Billion Dollar Backstory

Hosted by Stacy Havener

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154

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Jun 2026

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About the show

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

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60 recent

June 10, 2026Episode 1537 min

153: “We Only Back Established Managers.” Cool. Now What? | Story Snacks Series

When an allocator says "We only work with established managers," it can feel like a door closing in your face. And the natural instinct is to pry it back open by explaining yourself, defending your track record, and making a case for your fund. Stacy Havener's advice: don't go there.Because handling objections to close deals is a thing. It's just not the right thing in this moment.That’s why, in this episode, Stacy’s breaking down what to do instead when you keep hitting the same wall in meetings.Listen in to learn:Why "too small" or "too new" is usually a timing mismatch, not a hard no The three words that change the whole vibe: "Tell me more." The questions that uncover real requirements around AUM, allocation size, and track record How to capture their language so your follow-up actually lands when the timing is rightThis is Story Snacks, a bite-sized, jam-packed series for fund managers who are ready to master strategic storytelling in under 20 minutes a week. ---Running a fund is hard enough.Ops shouldn’t be.Meet the team that makes it easier. | billiondollarbackstory.com/ultimus- - -Thinking about expanding your investor base beyond the US? Not sure where to start? Take our quick quiz to find out if your firm is ready to go global and get all the info at billiondollarbackstory.com/gemcap

June 3, 2026Episode 1525 min

152: How to Talk Process Without Losing the Room | Story Snacks Series

If you’ve ever thought, “Okay, I have to cover process… but I can literally see their eyes glazing over,” you’re not alone. Because when you walk through your process like everyone else, allocators don't hear "rigor." They hear "table stakes," and they're already half checked out by the time you get to the good part.In this episode, Stacy Havener breaks down how to fix that without scrapping the slide entirely. Listen in to hear:How to cover process without just reading the boring slide out loudThe fastest way to make your process feel different (even if the slide isn’t)The one line Stacy wants you to stop using when talking process (because it’s a big fat nothing sandwich) ---Running a fund is hard enough.Ops shouldn’t be.Meet the team that makes it easier. | billiondollarbackstory.com/ultimus- - -Thinking about expanding your investor base beyond the US? Not sure where to start? Take our quick quiz to find out if your firm is ready to go global and get all the info at billiondollarbackstory.com/gemcap

May 27, 2026Episode 1511 hr 7 min

151: €8B Founder Turned Family Office CIO: Harald Berlinicke on Allocator Trust, LinkedIn, and Why “Give Give Give” Wins

At 15, Harald Berlinicke got a front-row seat to Black Monday during a bank internship outside Berlin. It was total chaos, with people yelling "SELL!" and a 20% drop in a single day.Most people would have run away from that pressure. But Harald ran toward it. And that's the day he knew he wanted to be in finance.Decades later, he's the guy on the other side of the table as a fund selector and family office CIO, with a surprisingly impressive LinkedIn presence for someone who will tell you straight up that he's an introvert.In this episode, Stacy sits down with Harald to talk about the human side of selection and why "give, give, give" beats "pitch, pitch, pitch" every single time.Listen in to hear:Harald's Black Monday origin story and how that early chaos shaped his view of markets and decision-making Why "people do business with people" is painfully true in fund selection His playbook for building relationships on LinkedIn as an introvert The provocative CFA poll he ran and what that debate says about where the industry might be headedMore about Harald Berlinicke: Harald Berlinicke, CFA is CIO of the fifth-generation Max-Berlinicke-Erben family office in Berlin, where he oversees a multi-asset portfolio with a focus on asset allocation and manager selection. He co-founded New Bond Street Asset Management in London and served as Partner and Head of Structured Credit Investments, growing the boutique to a peak of €8B AUM. He later spent 2014–2023 at Scope Group as Director of Alternative Investments and now advises independently-owned investment boutiques. A CFA charterholder since 2003, Harald is also a long-standing CFA Institute volunteer and a widely followed voice on LinkedIn known for making complex investment topics accessible. ---Running a fund is hard enough.Ops shouldn’t be.Meet the team that makes it easier. | billiondollarbackstory.com/ultimus- - -Thinking about expanding your investor base beyond the US? Not sure where to start? Take our quick quiz to find out if your firm is ready to go global and get all the info at billiondollarbackstory.com/gemcap

