

Billion Dollar Backstory
Stacy Havener
Host Stacy Havener brings you the storytelling tips, sales strategies, behavioral secrets, and inspirational stories that help YOU turn your words into dollars. Learn from sales and marketing experts. Meet finance and investment leaders, founders and fund managers who have made it, and the ones on the rise. Because there are people behind the portfolios. Their stories matter. So does yours.
Presented by:
Ultimus Fund Solutions // www.ultimusfundsolutions.com
GemCap // www.geminicapital.ie
@stacyhavener // www.billiondollarbackstory.com
Presented by:
Ultimus Fund Solutions // www.ultimusfundsolutions.com
GemCap // www.geminicapital.ie
@stacyhavener // www.billiondollarbackstory.com
Episodes
Mentioned books

Nov 20, 2024 • 51min
78: An Innovative Approach to Investing in the Energy Transition Megatrend | Meet Lisa Audet Founder & CIO, Tall Trees Capital | “Meet the Boutique Series”
Show Notes: When considering investing in the energy sector, most investors assume there are two paths to pursue: either the traditional fossil fuels route or one aligned with a greener future. Lisa Audet Founder & CIO of Tall Trees Capital believes in a third, better, way: The holistic approach represented by the energy transition, a structural megatrend affecting every sector of the economy. In this Episode, Lisa and Stacy discuss: How Lisa’s time at Tiger Cub firm sharpened her instincts around investing in the energy transition The key pillars shaping the Tall Trees’ investment strategy The “non-obvious” opportunities for helping generate superior risk-adjusted returns The outlook for the energy transition megatrend Welcome to the Meet the Boutique Series, where we’ll take you behind the scenes to see how the top asset managers innovate and thrive. Enjoy this episode? Hit Subscribe! There are more exclusive webinars to come. More About Lisa Audet: After working for more than a decade at one of the top global macro hedge funds in the world, Lisa Audet felt a desire to start something new, as she had done many times in her career. Lisa’s life-long willingness to step into the unknown was grounded in a global perspective acquired from many years of living and working overseas in South America, Europe and Africa and by 30+ years of investment experience across a diverse range of assets and industries. Driven by her prior success in energy investing, she founded Tall Trees Capital to invest in some of the most compelling opportunities represented by the secular, multi-decade themes found in the energy transition. Lisa has an undergraduate degree in International Studies from The American University. Additionally, she served in the U.S. Peace Corps and is fluent in Portuguese. Want More Help With Storytelling? + Subscribe to my newsletter to get a weekly email that helps you use your words to power your growth:https://www.stacyhavener.com/subscribe - - -Make The Boutique Investment Collective part of your Billion Dollar Backstory. Gain access to invaluable resources, expert coaches, and a supportive community of other boutique founders, fund managers, and investment pros. Join Havener Capital’s exclusive membership
- - -Make The Boutique Investment Collective part of your Billion Dollar Backstory. Gain access to invaluable resources, expert coaches, and a supportive community of other boutique founders, fund managers, and investment pros. Join Havener Capital’s exclusive membership

