Steve Schmidt 🧲

Content Strategy and Revenue Architecture - Creator of SOS (Sales Operating System), for top of funnel

25 years in B2B sales. I don't know why either.

Started at AT&T and T-Mobile back when people still answered cold calls. They don't anymore. That's probably my fault somehow.

Worked at Outreach during the "sales tech will fix everything" era. It didn't fix everything. It did generate a lot of dashboards. Beautiful dashboards. Dashboards you could get lost in. People did.

Founded TIDAL. Built it into the leading sales development company worldwide. Trained thousands of SDRs to book meetings that account executives would then complain about. A tale as old as time. M&A. 

Started Magnetic. Supported 50+ Executives over 2.5 years with LinkedIn Lead Generation through Video Content Development. 2.5 years in spun up a local podcast, SpotLight Sioux Falls, to help celebrate the founders and leaders in the community we live in. 1.5 million views with 70+ episodes aired in 7 months. 

Leading GTM and Business Development with Pronto Networks, while owning and continuing to help lead GRAVITY Growth, A Video Content First Agency, and GRAVITY Wellness, A Video First System to Show Up When It Matters Most, throughout the patient and client health and wellness journey. 

I’m in the sweet spot: B2B GTM + revenue by trade, building alongside founders and C-level teams by choice—helping lead the future of employee, vendor, kiosk, and robotics experiences.

CRO, Owner and Content Led Selling Evangelist

MAGNETIC is the global leader in Content Led Selling, guiding the B2B world into the new method of generating revenue.

Steve Schmidt

Grow your investment boutique 📈 Founder / CEO @ Havener ⭐ $30B AUM for boutiques w/ The Billion Dollar Blueprint™ 💲 Story-led sales & marketing for founders, fund mgrs, and teams 🎤 Speaker ▪ Podcast Host

Hi, I’m Stacy - a blue-collar girl from the Berkshires who turned a way with words and love of numbers into a business that has raised billions for boutique asset managers.
 
I’ve raised $8B+ for new/undiscovered funds that led to $30B+ in follow-on AUM.

Being a female founder in the male-dominated investment industry at the age of 30 required a huge leap of faith in connecting two tribes: talented boutique asset managers and early adopter investors.

The leap of faith was spot on. 

10+ years later, Havener Capital Partners leads the industry in helping investment boutiques grow. We help clients in three ways: (1) Embedded as part of your sales and marketing team (2) Consulting on sales and marketing efforts with you (3) Coaching you and your team in our membership community

Whether it’s consulting and masterminds, expanding sales and marketing capabilities, or connecting to our network of RIAs and family offices, clients benefit from an expert team and a time-tested framework that has raised billions for boutiques.

If I can be of assistance, please reach out at stacy@havenercapital.com

A little more about me: 

I’m obsessed with all things old school – hip-hop music, classic cars, craft cocktails and vintage furniture. My best lessons in life were learned on the soccer field where I went from picking flowers at the age of 9, to playing on all-boy teams, to becoming an Academic All-American in college. 

Most days you will find me at our office in the city-by-the sea, Newport, RI, sitting next to my reggae-loving husband (who is also my business partner), with a Dunkin Donuts coffee in my hand, and our rescue pitbull at my feet. In addition to building a business together, Erik and I are raising a daughter which is by far my favorite adventure. 

At the heart of it all, there is one thing I believe in – underdogs. Doesn’t matter who we are or what industry we are in, we all start from the bottom; we have all been underdogs. This rebel spirit fuels me every day.

Stacy Havener

Studies say that 7 vacations a year for 3-4 days is optimal. I completely disagree. 

More frequent shorter vacations might work for some. 
It's a total bust for me. 

I don’t take 7 vacations a year.
I take 2 to 3.
But they are over 7 days each. 

In fact, two weeks minimum.

Because here's what my research says:

• The first 3 days I’m still answering emails in my head (and on my laptop)

• By day 5, I stop checking my phone every hour.

• Around day 7 my mind finally exhales.

That’s when the real vacation starts.
That's where I am this morning (finally)

When I took shorter vacations, I'd never really rest or restore

I'd either still be in work mode
or 
I'd be partying like it was 1999 and need a vacation from my vacation when I got back

I have learned that I need time on my side and 14 days is my minimum

There is another added benefit of a 2 week break

Our team gets to step up without me as a safety net.