May 20, 2026Episode 1507 min

150: The Biggest Mistake First-Time Fund Founders Make in Year One | Story Snacks Series

Six months into launching your fund and already feeling like you're making every mistake in the book?You're in good company. That's exactly how the founder who wrote in is feeling. And honestly, year one can do that to a person. The chaos is real. The second-guessing is real. The wondering-if-anyone-will-ever-take-you-seriously is very, very real.In this Story Snack, Stacy Havener tackles the fear that tends to sit underneath all of it:"I'm too early to be taken seriously."It's not irrational. It's just not the whole story. And if you believe it too hard for too long, it might be the thing that keeps you invisible when you could be building real conversations.Listen in to hear:The year-one myth Stacy calls BS on: “don’t market until you have 3 years of track + $100M–$200M AUM”Why year one gets derailed more by business decisions than investment decisions (products, partners, hires, marketing choices)Who you should be talking to early (innovators + early adopters) and why they don’t play by the “come back later” rulesThis is Story Snacks, a bite-sized, jam-packed series for fund managers who are ready to master strategic storytelling in under 20 minutes a week ---Running a fund is hard enough.Ops shouldn’t be.Meet the team that makes it easier. | billiondollarbackstory.com/ultimus- - -Thinking about expanding your investor base beyond the US? Not sure where to start? Take our quick quiz to find out if your firm is ready to go global and get all the info at billiondollarbackstory.com/gemcap

May 13, 2026Episode 1491 hr 12 min

149: “Emerging Markets” Is Misbranded. Sloane Robinson, CIO, Edward Lam on Scaling from £1M to £3.5B and Rethinking EM Risk.

What if the biggest problem with “Emerging Markets” is the name?Edward Lam thinks that label has been doing the category a disservice for decades.Today, he’s sitting down with Stacy to zoom out and question the category…then zoom back in to what that means for portfolios, risk, and real alpha.Edward grew up in Hong Kong, went to boarding school in the UK, and landed in EM in 2004. He had no training program or mentor, just four walls of books he was determined to read. By the time he left, he’d taught himself accounting, built a research function from scratch, and was running a fund that grew from £1M to £3.5B.Listen in to hear: How Edward built his own training program from scratch and why that became one of his biggest edgesWhat "subordinate currency regimes" means and how it changes everything we thought we knew about EM risk The tension between building something investable and staying true to the thesisWhat scaling from £1M to £3.5B actually looks like when you have to earn every rung yourselfWhy he walked away from asset management, what the gap taught him, and what brought him backMore About Edward Lam: Edward Lam entered the fund management industry in 2004 as an analyst at Emerging Markets specialist Lloyd George Management, covering Taiwan and technology. In 2007, he co-founded Somerset Capital Management, where he served as Head of Research and chaired the investment committee. In 2010, he launched Somerset’s EM Dividend Growth strategy, scaling it from a ~$1.5M seed to nearly $4B AUM. Edward left Somerset in 2020, then joined Sloane Robinson in 2023, became CIO, and launched the SR Ocellus fund in 2024.In his free time, he enjoys reading about the history and philosophy of finance, including many areas that others (based on feedback) find boring. ---Running a fund is hard enough.Ops shouldn’t be.Meet the team that makes it easier. | billiondollarbackstory.com/ultimus- - -Thinking about expanding your investor base beyond the US? Not sure where to start? Take our quick quiz to find out if your firm is ready to go global and get all the info at billiondollarbackstory.com/gemcap