Nov 13, 2024 • 57min
77: Founder/CEO of $1.5B First Ascent (Acquired by GeoWealth), FinServ and Asset Management Luminary. Meet Scott MacKillop
Nobody knows what it takes to scale to the top like GEOWealth’s strategic advisor Scott MacKillop —he’s climbed literal mountains AND built some of the most successful TAMPS in the game.In this Episode, Scott and Stacy discuss: His backstory: From dreaming of following his father's footsteps as a lawyer and practicing corporate and securities law to leaping into asset managementHis journey to founding and scaling First Ascent to over $1.5B in assets and his recent sale to GeoWealth.What mountain climbing taught him about raising venture capital Why he’s a firm believer in the power of a personal brandMore about Scott MacKillop:Scott MacKillop served as CEO of First Ascent Asset Management until its acquisition by GeoWealth, LLC. He now serves as Strategic Advisor to GeoWealth and a champion for independent-minded financial advisors. He is an ambassador for the Institute for the Fiduciary Standard and a 47-year veteran of the financial services industry, having served at the helm of five Turnkey Asset Management Platforms (TAMPs).Scott is a writer and commentator on the investment management and fintech industries. He brings his unique viewpoints to industry publications, speaking on the topics of fiduciary responsibilities, practice management, and client education. An avid hiker, Scott has summited thirty “14ers,” having hiked extensively in the U.S. and internationally. He also plays lead guitar for the band at his church.Want More Help With Storytelling? + Subscribe to my newsletter to get a weekly email that helps you use your words to power your growth: https://www.stacyhavener.com/subscribe - - -Make The Boutique Investment Collective part of your Billion Dollar Backstory. Gain access to invaluable resources, expert coaches, and a supportive community of other boutique founders, fund managers, and investment pros. Join Havener Capital’s exclusive membership
- - -Make The Boutique Investment Collective part of your Billion Dollar Backstory. Gain access to invaluable resources, expert coaches, and a supportive community of other boutique founders, fund managers, and investment pros. Join Havener Capital’s exclusive membership

Nov 6, 2024 • 8min
76. How to Find the Right Investors When You Have a Brand New Fund | Story Snacks Series
Not sure how to find investors that are willing to bet on your brand new fund?Stacy’s got you covered. Listen in as she breaks down: How the Rogers Adoption Curve applies to finding the right investors The difference between early adopters (like RIAs & family offices) and late-stage allocators Why targeting late-stage firms leads to dead ends Why smaller investment committees with fewer decision-makers = less red tapeA smarter way to screen prospects, so you only spend time pitching investors who are willing to bet on a new fund This is Story Snacks! A bite-sized, jam-packed series for fund managers who are ready to master strategic storytelling in less than 20 minutes per week!
- - -Make The Boutique Investment Collective part of your Billion Dollar Backstory. Gain access to invaluable resources, expert coaches, and a supportive community of other boutique founders, fund managers, and investment pros. Join Havener Capital’s exclusive membership

Oct 30, 2024 • 58min
75: How $75B Asset Manager GMO Sparked an Award-Winning Platform for Wealth Managers, Meet Dr. Martin Tarlie of Nebo Wealth
Dr. Martin Tarlie spent years at GMO, the iconic Boston asset manager, and now leads an award-winning investing platform, Nebo Wealth. In this Episode, Martin and Stacy discuss: His backstory: from physicist/golf-performance product developer to SaaS founder How the physics mindset that followed him into the investment world turned into a novel investing approach The massive communication gap between asset managers and investorsWhy the fascination with the 60/40 allocation is misguidedHow Nebo is helping asset managers rethink risk so they can build better portfolios More about Dr. Martin Tarlie: Dr. Tarlie is a member of GMO’s Asset Allocation team and serves as the Nebo product lead. Before rejoining GMO in 2018, he was a managing director at QMA. He previously worked on GMO’s Global Equity team from 2007 to 2014. Prior to that he worked at Breakwater Trading and at Marlin Capital Corp as a fundamental equity analyst and the director of research. Dr. Tarlie earned his bachelor's degree in physics from the University of Michigan, his PhD in theoretical condensed matter physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and his MBA from the University of Chicago. He was also a postdoctoral research fellow at the James Franck Institute at the University of Chicago and is a CFA charterholder. He is passionate about building systems based on first-principles thinking, which led him to spearhead the development of Nebo Wealth, a new wealth tech platform challenging the traditional definition of risk. As an entrepreneur in the wealth tech space, Martin’s innovative approach redefines risk—not as volatility, but as not having what you need when you need it. He’s also a dedicated family man and self-proclaimed “Baseball Dad,” often found cheering his boys from the stands. Want More Help With Storytelling? + Subscribe to my newsletter to get a weekly email that helps you use your words to power your growth: https://www.stacyhavener.com/subscribe - - -Make The Boutique Investment Collective part of your Billion Dollar Backstory. Gain access to invaluable resources, expert coaches, and a supportive community of other boutique founders, fund managers, and investment pros. Join Havener Capital’s exclusive membership
- - -Make The Boutique Investment Collective part of your Billion Dollar Backstory. Gain access to invaluable resources, expert coaches, and a supportive community of other boutique founders, fund managers, and investment pros. Join Havener Capital’s exclusive membership