In 3 days, stuff can wait til the "boss" is back
In 14 days, the team is the boss

Will things break? Sure. 

But then we can work together to fix 'em
and for every one thing that might break, 10 others will shine bright and run without me.

A break doesn't mean broken. I have found it's healthy for me and for our team to get some real space.

14 days is my magic number
Day 7 is game on

👉 Maybe a longer vacation is a founder thing or is it just a me thing? Are you team more but shorter hols or less but longer ones??

I shared this in my prez to an inspiring group at a $50B asset management firm this week. 

As an example of The Visibility Effect in action.

📽️ Olympic freestyle skier Eileen Gu’s response when a reporter asked her if she lost 2 gold medals or gained 2 silvers. 

😶

First, she laughed. (might be my fave part of her respectful yet powerful clap back)

Then she flipped the narrative instantly.

-- She owned her story - her unique expertise and her value.

-- She showed it - the most decorated female freestyle skier in history. Not bragging, facting.

-- She claimed it - she took up space not just with her words but also her behavior:  I deserve to be here, in this seat, at this table

(and she closed her comment with grace and gratitude)

That’s the Visibility Effect in action.

Each of those 3 steps are difficult and require bravery. 

Videos like this from people like Eileen Gu don't just show us how it's done but also let us borrow their courage. 

We can be it, if we don't see it. 

Flowers to every person who chooses to be seen. You inspire us. 💐

And flowers to the incredible people at Polen Capital who practiced visibility with courage this week. Proud to be your partner. 🙌😁💐

Vid credit: AccessHollywood

Your story is money - don't believe me?  

My story has earned me millions of dollars:  

⤷ Get scholarships  
⤷ Score a new job 
⤷ Earn a promotion 
⤷ Land board seats
⤷ Secure speaking spots 
⤷ Launch my own biz 
⤷ Find great clients
⤷ Hire a great team 
⤷ Pivot my biz 
⤷ Make friends  

(that last one is priceless 💐)  

Doesn't matter what industry we're in 
People do business with people in them all  

Is it uncomfortable to share your story? 
Yes  

It's taken me years to get there and I still struggle 

Do it anyway  

Your story is money™
Literally and figuratively  

📌 How has owning your story helped you in life/biz?  

Need a sign? This is it.  
 
Need help? DM me.  

=  
➜ We help investment firms use their words to get more dollars  
➜ It starts with strong stories and sharp differentiators
➜ If you feel successful, but stuck, we got you

I (almost) can't believe what I am about to say. 180 new investor prospects on our client's funnel from an old school marketing campaign. 

Webinars

(insert crickets chirping)

I know. 
Same.

Here are things that went thru my mind:

-- 1998 called and wants their strategy back
-- Please send that report to me via fax
-- Can you ring my Blackberry to discuss

🤣

But here's the deal

It works

When done well a webinar is one of the most successful, underutilized marketing, sales, and IR tools in all the land. 

It's like the 6th man of comms.

Call me a value investor but I'd trade all the AI newfangled whirligigs for a laptop, an Internet connection, and WebEx. 

(just kidding people. there's a new thing called Zoom)

Sometimes old school beats new school

(old school new school need to learn tho burn baby burn like a disco inferno 🎶 - just in case you doubted that my mind thinks in 90s rap lyrics)

While you contemplate what it'd be like to get $180 - $360 million in new pipeline from a webinar (and that's at very conservative avg allocations) 

I will be here anxiously awaiting all your digs. Go ahead. Drop gems on my renewed love of webinars. 

Signed, 90s chick

👉 (what did I have for breakfast today. this post is off the rails. maybe I had a McGriddle. 🤣🤣 'member that... I can't)

I am part of a friendly takeover next week. 5 days. 0 rules. 1 brave team (+ a leadership lesson)

Next week I’m handing over my LinkedIn.

Completely.

No rules.
No previews.
No edits from me.

Just loads of trust and bushels of talent.

Here’s why this is one of my favorite weeks of the year:

Havener's squad is stacked 

→ We have talented creatives.
→ We have wicked smart people.
→ We have cry laugh funny people.
→ We have gifted storytellers.
→ We have glue hands operators who quietly make dreams real not just for me... also for our clients.

And most of LinkedIn never gets to meet them.

