1
00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:02,360
Speaker 1: Robert F. Smith's life has taken him from the newly

2
00:00:02,400 --> 00:00:07,720
Speaker 1: desegregated classrooms of suburban Denver, to Columbia Business School Goldman Sachs,

3
00:00:07,800 --> 00:00:12,119
Speaker 1: and eventually to his own private equity firm, Vista Equity Partners.

4
00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:15,920
Speaker 1: Throughout his career, Smith has collected many achievements, working as

5
00:00:15,920 --> 00:00:18,200
Speaker 1: an intern at Bell Labs when he was below the

6
00:00:18,239 --> 00:00:22,479
Speaker 1: minimum age requirement, becoming the first Goldman Sachs employee to

7
00:00:22,520 --> 00:00:25,160
Speaker 1: focus solely on M and A in the tech sector,

8
00:00:25,680 --> 00:00:29,720
Speaker 1: and surpassing Oprah Winfrey as the wealthiest African American were

9
00:00:29,720 --> 00:00:33,640
Speaker 1: the net worth of three billion dollars according to Bloomberg calculations.

10
00:00:34,320 --> 00:00:39,200
Speaker 1: Smith is also a prolific philanthropist, giving generously to Cornell University,

11
00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:43,360
Speaker 1: the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture,

12
00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:46,520
Speaker 1: and Carnegie Hall, where he serves as chairman of the board.

13
00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:51,040
Speaker 1: Smith recently sat down with Carlisle Group co founder David Rubinstein.

14
00:00:51,159 --> 00:00:54,840
Speaker 1: They spoke on David Rubinstein's Bloomberg television program Peer to

15
00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:59,600
Speaker 1: Peer Conversations. When you were growing up in Denver, the

16
00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:02,200
Speaker 1: sun of school teachers, did you ever think you would

17
00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:06,160
Speaker 1: become the wealthiest African American in the United States. I

18
00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:08,800
Speaker 1: was basically raised in a family of of i'll call

19
00:01:08,880 --> 00:01:11,000
Speaker 1: it achievers. You know, my mother and my father both

20
00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:15,000
Speaker 1: had UH doctorate degrees in education, and they emphasized not

21
00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:16,680
Speaker 1: only to my brother and I, but to the rest

22
00:01:16,680 --> 00:01:20,000
Speaker 1: of the family importance of really you know, a becoming educated,

23
00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:22,640
Speaker 1: be working really hard, and and you know, see trying

24
00:01:22,680 --> 00:01:26,000
Speaker 1: to become the pinnacle of success in in in one's community.

25
00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:28,880
Speaker 1: And you know, when I look back at those days

26
00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:33,040
Speaker 1: and the formative elements of who we were in our communities,

27
00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:36,959
Speaker 1: I saw parents who gave generously of time, energy, effort,

28
00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:41,040
Speaker 1: and intellectual capacity uh to our to our community. And

29
00:01:41,360 --> 00:01:43,319
Speaker 1: I think what that led me to do was always

30
00:01:43,319 --> 00:01:46,120
Speaker 1: think about striving for excellence. Talk about your background at

31
00:01:46,120 --> 00:01:48,400
Speaker 1: a moment, but I'd like to now just explain to

32
00:01:48,440 --> 00:01:51,480
Speaker 1: people what you actually did that made this great fortune.

33
00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:53,360
Speaker 1: What we did and what I was able to do

34
00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:55,800
Speaker 1: was was bridge a couple of ideas. You know, software

35
00:01:55,880 --> 00:01:58,440
Speaker 1: is truly still the most productive tool introduced in our

36
00:01:58,480 --> 00:02:02,480
Speaker 1: business economy over the last fifty years. And through my

37
00:02:02,600 --> 00:02:04,800
Speaker 1: work when I was early as an investment banker, I

38
00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:06,560
Speaker 1: got to see a number of software companies and how

39
00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:09,919
Speaker 1: they operated and I ran across one that turned out

40
00:02:09,919 --> 00:02:11,960
Speaker 1: to be a client and ultimately the owner of that

41
00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:14,400
Speaker 1: business that that that that trust ended up being my

42
00:02:14,440 --> 00:02:17,640
Speaker 1: first investor. And that particular business had a set of

43
00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:21,480
Speaker 1: practices that they used, business practices that that helped them

44
00:02:21,560 --> 00:02:24,239
Speaker 1: run that business more efficiently than any other software company

45
00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:26,800
Speaker 1: that I that I had seen. And so in essence,

46
00:02:26,880 --> 00:02:28,720
Speaker 1: you know what I what I'll say, you know, took

47
00:02:28,760 --> 00:02:31,480
Speaker 1: some of the kernels of those best practices and said

48
00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:33,360
Speaker 1: if you took them and as an engineer and create

49
00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:37,200
Speaker 1: a process around delivering those best practices across the world

50
00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:39,720
Speaker 1: of enterprise software, you could do quite well. When you

51
00:02:39,919 --> 00:02:42,280
Speaker 1: grew up in Denver, was there a lot of discrimination

52
00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:45,360
Speaker 1: then against African Americans. I grew up at a time

53
00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:49,480
Speaker 1: when when desegregation was just starting, and so prior to that.

54
00:02:49,600 --> 00:02:51,680
Speaker 1: You know, like all cities in American large cities, you know,

55
00:02:51,720 --> 00:02:55,160
Speaker 1: there's there're segregated communities, and there still are for the

56
00:02:55,160 --> 00:02:57,720
Speaker 1: most part. And it's unfortunate I grew up in a

57
00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:01,280
Speaker 1: predominantly African American community. We all lived in that community

58
00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:03,720
Speaker 1: for the most part, because you still had redlining, you

59
00:03:03,760 --> 00:03:07,440
Speaker 1: still had an accessibility to capital to buy homes which

60
00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:09,880
Speaker 1: created in essence, the basis of a lot of the

61
00:03:09,919 --> 00:03:13,560
Speaker 1: wealth in America. So it was a time, uh, in

62
00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:17,080
Speaker 1: growing up that I really understood the importance of community.

