Episode 027: Finding the Best People & Betting the Jockey With Will Coetzer & Stratum

There is a prevailing ethos in the mining sector of “bet the jockey”. The idea being that if investors put their money behind great people success will take care of itself. But, how do we identify great people? Answering this question is more challenging than most investors acknowledge. In an industry where success is highly correlated to luck and timing, it’s easy to conflate serendipity with skill. A single past success seldom correlates to a future win, and It’s also nearly impossible to identify the hungry up-and-comers, those yet to establish a track record, who often deliver the greatest gains for investors. So how does an investor pick a jockey? Enter: Will Coetzer the founder and Managing Director of Stratum International a boutique mining recruitment and consulting firm headquartered in London, UK. Originally hailing from South Africa, Will commenced his mining recruitment career in London more than 15 years ago and after identifying a lack of strategic recruitment practices being applied to the mining sector, set out to fill the gap and founded Stratum International in 2012. Will and his team have sat across from some of greatest mining leaders of our generation and helped many of them find the people required to help create significant shareholder value, including several M&A and liquidity events. I had a great time chatting with Will and it was eye opening to see the scientific approach Stratum applies to identifying the truly great people in this sector.