as internal bankers. We've been there forever. We already had a nice Rolodex and a nice run with our clients, and we wanted to go independent, but we wanted to do the exact same thing we were doing, but outside of the bank.

[A]

Sure. I got a really good question, too, and just one clarifying question, too. So you mentioned roadshows, I guess. Was part of your services also helping with transactions and helping companies get to IPOs and raising money as well, or is that just kind of helping? Okay, no, that was.

[B]

The investment bank.

[A]

Got it. Okay.

[B]

We plugged in the private bank to bring our wealthy families into any of the color or the flow that we had from the investment bank.

[A]

Got it. Okay. So some of those businesses, which is.

[B]

Why we raise money for Carlisle and KKR and the private equity firm, et cetera, et cetera.

[A]

Yeah, that makes sense.

[B]

But we wouldn't raise money on an individual company level. Sure.

[A]

We did.

[B]

At a fun level because we were in the asset management world.

[A]

Yeah. And you guys probably all had to be broker dealers as well. To be able to do that not.

[B]

In Switzerland, but in the U.S. yes.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Switzerland doesn't have series seven. Sure.

[A]

Okay. So that would be I guess, one diff, Maybe a benefit, I guess to going to an insurance.

[B]

So from a regulatory perspective, of course, you know, things have changed since I started in the business. Back when Switzerland, it was kind of, you know, hide your money and it was a place for you to put your. On a no names basis and hide your capital. You know, when if you sell your business for a billion dollars in Brazil, you don't leave that money for more than a day sitting in a Brazilian bank. You take that money offshore as fast as you can. Right, sure. With all the political instability and geopolitical issues in the region and hyperinflation and change of current. You read the same newspapers I do. Almost all of our Latin American wealthy families have their. A good chunk of their money offshore.

[A]

Sure. And before we move on to venture. Yeah, no, that's really helpful. And before we move on to venture, what are your thoughts on just the spac? Especially the stuff in the news recently with Bill ackman's SPAC raising 4 billion for a company without a company. What are your thoughts on some of those patterns and how is Geneva receiving those? We saw some of those early SPACs in the last couple of years with Chamath. Right. With Virgin Galactic. I don't know how that's received in the community there. And you know, just the SPACs need to go to vote.

[B]

So he can't spend that money until the shareholders actually approve the acquisition.

[A]

Yeah, right.

[B]

So I think it's a. It's an interesting structure. If you. If you go down that route and you have corporate governance of raising the capital without having the underlying asset. But it needs to go to boardroom vote.

[C]

Why not?

[A]

Yeah, sure, right.

[B]

We're actually doing a capital raise for our own company. And it's also a relatively new structure, Joel. It's in the STO world, so. Blockchain.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And this is a new space, securitized token offerings. It's only been around for two years now, but it's a. It's a burgeoning and growing business. Sure. And I'll get there. But I think it's going to actually disrupt the VC and private equity world. The current structures of the funds. But that's a separate topic. I'll leave that for later. Sure.

[A]

Yeah, absolutely. So you asked me.

[B]

Geneva, New York, I mean, very different obviously. New York is a mega capital center of global Capital Geneva is a parking lot. It's where families come to park their assets in a bank for safekeeping for future generations. Sure. There's not a lot of activity here. There's not a lot of trading. You don't find a lot of Swiss companies going public in Geneva. The Swiss exchange is very small. Switzerland is known for its strong currency stability, discretion and political stability. When that resonates with a lot of our wealthy families from around the globe. But very different from financial centers such as London, New York or Hong Kong.

[A]

Yeah. And I guess when you park the money, are some of the. Are there some benefits with just accruing interest or just kind of appreciate?

[B]

Some clients, they have all venture in their portfolio. It depends how they're investing. Every client's different.

[A]

Got it. Okay. So they would. Even if they had venture in their portfolio, they. They would still kind of park it in Geneva as kind of a safekeeping vehicle.

[B]

Correct. Jurisdiction is Geneva. The assets may be good. The assets may very well go back to Brazil. They may be buying Brazilian bonds. The account is held in Switzerland and for SAF safekeeping.

[A]

Got it.

[B]

The assets will most likely still be global assets. Okay, Right, Makes sense.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, it definitely does. Yeah. That's really helpful to clarify that.

[B]

There's a big difference for a local Brazilian who has a billion dollars from buying Brazilian bonds through a Brazilian bank locally in Hais, then taking the money offshore to UBS or Credit Suisse or JP Morgan and turning around and buying Brazilian bonds that sit in a Swiss banking account. This is a very big difference. Even though he's still taking Brazilian risk, the ass assets sit offshore.