Oct 23, 2024 • 53min
74: Ex-ING $20B Bond Mgr to 500k Macro Research Followers to New Macro HedgeFund, Meet Palinuro Capital Founder / CIO Alfonso Peccatiello
Alfonso Peccatiello built a following of 500,000 on social media by doing something radical – by being a real, authentic human in the fund world. And that authentic social presence helped him close investment deals for his new hedge fund, Palinuro Capital. Alfonso’s story is proof that it pays to challenge the status quo and to put people (and connections) first – even in a numbers-obsessed industry. Want the full story? Join Alfonso and Stacy as they discuss:Alfonso’s backstory: How a car accident sparked his obsession with creating success on his own terms Why he’s never afraid to repel the wrong investor How his willingness to repel, both on social media and in meetings, has helped him attract more of the right investors The lesson he learned as a $20B bond manager that has served him most as an entrepreneur (spoiler alert, it wasn’t an investing technique) More About Alfonso PeccatielloAlfonso (Alf) Peccatiello is the CIO of the global macro hedge fund Palinuro Capital. Alf was born in Southern Italy, roughly 1,000 km away from the closest financial center, yet his dream was to run his own hedge fund. To get there, he had an idea: share macro analysis and frameworks with the world through his research firm, The Macro Compass, first, establish relationships, and only after spinning out his macro hedge fund. After scoring the largest asset managers in the world as clients of his research, here we are: his global macro hedge fund, Palinuro Capital, is ready to launch in January 2025. As a proper Southern Italian, Alf stands by three culinary rules: no cappuccino unless it's breakfast, no pineapple on pizza, and never break pasta in pieces!Want More Help With Storytelling? + Subscribe to my newsletter to get a weekly email that helps you use your words to power your growth: https://www.stacyhavener.com/subscribe - - -Make The Boutique Investment Collective part of your Billion Dollar Backstory. Gain access to invaluable resources, expert coaches, and a supportive community of other boutique founders, fund managers, and investment pros. Join Havener Capital’s exclusive membership
- - -Make The Boutique Investment Collective part of your Billion Dollar Backstory. Gain access to invaluable resources, expert coaches, and a supportive community of other boutique founders, fund managers, and investment pros. Join Havener Capital’s exclusive membership

Oct 16, 2024 • 8min
73: How Do I Move Deals Through the Funnel | Story Snacks Series
Struggling to win investors over? Stop wasting time perfecting your pitch and start laying the groundwork that’ll actually help you seal the deal. In this episode, Stacy shares the steps you can take to prime your prospects to invest so they’re ready to say hell yes before you even think about pitching. This is Story Snacks! A bite-sized, jam-packed series for fund managers who are ready to master strategic storytelling in less than 20 minutes per week!Want More Help With Storytelling? + Subscribe to my newsletter to get a weekly email that helps you use your words to power your growth: https://www.stacyhavener.com/subscribe - - -Make The Boutique Investment Collective part of your Billion Dollar Backstory. Gain access to invaluable resources, expert coaches, and a supportive community of other boutique founders, fund managers, and investment pros. Join Havener Capital’s exclusive membership
- - -Make The Boutique Investment Collective part of your Billion Dollar Backstory. Gain access to invaluable resources, expert coaches, and a supportive community of other boutique founders, fund managers, and investment pros. Join Havener Capital’s exclusive membership

