Promoting Transparency To Monetize Impact with Sir Ronald Cohen of Global Steering Group for Impact Investment
12/28/21 • 38 min
Impact Hustlers proudly welcomes one of the pioneers of venture capital and impact investing, Sir Ronald Cohen, or Sir Ronnie. Having been in the finance industry for decades, he now has the well-deserved distinction of being known as the Father of British Venture Capital. He has also founded investment firms and companies that are regarded as leaders in the social impact space.
Sir Ronnie had an interesting childhood, leaving Egypt as a refugee at age 11 and moving to the UK. From his humble beginnings, his dedication and hard work landed him in Oxford and, later on, Harvard Business School. Interestingly, at age 53, he one day sat down with the management of Apax Partners, the investment firm he founded that now has over 50 billion dollars under management, and announced he would be leaving after seven years to focus on social issues. He was then tapped by the British Treasury to lead a task force on poverty, which led him on the path of impact.
He shares how luck played a major role in his life, the valuable insights he learned throughout the years, what drove him to impact investing, and more. He also shares snippets from his book, Impact: Reshaping Capitalism to Drive Real Change, which is a worthwhile read, by the way, as well as the three major forces that are working to make the world a better place. This is truly an episode you won’t want to miss.
Sir Ronnie’s key lessons and quotes from this episode were:
- “Our success or our failure, the types of challenges we have to go through are not all within our control. And once you understand that, you become a lot stronger in meeting the challenges that come your way.” (11:27)
- “There's a greater purpose to your being on earth than just continuing to make more money.” (17:50)
- “The profit motive needs to be guided by impact. Making money and not worrying about the harm you do is no longer possible.” (24:51)
- “Mandatory reporting, use of accounting to measure impact, and measuring both social and environmental impact. If we do that, it will be a historical frontier for capitalism and for society.” (31:06)
- “Bring impact into your thinking. It's the future. You will do better financially, and you will improve the world.” (35:41)
- “Those who refuse to understand the importance of impact for the future of their businesses will once again be left behind.” (37:40)
In this episode, we also talked about:
- An overview of Sir Ronnie’s journey, his childhood, and education (2:52)
- Luck and how it helped Sir Ronnie get to where he is today (10:52)
- Why 1998 was a memorable year for Sir Ronnie (16:06)
- Integrating impact into the core of every business model (24:41)
- Sir Ronnie’s book and social impact bonds (32:39)
- The world in 10 years according to Sir Ronnie (36:13)
Impact Hustlers proudly welcomes one of the pioneers of venture capital and impact investing, Sir Ronald Cohen, or Sir Ronnie. Having been in the finance industry for decades, he now has the well-deserved distinction of being known as the Father of British Venture Capital. He has also founded investment firms and companies that are regarded as leaders in the social impact space.
Sir Ronnie had an interesting childhood, leaving Egypt as a refugee at age 11 and moving to the UK. From his humble beginnings, his dedication and hard work landed him in Oxford and, later on, Harvard Business School. Interestingly, at age 53, he one day sat down with the management of Apax Partners, the investment firm he founded that now has over 50 billion dollars under management, and announced he would be leaving after seven years to focus on social issues. He was then tapped by the British Treasury to lead a task force on poverty, which led him on the path of impact.
He shares how luck played a major role in his life, the valuable insights he learned throughout the years, what drove him to impact investing, and more. He also shares snippets from his book, Impact: Reshaping Capitalism to Drive Real Change, which is a worthwhile read, by the way, as well as the three major forces that are working to make the world a better place. This is truly an episode you won’t want to miss.
Sir Ronnie’s key lessons and quotes from this episode were:
- “Our success or our failure, the types of challenges we have to go through are not all within our control. And once you understand that, you become a lot stronger in meeting the challenges that come your way.” (11:27)
- “There's a greater purpose to your being on earth than just continuing to make more money.” (17:50)
- “The profit motive needs to be guided by impact. Making money and not worrying about the harm you do is no longer possible.” (24:51)
- “Mandatory reporting, use of accounting to measure impact, and measuring both social and environmental impact. If we do that, it will be a historical frontier for capitalism and for society.” (31:06)
- “Bring impact into your thinking. It's the future. You will do better financially, and you will improve the world.” (35:41)
- “Those who refuse to understand the importance of impact for the future of their businesses will once again be left behind.” (37:40)
In this episode, we also talked about:
- An overview of Sir Ronnie’s journey, his childhood, and education (2:52)
- Luck and how it helped Sir Ronnie get to where he is today (10:52)
- Why 1998 was a memorable year for Sir Ronnie (16:06)
- Integrating impact into the core of every business model (24:41)
- Sir Ronnie’s book and social impact bonds (32:39)
- The world in 10 years according to Sir Ronnie (36:13)
Previous Episode
Changing The Lives Of Artisans - Roberto Milk of Novica
In this world of mass-produced items and fashion, here is Novica, an impact marketplace dedicated to showcasing unique home decor, jewelry, clothing, and gifts handmade by some of the most skilled artisans all over the world. Founded in 1999 by Roberto Milk, his then-girlfriend and now-wife, and his mother-in-law, Novica empowers artisans by keeping their tradition and culture alive.
