Episode #293: Brent Beshore – How To Get Rich Slow & Live An Optimal Life

Investor Brent Beshore is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of adventur.es, a Midwestern-based private equity firm. His firm takes a long-term approach to lower middle market private equity, investing “permanent equity” in small to midsize privately held companies throughout North America. Prior to founding the firm, Brent was an entrepreneur and operator. He is an Outside Director of Tandy Leather Factory, Inc. Brent lives in Columbia, Missouri, with his wife and daughters.  He is the author of a best-selling new book titled, The Messy Marketplace.

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“The best leaders know how messy they are, they challenge themselves, they have high level of self-awareness, they need people around them to help.  They acknowledge their imperfections, and they give others grace for their imperfections.”

Show Notes:

  • Commonalities of sustaining excellence:
    • The usual things like: integrity and hard work
    • But the best… “know how messy they are, they challenge themselves, they have high level of self-awareness, they need people around them to help.  They acknowledge their imperfections, and they give others grace for their imperfections.”
  • How to develop self awareness?
    • Surround yourself with people who will tell you the truth — “We are all highly imperfect.”
    • Give people a true open invitation to criticize, but they also must be constructive, loving, kind, thoughtful people.
      • “They need to be rooting for you.”
  • Brent’s mistakes:
    • “I was too goal focused.  I was over-confident.  I was often wrong, but rarely in doubt.  I was scared.”
    • “I had too much self obsession.  If you look at people as a means to an end, it is a problem.”
  • Try to focus on win-win-win relationships
  • “It is far better to serve than be served.”
    • “Relational outcomes early in my life were sub-optimal because of my own shortcomings.’
  • What do you do?
    • “I buy boring businesses.”
    • Adventur.es is a family of companies that hold long term.
    • Why boring? “We care about sustainability, kind, steadfast, win-win.  That is boring to some.”
    • Why doesn’t everyone do this?  “People pay attention to outliers… Not the get rich slow style that we like.  The slow growth person isn’t on magazine covers.”
    • “Great marriages are built on love and passion of serving one another.”
  • What do you look for in someone to work with?
    • Curiosity – an inherent desire to know more, learn, reconstruct reality
    • Self awareness – genuine intellectual honesty
    • Integrity – function of consistency over time.  Have to reconstruct it
  • His lunch with Charlie Munger
    • What does Charlie look for in someone to work with?
      • Talent – Ask about what they’ve done. Their track record of success.  Ask others about them
      • Their past trajectory – Do they nibble at the edges?  Do they take when no one is looking? They need to be servant leaders.
      • Intelligence is hard – Optimizing your time and attention.  A comparative advantage
  • How to not get fooled in the interview process?
    • Have a lot of people involved in the process.  Be collaborative.  Diversity of thought is helpful.  Get different perspectives.
    • “For our new CFO, it was an 18 month process.  We interviewed hundreds from all over the country.”
  • 10 biggest ideas that changed his life:
    • “Everything worthwhile will be hard full stop.”
    • “Serving vs served: The more I give with no expectation of reciprocity, the better life goes. For others and for me.”
    • “In 100 years, nobody will know you.  Life is a gift, not a gain.”
  • Why write this book?
    • “Jump start relationship content.  Putting content out helps that.  Scale the conversation.  The first 5-7 hours of conversation can be this book.”
    • Small businesses are the backbone of our economy
  • “What you get makes you a living, but what you give makes you a life.”
  • Why joining The Learning Leader Circle is a good idea
  • Use the “Get To Know You Document“

“What you get makes you a living, but what you give makes you a life.”

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