63
00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:20,360
Speaker 1: And it was pretty much a segregated community I grew

64
00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:24,000
Speaker 1: up in until we started bussing and force busting created

65
00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:26,480
Speaker 1: the desegregation lease in the school systems. When you were

66
00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:28,600
Speaker 1: very young, your mother brought you to the march in

67
00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:32,120
Speaker 1: Washington when Martin other King maybe his famous speech, and

68
00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:34,600
Speaker 1: I think the impact of her bringing me and my

69
00:03:34,680 --> 00:03:37,360
Speaker 1: brother here not only was you know, for the summer,

70
00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:40,800
Speaker 1: but for us to understand that our community stood for something,

71
00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:43,720
Speaker 1: Our community was striving for something, and it was important

72
00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:45,560
Speaker 1: that we were a part of it. And I think

73
00:03:45,600 --> 00:03:49,360
Speaker 1: that's part of the lifelong, uh, you know, part of

74
00:03:49,400 --> 00:03:51,240
Speaker 1: my soul, which is I have to give back and

75
00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:53,840
Speaker 1: help my community move forward in in this in this

76
00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:57,040
Speaker 1: wonderful country called America. Now as we have this discussion,

77
00:03:57,040 --> 00:03:59,240
Speaker 1: now we're in the African American History and Culture Museum,

78
00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:00,960
Speaker 1: to which you're one of the largest donors. This is

79
00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:03,960
Speaker 1: very near where Martin Luther King gave a speech and

80
00:04:04,080 --> 00:04:07,160
Speaker 1: your mother was living in Denver at the time that

81
00:04:07,280 --> 00:04:10,200
Speaker 1: you correct, we're brought here, but she grew up in Washington.

82
00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:12,560
Speaker 1: She didn't point out, and your grandparents, what did they do?

83
00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:16,920
Speaker 1: My grandfather actually was the postmaster general for three post

84
00:04:16,960 --> 00:04:21,000
Speaker 1: offices here, uh in the d C. Area, And before that,

85
00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:23,080
Speaker 1: when he was in high school, he actually worked in

86
00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:25,200
Speaker 1: the Senate building. And what he did was he actually

87
00:04:25,200 --> 00:04:27,159
Speaker 1: worked in the Senate lounge and he served coffee and

88
00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:29,920
Speaker 1: tea and and you know, took you know, hats and

89
00:04:29,960 --> 00:04:32,880
Speaker 1: coats from various senators as they came in. When President

90
00:04:32,880 --> 00:04:35,760
Speaker 1: Obama was first inaugurated, I brought my grandfather, who was

91
00:04:35,839 --> 00:04:38,080
Speaker 1: ninety three at the time. And while we were sitting

92
00:04:38,080 --> 00:04:40,200
Speaker 1: there and in our seats and you know, really really

93
00:04:40,279 --> 00:04:42,480
Speaker 1: understanding and feeling the majesty of the moment for him,

94
00:04:42,520 --> 00:04:44,160
Speaker 1: he said, he granted you look up there in that

95
00:04:44,160 --> 00:04:46,520
Speaker 1: Senate building and he pointed to a window above one

96
00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:48,400
Speaker 1: of the flags. He said, I used to work in

97
00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:50,080
Speaker 1: that in that in that room, and he said, I

98
00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:53,440
Speaker 1: remember looking out that window when FDR was being inaugurated,

99
00:04:53,839 --> 00:04:55,800
Speaker 1: and he said, I remember there wasn't a black face

100
00:04:55,839 --> 00:04:58,520
Speaker 1: in the crowd. And here we are, and I'm sitting

101
00:04:58,600 --> 00:05:02,159
Speaker 1: with my grandfather saying the for black president being inaugurator.

102
00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:03,560
Speaker 1: He said, America is a great place as long as

103
00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:05,880
Speaker 1: you're really in to work hard and and and drive

104
00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:08,400
Speaker 1: forward on a set of principles and ideals that that

105
00:05:08,400 --> 00:05:11,640
Speaker 1: that are important and frankly authentic. So that sticks with

106
00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:14,320
Speaker 1: me to this day. So you went to Cornell a

107
00:05:14,400 --> 00:05:17,599
Speaker 1: new major in engineering, did chemical engineering, and now the

108
00:05:17,680 --> 00:05:20,480
Speaker 1: school at Chemical Engineering is now named after you as

109
00:05:20,480 --> 00:05:22,920
Speaker 1: a result of gifts that you've given. How about that

110
00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:26,720
Speaker 1: you graduate from Cornell and then your first job is

111
00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:29,640
Speaker 1: a good year Yeah, good year time rubber right, And

112
00:05:29,680 --> 00:05:31,800
Speaker 1: you went to Air Products and Chemicals right when the

113
00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:34,160
Speaker 1: air Products and Chemicals and worked in applied research and

114
00:05:34,200 --> 00:05:36,840
Speaker 1: development and had some wonderful experiences there. I developed some

115
00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:39,360
Speaker 1: a line of products will not call fresh back that

116
00:05:39,440 --> 00:05:42,080
Speaker 1: actually extended the shelf life of foods. And then from

117
00:05:42,120 --> 00:05:44,400
Speaker 1: there I went into craft uneral foods and there I