May 6, 2026Episode 1486 min

148: The LinkedIn Comment Strategy That Actually Builds Trust | Story Snacks Series

Commenting is one of the most underrated relationship builders on LinkedIn, especially if you want to stay on people’s radar without cranking out content nonstop.But most people comment in a way that does nothing, or worse, makes things weird.You know the two classics: 1. “Great post!” (nothing burger)2. And the thoughtful comment followed by an immediate pitch DM. (instant ick)In this Story Snack, Stacy Havener breaks down how to comment in a way that actually builds familiarity and trust over time, without sounding awkward, annoying, or desperate. Listen in to hear:How to choose which posts to comment on so allocators and prospects start seeing you everywhere (in a good way)The “what NOT to do next” move that instantly turns goodwill into cringe (and what to do instead)The mindset shift that will help you stop overthinking and start commenting like a real friend giving out high-fives (not weird pitch slaps) Because the people who’ve consistently shown up for Stacy on LinkedIn? She’d run through a wall for them. That’s what you’re building toward when you do this the right way. Tune in to learn the right way to approach commenting on LinkedIn. This is Story Snacks, a bite-sized, jam-packed series for fund managers who are ready to master strategic storytelling in under 20 minutes a week. ---Running a fund is hard enough.Ops shouldn’t be.Meet the team that makes it easier. | billiondollarbackstory.com/ultimus- - -Thinking about expanding your investor base beyond the US? Not sure where to start? Take our quick quiz to find out if your firm is ready to go global and get all the info at billiondollarbackstory.com/gemcap

April 29, 2026Episode 1471 hr 9 min

147: He Found Finance Through One Thin Thread of Chance. Now He's Making Sure Others Don't Have to. Meet Laurie Robathan, Founder of Fairfield.

93% of the population. Almost entirely locked out of an industry that says it wants the best talent.Laurie Robathan grew up on the wrong side of that statistic. He was raised in inner-city Bristol, went to a state school, and grew up in a single-parent family. He found his way into finance through one thin thread of chance, and he's never forgotten how easily it could have gone the other way.At some point, that thread started to feel less like luck and more like a problem. Because what about everyone who never gets that thread at all?So Laurie walked away from a successful career in finance and built Fairfield in its place. It's a charity on paper, but really it's a business proposition designed to fix what he calls an inefficiently functioning labor market. Because when 80% of senior finance leaders come from just 7% of the population, that's not meritocracy. That's a pipeline problem.And he's not solving it from a boardroom. He's on trains, in school assemblies, at North London career fairs at 8pm. Doing the work.In this episode, Stacy Havener sits down with Laurie for one of those conversations that stays with you long after it's over.Listen in to hear:Why finance doesn't have a talent problem, it has an access problem Why the best person for the job may never make it to the interview room How Fairfield prepares students to belong before they ever walk through the doorWhat individuals and firms can do to helpMore About Laurie Robathan:Prior to his retirement from the finance industry, Laurie worked in the City for over 15 years, the last 10 years being at Kepler Partners LLP as Senior Partner. Before Kepler, he had roles at Scottish Widows Investment Partnership and Close Brothers Bank. As a member of Kepler’s management committee, Laurie had input into all areas of the asset management business. He holds the Investment Management Certificate (IMC) and has an MSc in Finance & Investment from the University of Bristol. ---Running a fund is hard enough.Ops shouldn’t be.Meet the team that makes it easier. | billiondollarbackstory.com/ultimus- - -Thinking about expanding your investor base beyond the US? Not sure where to start? Take our quick quiz to find out if your firm is ready to go global and get all the info at billiondollarbackstory.com/gemcap