That changes next week.

Because this isn’t just a “fun takeover.”

(here is the leadership lesson)

It’s employee advocacy in action.

And not the corporate, copy-paste, share-the-company-post kind.

The real kind.

The kind where leadership is democratized.

Where we believe:

→ Everyone has a unique power.
→ Visibility isn’t reserved for the founder.
→ Authority can be distributed.

Inside The Visibility Effect, we talk about 3 pillars of choosing to be seen:

Own it
Show it
Claim it

This takeover is part of that movement.

We don’t build personal brands so one person shines.

We build them so the whole hive glows.

(High five to the Queen Bees 🐝)

If our work is about story-led sales and marketing strategies

Then our team should be living proof.

We are walking the talk.
Follow along next week.

Get to know the other amazing humans @ Havener.

And if you’re a founder or exec still holding the mic too tightly and layering compliance and corporate rules around everything...

Maybe this is your nudge.

Leadership isn’t diminished when it’s shared. It multiplies.

Stay seen, stay storied.

And watch this page for what I am sure will be a week of treats 🍿

👉 Who thinks my beach walk and talks are going to get made fun of... 🙋

PS I will be in the comments bc I can't miss this 🙌

Hard work creates expertise. Visibility creates opportunity. (I struggle with this. Let's unpack it at a Jamaica beach.)

The Visibility Effect has three pillars
Own your story / value
Show it
Claim it

Each aspect has some courage baked in
but that second one

Ugh. 

We were told not to be a show off, not to brag, not to want the spotlight. 

That's v real and also true on some levels 

But if we don't embrace the power of visibility and show others what we are doing, what we are uniquely good at, the value we are creating, we will remain in the shadows. We will be overlooked.

There's a line in the F1 movie that I can't stop thinking about. 
"Sonny Hayes isn't a has been, he's a never was."

A Never Was. 

(gawd that breaks my heart)

I don't want that for any of us. 

I don't want you to be the best kept secret.

And I am right here with you on the journey.

Let's go.

I am not boring. But for years, I brought my boring-est self to work.

Might as well have called it The Boring Blueprint. I was executing it perfectly. 

I believed, like many people, that authenticity / personal brand somehow takes away from professionalism. 

That's why we put on the armor of boring and generic before we go to work. 

I did it for years. 

- Hair pulled back in a low pony
- Brooks Brothers suits (purchased in the boys section to save a few bucks)
- Minimal make-up bc too pretty somehow meant not too smart 
- I sat still, stayed quiet, took notes
- I smiled but not too much
- I chuckled at the appropriate times but never cry-laughed 
- I did what I was told and what was expected of me

Then I realized I wasn't me anymore and the story I was living wasn't my own.

I started to feel like my life was for rent and I listened to that Dido song on repeat

Until one day I sat there as the founder of a business that was almost 10 years old, raising a shitton of money, telling other people's stories... and realizing I never told my own. 

So, with some brave friends and colleagues by my side. I stopped hiding.

I chose to be seen. 

And my business and my world changed. 

Today I am delivering a presentation on The Visibility Effect with a $50B asset manager to help their team do the same. 

So bear with me while I flashback to my own journey and my first photo shoot where I literally had rap music playing and tequila in my glass. 

Bc that is me. 

I have Dunkin coffee in my cup r n and  rap music on now (Dax iykyk that YouTube vid still dre omg the beat and the lyrics 🔥)

Here's to being successful professionals and real people at the same time.  

Those 2 things are not mutually exclusive. 

LFG.

My first 2 mandates as a third-party capital raiser were for European managers who wanted to tap the U.S. market.

They were big brands in their home countries.

Stateside?

No one knew them.

Half the time people couldn’t even pronounce their names. (Those two dots over the “a” were tricky if you weren’t used to it. 😉)

One of those 2 became one of my greatest success stories.

And introduced me to some of my favorite people in this industry - many of whom I’m still friends with 20 years later. (run thru a wall for anyone in that OG crew)

When we started:

• $17 million in the fund
• Horrible performance
• New leadership team
• Legacy PMs fired
• A young analyst promoted to lead

On paper?

It should have failed.

We went on to raise billions.
Alongside a super awesome internal biz dev team.

That first fund closed around $20B.
Firm AUM peaked near $60B.

The U.S. institutional and wealth markets worked for them.

