How can a family office keep its investment strategy relevant across generations?
Short answer: A founder focused on real estate may not share their children's interest in clean energy or blockchain. Matthew says dialogue can help the family keep its investing legacy relevant to both generations.
In an investor mandate interview, Richard C. Wilson asks Matthew about investing across generations in a family office.
Matthew on generational interests
Matthew says a first-generation founder who made money in real estate may be less interested in clean energy or blockchain. Their children may be very interested in those areas. (at 8:37)
Matthew on cross-generation dialogue
Matthew says families need a process for dialogue across generations. He says that can keep the investing legacy exciting and relevant to both the current and next generation. (at 8:37)
Matthew on younger relatives managing a pool
Matthew says some families are putting part of their philanthropy pool into targeted early-stage tech investing. He says one or two younger family members who care about the area may manage that money under family guidance. (at 9:34)
"you need to have a process where you can have a dialogue across the generations"
From Richard's exclusive Billionaires.com interviews
Lessons from Richard C. Wilson's one-on-one interviews, as published on each interview page.
- Anu Aga: Check before you give. Study the work of an NGO, ask more questions, and visit it if you can. This leads to an informed decision.
- Tim Draper: Make your customers your sales force. Hotmail put a message at the bottom of the screen inviting people to get free email. It spread to 11 million users.
- Don Wenner: Commit to scale. Don's major turning point came when he decided to build a great company that makes an impact. Making money and being successful was not enough for him.
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Frequently asked questions
How can a family office keep its investment strategy relevant across generations?
A founder focused on real estate may not share their children's interest in clean energy or blockchain. Matthew says dialogue can help the family keep its investing legacy relevant to both generations.
How can a new investor avoid orphan investments?
Matthew says people can end up with orphan investments when they get excited, place a few bets, then realize their investment thesis has changed.
What should someone do before choosing investments?
Matthew advises spending time meeting people and attending events, then clarifying what they care about and whether they want to invest actively or passively, and in which areas.
Sources
Quotes are copied from the video captions and checked against the transcript. Timestamps link to the moment in the video. General information only, not legal, tax or investment advice.