118
00:05:44,440 --> 00:05:47,840
Speaker 1: had product equipment and process development, um and for me

119
00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:50,359
Speaker 1: my whole life. And at that point I was all about,

120
00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:52,039
Speaker 1: you know, how do you create a solution and unique

121
00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:53,960
Speaker 1: solutions and no one else had come up with create

122
00:05:54,040 --> 00:05:55,880
Speaker 1: ideas that no one else are you know that had

123
00:05:55,920 --> 00:05:58,000
Speaker 1: had ever come up with and solve problems how did

124
00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:01,080
Speaker 1: you go from working in the engineering partners of these

125
00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:05,120
Speaker 1: various companies to a financial engineering of Goldman Stocks. Sure

126
00:06:05,279 --> 00:06:07,880
Speaker 1: is actually quite an interesting story. I I had done

127
00:06:07,960 --> 00:06:10,680
Speaker 1: very well, the top student for our first year in

128
00:06:10,720 --> 00:06:12,240
Speaker 1: business school, so I had to come back for the

129
00:06:12,279 --> 00:06:15,200
Speaker 1: summer graduation to get this award. And as they went

130
00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:17,160
Speaker 1: through my background, there was a gentleman by name of

131
00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:19,640
Speaker 1: John uton Dall, who ran his own investment bank at

132
00:06:19,640 --> 00:06:21,479
Speaker 1: the time, who was a keynote speaker, and he comes

133
00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:23,520
Speaker 1: over to me after the they give him my reward.

134
00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:26,000
Speaker 1: He is a speech and say, you have really interesting background.

135
00:06:26,440 --> 00:06:28,400
Speaker 1: Have you ever thought about a career in investment banking?

136
00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:30,280
Speaker 1: And I said, well, I said, there's a bunch of

137
00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:32,720
Speaker 1: former investment bankers in my class. I don't like any

138
00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:34,720
Speaker 1: of them, and he says, well why not. I said, well,

139
00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:36,600
Speaker 1: they think they know everything, and they're pretty arrogant. I said,

140
00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:38,719
Speaker 1: you gotta understand, I'm an engineer. We do know everything.

141
00:06:38,760 --> 00:06:41,400
Speaker 1: It bothers us and he chuckled, and I was happy

142
00:06:41,440 --> 00:06:43,520
Speaker 1: that that he didn't take offense to to my joke.

143
00:06:44,640 --> 00:06:46,720
Speaker 1: But what I did was I said, you know, honestly,

144
00:06:46,760 --> 00:06:49,680
Speaker 1: I don't understand what investment bankers. Do you know I

145
00:06:49,760 --> 00:06:52,039
Speaker 1: was a scientist, I was a technologist. I you know,

146
00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:55,280
Speaker 1: I thought about the world through that lens. And this

147
00:06:55,320 --> 00:06:57,800
Speaker 1: is another case where someone extended themselves for me, which

148
00:06:57,839 --> 00:06:59,680
Speaker 1: is why it's important that I continue to pay that

149
00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:01,320
Speaker 1: full word. And he says, why don't you come to

150
00:07:01,360 --> 00:07:03,280
Speaker 1: my office and let's talk about it. So he invites

151
00:07:03,320 --> 00:07:04,880
Speaker 1: me down and we sit down and we have lunch.

152
00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:08,440
Speaker 1: He picks up the phone and David calls people like

153
00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:10,880
Speaker 1: stand O'Neil Okay at the time was the CFO of

154
00:07:10,920 --> 00:07:14,520
Speaker 1: Maryland cultimately ran Mary Lynch and kin China and as

155
00:07:14,520 --> 00:07:18,880
Speaker 1: they're all prominent African American African American business leaders, and

156
00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:21,080
Speaker 1: all of them took the meetings and from there they

157
00:07:21,080 --> 00:07:23,200
Speaker 1: introduced me to other people to take meetings. I literally

158
00:07:23,200 --> 00:07:25,480
Speaker 1: had over a hundred interviews in the fall of my

159
00:07:25,560 --> 00:07:28,040
Speaker 1: second year in business school and figured out that mergers

160
00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:30,400
Speaker 1: and acquisitions was the only business I wanted to be in.

161
00:07:30,840 --> 00:07:33,080
Speaker 1: Uh an investment banking. And I said, because with the

162
00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:36,640
Speaker 1: exception of warfare, it's how assets get transferred on this planet.

163
00:07:36,640 --> 00:07:39,000
Speaker 1: It's a CEO level discussion, it's a board level discussion,

164
00:07:39,080 --> 00:07:42,640
Speaker 1: is a strategic discussion, and that was quite interesting to me,

165
00:07:42,760 --> 00:07:45,040
Speaker 1: and I thought I could add particular value and insights

166
00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:48,200
Speaker 1: into into that particular business. Three jobs you had before

167
00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:50,440
Speaker 1: you went to business school. Did you feel any discrimination

168
00:07:50,480 --> 00:07:53,440
Speaker 1: against you because you're African American? Yeah, I mean I

169
00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:56,400
Speaker 1: I it's one of those in America I have and

170
00:07:56,480 --> 00:07:59,640
Speaker 1: still do you know. I remember a time when I

171
00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:01,760
Speaker 1: was at ship Air Products and I was invited to

172
00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:05,120
Speaker 1: give a talk in California, in San Francisco at one

173
00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:08,480
Speaker 1: of the big conventions, and this this you know man

174
00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:10,760
Speaker 1: comes over and he asked questions about, well, how does

175
00:08:10,760 --> 00:08:12,640
Speaker 1: it work in the extension of shelf life of rice

176
00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:14,520
Speaker 1: and cooked rice? And I'm telling you how what the