Early.
And often.

Here’s why:

→ Specialists in an asset class that benefited from a non-U.S. perspective

→ Smart, talented, fun people who cared deeply about each other and their clients and believed in their mission

→ It was different. The philosophy. The process. The accents.

(Don’t laugh. That last one resonates more than you think.)

And yet…

For every story like that, there are 20 non-U.S. boutiques who never make the leap.

Not because they can’t compete.

But because they assume:

→ “The U.S. is too competitive.”
→ “We don’t know the gatekeepers.”
→ “Our brand won’t translate.”
→ “We’re too different.”

But different is the point.

The U.S. market doesn’t need another copy-paste manager.

It rewards:

• Clear specialization
• Conviction
• Cultural edge
• A perspective that feels fresh

The firms who win don’t try to sound American.

They learn how to translate their edge into a narrative U.S. allocators understand.

That’s distribution but not just in the bodies knocking on doors kind of way 

It's positioning.
It's story.
Those build confidence.

So I'm pondering 2 things:

1. Why don’t more non-U.S. boutiques come to the States?

2. Could we help them own what makes them different and bring them here the right way?

🤔

And if you’re a specialist manager sitting across the Atlantic wondering if the U.S. market could work for you…

It just might.

👉 Why don't more non US managers make the leap? What's in their way?

I am not a fund manager, but I "get" fund managers (and that is a big secret to my success)

I love to geek out on some investment talk and some stats and some cool charts and some fascinating differentiated views 

But the secret to my success isn't my passion for investments

It's actually more basic than that

More human

Here's what I mean:

Really smart talented investment people are rare birds

They have awesome insights, connect dots at crazy levels, and see things others don't. 

They can come across as standoffish, cold, maybe even arrogant when they meet people.

In my experience, it's often the opposite.

They are quiet and aloof but it's not because they are arrogant. Typically it's because they are nervous or uncomfortable in social settings. They are human.

And we expect these "beautiful minds" behind their Bloombergs and excel sheet to also be charismatic and charming salespeople in meetings.

That's a lot of pressure. 

The biggest secret to my success in raising billions of dollars is understanding people at a human level:

who they are and why they do the things they do

because if I understand that, and all the nuances around it, I can really help them

This is the basis for what I call Human to Human Selling (H2H)

The quietest people often feel things most deeply. They need someone to see them and help them. We all do. 

👉 Have you found this to be true for yourself or others you have worked with?

How to go viral... and here's what I think.

Without even realizing it, I've been reverse-engineering content since I was handed a phone.

TikTok, Instagram, whatever app you haven't heard of yet (I'm easily persuaded when it comes to those things). But I was never just scrolling. I was studying.

Every day, I'd watch something go viral and dissect it: Why did I stop scrolling? Why did I care? Why did this random person's unfiltered take get 2 million views while a brand's perfectly polished ad got ignored? How many times have I seen this same advertisement on my screen?

In a world drowning in content, I became obsessed with one question: what makes people actually pay attention?

Four months into my first post-graduation job, with no financial background, just a degree in marketing, I'm starting to see the answer more clearly.

Authenticity wins—even when it's imperfect. Actually, it connects better because it's not perfect.

For example, TikTok—the most powerful content algorithm ever built—doesn't reward the most polished videos. It rewards the most real ones. A shaky camera. An unscripted pause. A creator talking to you from their car. Authenticity builds trust faster than any production budget ever could.

So walking into an industry I knew nothing about four months ago was intimidating. Still is, honestly.

But here's the one thing I know for sure: post that video. Share those ideas. Put your thoughts out there—even when they feel random, half-formed, or imperfect.

Because the imperfect stuff? That's the stuff that actually connects.

•••••••••

Stacy’s out and trusted her team at Havener Capital Partners with her LinkedIn this week. Bold move.

I’m Kendall Walsh, and I help investment boutiques tell their story authentically.

I will help 250,000+ people this decade. (You can too. Here's how + math + 💐)

We are each sitting on a gold mine of positive impact. 

I know because of the notes I get in my DMs, the conversations I have with people who know me from LinkedIn, or heard me on a podcast, or saw me speak

Visibility creates opportunities for us

and also for others 

Let's get to the mathing:

Think about this

If we inspire just 10 people a day to be more authentic, more excellent, more themselves

-- That’s roughly 300 people in a month

-- Over 3,000 in a year

-- Over 30,000 in a decade

And if each of them influences just 10 more people?