Oct 9, 2024 • 56min
72: Y Combinator and Thiel Fellowship Alum Building Tech-Enabled Wealth Management Firm, Meet Savvy Wealth Co-Founder, CEO Ritik Malhotra
Today’s guest, Ritik Malhotra, is the co-founder and CEO of Savvy Wealth, a Tech-Enabled Wealth Management Firm that surpassed $700 million in assets in just three years.In this episode, Ritik and Stacy discuss:Ritik’s backstory: How his obsession with coding (that started in elementary school) turned into a thriving business that funded his college education How he became an exiting founder at just 21 years old Lessons learned from raising a 26.M series A round: Why storytelling matters when fundraising Why it pays to provide a modern, tech-forward experience as an advisor in 2024More About Ritik Malhotra Ritik Malhotra is the founder and CEO of Savvy Wealth, a digital-first platform for financial advisors centered around modernizing human financial advice. Savvy Wealth builds proprietary technology to empower advisors as its affiliate RIA Savvy Advisors to increase efficiency, automate mid-and-back office workflows and build stronger client relationship. A 32-year-old tech founder with 2 exits in his 20s, Malhotra was inspired to found Savvy Wealth after his second exit, and realized that today's advisors were not providing a modern, tech-forward experience. A YCombinator and Thiel Fellowship alum, Malhotra was named among the “Ten to Watch” in 2023 by WealthManagement.com, one of the most well-regarded publications in the wealth management space.Want More Help With Storytelling? + Subscribe to my newsletter to get a weekly email that helps you use your words to power your growth: https://www.stacyhavener.com/subscribe - - -Make The Boutique Investment Collective part of your Billion Dollar Backstory. Gain access to invaluable resources, expert coaches, and a supportive community of other boutique founders, fund managers, and investment pros. Join Havener Capital’s exclusive membership
- - -Make The Boutique Investment Collective part of your Billion Dollar Backstory. Gain access to invaluable resources, expert coaches, and a supportive community of other boutique founders, fund managers, and investment pros. Join Havener Capital’s exclusive membership

16 snips
Oct 2, 2024 • 1h 1min
71: Taking the Guesswork out of Private Market Investments with Opto Investment Co-founder Jacob Miller | Why Financial Advisors are Leaning into Alternative Investments in 2024
After working for the world’s largest hedge fund, Bridgewater, for over five years, today’s guest, Jacob Miller, found his passion — making investing accessible. This passion led him to co-found Opto Investments, a tech-driven private markets platform. In this episode, Jacob and Stacy dive into: Jacob’s backstory: how he went from aspiring doctor to advisor at the world’s leading hedge fund, Bridgewater Opto’s mission to decode complex market dynamics so average people can better understand their investments Why making people feel dumb, so they think they need you in order to invest, is a dead (and unethical) strategy Opto’s foolproof strategy for standing out in the crowded tech industry How Opto’s platform helps financial advisors differentiate and tackle alternative investments More About Jacob MillerCo-founder, Jacob Miller, is Opto’s Chief Solutions Officer, a key figure in its leadership team and central to its growth strategy. He spearheads initiatives for Opto's fiduciary partnerships and the systemization of institutional-quality private markets investment techniques and programs. Before co-founding Opto, Miller spent nearly five years as an investor at Bridgewater Associates. Miller has a passion for sensible long-term investing, systematizing investment processes, and distilling complex market dynamics into clear, logical linkages that help people better understand their investments. Having managed money for family and friends since he was 16, Miller is a certified market junkie. While he has a background in macroeconomics and high-yield debt, he finds the challenges and opportunities in the private markets space far more interesting and important, both for investors and society.Want More Help With Storytelling? + Subscribe to my newsletter to get a weekly email that helps you use your words to power your growth: https://www.stacyhavener.com/subscribe - - -Make The Boutique Investment Collective part of your Billion Dollar Backstory. Gain access to invaluable resources, expert coaches, and a supportive community of other boutique founders, fund managers, and investment pros. Join Havener Capital’s exclusive membership
- - -Make The Boutique Investment Collective part of your Billion Dollar Backstory. Gain access to invaluable resources, expert coaches, and a supportive community of other boutique founders, fund managers, and investment pros. Join Havener Capital’s exclusive membership