[A]

Got it. For sure.

[B]

He's back funding Brazilian risk and corporates and governments, etc.

[A]

Etc.

[B]

But they can't seize the assets unless they come to Switzerland, can they? Sure.

[A]

That makes sense.

[B]

When you get. You get a communist government like we have in Argentina or Venezuela and they just. They grab the assets out of the banks. Right?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Latin America's done this over and over and over again, decade after decade. They have a lot of history of it. So I can't think of a single wealthy family in Latin America that has the bulk of their assets onshore. Sure.

[A]

I mean, that is.

[B]

This is an issue of. One of the issues that Latin America has for stability and growth is because it's unstable. Wealthy families move their capital offshore.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. And I think that's, you know, you're talking about blockchain. I think just having your own self sovereign identity. Right. If you own Bitcoin and it's kind of in the cloud, in your secure wallet. You know, it doesn't matter if you cross the border anywhere. It's still kind of self sovereign. So, you know, that's another conversation. But yeah, I've gone down the blockchain rabbit hole in the past, but yeah, they're definitely the stos and then just kind of having ownership, you know, your own secure key of your assets. I think there's some benefits to that too.

[B]

For sure.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

That history has changed since I joined it. There's no longer Swiss secrecy. You can no longer hide in Switzerland and avoid the tax man. There's. There's automatic exchange of information between these countries. So the industry has changed tremendously since I joined Swiss banking and private banking in general. Sure, there's still discretion, but there's no longer secrecy.

[A]

Mm, yeah, that makes sense.

[B]

Swiss banking secrecy today no longer exists as it did 30 years ago.

[A]

Got it. So there is some type of accountability. And if you do get subpoenaed or something, the Swiss bank would have to kind of open up all those records, which makes sense.

[B]

And frankly, Joel, there were a lot of banks that did a lot of bad things. They had African dictators money. They had undesirables. I was fortunate to be working at JP Morgan, where we had a policy of no PEPs, period.

[A]

What's a PAP?

[B]

That's a PEP. Politically Exposed Persons.

[A]

Got it. Okay.

[B]

Right. A mayor of Sao Paulo worth $500 million.

[A]

Well, where'd you get money?

[B]

Right?

[A]

Sure. Yeah, that makes sense.

[B]

We weren't allowed to bank those individuals. We couldn't touch those individuals. We had a hard and fast rule in Latin America. No politicians, past, present, and future. Sure. We had to go back three generations of verifiable wealth creation.

[A]

Mm. Yeah.

[B]

Entrepreneurs or patriarchs that started that move from Germany to start a nail company that became the Latin America's largest steel company, that type of firm.

[A]

And you'd have to probably audit their financials, too, to kind of see the root of all the wealth and how the business was created and when, you know, probably the formation documents.

[B]

Almost all of those companies are today public on the New York Stock Exchange. There are Latin American families that own those equities and the companies. And it's all in the information is in the public domain.

[A]

Yeah, that makes sense.

[B]

So I don't need to audit them. They are by definition, already audited.

[A]

Sure, yeah. It's already publicly available. Okay, so let's pivot a little bit. So, you know, the banking career, you were doing that for a Long time. And what triggered kind of the impetus for. For this. This new venture that you've. You've had for some time now.

[B]

You know, I think all good things must come to an end, Joel. At some point, I was loving Greece. I was loving Deutsche Bank. I was loving Turkey. I wanted to go independent, and I wanted to spend my last years running my own business.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

And I'm very grateful for the 25 years I had of banking. I met some of the wealthiest families around the globe. They are our biggest clients of my firm today. And I'm thankful that I had the opportunity to do so because I wouldn't be here without them. Sure, I do very similar businesses, although I focused on niche and we focused on food technologies. But I work with the same family offices that I've been dealing with for more than two decades now.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. And I think a lot of the fan, you know, the stuff that you're doing is tied to, you know, impact, clean tech, you know, sustainability. I think when it comes to legacy.

[B]

This was all accidental, Joel. It kind of happened. It wasn't. We weren't seeking the opportunities. I'll tell you how I actually got into venture. It's a good story. So my former colleagues and how I got into food technology in particular, because nothing happens for a reason. Everything is almost accidental, and you're in the right place at the right time. That happened with us.

[A]

I was.