Now we’re talking about 300,000+ lives touched.

(That's the math with 10
you can put a few turns of leverage on it, wow, the positive impact we can create)

🤯

That’s the compounding power of visible leadership.

This is The Visibility Effect.

When we:

• Own our story and our value
• Show it with courage 
• Claim our seat at the table

Opportunities expand for us.

But when we layer in The Give → Gain Flywheel the visibility compounds for others

When we lead with generosity
When we share lessons, not just wins
When we shine in a way that lights the path for others

When we use our story to help people get in touch with their own

The impact multiplies

Our visibility does something for others

It’s about caring
It’s about contribution
It’s about compounding human potential

Leadership is getting democratized. The Visibility Effect helps every one of us become a leader at our work and inside our lives 

Friday Flowers 💐

🌸 To the leaders who go first and positive
🌸 To the founders who model courage
🌸 To the once quiet experts who decide their voice matters

We don’t need millions of followers.

We need courage to own our story and value, show it consistently, and claim the power that is lying dormant inside everyone of us.

We need that 
And 10 people a day

👉 Have you influenced others by showing up here? Tell me. 💐🙌

3 common mistakes I see in fund intro emails (and some easy fixes)


We review a lot of intro outreach emails from fund houses. 

Real talk: They typically aren't great. 😬

(Please know I write this with peace and love ❤️ bc I want us to do better)

Here are 3 patterns we see 👇

---

1️⃣ Too many words

Trying to explain everything about us 
(That's a double whammy btw iykyk)

Who we are
What our strategy is

Plus 

The track record
The pedigree
The stats

That takes a lot of paragraphs 

Which means a lot of work for the allocator

If it takes 3 scrolls to understand what this email is about, we’ve already lost them.

💡Studies show we have < 8 seconds to make someone care in an intro email 

Easy fix:

→ 50 to 125 words 
→ 5 sentences

(Did you just spit out your coffee? Sorry but it's true)

Think: curiosity > completeness.

---

2️⃣ Too many attachments

"Here's 5 paragraphs plus every single piece of collateral we have."

Pitchbook
Fact sheet
Quarterly letter
Case study

We basically PDF all over them before they’ve even said Hi.

Not only do attachments scream
“You do the work.”

But we've literally played every . single . card . in our hand. 

There's no build up. No strategic thought to what we share when. 

Easy fix:

→ Ideally 0 - 1 attachments in an intro email
→ 2 attachment limit on all emails

Think: Do they need all these PDFs to say yes to a convo

---

3️⃣ Too many asks

"Can we schedule 30 minutes next week?"
"Are you allocating to this space?"
"Here's some info for you to review."

(That last one is a hidden ask btw)

Three asks in one email = zero clarity.

When everything is important… nothing is.

Easy fix:

→ One ask
→ One calendar suggestion or soft CTA
→ Make it low pressure

Think: would this convo not only be interesting and useful but.. fun. 

(Yes. I said fun.)

---

Ask yourself: What's the goal of my intro email?

Not about closing a deal.
It's about opening a convo. 
It's about making a friend.

We don’t need to prove everything.
We need to earn the next step.

The fund teams who master this don't just get more meetings, they get better ones.

👉 What would you add to the list of intro email don'ts (or hit us with some dos!)

= 
+ if you feel seen in this email bc you are making some of these mistakes, it's ok.
+ you know where to find us

3 tests we use to help funds craft differentiators that are actually different.

We hear this all the time from fund managers:

We’re different because ...
And then comes a list that could describe 100 other firms.

If everyone says it, by definition, it is not different.

Here are 3 quick tests we use to see if a differentiator actually differentiates. (steal these moves or call us if you need help)

---

→ 1. Category of One Test

Start with this sentence:

(Our firm) is different because X.

Now replace your firm’s name with a competitor.

If the sentence still works, it is not a differentiator.

Example:

“We seek to generate long-term out-performance on a risk adjusted basis.”

Sorry. You could insert almost any firm in that sentence. 

(also +1 for my very compliance oriented word choice amiright?)

When we combine 3 real differentiators, we create a category of one.

---

→ 2. Attract & Repel Test

Great differentiation doesn’t try to please everyone.