Inspired by Robert’s childhood where he loved watching National Geographic and got to travel and see the arts and crafts made by artisans in the places he visited, Novica was created. And eventually, companies like National Geographic themselves, the World Bank, and Scripps Ventures saw the positive impact of what Novica were doing and decided to fund them. Despite industry experts telling them they wouldn’t be successful, they managed to prove those people wrong.
Fast forward to the present, Roberto shares the many challenges they faced working as a dot-com startup at a time when e-commerce wasn’t even a thing yet and how they overcame those and managed to rake in $111 million dollars in sales purely for their artisans. Roberto shares that they owe the success of Novica to the fact that they are, first and foremost, artisan-focused and customer-focused. Ultimately, there are many takeaways from this interview with Roberto.
Roberto’s key lessons and quotes from this episode were:
- “The whole import/export for artisans is broken. It doesn't work. We have to reinvent it.” (17:48)
- “This is a mission-driven company at the very root. Artisans can charge more. Customers pay less. We cut out all the middlemen.” (18:16)
- “We're just thinking about customer first, like how do we provide an amazing experience for the customer and yet make it amazing for the artisan?” (24:11)
- “We want the artisan to feel like a king or queen.” (28:13)
- “Happy artisans, happy customers, and spreading global happiness” (29:24)
- “The purer the business, the less friction, the less touch, the better.” (41:11)
- “There is so much of a reduction in individual culture, language, traditions... part of the role that we want to play is keeping those traditions alive around the world, celebrating the master women and men that make these items, the time-honored techniques.” (48:49)
In this episode, we also talked about:
- How Novica was created (3:40)
- The partnership with National Geographic (12:03)
- Choosing the right business model for Novica (16:19)
- Lessons learned in 20+ years of being in business (19:45)
- How Novica remains mission-driven yet profitable (30:12)
- Artisans are in control (35:47)
- Novica as a family business (44:05)
- The world in 10 years if Novica succeeds in their mission (47:06)
Next Episode
The Vicious Cycle Of Debt - Christian Zimmerman of Qoins
Imagine a debt-free world where you’ve fully paid off your student loans, auto loans, credit card debt, and mortgage. That’s how Christian Zimmerman, one of the co-founders of Qoins, envisions the world will be with the help of their app. Qoins is a debt-free financial app that helps people achieve financial freedom by starting a habit of saving money. The beauty of this app is that everything is fully automated too. Now, who wouldn’t want to use this?
Christian shares his own experience with student loans and how creating Qoins wasn’t initially part of his plan. He simply wanted a solution to his personal problem. After reaching a low point in his life dealing with a health condition, Christian soldiered on. One thing led to another and serendipitously, Qoins was born.
He talks about the validation they received that became their impetus to building Qoins, the process of raising funds and finding investors, what sets them apart from other financial apps, as well as how him being Latino and his co-founder Nate being black somehow played a role in all this. Christian also walks us through the Qoins journey and how exactly their product works both for setting money aside and paying off debt. Financial debt is something that plagues pretty much all adults, so what Qoins does truly creates an impact, because just like maintaining physical health, our financial wealth and financial health are important aspects of our lives too.
Christian’s key lessons and quotes from this episode were:
- “I never really told myself I couldn't do something. And so, I think that was one of the biggest things that I took when I started my own company was that, I have to have that type of mentality, otherwise, it's not going to work.” (15:36)
- “The win is when we're able to say that we've successfully exited. We're able to create impact and again that goal, hitting that 100 million dollars in total debt paid off or a billion dollars, whatever we can to make sure that we did create a positive impact in our customers' lives.” (23:58)
- “By automating this habit, we build education. By educating the customer, we then create impact, and then it's a full circle.” (34:29)
- “Personal finance has three big pillars: automation, education, and recommendation.” (34:42)
- “We're in the business of putting ourselves out of business... if we've done a good job of helping everyone become debt-free, then we've probably put ourselves out of business.” (36:09)
In this episode, we also talked about:
- Christian’s personal problem with debt and the debt issue as a whole (2:00)
- Bootstrapping Qoins and how they raised funding (9:47)
- Dealing with health issues and the entrepreneurial mindset (14:31)
- Christian and his co-founder Nate’s experience as minority startup founders (21:59)
- Challenges they faced and how they overcame it (26:48)
- The Qoins experience (29:23)
- How Christian sees the world in 10 years if Qoins succeeds (36:09)
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