[B]

We had gone independent with my partner, who's Brazilian, Hicarbansk. We worked almost 18 years together at JP Morgan. He set up the office in Cayman Islands. He's a resident of Cayman. He floats now between Rio and Cayman. And we toyed around with a bit of real estate, and we toyed around with a bit of hedge funds and equity. Long, short, we traded for a few of our clients, et cetera, et cetera. But then we had the great fortune of one of those phone calls comes out out of the blue. And my former colleagues from Deutsche bank reached out to me and said, brian, what are you up to? Because we're running an interesting new project in venture, and we're looking and, you know, a whole bunch of wealthy families around the globe from your time at Deutsche bank and JP Morgan. And I started to work with that group as a consultant for my company, Delos Asset Management out of the Cayman Islands, which is the parent company, Earth First Food Venture, to raise capital for a company called 8F Pure Salmon. It's based out of Singapore. It's an asset management firm. And their focus is Sole Focus. It's One asset. So it's not fair to call it a venture fund. It's only one asset class, is to grow Atlantic salmon on land utilizing an Israeli technology called Aqamov, and to scale that business from 0 to 260,000 tons of production, which we're in the process of doing. So I started working on that project with my partners in 2017. We did the first closing of that fund in December of 2015. 2017, very small closing, 37 million. Then we jumped to 75 million. Then we jumped to 100 million. Then we jumped. Once you cross the 100 mark, you jumped to 200. Then we jumped to 300, which was the hard close. We were actually closed the fund in February of this year, February 2020, three years later, oversubscribed with 358 million. And we managed to bring in three sovereign wealth funds, two from Asia, one from the Middle east, and two strategic food groups, one from the Netherlands and one based here in Geneva, both of which were architected by my firm. And it's a super exciting project, Joel, because it involves, if you understand what's going on with global oceans and global warming and the depletion of our seas and the demographics of population growth. If we want to continue eating Atlantic salmon, we need to figure out a different way to produce it. And that's exactly what this company does. So there are four factories today up and running that utilize the same technology. Russia, Poland, Slovakia and Israel. The technology is Israeli. It's called Akamof. And two being built, Indonesia and Canada. And the 358 million that we just closed is for.

[A]

Sorry.

[B]

And of those facilities, Poland is the only facility that's owned by Adapt Pure Salmon. All the others are franchisees.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And so that took me back and forth to Plosk, right outside of Warsaw for the last three years, every month, with investors around the globe. When the fish were, you know, 50 grams, 100 grams, 200. And then finally, when they hit full harvest, which is 18 months, six and a half kilos, we did tasting dinners around the globe from Dubai to Hong Kong to Istanbul, and we jumped from 100 to 300 million on the project. It's an absolutely beautiful project. You know, as my friends at JP Morgan say, Brian, five more degrees of global warming and we're going to run out of oxygen in the oceans.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

And we're already. You're reading the same newspapers I am, National Geographic, et cetera, et cetera. If it's not plastics or microplastics, it's overfishing by The Chinese or a whole host of reasons why our oceans are depleted. It's not any one reason. It's multiple reasons. Atlantic salmon in particular are dying of sea lice because the fish are in closed containers in open ocean bays, what they call onps open net pens. It's an environmental catastrophe. The fish are swimming on 20 meters of their own waste. It's creating a sea lice that goes into the gills of the fish. It kills the salmon. So the supply is dwindling year after year. Sure. And what our technology allows us to do is to produce and grow the Atlantic salmon from egg to full harvest on land, outside of urban centers utilizing this Israeli technology in big recirculating. It's called RAS Recirculating Aquatic Systems. And our partners and ourselves are gunning to be the world's largest Atlantic salmon land based Atlantic salmon producer.

[A]

Sure. And what you're with, what you're allowed to share about the tech, is it more of a system that gets rid of the food waste? It's a hardware. Like it's every type of tank or.

[B]

Approach without going too much into NDA and you know trade secrets because it is patented. But it's a three pronged approach of the removal of the carbon dioxide that the fish are produced from breathing. Sure. It's a removal of the denitrification process from fish waste and a recirculating of the water back to its original state. Got it.

[A]

And then that probably also accelerates and optimizes just the growth of the fish as well.

[B]

It doesn't actually know. We grow the fish at the same pace you would ocean environment. Yeah, but it's hermetically sealed, Joel. So we don't, we're not, we don't have to use what they're using. What they're doing in the cages today is because the fish are dying. They're spraying the cages with antibiotics and chemicals to keep the fish alive. Alive to try and kill the sea lice. So our fish are. No antibiotics, no chemicals, no hormones.