When someone hears it, they should think:

• “That’s exactly what we want.”
or
• “That’s absolutely not for us.”

If everyone nods politely…

You probably delivered a so what, not a super special.

PS This often happens when we try to say what we think allocators and asset owners want to hear. 

---

→ 3. The Truism Test

A truism sounds good but should ofc be true.

Ask yourself: Is the opposite of this statement even a viable business?

Examples:

• “We put clients first.”
• “We take a disciplined approach.”
• “We have great people.”

Of course you do.

Because the alternative would be:

• Ignore clients
• Be reckless
• Hire subpar humans

Truisms are nice, and they feel great, but they aren’t different.

(Special shout-out to Dan Mikulskis who helped me crystallize our approach to truisms on his first B$B episode. Masterclass on differentiation.)

---

Here's why all this differentiation talk matters. 

The real test:

If an allocator or asset owner meets with you, what will they remember? 

Would it be obvious why you’re different?

Or just that you’re good?

Because in a crowded category, good isn’t memorable. Better isn't even memorable sometimes. 

But different? That stands out. 

👉 What else do you hear asset mgrs or wealth mgrs say that is not really different?  

=
+ We start our work with target market, story, and differentiators bc without those 3 things all the content and lead gen and meetings in the world, won't save you. 

+ PS Oh, AI won't save you either

Before investors read your numbers, they read you.

Stacy’s on vacation this week, so I’ve got the mic. While she’s away, let’s elevate the standard and give her something exciting to come back to.

In finance, you are judged before you are fully understood.

Before anyone reads your philosophy, they read your signals.

Your deck.
Your website.
Your fact sheet.
Your charts.
Your typography.

When your materials look refined, you look refined.
When your branding feels cohesive, your strategy feels cohesive.

Legitimacy is visual.

Polish is not vanity. It is reinforcement.

We have seen what a strategic makeover can do. A firm that once felt small suddenly feels institutional. A story that felt cautious suddenly feels confident.

The numbers did not change.

The presence did.

And that changes everything.

Believable firms invest in how they show up.

If you are ready for a serious visual upgrade, let’s talk about your makeover.

Back to your regularly scheduled programming.

•••••••••

Stacy’s out and trusted her team at Havener Capital Partners with her LinkedIn this week. Bold move.

I’m Erika Hutchings and I help boutique asset managers with branding and visual storytelling.

Client Makeovers

“Hello… it’s me.”

Adele turned a phone call into a global anthem.

Meanwhile, most of us avoid making one.

We scroll. We read. We react. But we rarely call.

Americans spend an average of 5.5 hours a day on their phones. Less than 15 minutes of that is spent making voice calls.

Somewhere along the way, the phone became everything except a phone.

Voice calls now sit somewhere between handwritten thank-you notes and balanced checkbooks on the list of lost arts.

And yet — here’s Stacy, dialing anyway. 📞 
Old-school. Wired. Curly cord and all. (If you’re under 35, this may require a quick Google.)

We are more connected than ever. And yet we rarely speak to each other.

We default to:
→ Email 
→ Text 
→ Zoom

All incredibly efficient. But efficiency isn’t the same as connection.

When you call someone, you hear tone and intention. You can sense alignment — or misalignment — in real time. And you can respond in real time.

For founders growing their business, these nuances are important. 

Conversations are how relationships are built. And relationships ARE the business.

So here’s a small experiment for the day:
Call one colleague. 
Call one client. 
Call your business partner. 
Call your mom.

Don’t schedule it. 
Just dial.

If you get voicemail, leave one. (Another lost art.)

And if you feel slightly awkward?
Good.
You’re probably doing something human.

Stay seen. Stay heard. Start dialing. ☎️ 

👉 Got any pro tips for out-of-practice phoners? Share them!

•••••••••

Stacy’s out and trusted her team at Havener Capital Partners with her LinkedIn this week. Bold move.

I’m Emily Boyle and I help boutique asset managers spark connections with clients through targeted content.

Walk the talk, Stacy. (Thats what I told myself this morning.) (in my sternest mom voice) 

In a recent prez, I encouraged the group to write a letter to their younger self.

Then I went about my merry way.

This morning I called myself on "not taking my own advice". Here’s the letter I penned in my journal. 