177
00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:17,200
Speaker 1: you know explained that the dynamics, the biology, and the

178
00:08:17,280 --> 00:08:20,200
Speaker 1: organ and elliptic uh issues you have to think about

179
00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:23,520
Speaker 1: in addition to the microbiological issues. The guy said, you know,

180
00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:26,440
Speaker 1: you're a very smart guy. You just have your heritage

181
00:08:26,440 --> 00:08:29,400
Speaker 1: to overcome in order to be successful in business. And

182
00:08:29,480 --> 00:08:30,920
Speaker 1: you know, that kind of stuck with me at a

183
00:08:30,960 --> 00:08:33,640
Speaker 1: time that you know, after all of this wonderful work

184
00:08:33,720 --> 00:08:35,440
Speaker 1: that I'm doing, that he still viewed me through that

185
00:08:35,559 --> 00:08:37,520
Speaker 1: lens as opposed to the work that I had done

186
00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:39,360
Speaker 1: he went to Columbia Business School, and I assume he

187
00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:42,240
Speaker 1: did pretty well there because you went to Goldman Stocks afterwards. Right,

188
00:08:42,320 --> 00:08:45,240
Speaker 1: but what year did you join Goldman? So you worked

189
00:08:45,240 --> 00:08:47,120
Speaker 1: there for a while and then had you decide to

190
00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:50,120
Speaker 1: you wanted to go into technology banking. Right, So like

191
00:08:50,160 --> 00:08:51,839
Speaker 1: all things, you know, Land of the Blind one, iron

192
00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:54,880
Speaker 1: Man is king And at the time technology for us

193
00:08:55,000 --> 00:08:58,200
Speaker 1: was it was defense contractors. We had another company we

194
00:08:58,240 --> 00:09:00,880
Speaker 1: took public when called Microsoft. We had this other company

195
00:09:00,880 --> 00:09:03,320
Speaker 1: we called on called IBM, and that was the world

196
00:09:03,320 --> 00:09:06,559
Speaker 1: of technology. As far as Goldman was was concerned. Were

197
00:09:06,600 --> 00:09:09,080
Speaker 1: there a lot of African Americans in the technology area

198
00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:13,120
Speaker 1: at that time? Very few, very few ours. Our first

199
00:09:13,120 --> 00:09:15,800
Speaker 1: eminent bank around the ground in San Francisco focused on tech,

200
00:09:15,840 --> 00:09:18,600
Speaker 1: and then we decided to form a tech group and

201
00:09:18,640 --> 00:09:20,920
Speaker 1: so that created the whole, another whole, another nexus and

202
00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:24,080
Speaker 1: dynamic of of of opportunity. Your job is to convince

203
00:09:24,120 --> 00:09:27,040
Speaker 1: clients to hire Goldman. You've gotten to give them good advice.

204
00:09:27,480 --> 00:09:31,840
Speaker 1: Did you meet Steve Jobs? I didn't meet Steve Jobs personally,

205
00:09:31,920 --> 00:09:34,760
Speaker 1: but I was on the team that we actually got engaged.

206
00:09:34,960 --> 00:09:36,760
Speaker 1: We had to at the time. You may not remember

207
00:09:36,800 --> 00:09:39,840
Speaker 1: this Apple was under assault, Steven said I'm not coming

208
00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:43,280
Speaker 1: back unless there's a different board. So we fired the board,

209
00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:45,800
Speaker 1: got rid of the CEO, and invited Steve to come back.

210
00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:48,120
Speaker 1: All right, so you're doing very well out there, you're

211
00:09:48,120 --> 00:09:51,439
Speaker 1: now living in San Francisco area, you're making a big success,

212
00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:54,040
Speaker 1: you're by investment banking standards. I presume you're you know,

213
00:09:54,120 --> 00:09:57,400
Speaker 1: highly compensated. So forth, what propelled you to say I'm

214
00:09:57,400 --> 00:09:59,600
Speaker 1: going to give all this shop and go start my

215
00:09:59,640 --> 00:10:02,920
Speaker 1: own come penny? Right? So the interesting thing that occurred,

216
00:10:02,920 --> 00:10:05,000
Speaker 1: as you know, again as an engineer, the thing I

217
00:10:05,080 --> 00:10:07,800
Speaker 1: realized way back in my goodyear, entire and rubber days

218
00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:12,320
Speaker 1: the impact that software really had on businesses. The thing

219
00:10:12,400 --> 00:10:15,679
Speaker 1: that I noticed that there's very few software companies were

220
00:10:15,679 --> 00:10:18,840
Speaker 1: actually efficiently run. Well. Why Um, The big part was

221
00:10:18,920 --> 00:10:22,160
Speaker 1: most executives who started software companies, well, they wrote code

222
00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:25,199
Speaker 1: or they knew a market opportunity, and they sold the code.

223
00:10:25,360 --> 00:10:27,840
Speaker 1: There was never anyone who taught them how to run

224
00:10:27,840 --> 00:10:30,880
Speaker 1: software companies. So I then run into this the small

225
00:10:30,920 --> 00:10:33,840
Speaker 1: company i'll say small in in Houston, Texas that is

226
00:10:33,840 --> 00:10:36,360
Speaker 1: the most efficient software company I've ever seen. They had

227
00:10:36,400 --> 00:10:39,000
Speaker 1: some very basic things that they just did extremely well.

228
00:10:39,440 --> 00:10:41,520
Speaker 1: And I said, well, if you took those basic things

229
00:10:41,520 --> 00:10:45,480
Speaker 1: and and actually applied them ultimately to other enterprise software companies,

230
00:10:45,559 --> 00:10:47,559
Speaker 1: you could run those businesses very similar to the way

231
00:10:47,600 --> 00:10:51,480
Speaker 1: they ran their's and would create tremendous value in those companies.