Sep 25, 2024 • 52min
70: $100B in Platform Assets Arch Co-Founder, Ryan Eisenman on the Power of Solving Client Problems | What Matters in Raising Venture Capital | Why Founder-Led Sales is the Way
As co-founder and CEO of Arch, Ryan Eisenman is on a mission to take the hassle out of investment operations. Arch is a $100B tech platform that replaces the spreadsheets, manual labor, and outdated systems of old. In this episode, Ryan and Stacy discuss:Ryan’s backstory: How the strategy behind his grandfather’s variety store inspired his entrepreneurial modus operandi — give the people what they want His sales secret weapon —K-1 cookies that end up in his prospects’ bellies instead of the trash folder in their email inbox How he mastered sales without any formal training How Arch surpassed their goal and raised $5 million in venture capital More About Ryan Eisenman:With over six years as the co-founder and CEO of Arch, Ryan Eisenman brings extensive private investment expertise to the table. Before founding Arch, he gained valuable experience at eight financial service companies, including Deloitte, Routier, and TechStars. Ryan is well-versed in the evolving trends of the private investment sector and the transformative impact of technology on the industry. As private markets continue to gain popularity, Ryan remains dedicated to helping advisors and their clients easily invest in private markets and efficiently diversify their portfolios.Want More Help With Storytelling? + Subscribe to my newsletter to get a weekly email that helps you use your words to power your growth: https://www.stacyhavener.com/subscribe - - -Make The Boutique Investment Collective part of your Billion Dollar Backstory. Gain access to invaluable resources, expert coaches, and a supportive community of other boutique founders, fund managers, and investment pros. Join Havener Capital’s exclusive membership
- - -Make The Boutique Investment Collective part of your Billion Dollar Backstory. Gain access to invaluable resources, expert coaches, and a supportive community of other boutique founders, fund managers, and investment pros. Join Havener Capital’s exclusive membership

Sep 18, 2024 • 1h 11min
69: Rewind | Portfolio Manager of $18B Long/Short Hedge Fund to President of $4B+ Wealth Mgmt Platform, Shannon Spotswood President of RFG Advisory on the Power of the Pivot | How to Lead with Authenticity | Why Your Personal Brand is an Asset
Imagine, you’re a woman – one of very few women even in hedge funds. And you’ve got your dream job, a high-powered hedge fund manager for a double-digit billion specialist hedge fund.Now, imagine what it would take to give that up. Guts. That’s what. Today’s guest, Shannon Spotswood had the guts to make a major career change when she was at the top of her game. She did something unheard of and it paid off. Shannon is one of the only people I know to go from one side of the table in the investment world to the other and do so with style, grace, and massive success. That’s why I can’t wait for you to hear from her as we discuss: Her backstory – from a 14-year old girl already dreaming of working on Wall Street to making her place in this male-dominated industry The breaking point that led her to step away from her dream job and finance altogether How that break reenergized her and redirected her back to the investment world where she found true passion and purpose at RFGMore about Shannon:Shannon is President of RFG Advisory, a $4.5B wealth management platform who just took on an equity partner with a vision of revolutionizing the game. RFG was built by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs – advisors who have a touch of rebel in their DNA.Want More Help With Storytelling? + Subscribe to my newsletter to get a weekly email that helps you use your words to power your growth: https://www.stacyhavener.com/subscribe Resources mentioned in this episode:Books: The Hard Thing About Hard Things, Ben Horowitz | Powerful, Patti McCord | Atomic Habits, James Clear | The Power of Now, Eckhart TolleSong: Coolio — Fantastic Voyage
- - -Make The Boutique Investment Collective part of your Billion Dollar Backstory. Gain access to invaluable resources, expert coaches, and a supportive community of other boutique founders, fund managers, and investment pros. Join Havener Capital’s exclusive membership