---

There will be a time when your soccer coach offers you a crazy job in investments, a job for which you will feel woefully underqualified. It is important that you say yes.

---

You will go to dinners with really smart people talking about economies, markets, and stats. You will want to hide under the table. Don’t.  Take notes. Then leave and read everything you can. It is important that you teach yourself what you want to learn.

---

At those dinners you will be overwhelmed by the convo and the etiquette. The silverware. Why there are so many utensils. You won’t know where your fork goes on the plate. It is important that you don’t let your upbringing make you feel like you don’t belong.

---

You will find a mentor. She will change your life. She will tell you to play by some effed-up rules for a while. Pull your hair back. Don’t wear makeup. Shop in the boys’ section at Brooks Brothers. If you are pretty, they won't believe you are smart.  It is important that you do this even though it will break your heart.

---

You will feel out of place in the investment industry. You will question why you are here. Whether you’re doing it for the money or to prove you are as good as the boys. It is important that you stay, that you work through it. One day it will make sense how much this industry needs you. That you love it here, you belong here.

---

You will play small. Your whole life. You will go to a small school, work at small companies. You will tell yourself you didn’t have a choice. It’s not entirely true. You didn’t dream bigger because you didn’t believe you deserved to. It's okay. Play small and crush it. Your confidence will build. It might take 20+ years, but you will eventually realize what your definition of success is. And be brave enough to step onto a bigger stage and brighter lights. It is important that you trust the process, even when you are tired and burned out and feel like it’s taking too long.

---

The rent is not too-damn-high. Your life isn’t for rent. It is important that you own your story and your value. That you show it. And claim it. Not just for the opportunities it will create for you but for the path it will make easier for others. 

---

There are others who feel like you feel. Men and women who didn’t take the traditional path. Who are great at what they do and also afraid of what that means. Unsure of their paths for that greatness. Who have a vision of success that looks different or feels a little crazy. It is important that you show up for them. And keep showing up. That’s Give-to-Gain. For you and for them.

---

We aren’t odd ducks.
We are rare birds.
Let's. Go.

Here’s a 5-minute test to know if your website sucks.

And, I say that with love. ❤️

If you’re a boutique fund manager, your website should not be a brochure. It’s a tool to help position you with authority and credibility. You’re a thought leader, and it should position you that way.

Run this quick test:

1. Is it instantly clear who you help and what you do?

When I land on your homepage, can I tell in 5 seconds what you actually manage and for whom? Or do I see vague language about disciplined processes and long-term value creation? 

Not only is that not clear, but it’s boring. Next, please!

Remember: Clarity converts. Cleverness confuses.

2. Does it talk about your investor or just about you?

Count the number of times you say “we” versus “you.”
Your site shouldn’t read like a resume.

Allocators are not looking for your life story. They’re looking for differentiation and quick answers to their specific objective. Give them what they want.

3. Is your differentiation obvious?

Are you disciplined, research-driven, and long-term focused? Yeah, so is every other manager. That is NOT a strategy, it should be a given.

Your edge should be unmistakable. It should set you apart and make you stand out in a sea of sameness.

4. Does it make the next step easy?

Is it obvious what to do next?
Download a fact sheet. Subscribe to emails. Request information. Contact IR.

I don’t have time to go hunting through links trying to figure out how to engage with you, and neither does your prospect.

Confused people do nothing. They’ll click away out of frustration and go invest with the one who makes it easy.

5. Does it feel current and credible?

Outdated commentary. Old press mentions. Broken links. A blog that hasn’t been updated in a year or more.
It’s stagnant, and it’s hurting your reputation.

In this business, perception matters. Your online presence is part of your due diligence trail. It’s the first place prospects go to learn about you and take the next step.

If your website is not reinforcing your narrative, it’s working against you.

And most firms have no idea it’s hurting them in that way.

Take 5 mins to audit your website. Are you making any of these crucial mistakes, and how can you fix them?

•••••••••

Stacy’s out and trusted her team at Havener Capital Partners with her LinkedIn this week. Bold move.

I’m Steph Russell, and I help boutiques get visible online.

4 reasons challenger brands will win in financial services (and what I got wrong)

The bigs keep getting bigger
The middle is getting squeezed
The boutiques get overlooked

It's challenger mindsets across these tiers that will win. 

Here’s what Challenger brands embrace:

→ 1. A point of view (not just a product)

Challenger brands don’t say:

“We do SMID growth with a disciplined process.”

They say:

“The market is mispricing complexity.”

Or

“Mass overallocation to one market segment has created opportunity for the contrarian thinkers.”

They challenge an assumption.

In a world dominated by firms like BlackRock and Vanguard, a challenger cannot out-scale.

But we can out-think.

---

→ 2. A clearly defined enemy (not a competitor)

A belief
A behavior
A blind spot

Maybe it’s closet indexing.
Maybe it’s career risk.
Maybe it’s over-diversification that dilutes conviction.

Challenger brands pour arsenic in our coffee.  
They pattern interrupt. 
They are clear and uncommon. 

Asset owners and allocators lean in because that type of clarity takes courage.

There is room for refreshing
There is room for different

Bc different is better than better

---

→ 3. Story-led differentiation

Performance is table stakes.
Process is typical 
(funnel to show screening the universe anyone?)

Philosophy is where the Challenger magic hides.

Challenger brands articulate:

• Why this strategy exists
• Why the thinking is unique
• Why we are the people to deliver it

Challengers know that the biggest status quo buster is showing up with courage to own our story, show it, and claim it.

The Visibility Effect shines here 
When a brand puts people first

On podcasts
On panels
On LinkedIn

Because visibility compounds our capital.

---

→ 4. Conviction that can handle pushback

If everyone agrees with us, we are not a challenger.

If we do what everyone else does, we are using a playbook that wasn't built for us. Not a challenger.

Challenger brands are willing to:

• Lose some prospects
• Polarize a little
• Say what others won’t

And paradoxically?
That’s what builds trust.

Challengers challenge.
(The clue is in the name.)

---

💡 Now, here’s where I was wrong:

The old narrative says a Challenger is the scrappy underdog fighting the market leader.

I have met boutiques who are status quo.
And bigs who are challengers. 

AUM is not a characteristic of challenger brands

The ability to act as a Challenger isn’t reserved for small boutiques.

It’s a mindset.

Brands of all sizes, whatever their AUM, heritage, or history, can adopt it.

If we want ambitious growth
If we want to make the impact we say we desire
We need to challenge the norms. 

👉 What's 1 thing you see from Challenger brand?

Here’s something I’ve learned from Stacy and an important sales tactic we teach our clients.

The behavioral side of selling says a prospect/client will usually feel more positive about a conversation when they’re speaking 75% of the time.

You may think that’s absurd but it’s true… on a 30 min call, try speaking for only 7 to 8 mins.

Crazy? But it works!

Why?
Because people don’t leave a conversation thinking, “That guy or gal was impressive.”

They leave thinking:
→ Did they understand my situation?
→ Did this conversation feel helpful?
→ Did this person “get” me?

When the prospect talks more, you get the real story:
→ the pressure
→ the fears
→ the goals
→ the language they actually use

That creates better trust, better diagnosis, and better recommendations.

That’s why I still use a version of the “old-school” D.O.S. questions early:

Dangers - What’s in your way now, preventing you from reaching your goals? What risks/fears need to be eliminated?

Opportunities - What are their biggest opportunities to focus on and capture once these dangers are eliminated?

Strengths - What’s already working that we can build on?

It keeps the conversation centered on the person, not the pitch.

Performance and your value prop matters.
But before performance, process, or product… people want to feel understood.

What talk-time split do you aim for in discovery calls?

•••••••••

Stacy’s out and trusted her team at Havener Capital Partners with her LinkedIn this week. Bold move.
 
I’m Dustin, and I help find the best in class boutiques that are looking for a partner to help them grow.

I have a question about meetings (and this might bomb bc polls are so 2023.) But hey, 90s webinars are crushing for clients so let's keep experimenting.

Riddle me this:

- Fund managers want to increase AUM
- They want more meetings

I see you. I agree.

So

- What does success look like there?

- How many meetings between the fund manager and prospective investors is ideal per week?

I hope people play bc I am like this 🍿 
Popcorn and a poll

👉 After your vote add nuances in the comments

(Is anyone in comments going to say I want less prospect meetings? 
Bc that's real too and you know what my solution is?...
 
Webinars 🤣🥁)

What is the ideal # of meetings between a fund manager and investor prospects each week?

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The Battle

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