232
00:10:51,800 --> 00:10:53,800
Speaker 1: That that was the idea. That was a conceit, And

233
00:10:53,800 --> 00:10:56,160
Speaker 1: they said, that's a good idea. Why don't you do it? Well, yeah,

234
00:10:56,200 --> 00:10:58,880
Speaker 1: in essence, I said, well, if you actually thought about

235
00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:01,840
Speaker 1: taking some of these best practices and putting them buying

236
00:11:02,040 --> 00:11:05,000
Speaker 1: enterprise software companies and driving them forward, you could actually

237
00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:06,520
Speaker 1: do pretty well. And I said that's a great idea.

238
00:11:06,559 --> 00:11:08,640
Speaker 1: Would you do that? And I said, well, you know,

239
00:11:08,920 --> 00:11:11,199
Speaker 1: they gave me one of those offers that looked quite interesting,

240
00:11:11,240 --> 00:11:14,120
Speaker 1: and I remember my lawyer said, this is a bad deal, Robert,

241
00:11:14,120 --> 00:11:16,240
Speaker 1: but you should take it. Right. So you went to

242
00:11:16,320 --> 00:11:18,920
Speaker 1: Goldman and said, I'm leaving that they try to talk about.

243
00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:21,840
Speaker 1: Of course they made the pitch against it, but you know,

244
00:11:21,920 --> 00:11:24,839
Speaker 1: I like all things, David, at some point in time

245
00:11:24,840 --> 00:11:26,360
Speaker 1: in your life, you know, you've got to look yourself

246
00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:27,760
Speaker 1: in the mirror and said, you know, you have to

247
00:11:27,800 --> 00:11:30,120
Speaker 1: take a little risk and go see if this is

248
00:11:30,160 --> 00:11:32,040
Speaker 1: something for you. When you took this, I was thirty

249
00:11:32,080 --> 00:11:34,480
Speaker 1: nine years old, and it's it's so interesting, So of

250
00:11:34,559 --> 00:11:36,760
Speaker 1: course I started doing research. It was the same age

251
00:11:36,800 --> 00:11:39,240
Speaker 1: that others left what they were doing to go start

252
00:11:39,280 --> 00:11:41,080
Speaker 1: their businesses. I said, well, let's go give it a run,

253
00:11:41,360 --> 00:11:44,040
Speaker 1: all right. So you started buying companies with the money

254
00:11:44,040 --> 00:11:46,280
Speaker 1: that from the Houston Company. How many deals have you

255
00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:49,120
Speaker 1: now done if you look at it today, it's a

256
00:11:49,160 --> 00:11:51,040
Speaker 1: little over three hundred. One of the things you did

257
00:11:51,040 --> 00:11:53,520
Speaker 1: that was unique. Many people think that buy out people.

258
00:11:53,760 --> 00:11:55,840
Speaker 1: What they do is they lever up a company, borrow

259
00:11:55,880 --> 00:11:57,679
Speaker 1: a lot of money, tell the CEO do the best

260
00:11:57,760 --> 00:12:00,680
Speaker 1: job you can, and then they hope for the What

261
00:12:00,760 --> 00:12:03,120
Speaker 1: you actually did was something different. You actually put a

262
00:12:03,160 --> 00:12:05,520
Speaker 1: system together to make sure every one of your companies

263
00:12:05,640 --> 00:12:07,720
Speaker 1: was going to follow the system. Can you explain that? Sure?

264
00:12:07,960 --> 00:12:10,280
Speaker 1: And it's important. You know, early on in the world

265
00:12:10,280 --> 00:12:13,160
Speaker 1: of software you couldn't borrow money and software companies anyway.

266
00:12:13,200 --> 00:12:16,000
Speaker 1: It wasn't until probably six o seven uh two you

267
00:12:16,040 --> 00:12:18,280
Speaker 1: could actually level up software companies, so there was no

268
00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:21,560
Speaker 1: debt available. So the only value, the value that you

269
00:12:21,559 --> 00:12:24,080
Speaker 1: could create had to be inherent in the business. You

270
00:12:24,160 --> 00:12:27,200
Speaker 1: had to now improve the operations so what we now do.

271
00:12:27,320 --> 00:12:30,360
Speaker 1: We took, you know, these kernels of best practices and

272
00:12:30,400 --> 00:12:33,559
Speaker 1: in essence of now developed a whole systemic approach. Here's

273
00:12:33,559 --> 00:12:36,960
Speaker 1: how you use this best practice to improve the the

274
00:12:36,960 --> 00:12:40,240
Speaker 1: the the efficacy of whatever that functional area is within

275
00:12:40,240 --> 00:12:42,599
Speaker 1: a within a within that company. We then have a

276
00:12:42,960 --> 00:12:45,640
Speaker 1: group now called this the consulting group that delivers over

277
00:12:45,679 --> 00:12:48,319
Speaker 1: a hundred people in that group that actually delivered these

278
00:12:48,360 --> 00:12:51,120
Speaker 1: best practices with them to the management team, and the

279
00:12:51,200 --> 00:12:54,160
Speaker 1: management team adopts those best practices. The way I like

280
00:12:54,240 --> 00:12:56,320
Speaker 1: to think about it, we install the best practices in

281
00:12:56,360 --> 00:13:00,640
Speaker 1: those businesses that actually cracks the Rubik's Cuba pro sortable growth.