[A]

Got it.

[B]

And the issue with time of production from egg to full harvest, we don't get any benefits of faster growth.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

What we do get is higher density because we can. We re oxygenate that water to almost three times the ocean level.

[A]

Yeah. And there's less degradation of the, of the fish population as well. No.

[B]

I mean nobody speaks fish yet, so nobody can actually say how do we know if we have happy fish or not? The only way we can measure that is mortality rate and our mortality rate across all of our facilities. Is under 1%. And the cages, open net pen cages in the oceans are 9%.

[A]

And when you say open net pen cages, is that what they call farm raised fish when they kind of grow them?

[B]

There are two countries that dominate that market today. Norway in Chile. I'm married to a Chilean. My father in law was a salmon producer when he was still with us. I know all of the Chilean salmon producers. It's country number two after Norway in production. But Chile is not a consuming market. It produces to export and it's ships to China, Japan and the U.S. it's the dominant player in the U.S. market with 52% market share. So think about it. If we're able to produce 20,000 tons in the state of Virginia, which we've just raised the capital to build that facility for, we also become a logistics company. Right. Because it costs Chile $3 a kilo to ship. And they air freighted their salmon around the globe from China to Japan to the U.S. we're producing locally online. So we tick a lot of boxes for ESG and un undp. Impact investing, low carbon footprint, no chemicals, no hormones, no antibiotics. If we want to continue eating healthy protein with a growing population, it's one of these technologies that allows us to do so by producing. People think we're kind of crazy. We're producing fish on land. We have so much ocean around us, but the reality is our oceans are sick and dying. Sure.

[A]

So when it's on land, is it in like some, it's in like some custom tank or something like that that you use?

[B]

It's an IKEA style factory that is hermetically sealed with big recirculating aquatic tanks. Joel, do you have, do I have the ability to share your screen? Share a video. It's a two minute video on this technology.

[A]

Yeah. I'll make you the co host, your audience. Yeah.

[B]

Okay, so let me. I'm not very good at this, but.

[A]

If you want me to send, if you want to send me the link, I can share it and I can share the audio too, if that's easier.

[B]

Let me see how this works.

[A]

So when you share your screen, there's a checkbox that says share audio. And if you check that, then everybody can hear the audio. It's a little hack that I learned recently.

[B]

Yeah. Okay, so there's the video.

[A]

Great.

[B]

Hang on a second. Let me just do big screen there. Okay. And let me go back to zoom. And it is, I'm doing share content, right?

[A]

Yeah. So when you, when you do share, there's a little There's a little checkbox in the bottom that says Share computer sound. I don't know if you see that you share your desktop. And then check that little box. It says Share computer sound. But if there's no sound, don't worry about it.

[B]

There is sound.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Share content. Share screen.

[A]

Mm.

[B]

Start broadcast. Microphone off. I want microphone on.

[A]

I think so.

[B]

Microphone on. Let's try that.

[A]

Let's try that. Yep.

[B]

Start broadcast. Can you see my screen?

[A]

I can. Yep, I can see it.

[B]

Okay, let's see if this plays.

[A]

All right, let's see the video.

[C]

In which we could enjoy the highest quality fish while looking after our planet and the generations to come. To achieve this, the world has to overcome today the crisis of supplying fish without further damaging and exploiting the oceans. The growing global population implies that current methods of supplying fish will soon be not be able to keep up with the increasing demand from consumers. This means the seafood industry is in urgent need of an innovative and sustainable solution. Pure salmon is leading a revolution in salmon production through land based fish farming. We are committed to a future where salmon is produced sustainably. Pure salmon uses recirculating aquaculture system technology, RAS for short, which means we can grow our salmon from egg to harvest in a fully controlled environment. We create healthy living conditions for our salmon and closely replicate the positive qualities of their natural environment. The water is constantly recycled and filtered to always keep it pure and clean, which ensures the health and welfare of our fish. Our land based production process has no negative impact on the ocean ecosystem and our fish are grown using sustainable feed. The fully bio safe environment means our salmon are free from antibiotics, pesticides, hormones and microplastics. Our educational centers teach new generations about the importance of protecting our oceans, the future of responsible food production and the positive impact of pure salmon. The modularity of the RAS technology allows us to to replicate our facilities in strategic locations around the world. With a global production target of 260,000 tons per annum, pure salmon is already on its way to become the worldwide leader in sustainable salmon production. In turn, we will have a significant positive impact on the health of our customers, our planet, the local economies in which we operate while preserving the ocean's ecosystem. And we have already begun in Poland. Our first fully operational facility is producing healthy, clean and delicious salmon. Pure salmon and 8F asset management are proud to be among the founding signatory members and supporting organizations to the sustainable Blue Economy Finance principles. These values and commitments are at the heart of our business, helping us shape a better future together.

[B]

Did you get that?

[A]

Yeah. I did. That was really helpful. The facility looks great.

[B]

I think so as well. Let me stop broadcast and come back to you.

[A]

Yeah, that was really helpful. I mean the facilities look amazing and it's great that you guys have like the educational program too.

[B]

So the facilities that we currently have are super small, Joel. Their facility in Poland is 570 tons. Russia's 2000 tons, Slovakia's 2000 tons, et cetera. Now we're building scale and that's where nobody yet has the edge. There are a couple other competitors. Atlantic Sapphire, Miami, that's building a 10,000 ton facility as well. They're about a year ahead of us. But again, there's so much demand for Atlantic salmon, not just on population growth, supply is dwindling, that if we want to continue to eat salmon, we need to produce it in a different way. That's the crux of our business. That business is. I started that business as cap intros with ADAF Pure Salmon. It's not a business I own, but it was my first introductory into food technologies. I'm trying to tell you spin the story here of how we got to where we are today in Earth First Food Ventures.

[A]

I got two quick questions. Real quick. Brian, sorry to cut you off. So that deal that 300 million was at, how was that structured? 358. Sorry. Every penny counts. Every hundreds of thousands.

[B]

We spent three years on every penny, Joel.

[A]

No, I don't blame you. I'd be counting it too. So. So that amount of money, how did you guys structure that? Was that like an SPV or was it just an equity deal or.

[B]

Again, I didn't structure it because I don't own that business. I was minority partner to just do cap intros from my families around the globe.

[A]

Got it.

[B]

But they were with my ex colleagues in Singapore. I worked with all these guys at Deutsche Bank. We were very close, but I don't own the business. I do have an economic stake in the business.

[A]

Sure. Yeah, that makes sense.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So.

[B]

But it was structured as a traditional fund.

[A]

Okay, got it.

[B]

Private equity fund. 7 plus 1 plus 1 GPLP structure 2 and 20.

[A]

Classic. Super helpful. Okay.

[B]

And I have to be honest with you, Joel. I know this is a conversation around VC and private equity. Yeah, we lost some of our big wealthy families because of the structure.

[A]

Okay, got it.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

What was it they didn't like about it? Was it just the 10 year lockup.

[B]

Having to pay fees and the exit in 2 and 20? You know, some of our families are so wealthy that they built their own in House go direct teams where they're searching for the right opportunities to invest and they're avoiding the managers and they're avoiding paying the 2 and 20 and they're writing checks directly for growing whatever they're interested in, whether it's, you know, apps, technology or food or some of the bigger, bigger, bigger families are, are turning away from the traditional PE structure.

[A]

Yeah, that makes sense. That's helpful. And then can you, you know, because you build some expertise around this. Can you just unpack the fish, the salmon universe? Because I know there's sockeye salmon, there's Atlantic salmon and then there's Alaskan salmon. Right. Can you just talk just for a few seconds about the type of differences in quality and just considerations.

[B]

So Alaskan salmon is. I can make a few comments. I'm not a fish expert. Expert. Last three years, Alaskan salmon is all wild caught. Alaska had the great virtue of boating in the early 70s of do we put in pens like Norway and Chile. And they, all of the Alaskan fishermen voted no and they continued to fish what we call what you see at your supermarket in the US wild caught. So the fishermen go out on their boats, they catch the salmon. They're not farmed, they're wild caught and they pay a premium for that.

[A]

Right, sure.

[B]

So Alaskan salmon is very different than Chilean salmon, which is all farmed. Chile didn't have any salmon. It's not native to Chile. The Norwegians brought it. The Norwegians built the industry in Chile. And the biggest Norwegian, of course is John Frederickson who owns Marine Harvest. $10 billion market cap produces largest salmon producer in the world. And then in chile, it's number two with Agrosuber, which is producing 260,000 tons of Atlantic salmon. But those are all farm raised. And they produce Atlantic salmon, which is the world's most consumed salmon. You have cocoa, you have Pacific salmon, you have other breeds. But there are, there are, I think they're like 12 or 13. You only mentioned two or three. There's actually 12 or 13. There's the cross breeds which are salmon trout. But the most consumed is Atlantic salmon.

[A]

Yeah, sure.

[B]

And there's a global ecosystem around Atlantic salmon distribution processing in Poland. Poland is the center of processing for Europe which is then shipped. They fly it from Norway to Poland, Poland processes. Poland ships it then to China, Japan and across Europe. Sure.

[A]

And have you guys thought about any other species besides Simon on the roadmap.

[B]

Or is that just kind of the main. Well, the four facilities that are up and running are all different species. Russia is salmon trout, Slovakia is catfish, Israel is sea bream, Indonesia is grouper.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But we chose to focus on building one species and scaling one species only, and that is Atlantic salmon because it is one of the most consumed and there is already a global ecosystem around that species for us to, you know, we can grow any, we can grow tilapia, we can grow mahi mahi. But for us to deviate our efforts for a lower margin fish or a particular market didn't make a lot of sense to us.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

In ways I use that term lightly. I'm referring to 8F pure salmon, which are the owners of the business. Yeah. That was our first foray into food technology.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And one of our Greek investors, our biggest Greek investor actually in the aquaculture fund, he said, Brian, I believe it was the day that Beyond Meat had gone public. He said, there's a big revolution going on in plant based assets and we need to look at this space. And that was the instigation of ourselves. That's why I said everything was accidental here. Joel. My former colleagues, give me a ring, say, Brian, get involved in our aquaculture project. You know, I knew nothing about and I became an expert about. Through the process. Then we jumped into plant based assets and are solely focused on alternative proteins today as opposed to animal proteins as a firm at the instigation of our clients. Sure.

[A]

And what are your thoughts on the.

[B]

Outgrown the cultured meats section? Sorry, which section?

[A]

I lost my microphone here.

[B]

That's okay.

[A]

Can you hear me?

[B]

Yep, now I can.

[A]

Yeah. I was talking about all lab grown. So what are your thoughts on just.

[B]

So, yeah, we're just about to jump into the space. But before I go there, let me, let me. I'd rather do it in a historical fashion so I can tell you our trajectory, how we got into plant based. So I had the great fortune of meeting Sebastian Sainsbury. Sebastian is of the Sainsbury family in the uk, which is the largest UK supermarket group. And he said, I want to do vertical farming in the uk but I don't have the capital to do it. He's one of the. He's got the great name, but he's one of the poorer cousins, the group. And we put together the data room and the business plan and we did some due diligence on the technology providers in both Canada and the U.S. we ended up settling out a technology called Freight Farms out of Boston which does exactly that. Hydroponic farming in LED lighting in shipping containers and has been around for about. I believe five years. Sold to all 50 states in about 20 countries internationally. So we settled on freight farms. We anchored the company with one of our Brazilian family offices for the seed round. And we realized that this structure was working for us, Joel. Because all of it. We call ourselves a venture but we're not a fund. The only fund we have under our umbrella is the Aquaculture fund. Sure. The reason that we chose not to do any more funds was the exact reason I mentioned earlier. A lot of our families were getting turned off about the structure.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Everything we do today is direct to captivity.

[A]

Got it.

[B]

So we founded the company called Crate to Plate in the uk. Our first three containers have arrived in London. They're sitting in Canary Wharf. They're already in production. We've grown close to 63 different species of leafy greens. Micro herbs. Herbs, microgreens. And we're focused on scaling that business as we speak.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

And that's part of, part of our capital raise. So we're minority in that business. We have an 8% equity stake. But I own, when I say I. My company owns the emerging market franchise for the brand and the technology for that super exciting business. We think urban farming. This is very similar to aquaculture in that it goes to, to straight to the same similarities. No pesticides, no herbicides, no fungicides because it's hermetically sealed. We produce locally for local consumers. So we have a much lower carbon footprint than importing basil from Kenya into the UK and our produce is seven days fresher by the time you do supply chain from all of these warmer climates. Spain feeds UK during wintertime, et cetera, et cetera. Right, sure.

[C]

So.

[B]

Very similar boxes that tick, that we tick in aquaculture. We're ticking in hydroponics.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, Got it.

[B]

Beautiful asset. We've just signed an LOI three weeks ago continuing our different verticals of how we got involved in venture and kept it rolling. And I'll get to your answer on cellular agriculture in a minute. We, we signed an LOI to take an 18% equity stake in a another UK based company. Plant based Alternative protein in the fermentation space. This company's been around for just 18 months but it already has a million and a half of revenue. So it's early stage but it's not pre revenue. It has, you know, it's on the supermarket shelves of Sainsbury across the country in Ireland. But now we're providing capital and strategic partnerships, strategic capital and access to emerging markets and scalability for the company that the Young group doesn't currently have.

[A]

Yeah, that's a great differentiating factor. I think just your ability to scale as a service, you know, that's kind of a unique proposition that, you know, other firms would not have. So I think that's, that's definitely a superpower that I'm seeing that you.

[B]

Well, particularly when it comes to emerging markets. You know, if you're going to go into Brazil, you would never go into Brazil without a local partner. Sure. If you're going to go into Turkey, you would never go into Turkey without a local Turkish partner. Chile copy paste. Mexico copy paste. And that's where we add value because we know all of the families that have capital, land, access and know how Joel, us to go and navigate as foreigners in their country has always led to a disaster.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So yeah, we would never try and tackle these countries partners. As we say in Brazil, you lose your shirt and your shoes too.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

Right. Yeah. Now we. One of our big investors in Aquaculture reached out and said, Brian, you really need to take a look at this company. And I won't mention the name because I'm under NDA, but we got really excited back in February in the space and it is exactly in the area you just asked me about cellular agriculture. We think this is a big game changer, Joel. We think this is the holy grail of the production of protein and is the future. It almost sounds science fictional. The Jetsons, if you remember that show as a kid. But the technology exists today to produce chicken fillets and fish fillets and steaks in a lab by removing the original cell from the animal without slaughtering the animal and reproducing that cells grow. Right. The animal grows by the cells growing. We have the technology today to allow those cells to grow in an artificial environment that nurtures the cells to grow into a chicken breast or fish fillet. The technology has only been around for six years, but it's been tremendously perfected. You probably saw the announcement of Memphis Meats capital raise in January. 160 million they raised from Temasek and Softbank. And that's super exciting space. There's an egg protein company called Clara. Super exciting guys. And Mexican founder Arturo Elizondo. We're having great discussions in the space and we think it's our next big chapter for both ourselves and our clients. In order to bring this sector to fruition, it requires capital, Joel. And that's where we step in with our family offices and bring them into these exciting new companies. You probably saw KFC's announcement that they are Actually serving cell based chicken nuggets in their Russian stores and franchises across Russia.

[A]

I did not know that.

[B]

Yeah, last month. And for KFC to move into the space and do a consumer taste testing. Yeah, if it comes back with thumbs up, it could be a. And why do I say this is a game changer, Joel? You know, a lot of global warming is due to our meat, our love of meat and beef in the us the hamburger hungry country. If we can actually grow hamburger in a lab by removing the cell, the protein cell from the cow and having that cell grow artificially without having to raise the cow, we still need to feed the cells. Right. So the cells still need to be fed, but we don't need to grow all that corn and then to slaughter the cow to produce the beef. That's really the idea of this futuristic cell based agriculture. We're probably a whole generation away from it taking hold and it being mainstream. But the train has left the station, this is for sure.

[A]

Yeah, absolutely.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I think when you look at.

[B]

The market size, very, very exciting time to be in the space because this is true innovation. And you have all of the big names in there, Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Musk, Cargill, Nutreko, Sumitomo, they're all involved and they're all putting big money to work in the space. Because if we can solve the production of protein without the production of animals per se and slaughter, we can solve a lot of global warming issues.

[A]

And.

[B]

A whole host of issues. Sure. Animal welfare, global warming, carbon footprint, you name it.

[A]

Yeah, it's really helpful. Yeah, I've seen some of those similar trends when it comes to lab grown meats and I've been involved in a couple early.

[B]

Yeah, we're not ready for commercialization, but the proof of concept is there.

[A]

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. I think there's still ways to go for commercialization. But you're right, I mean there are, there are prototypes and I think, you know, that's really interesting. And then, and then you do have, you know, I know we're almost up for time, but I'd love to hear a little more. You know, you don't. You've done food tech, There's a couple other sectors that you focused on as well.

[B]

Right.

[A]

When it comes to like reducing the carbon footprint, are there any other.

[B]

Well, so we're only focused on food technologies, plant based assets and cellular agriculture today. But they need to be meaningful, they need to be esg, they need to have impact, it needs to have a lower carbon footprint, it needs to be local. Production for local consumers.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

Right. It needs to fit our same bill of lading, if you will, on the values basically of our company.

[A]

Yeah, absolutely.

[B]

We won't get into a renewable energy company that is a lower carbon. That's not our business. Our business is food and food technologies that increase the production of healthy, sustainable proteins with a lower carbon footprint.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

With sustainability.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. And I think it's, it's those, you know, you're mentioning this before it checks all the boxes. So making sure that it kind of meets all those requirements I think is a good benchmark to have starting out. So. No, this is, this was amazing. Thanks for, you know, telling me your story. I think it was really educational. The video was really great. I always. And we got a couple minutes left but I always end the conversation with asking the speaker to share a piece of life advice. So anything that you have just throughout your journey or from a mentor or just kind of life advice that you give to your kids, you know, I love to hear it and I'm sure the audience would too, if you have any.

[B]

Yeah. Today I'm an entrepreneur and I've only been an entrepreneur for five years. I spent the bulk of my career, 25 years as a corporate. And I wish I had done it sooner. I wish I had jumped sooner and I guess I probably didn't Joel, because the money and security was so good. But then I also witnessed, I saw the golden years of the banking industry. But then it all started to unravel 2008 onward. And it never went back to the golden age. And it just. I just love my independence. I love bank. The banking industry for me lost its creativity and it became very much of a compliance box in a unit where you couldn't do anything without 17 signatures. And this is all post crisis 2008. And don't forget I was also in Switzerland where they did bad things in Switzerland and the UBS scandal and the. So you know, we didn't see the best final years. But I wish my advice or my kind of wishful thing, I wish I had jumped earlier.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, no, I agree.

[B]

For five years and we've made a great run out of it with, with food technology was accidental. We didn't know we were going to be involved in food technologies kind of happened with my partners reach out to me from Singapore for pure salmon. And from there we just rolled into what other trends we saw based on our clients interests of plant based assets and we just kept moving with it.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

And yeah, I wish I had done it earlier actually 10, 15 years earlier, but also no regrets. I wouldn't know the families that I know today if I. And if I had cut it short.

[A]

Yeah. I guess looking back, the dots always connect somehow and I think it's never too late to start. So the main thing is that you did start. And you know, I think what's really exciting, you know, as an entrepreneur, it's just to be able to create things from nothing. So you're creating these opportunities.

[B]

I think that's the other thing, Joel, is to constantly stay creative. Right now to be in the food tech space. It's just so exciting because the innovation and the technology going on in food technologies is. I've never seen this type of speed or creativity. The other thing which we didn't get to is there's a lot of creativity going on in the digital world. And we chose the STO for our raise as opposed to a fund specifically because that's also innovation and a new technology blockchain is new.

[A]

Right.

[B]

And we kind of marry that new food technologies and innovations together with new types of ways to raise capital as opposed to the archaic structure of, you know, the 10 year lockup, 2 in 20 structure, GPLP, which our clients are tiring of increasingly. Right. So yeah, that, that's kind of. I guess the other advice is stay creative, stay innovative.

[A]

That's great. And I think the model of the direct to cap table, that's very favorable for not only family offices, but several different parties that just want to have access and I guess, is there some type of compensation with the direct to cap table? Do you take some type of equity?

[B]

Yeah, we charge the recipients a lot our capital.

[A]

Okay, got it. Okay. Much more clean.

[B]

No different than a company, if they were going out to the market to raise capital, would be a broker to raising the capital. Sure.

[A]

But there's no management fee and all those other fees, which is there's no.

[B]

Management fee, there's no carriers, and there's no lockup.

[A]

Yeah, this resonates with our clients today.

[B]

I have to educate them about the sto, but that work in progress.

[A]

Yeah, that's great. Well, hey, this was amazing, Brian. You know, I hope we get to catch up soon. You know, I'm sure, sure you'll meet.

[B]

In person someday when I'm next in New York.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I believe you're based in New York.

[A]

I'm in the city. Yeah. I'm in Midtown East.

[B]

Yeah, that's what I'm saying.

[A]

Yeah. I'm here with my wife and my 3 year old. So we're surviving in the city.

[B]

Yeah. Well, good luck to that. Yeah, I dare to see. I skirted around to get to Connecticut on the way out there. Yeah. But I do get there often. And when things go back to normal, we can meet in person.

[A]

Yeah. Hopefully one of these food tech conferences. There's a lot of great ones. So hopefully when all this craziness settles down, you know, we'll. We'll see each other at one of these conferences.

[B]

Would love to.

[A]

Great. All right. Thank you so much, Brian. Take care.

[B]

You take care. Have a great day.

[A]

Yeah, you too. Bye.

[B]

Take care.