April 22, 2026Episode 1466 min

146: Overcome Your Fear of Being Judged on LinkedIn | Story Snacks Series

You want to post more on LinkedIn. You know it matters. You've probably even got a draft sitting there.But the fear of being judged, specifically by people who already know you in real life, keeps stopping you cold.In this Story Snack, Stacy Havener breaks down exactly why that happens, why your brain is making it bigger than it is, and how to move through it without just white-knuckling your way to the post button.Listen in to learn:The behavioral bias that makes the fear of being judged feel so intense How to make peace with your posts not being everyone’s jamThe art of owning who you are online and letting the wrong people opt outThis is Story Snacks, a bite-sized, jam-packed series for fund managers who are ready to master strategic storytelling in under 20 minutes a week. ---Running a fund is hard enough.Ops shouldn’t be.Meet the team that makes it easier. | billiondollarbackstory.com/ultimus- - -Thinking about expanding your investor base beyond the US? Not sure where to start? Take our quick quiz to find out if your firm is ready to go global and get all the info at billiondollarbackstory.com/gemcap

April 15, 2026Episode 1451 hr 3 min

145 The £800B+ Advisor Who Thinks Nature Is the Asset Class We Missed: Meet Robert Gardner, Co-Founder of Rebalance Earth

Robert Gardner has built four ventures in financial services, including Redington, the UK investment consultancy that’s advised on £800B+ in assets.Now he’s taking on a new category: Natural Capital.Because nature has always been “investable”, just usually as a commodity.The old way looks like squeezing every ounce of value out of the Earth without any regard for long-term consequences. The playbook was essentially cut it down, harvest it, extract the value, and move on. Robert thinks that model is outdated, and he’s building the alternative, making nature an investible asset class (more like real estate or infrastructure), where the value comes from what nature does, not what you can take from it.In this episode, Stacy Havener sits down with Robert to get concrete about what investing in nature looks like in the real world.Listen in to hear:What changes when you’re not raising money for a strategy… but for a new asset classHow Robert translates Natural Capital into familiar investing language (property/infrastructure)A real case study (Nestlé + oyster reefs) and the incentive chain behind itWhat underwriting looks like when your revenue is tied to nature doing its jobWhy legitimacy comes from repetition + simplicity (not complexity)The early-stage trust-building lesson every emerging fund manager needsMore about Rob Gardner:Robert is Co-Founder & CEO of Rebalance Earth, the UK’s largest dedicated Natural Capital asset manager. He previously served as Investment Director at St. James’s Place and co-founded Redington, Mallowstreet, and RedSTART. His work is focused on making nature an investible asset class and proving finance can be a force for good. ---Running a fund is hard enough.Ops shouldn’t be.Meet the team that makes it easier. | billiondollarbackstory.com/ultimus- - -Thinking about expanding your investor base beyond the US? Not sure where to start? Take our quick quiz to find out if your firm is ready to go global and get all the info at billiondollarbackstory.com/gemcap

April 8, 2026Episode 1446 min

144: If Conferences Feel Like a Time Suck, You’re Doing This Backwards | Story Snacks Series

Let's talk about conference season.You showed up and collected a gazillion business cards. You smiled until your face hurt. And three days later you got home, looked at that stack of business cards, and thought… now what?If that sounds familiar, this Story Snack is for you.In this episode, Stacy breaks down why conferences tend to feel like a huge waste of time. She’s sharing what she’s learned over the years about what it actually takes to make a conference worth your time. Listen in to learn: What most people get backwards about conference ROIThe pre-work that changes who you meet (and how those meetings feel)How to turn “great meeting you” into “let’s keep talking”Why doing less on-site and more upfront is the moveThis is Story Snacks, a bite-sized, jam-packed series for fund managers who are ready to master strategic storytelling in under 20 minutes a week. ---Running a fund is hard enough.Ops shouldn’t be.Meet the team that makes it easier. | billiondollarbackstory.com/ultimus- - -Thinking about expanding your investor base beyond the US? Not sure where to start? Take our quick quiz to find out if your firm is ready to go global and get all the info at billiondollarbackstory.com/gemcap