282
00:13:00,840 --> 00:13:05,200
Speaker 1: Not only are we increasing the profit margins of those businesses,

283
00:13:05,200 --> 00:13:07,600
Speaker 1: but we actually can accelerate the growth in those businesses

284
00:13:07,640 --> 00:13:10,719
Speaker 1: at the same time. Let's describe Vista today. How many

285
00:13:10,720 --> 00:13:13,320
Speaker 1: employees has fished to have We have about three hundred,

286
00:13:13,400 --> 00:13:16,199
Speaker 1: so call it a hundred or so in my investment team,

287
00:13:16,720 --> 00:13:18,760
Speaker 1: hundred and so a VCG and call it a hundred

288
00:13:18,800 --> 00:13:21,280
Speaker 1: so an administration, So three hundred people in the core

289
00:13:21,760 --> 00:13:25,200
Speaker 1: of what is Vista. At what point did you realize

290
00:13:25,240 --> 00:13:27,120
Speaker 1: you were pretty good at this? It was the first

291
00:13:27,200 --> 00:13:29,600
Speaker 1: year the second year or third year, when did you realize, hey,

292
00:13:29,640 --> 00:13:31,800
Speaker 1: I'm really good at this. It took a while, believe

293
00:13:31,800 --> 00:13:34,840
Speaker 1: it or not. It wasn't until we really finished our

294
00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:38,000
Speaker 1: first fund. We actually closed out the last deal in

295
00:13:38,040 --> 00:13:40,679
Speaker 1: the first fund and said we actually are pretty good

296
00:13:40,679 --> 00:13:42,760
Speaker 1: at this. When you became very wealthy, which is in

297
00:13:42,840 --> 00:13:46,040
Speaker 1: the last few years or so, um, you became very

298
00:13:46,040 --> 00:13:49,000
Speaker 1: involved in philanthropy. Much of your giving has related to

299
00:13:49,200 --> 00:13:52,520
Speaker 1: African American related projects or causes, And I'd like to

300
00:13:52,559 --> 00:13:54,960
Speaker 1: just talk about a couple of that. The African American

301
00:13:55,200 --> 00:13:58,280
Speaker 1: History and Culture Museum where we're now at. What attracted

302
00:13:58,280 --> 00:14:01,840
Speaker 1: you to that? Uh cause sure there are two elements.

303
00:14:01,960 --> 00:14:05,040
Speaker 1: We have been staying by the history of slavery and

304
00:14:05,040 --> 00:14:07,240
Speaker 1: and and still staying by the part of you know,

305
00:14:07,280 --> 00:14:09,440
Speaker 1: of racism. But what we need to do is make

306
00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:12,560
Speaker 1: sure we have a monument to the people who have actually,

307
00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:14,440
Speaker 1: you know, put their blood into this soil that could

308
00:14:14,480 --> 00:14:17,439
Speaker 1: create it. What is the best country in the world.

309
00:14:17,480 --> 00:14:19,800
Speaker 1: So that's point number one. Point number two. I think

310
00:14:19,880 --> 00:14:23,560
Speaker 1: it's important that the people, African American people have a

311
00:14:23,560 --> 00:14:25,440
Speaker 1: place to come to feel ausens of pride of who

312
00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:28,600
Speaker 1: we are and where we're going. And also contribute their story.

313
00:14:28,760 --> 00:14:32,040
Speaker 1: The majority of my gift is actually the digitization of

314
00:14:32,080 --> 00:14:36,880
Speaker 1: the African American experience. So any family can now digitize

315
00:14:36,920 --> 00:14:40,520
Speaker 1: their photographs, their narrative, their their you know, their their

316
00:14:40,560 --> 00:14:43,560
Speaker 1: their videography, whatever it might be, and it's now part

317
00:14:43,600 --> 00:14:45,720
Speaker 1: of this museum and people will be able to learn

318
00:14:45,760 --> 00:14:48,920
Speaker 1: about their family histories in in ways that come alive.

319
00:14:49,240 --> 00:14:51,680
Speaker 1: It's just something that your parents are instilled a new

320
00:14:51,760 --> 00:14:53,560
Speaker 1: or why do you decide to become such an active

321
00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:56,400
Speaker 1: philanthropist in just a few years. I saw my mother

322
00:14:57,080 --> 00:14:59,440
Speaker 1: right at twenty five dollar check to the United Negro

323
00:14:59,560 --> 00:15:02,720
Speaker 1: College every month growing up, and even when I wanted

324
00:15:02,720 --> 00:15:05,280
Speaker 1: a new pair of you know, Converse all Stars, she said,

325
00:15:05,280 --> 00:15:07,080
Speaker 1: go earn the money to get them yourselves. As you

326
00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:09,120
Speaker 1: wrote that twenty five dollar check, which I could have

327
00:15:09,160 --> 00:15:12,640
Speaker 1: bought two pairs with. Uh, you know, she she instilled

328
00:15:12,720 --> 00:15:15,120
Speaker 1: in me the importance of giving to the community. I

329
00:15:15,160 --> 00:15:17,680
Speaker 1: saw my father who was on the board and ran

330
00:15:17,800 --> 00:15:19,600
Speaker 1: you know the local y m c as the East

331
00:15:19,600 --> 00:15:21,880
Speaker 1: Denver y m c A and you know how he

332
00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:25,960
Speaker 1: contributed time and energy and intellectual capacity on raising funds

333
00:15:26,200 --> 00:15:28,760
Speaker 1: so the kids in our neighborhood could go UH and

334
00:15:28,800 --> 00:15:31,800
Speaker 1: spend you know, camps or summer camp and and enjoy

335
00:15:31,840 --> 00:15:34,280
Speaker 1: the outdoors and understand the importance of the outdoors and

