How Impact Investing Quietly Took Over $40 Trillion—and What Happens Next | Sir Ronald Cohen (Fan Fav)

Tom Bilyeu's Impact Theory

Impact Theory

Education, News, News Commentary, Philosophy, