Bloomberg Wealth: Orlando Bravo

Summary

Скрипт видео рассказывает о карьере Орландо Браво, успешного инвестора в частном эквитате, который специализируется на покупке и развитии предприятий в сфере корпоративного программного обеспечения. Браво начал с амбиций на теннисном корте, а затем перешел в инвестиционный мир, где прославился своими успешными сделками и стратегиями по увеличению стоимости компаний. Он подчёркивает важность коммуникации и фокусируется на долгосрочных инвестициях, которые приносят стабильный доход. Орландо делится своими советами по инвестированию и рассматривает перспективы развития Майами как важного центра коммерции и промышленности.

Takeaways

• 😀 Хорошие частные инвестиционные компании превосходят публичные рынки.
• 👍 Орландо Браво начинал как теннисист, но переключился на инвестиции после учебы в Стэнфорде.
• 📈 Томо Браво успешно вернула инвесторам более 13 миллиардов долларов в прошлом году.
• 💼 Фокус на выкупе программного обеспечения позволил Орландо Браво достичь успеха.
• 🔒 Томо Браво специализируется на покупке компаний, связанных с корпоративным программным обеспечением, включая кибербезопасность.
• 🏆 Орландо Браво стал одним из самых успешных специалистов по выкупам в мире благодаря своей стратегии.
• 💡 Стратегия компании заключается в превращении инновационных компаний в успешные бизнесы.
• 🌟 Томо Браво переехала часть своей команды в Майами для сохранения уникальной корпоративной культуры.
• 🎓 Основной совет для молодых специалистов - развивать навыки коммуникации.
• 💬 Орландо подчеркивает важность долгосрочных отношений и эффективной коммуникации при ведении бизнеса.

Q & A

Что такое частное эквити и как оно отличается от публичных рынков?

Частное эквити - это инвестиционная стратегия, при которой инвесторы приобретают компании с целью управления и последующей реализации для получения прибыли. Оно отличается от публичных рынков тем, что акции не торгуются на бирже и владельцы компаний имеют большую степень контроля над своими активами.

Какие качества помогли Орландо Браво стать успешным в сфере частного эквити?

Орландо Браво обладает навыками коммуникации, стратегическим видением и способностью интегрировать инновации в бизнес. Он также специализируется на покупках компаний в сфере программного обеспечения, что стало основой его успеха.

Что такое предприятие программного обеспечения и как оно влияет на бизнес?

Предприятие программного обеспечения - это компания, которая разрабатывает и продает программное обеспечение для бизнеса. Оно включает в себя приложения, инфраструктурное программное обеспечение и системы кибербезопасности, которые автоматизируют процессы и обеспечивают работу ИТ-услуг.

Какие три компонента составляют предприятие программного обеспечения?

Три компонента предприятия программного обеспечения: приложения, инфраструктурное программное обеспечение и кибербезопасность.

Почему инвестиции в технологические компании 25 лет назад считались рискованными?

В 25 летней перспективе инвестиции в технологические компании считались рискованными из-за быстрого изменения технологий, которые могли бы устареть к моменту выхода из приобретенных компаний.

Какие изменения в подходе к инвестициям в сфере программного обеспечения помогли Орландо Браво стать лидером в этой области?

Орландо Браво сфокусировался на покупках компаний с рекуррентным доходом, управлением существующим персоналом и инновационными возможностями, что позволило его компании достичь высоких результативности и прибыльности.

Какую стратегию Томер Браво использует для управления компаниями после их покупки?

Томер Браво использует стратегию интеграции и развития существующих инновационных компаний, сохраняя их руководителей и персонал, и внедряя собственные процессы и культуру управления для повышения эффективности и прибыльности.

Чему приписывает Орландо Браво свой успех в частном эквити?

Орландо Браво приписывает свой успех в частном эквити стратегическому фокусу на покупках компаний в сфере программного обеспечения, инновационному подходу к управлению и навыкам коммуникации.

Почему Томер Браво решил переместить часть своего инвестиционного команды из Кремниевой долины в Майами?

Томер Браво стремится сохранить и развивать свою культуру и способность думать иначе, что могло быть потеряно из-за однообразия в Кремниевой долине, и видит в Майами возможность для дальнейшего роста и развития.

Какую рекомендацию по инвестициям Орландо Браво дает людям, которые подходят к нему с просьбой инвестировать сумму в $100 000?

Орландо Браво рекомендует такие людям инвестировать в индекс S&P 500, чтобы не беспокоиться о квартальных результатах конкретных компаний и не делать это их основным местом работы.

Какие качества Орландо Браво считает важными для молодых людей, стремящихся к карьере в частном эквити?

Орландо Браво считает, что молодые люди должны обратить внимание на навыки коммуникации и умение убеждать других, так как это ключ к успешным переговорам и сотрудничеству с командами компаний.

Какую самую важную инвестиционную рекомендацию Орландо Браво получил в своем карьере?

Самую важную инвестиционную рекомендацию Орландо Браво получил от Карла Тома: "Не тот вид риска", что означает минимизацию риска на основе знаний и понимания бизнеса, вместо того чтобы полагаться на слишком широкие предположения.

Какие ошибки Орландо Браво наблюдает, которые совершают инвесторы, включая молодых людей в частном эквити?

Орландо Браво указывает на ошибку неконцентрации на основном бизнесе и неосновательности в анализе ключевых факторов, которые могут привести к прибыли от инвестиций, вместо того чтобы быть заняты многими внешними процессами.

Outlines

00:00

😀 Приватное эквити и успех в сфере инноваций

В первом параграфе описывается успешный опыт частных инвестиционных компаний, превышающих рынки, благодаря интеграции и развитию бизнеса. Рассматривается важность коммуникативных навыков в этой сфере. Орландо, основатель компании Tomer Bravo, рассматривает свой путь от аспиранта в теннисе до успешного инвестора в сфере приватного эквити. Упоминается его обучение в компании Morgan Stanley, а также получение МБА и юристского степени в Стэнфорде. Также затрагивается его успешный опыт в области покупок и продаж empresariales в сфере программного обеспечения, что привело к возврату инвесторам более 13 миллиардов долларов в прошлом году.

05:00

🏸 От тенниса к финансовой карьере

Второй параграф посвящён деталям личной истории Орландо, от его юных амбиций на теннисных кортах и обучения в лагере Ника Боли, где он общался с будущими звездами, такими как Андре Агасси и Джим Купиер, до его обучения в Браун и Стэнфорд. Также здесь рассматривается его первая работа в Морган Станли и его последующий переход в сферу технологической инвестиций, что стало основой для его дальнейшей карьеры в приватном эквити.

10:02

💼 Секреты успешных покупок компаний и инноваций

Третий параграф фокусируется на стратегиях и методах, которые использует Tomer Bravo при покупке и дальнейшем управлении компаниями. Рассматривается их подход к сохранению и развитию существующих команд руководителей и сотрудников, что способствует стабильности и росту. Также обсуждается важность инноваций и роста в рамках инвестиций, а также специализация на покупках технологических компаний, что было нестандартным решением 25 лет назад, но оказалось успешным.

15:06

🌐 Перемещение офиса и стратегия развития

В четвёртом параграфе обсуждается решение компании Tomer Bravo переместить часть своего инвестиционного команд из Бэй-Области в Майами, что было сделано для сохранения разнообразия мышления и культуры компании. Также упоминается то, что Майами не стремится быть как Silicon Valley или Wall Street, но имеет уникальную возможность стать важной коммерческой и промышленной центром. Здесь также затрагивается влияние COVID-19 на работу инвестиционных компаний и ожидания по поездкам для поиска инвестиционных возможностей и сбора средств.

20:07

📈 Инвестиционные советы и профессиональный рост

В заключительном параграфе Орландо делится своими советами для молодых людей, которые стремятся следовать в его следы в инвестиционном мире. Он подчёркивает значимость коммуникативных навыков и умения убеждения в сделках. Также рассматривается лучшая инвестиционная стратегия, которую он получил, а именно избегание ненужных рисков и сосредоточение на фундаментальных аспектах бизнеса. В заключении говорится о том, что Орландо не планирует выход из индустрии и продолжит работать в этой сфере на протяжении всей своей жизни.

Keywords

💡Частные инвестиционные компании

Частные инвестиционные компании - это организации, которые инвестируют средства в различные предприятия, часто с целью получения высоких доходов. В контексте видео, это ключевой элемент темы, так как один из героев, Орландо Браво, является успешным дилером в этой сфере. Он упоминает, что его фирма возвращает инвесторам более $13 миллиардов, что демонстрирует успешность частных инвестиционных компаний на рынке.

💡Инноваторы

Инноваторы - это люди, которые придумывают новые идеи, продукты или процессы. В видео Орландо Браво говорит о том, что его компания превращает великих инноваторов в успешные бизнесменов, что подчеркивает важность инновационного подхода в частном эквилитете.

💡Программное обеспечение для предприятий

Программное обеспечение для предприятий - это термин, используемый для описания программ, которые продаются компаниям для использования в своих операциях. В видео упоминается, что это включает в себя приложения, инфраструктурное программное обеспечение и кибербезопасность, что является основой для инвестиций компании Браво.

💡Приватизация

Приватизация - это процесс покупки акций компании с целью вывести ее из общедоступной торговли на частном рынке. В видео упоминается, что частные инвестиционные компании специализируются на приватизации технологических компаний, что было считаться проблемным 25 лет назад, но оказалось ошибочным предположением.

💡Цифровая трансформация

Цифровая трансформация - это процесс изменения бизнес-моделей и операций с использованием цифровой технологии. В видео участник размышляет о том, как приватизация технологических компаний может быть связана с цифровой трансформацией, поскольку такие компании часто внедряют инновации в свои процессы и продукты.

💡Управление компанией

Управление компанией в контексте видео означает способы, которыми частные инвестиционные компании вмешиваются в управление предприятиями, в которых они вложили средства. Орландо Браво упоминает, что они используют свой 'секретный соус' для улучшения управления, включая сохранение существующих команд и интеграцию их с культурой и философией инвестиционной компании.

💡Венчурный капитал

Венчурный капитал - это тип инвестиций, который предоставляется компаниям с высокими рисками, но также и потенциально высокими вознаграждениями. В видео упоминается, что венчурный капитал считал приватизацию в сфере программного обеспечения слишком рискованной, но это оказалось неправильным.

💡Ценные бумаги

Ценные бумаги - это инструменты, представляющие стоимость активов и обязательств, такие как акции, облигации и другие инвестиционные инструменты. В видео упоминается, что венчурные капиталисты и частные инвестиционные компании различаются в том, как они подходят к покупке и управлению ценными бумагами.

💡Успешные инвестиции

Успешные инвестиции - это те, которые приносят высокую прибыль или возвращают инвесторам значительную сумму средств. В видео Орландо Браво делится своими достижениями, упоминая, что его фирма возвращает инвесторам суммы в размере 17 раз от вложенных средств, что является примером успешных инвестиций.

💡Коммуникация

Коммуникация - это способность эффективного обмена информацией и идеями. В видео подчёркивается, что коммуникативные навыки являются важным компонентом для успешного управления инвестиционными проектами, поскольку они помогают убедить компании в продаже, согласовать условия с командами и управлять ожиданиями инвесторов.

Highlights

Private equity firms with good communication skills can outperform public markets.

Orlando Bravo's early ambition was to be a tennis player, which taught him valuable lessons in competition and opportunity.

After playing tennis at Brown, Orlando transitioned to a career in finance, starting at Morgan Stanley.

Orlando's firm, Tomer Bravo, has a track record of high returns, returning over $13 billion to investors last year.

A shift in focus to software buyouts since 2008 has been key to Orlando's success, with over 465 transactions valued at $260 billion.

Enterprise software is explained as software sold to businesses, including applications, infrastructure, and cybersecurity.

The traditional belief that technology companies couldn't be good buyout targets due to rapid change has been disproven.

Tomer Bravo's 'secret sauce' involves integrating with existing management and leveraging their deep business knowledge.

Orlando emphasizes the importance of communication skills in private equity, not just technical knowledge.

The firm's success is attributed to operating companies at a 40% margin while fulfilling innovation and growth goals.

Orlando's personal journey from tennis to tech investor showcases adaptability and leveraging opportunities.

Tomer Bravo's move to Miami was strategic to maintain the firm's culture and encourage diverse thinking.

The firm's focus is on buying and operating software companies with strong growth and recurring revenue.

Orlando shares the best investment advice he received: avoid unnecessary risk and focus on the business fundamentals.

For young professionals aspiring to enter private equity, Orlando recommends focusing on communication skills and understanding the business.

Orlando's commitment to the private equity industry is unwavering, with no plans to enter politics or other fields.

Tomer Bravo's strategy involves investing in software companies that are market leaders with high growth and strong customer bases.

Transcripts

Private equity firms. The good ones definitely beat the public

markets. We are in the business of turning great

innovators, integrate businesses. There's one component of our industry

that people need to focus on, and it's not technical, and that is communication

skills.

Orlando. Bravo's early ambitions were far from

the boardroom. I wanted to be a tennis player really,

really badly. I got introduced to the sport really

early on, and it wasn't just the sport, it was the opportunity that it

presented. At 15, Orlando left his hometown in

Puerto Rico to attend Nick Quality, his legendary tennis camp training with many

future stars, including Andre Agassi. Luckily, I never played him in a

tournament because in the juniors there was a tournament that he played wearing

jeans and a Walkman and that would have been so embarrassing to just lose to him

when he's wearing that outfit. After playing tennis at Brown, Orlando

traded in his sneakers for wingtip shoes.

He spent two years at Morgan Stanley before getting his MBA and law degree

from Stanford. I went to Stanford after four years

there, I decided I wanted to be a tech investor.

Now, some 25 years later, Orlando is one of the most successful dealmakers in the

buyout world. I love having those meetings where

people kind of bet on you and you come back three years later or four years

later and they're happy and they fulfilled their goals.

With one of the best track records in private equity.

Orlando's firm, Tomer Bravo, has made investors very happy.

Last year, the firm returned over $13 billion to investors.

But it wasn't always that way. I asked Carly the other day what you

really think about firing me, and he said, You cost me so much money, but I

wanted to get my return back. So.

So I stayed with you. What turned things around for Orlando

was focusing on software buyouts. Since 2008, Orlando has overseen over

465 software transactions, representing about $260 billion in value.

We're able to operate these companies at 40% margin best in class buyouts while

fulfilling their innovation goals and their growth goals.

That how we do that is is our secret sauce.

You've become the leader in the world in doing buyouts in enterprise software.

But what is enterprise software? It's actually really easy to understand.

Enterprise software is all the software that is sold to a business.

It can be a large corporation or it can be a small business.

And it really has three components to it.

One is applications. Think of everything that runs your

business or a process that automates a human process like mortgage processing,

for example. How does that work?

Well, software makes that happen. Infrastructure software is a big second

component. Think about all the software that runs

your I.T. department, that makes all these machine

works, that makes the cloud environment be up and running.

And third, and a really popular area now that we're really big in is

cybersecurity. All the systems that protect your

infrastructure and all the systems that protect your applications.

Now, the theory 25 years ago or so is that you cannot do buyouts of technology

companies because the technology changes so rapidly that the buyout would be

dated by the time you actually exited. So that proved to be wrong because a

number of firms did technology buyouts generically.

But you specialized pretty much in enterprise software, is that right?

That's correct. And I'm really glad you brought that up

about 25 years ago. And that's applicable to today.

25 years ago, investing in software was only really a venture capital business.

Private equity in software did not exist.

Now, on the one hand, venture capitalists thought that the software

buyouts were of old companies that would be put out of business by upstarts and

startups. And the private equity community thought

in general a blanket statement that this is too risky.

When you really looked at the franchise of each of these companies and how

important they are to their customers. The opposite is true.

There are some of the most stable and best long term investments that you can

make. What do you actually do?

What is your secret sauce when you buy a company?

Do you go in and lay people off or do you say we're going to hire more people?

What do you actually do that makes these companies so valuable?

I can tell you in one sentence how we pursue our mission.

That is, we are in the business of turning great innovators into great

businesses. And that means the following We get to

buy companies that have revenues, say, between 500 million and a billion that

are market leaders in these three segments of enterprise software that I

describe that are growing at 10 to 20%, where most of their revenues are

recurring, that are deeply embedded in their customer bases, that have proven

ability to innovate and do something really, really important for these

enterprises. Now, at the same time, these companies

are not making much profits. We come in with our model, which

includes not only metrics and processes that can be copied with our culture, our

philosophy, everything we've learned over 25 years and even longer through

our predecessor firm. And we're able to operate these

companies at 40% margin best in class buyouts while fulfilling their

innovation goals and their growth goals. That how we do that is is our secret

sauce. Now, in the traditional private equity

world, the CEOs who run the companies that are bought by private equity firms,

they're often not the CEOs at the end of the transaction in five or six years or

so, they've moved on or they've been replaced in your business because you

have a special model. Do you keep the CEOs and train them how

to do what you want? Or do you get somebody else to be the

CEO of the company, the former? And that's part of our secret sauce, is

we really, really work hard in trying to marry existing managements and existing

CEOs. Knowledge of their business follow a

following from their employees. And they have been, as I mentioned, they

have delivered great innovation and growth.

We try to marry that with a private equity and fundamental approach to

operating. When we do that and when we do that,

well, that's when you get the absolutely best outcomes because you're backing

people that know their space so well and they live and breathe that every day.

Now, it's not always possible. There are many deals that will come into

the equation and there's not a match between the CEO and us.

They want to do something different. We're speaking a different language.

And in those cases, if we like the business enough, we will openly proceed

with it with a different plan. Traditionally, in the buyout world, when

people do buyouts, they invest in buyouts, you do buyouts.

People are trying to achieve a better rate of return that you can get in the

public markets. Is that too difficult to deal with these

days? Because the public markets have been

very ebullient? Can private equity firms still beat the

public markets or private equity firms? The good ones definitely beat the public

markets. Think about software, the value

advantage, the value creation advance. Of the ownership model of private

equity, where you have one owner with one management team, with one agenda,

with very clear goals, and that owner is deeply involved in the success of that

business that creates the profitable growth that investors are actually

looking for in the public markets that value and the way companies are running

private equity in our industry and software is so superior to the way

they're run in the public markets. And that delta is what creates a much

higher rate of return. So when you call your investors and say,

we made 17 times their money, I assume they say Bravo.

I, I don't know. They may.

Now you're an expert in enterprise software.

So. And technology, I presume you know

pretty well. So do you ever The problem that I have

when I'm using my computer, it doesn't work the way I want it to work, and I

think I'm doing something wrong. But they just say it's it's something

that I should have known how to do better.

Do you ever have problems with your computer working it?

No. They call it a user error.

I do user errors all the time. I actually as an individual consumer of

technology, I'm actually not that good in you know, in the business.

I've never written code. You know, I went to Stanford Business

School in a law school, and there I wasn't a technology person.

I was interested in the business of it. Well, let's talk about your background.

Where did you grow up? I grew up in a small town, relatively

small town in Puerto Rico, on the west Coast, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico.

So when you were growing up, did you say to your parents, I want to be a software

buyout person, or what did you want to be?

No idea. I wanted to be a tennis player really,

really badly. I got introduced to the sport really

early on, and it wasn't just the sport, it was the opportunity that it

presented. I got to travel to San Juan and then I

got to travel to Caracas, Venezuela, and slowly I started seeing different

opportunities. So you later went to Nick Ball, Terry's

famous tennis training camp, and I guess your roommate was Andre Agassi.

My roommate, actually, Andre Agassi lived, I think, in the two dorms away

from us. It was Jim Courier that was one of my

roommates. We lived with eight kids.

It was so fun, eight kids in this little place and seeing all these great players

and living with them. What did you say?

Agassi He's not that good or career is not that good.

Or you said they're better than I am. No, they were better than I am.

Even at ten, 11, 12. See, what happened is when we all turn

16 or 17, then you would see an even bigger difference.

The speed, the explosiveness, the sport, the way they played it was just totally

different than the rest of us who were like 20 to 100 in the U.S.

So then you decided to go to college, and where did you go?

Well, my mom told me, Look. If you're not going to make it in this

in this pro career, which is brutal, it's even harder now.

Why don't you use the sport to really get a good education?

And I ended up going to Brown. And were you a star at Brown?

I was okay at Brown. It was really interesting.

I was a bit burned out from tennis. I was in the middle of the lineup of the

singles team. I was higher in the lineup in doubles.

We had great camaraderie with our team. But once I went to Brown said, I've now

have an opportunity to really immerse myself in an education that I never

thought was possible. So I played tennis kind of almost to

support the team and for fun, but it was academic for me.

So you went to Morgan Stanley for two years?

Yes. And then you went to Stanford Law

School. Stanford Law School and Stanford

Business School. All right.

So after you graduate from Stanford Law School and Stanford Business School, you

said I want to be an enterprise software.

Very interesting. And Morgan Stanley, one of the first

deals that they staffed me and as an analyst was the purchase of the

supermarket chain for about $1,000,000,000 where we were

representing a family, trying to buy a Latin American family.

But the other bidders for the company were private equity firms, and that was

my first introduction to private equity. I remember asking the associate in the

firm. Who are these groups that don't even

have a company? And he described what it was.

And I'm like, Are you serious that somebody can raise all this money and

just with no company can buy a multinational corporation?

They said, Yeah, that's how private equity works.

So I really was I was interested in the industry, but I went to Stanford after

four years there. I decided I wanted to be a tech

investor. So what did you do?

So at the time they were not. And you remember these times there were

not that many private equity jobs. It's not like these firms hired like you

do now 100 people a year. They were very, very small.

And I got some opportunities in the Latin American group of private equity

funds. And I was very grateful for that.

But I said, the money's in the north. I want to go up and I want to go work in

Latin America. And I had an affinity towards

technology. Carl Toma hired me.

He was opening a small office in San Francisco and said, If you want to do

technology, let's talk about it and and let's work together.

So Carl Toma was a person who had started a firm called what what was it

then called, 1980 Gold or Toma. Then it became GDR.

And then our predecessor firm in 1997, when I joined, it was Tom Mackenzie.

All right, so you joined the firm and you did deals.

And from the beginning, your deals were great.

Right from the beginning, my deals were terrible because it was pre dot com

bubble burst. And instead of diving in into software

technology, we were doing or I was doing I.T.

services project based businesses really risky trying to chase a return and those

deals really really were or very poor bad deals.

I was on the cusp of not being able to be on the firm anymore in 1999 or so.

So. Karl Tomasetti, you're a nice young man.

You got some great education, pedigree, probably a good tennis player, but maybe

software buyouts are not for you said maybe the whole industry is not for you.

You know, I asked him the other day because I really thought that I was

going to get fired. I was having my first kid, then

Charlotte. And actually the pressure of business

went way down with with having a kid kind of focus on what really matters.

So I thought there's a chance that, you know, they tell me that I shouldn't be

here anymore. I asked Karl the other day where you

really think about firing me, and he said, You cost me so much money that I

wanted to get my return back. So.

So I stayed with you. So you stayed.

And then what did you do to turn things around?

What what changed that in the early part of this century, the deals turn around

in the software area. What happened is

I really listened well, I've never invented anything.

Certainly not the industry, certainly not software, private equity, because I

just borrowed components from other people.

Two things happened. One is I was failing at this I.T

services project based business kind of quasi venture investment.

That was not for me in the first place anyway.

So one of the things I looked at is I'm going to do a 180 degrees on it.

That's something I talk to young people about now is don't try to do the same

thing just a little better if it hasn't worked.

So we went for recurring revenue instead of project revenue, IP and software

instead of services, existing management of existing companies, instead of

getting new people in to turn around or chase a business or start a business, I

was one component. Now there was the luck component as well

as I was thinking through this and learning that the dot com bubble burst

and now you could buy software assets that recurring revenue stream for

nothing, 0.9 times recurring revenue, one times recurring revenue.

It was the opportunity of a lifetime. So at what point did people say, Well,

you're not only pretty good at this, you're so good, we should put your name

in the firm. We had

one fund. That started in 2000.

And that fund it in that fund, which was a generalist buy and build private

equity fund. We were becoming a software focused

firm. We did our first deal that was one of

the first take privates of a software company called Prophet 21, took it from

no margin with this great operating partner.

That's one of the most important people that has been at our company.

Marcel Bernard He's taught us everything we know about operations.

We took it from no margin with existing management to 40%.

We made five X, we did another deal, we made three X, We knew the deal with made

17 X, So very quickly we were becoming a software focused firm.

When we raised the subsequent fund to that, then the firm, the firm had my

name on it. And in that fund we did about two thirds

of our investment investments in software.

We put a line in the sand in 2008 right in the middle of the financial crisis,

and that's when we said we're going to do software only.

And do you have any 17 times your money deals like it invest in now?

That would be great. It's such a good question.

I was in a meeting in 98 with the former partnership that I was lucky to be part

of, and the conversation in that investment committee was there is no

longer. Five X plus deals and private equity

prices are too high. It doesn't exist anymore.

That was in the eighties and maybe early nineties.

And look, look at the last 20 odd years. You can still do this.

So when you call your investors and say, We made 17 times our money, I assume

they say bravo. Right.

I don't know. They may.

But but, you know, it's we and this is something personal for me.

I love to serve. I love to serve our investors.

I love having those meetings where people kind of bet on you and you come

back three years later or four years later and they're happy and they

fulfilled their goals. Why not come to Miami?

And newer city, open Minded has been extremely welcoming and basically grow

and continue to grow our culture and our differences here.

And it's turned out unbelievably well.

Why not come to Miami and know our city? Open minded has been extremely welcoming

and basically grow and continue to grow our culture and our differences here?

Tomer Bravo is part of a growing list of financial firms opening offices in the

Sunshine State from the start of 2020 through the end of March 2023.

More than 104 investment firms move their headquarters to Florida.

While many firms were lured by the state's business friendly climate and

lower taxes. It was different from Tampa Bravo.

We were growing so much in the same exact location where the kids go to the

same exact school where they all live in Silicon Valley.

You start basically talking the same way, thinking the same way, using the

same terms, using the same phrases. And I'm very, very protective of our

culture, our next generation, and the way to think differently.

To maintain its edge, Tomo Bravo moved half of its investment team from the Bay

Area to Miami. They're really coming here.

Not for the city, they're coming for the company for their job later this year.

Tomer Bravo plans to move in to 830 Brickell, a brand new 55 storey office

building in Miami's financial district. Tech giant Microsoft and finance

behemoth Citadel will be in the same tower.

But for Orlando, that doesn't make Miami the new Silicon Valley or Wall Street.

Instead of having Miami say, I want to be like this, or I'm going to be like

that, Miami has an amazing opportunity to become a really, really important

center of commerce and industry. So during COVID, you could raise money

pretty much sitting in front of a TV screen because you weren't expected to

travel. Now people expect you to travel again.

So how much of your time are you spending on the road, either looking for

deals or raising money? And how much of your time are you

spending sitting in investment committees saying, do this deal or don't

do this deal? I spend about 70% of my time

on what matters to the performance of our investors.

And those are two things helping our team buy more great software companies

and helping our team operate those companies to success.

Those are the two things young people in our firm especially are very interested

in what our mission is. We set them down, especially those that

have just come in and we say The following is our mission.

People give us money in order for us to produce relatively high and consistent

returns. And that's that's our mission.

That's what we spend our time doing. So to be somebody who's successful like

you in the buyout world, what would you recommend that somebody do?

They learn how to play tennis first? They grow up in Puerto Rico.

They go to Brown Stanford. What did you say?

Somebody young who's watching this should do if he or she aspires to be

like you, you can follow any career path and that traditional career path,

because I do have the traditional elements right around Morgan Stanley,

Stanford. And then you go from there.

There's one component of our industry that people need to focus on, and it's

not technical, and that's communication skills.

B.F. Focus on being a phenomenal

communicator. Invest in that.

Think about it. We have to convince a company to sell to

us. You just don't walk in and buy the stock

or tell them, Yeah, you're for sale. I'll pay you this price.

That takes years of relationship and effort.

Why would somebody sell you the billion dollar software company growing at 20%

just because? No way.

People hang on to these great assets. And then how do you get on the same page

with the executive team of that company, even if they're existing or new?

It requires just amazing communication. What would you say has been the best

investment advice you've ever received? I was in a meeting a long time ago when

I was getting started and there was a young partner.

That was advocating for a deal where the economics of the business were

not that proven. Call it venturing that way.

And Karl Thoma did not like the deal. And said, I really don't like this.

And the partner said, Well, Karl, if you want to make money, you have to take

risk. And he said, Not that kind.

Not That kind is the best investment advice, therefore.

And what that meant to me is think about how you just minimize risk as much as

possible from what you know and from what you can tell in that business

instead of levitating too much and focusing on other things.

So as you look at investors over the course of your career, what would you

say is the biggest mistake that investors make, either average investors

or people in your business? What's the biggest mistake that people

make not focusing on the actual business, just like software was back

then? People had general comments about it.

Oh, this space can go out of business because of that.

Focus on the business, get to know it and figure it out.

Young people in private equity. There's a thing about the diligence

process. You have all these kind of consultants

and quality of earnings and all these processes going on at the same time and

that that's not investing. You may be checking things.

Focus on the top two or three things that you need to figure out so that you

can make money on this. So today you're well known in the

private equity world, but you're also probably pretty well known in Miami.

If you go to a cocktail party and somebody comes up to you and says, I

have $100,000, I'd like to invest. What do you recommend that that person

do with $100,000? What do you think's a good idea to do

with $100,000 today? Sometimes they do, and I give them the

most boring answer ever. S&P 500.

Just by an index. By the index, you don't have to worry

about the quarterly earnings of a company.

That's something change that. Somebody change management.

You don't have to make this your full time job.

Just buy the index. You're going to be okay.

So today you're at the peak of your career.

Perhaps your firm is doing spectacularly well.

A lot of a lot of money under management.

You ever thought. I can't.

Life can't get better than this. I'll try something else because I can't

keep replicating this. I'll go and run for the Senate.

I'll run as a governor. I'll try to run for president.

You ever want to go into government or be appointed to a cabinet office?

My answer is absolutely not. You said it.

I love our industry and what I do just so much in many different ways that this

one I'm going to do for the rest of my life.