336
00:15:34,280 --> 00:15:37,120
Speaker 1: building one sense of spirit and one soul. So all

337
00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:40,880
Speaker 1: through my life growing up, you know, philanthropic endeavors were

338
00:15:40,920 --> 00:15:43,760
Speaker 1: part of my family, my family dynamic. You signed the

339
00:15:43,760 --> 00:15:45,600
Speaker 1: giving pledge was not a hard to do, which says

340
00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:48,080
Speaker 1: you're gonna give away half your wealth. It was not hard,

341
00:15:48,120 --> 00:15:50,360
Speaker 1: you know. It's it's it's it's so interesting, you know

342
00:15:50,440 --> 00:15:53,560
Speaker 1: I And it's wonderful that you know, the Bill and

343
00:15:53,640 --> 00:15:56,400
Speaker 1: Warren and folks like you are actually out there having

344
00:15:56,920 --> 00:15:59,720
Speaker 1: UH and being in evangelists for what this is. One

345
00:15:59,720 --> 00:16:03,080
Speaker 1: thing we have to do is ensure that our society

346
00:16:03,320 --> 00:16:06,800
Speaker 1: is a just society. Our society has the ability, uh

347
00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:09,360
Speaker 1: to actually cure its own problems. And you know, while

348
00:16:09,400 --> 00:16:11,800
Speaker 1: we accumulate wealth on the one hand, you know, we

349
00:16:11,880 --> 00:16:14,160
Speaker 1: need to also solve the problems that we that are

350
00:16:14,200 --> 00:16:17,760
Speaker 1: facing us today while we're alive. Part of what I

351
00:16:17,800 --> 00:16:20,600
Speaker 1: think about is I know today the problems that are

352
00:16:20,640 --> 00:16:23,440
Speaker 1: facing the communities I care about, and if I have

353
00:16:23,520 --> 00:16:26,520
Speaker 1: the capacity to do something about them. Frankly, it's on

354
00:16:26,560 --> 00:16:28,760
Speaker 1: me to do something about them, and the giving pledge

355
00:16:28,760 --> 00:16:30,840
Speaker 1: is a is a good way to put a signal

356
00:16:30,880 --> 00:16:33,240
Speaker 1: out there that say, listen this, this is the right

357
00:16:33,280 --> 00:16:36,240
Speaker 1: thing for anyone who accumulates wealth of any size. I

358
00:16:36,400 --> 00:16:39,720
Speaker 1: respective whether you sign the pledge, um to actually care

359
00:16:39,920 --> 00:16:43,040
Speaker 1: about the community in very meaningful ways. You have another

360
00:16:43,240 --> 00:16:48,640
Speaker 1: very interesting philanthropic UH project. You have a ranch that

361
00:16:48,760 --> 00:16:52,400
Speaker 1: you have converted. It's called Lincoln Hills. It's actually the

362
00:16:52,400 --> 00:16:55,920
Speaker 1: oldest African American resort community founded by African Americans, and

363
00:16:55,920 --> 00:16:58,760
Speaker 1: it was founded as a place where African Americans could

364
00:16:59,080 --> 00:17:01,560
Speaker 1: buy a plot of lion land for twenty five dollars,

365
00:17:01,600 --> 00:17:03,080
Speaker 1: build a cabin, and that's where they would come in

366
00:17:03,120 --> 00:17:05,080
Speaker 1: summer and spend a vacations. I went up there the

367
00:17:05,080 --> 00:17:08,640
Speaker 1: first time when I was just six months old. So

368
00:17:08,920 --> 00:17:12,040
Speaker 1: it goes way back in history. Everyone from Duke Ellington

369
00:17:12,200 --> 00:17:16,000
Speaker 1: to Zoro, Neil Hurston to Langston Hughes, and Count Basie

370
00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:18,199
Speaker 1: all come there. They stayed there because they could not

371
00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:21,080
Speaker 1: stay in the hotels in Denver during that that that

372
00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:25,560
Speaker 1: period of history. So over time is you know, after desegregation,

373
00:17:25,760 --> 00:17:28,199
Speaker 1: like a lot of the African American institutions kind of

374
00:17:28,240 --> 00:17:31,000
Speaker 1: fell in disrepair and got sold off in different parts,

375
00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:33,359
Speaker 1: and now we've developed a wonderful program that serves our

376
00:17:33,400 --> 00:17:35,960
Speaker 1: community in so many different ways. Six thousand inner city

377
00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:39,000
Speaker 1: kids every summer come to the ranch. We also get

378
00:17:39,040 --> 00:17:42,120
Speaker 1: to about two to three hundred wounded veterans every year

379
00:17:42,560 --> 00:17:45,280
Speaker 1: in the winter though, um, when the ranch is pretty

380
00:17:45,320 --> 00:17:47,439
Speaker 1: much shut down. One of the things that we identified,

381
00:17:47,520 --> 00:17:51,320
Speaker 1: my my wife identified this was um that there are

382
00:17:51,359 --> 00:17:54,239
Speaker 1: programs once called Together we Rise, and we partner with

383
00:17:54,359 --> 00:17:58,560
Speaker 1: that actually handles aging out foster kids. So now we

384
00:17:58,640 --> 00:18:03,000
Speaker 1: have built at the ranch a sixteen bedroom ranch house

385
00:18:03,080 --> 00:18:05,199
Speaker 1: and we can host up the thirty kids during the

386
00:18:05,320 --> 00:18:07,000
Speaker 1: during the holiday. So we host them and do all

387
00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:10,000
Speaker 1: sorts of fun activities with here a big fly fisherman.

388
00:18:10,119 --> 00:18:12,119
Speaker 1: I love it. Yes, I'll tell me what the appeal is.

389
00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:14,960
Speaker 1: Because you have a big brain and you're trying to

390
00:18:15,000 --> 00:18:18,800
Speaker 1: outsmart a small brain. So why is that so comfident?

391
00:18:19,520 --> 00:18:22,600
Speaker 1: It's it it because those little brains are are are

392
00:18:22,720 --> 00:18:25,400
Speaker 1: actually focused on outsmarting you because you're in near territory.

393
00:18:25,440 --> 00:18:29,240
Speaker 1: But the beauty of it, honestly, David, is nature. You're

394
00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:31,600
Speaker 1: standing I think about you know, all things in this

395
00:18:31,640 --> 00:18:34,600
Speaker 1: world that we live in today depend upon water. In

396
00:18:34,680 --> 00:18:36,960
Speaker 1: order to live. I think about water is being, in essence,

397
00:18:37,040 --> 00:18:40,639
Speaker 1: the literal life blood of this planet. And you're standing

398
00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:42,280
Speaker 1: in this water with your feet on the soil, and

399
00:18:42,280 --> 00:18:44,280
Speaker 1: the water is resting around you. And at some point

400
00:18:44,280 --> 00:18:47,280
Speaker 1: in time, if you open yourself to it, all things

401
00:18:47,400 --> 00:18:49,679
Speaker 1: become one and you stand there and you start to

402
00:18:49,720 --> 00:18:52,520
Speaker 1: realize that you are part of this greater this greater

403
00:18:52,720 --> 00:18:55,520
Speaker 1: consciousness of existence. And this is the fly Fishing is

404
00:18:55,560 --> 00:18:57,840
Speaker 1: just a way to stand in the water without looking ridiculous.

405
00:18:57,920 --> 00:19:00,560
Speaker 1: Now your parents are alive. My my there still is.

406
00:19:00,600 --> 00:19:03,199
Speaker 1: She's and she must be extremely proud of what you've achieved.

407
00:19:03,240 --> 00:19:04,520
Speaker 1: Does she call you all the time to tell you

408
00:19:04,560 --> 00:19:07,080
Speaker 1: how great you She usually calls me to tell me

409
00:19:07,119 --> 00:19:09,920
Speaker 1: what I need to do a little better. Her thoughtfulness

410
00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:13,960
Speaker 1: about what our community needs, uh is still very relevant, invalid,

411
00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:16,640
Speaker 1: and so she identifies areas that she says, you know, Robert,

412
00:19:16,680 --> 00:19:18,159
Speaker 1: you need to think about this, and how can you

413
00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:20,639
Speaker 1: help this one kid or these hundreds of kids in

414
00:19:21,080 --> 00:19:23,199
Speaker 1: certain ways? So what is the greatest pleasure of your

415
00:19:23,240 --> 00:19:26,359
Speaker 1: life pleasing your mother or making a great dale of money,

416
00:19:26,359 --> 00:19:30,840
Speaker 1: giving away money, catching a thirty inch rainbow? Okay, all right,

417
00:19:30,880 --> 00:19:34,040
Speaker 1: now the greatest pleasure in all honesty, David is Frankie,

418
00:19:34,160 --> 00:19:37,080
Speaker 1: just to to liberate a human spirit. And when you're

419
00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:39,880
Speaker 1: able to liberate a human spirit and see that spirit

420
00:19:40,280 --> 00:19:43,240
Speaker 1: really become its best self and that person become its

421
00:19:43,240 --> 00:19:46,440
Speaker 1: bet So that is the greatest thrill on the planet.

422
00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:48,840
Speaker 1: So what would you like to be? How people say

423
00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:52,320
Speaker 1: as your legacy? Eventually you might slow down, you might

424
00:19:52,359 --> 00:19:55,000
Speaker 1: do something else. Would you ever go into government? You know,

425
00:19:55,080 --> 00:19:57,879
Speaker 1: I don't know, you know, And like all things, you

426
00:19:58,200 --> 00:20:00,359
Speaker 1: look for areas that you can bring a unique alution

427
00:20:00,440 --> 00:20:04,160
Speaker 1: to and and solve a problem. I think the problems

428
00:20:04,200 --> 00:20:07,879
Speaker 1: I want to solve now are an equalization of opportunity

429
00:20:07,920 --> 00:20:11,200
Speaker 1: for African Americans to help them on board into what

430
00:20:11,359 --> 00:20:14,000
Speaker 1: is the the commercial enterprise that is America. You know,

431
00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:18,080
Speaker 1: how do we create sustainable career opportunities for people, not

432
00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:20,760
Speaker 1: just a job um or not just a place to

433
00:20:20,840 --> 00:20:22,800
Speaker 1: go work. And I think it's through the education, It's

434
00:20:22,800 --> 00:20:26,000
Speaker 1: through internships. So I hope that I'm able to establish

435
00:20:26,080 --> 00:20:30,120
Speaker 1: and build a sustainable fabric to identify, uh, these folks,

436
00:20:30,760 --> 00:20:33,399
Speaker 1: get them educated in in in you know, a series

437
00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:36,240
Speaker 1: of schools, get them the right internships and put them

438
00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:39,520
Speaker 1: on a path to not only be creative business leaders,

439
00:20:39,680 --> 00:20:43,520
Speaker 1: but also creative engineers and technologists that contribute to what

440
00:20:43,680 --> 00:20:46,760
Speaker 1: is the fabric of America. Robert Smith, it's a great story,

441
00:20:46,800 --> 00:20:49,359
Speaker 1: a great American story. Congratulations and what you've achieved, and

442
00:20:49,400 --> 00:20:51,320
Speaker 1: thank you very much. Thank you, David, thank you,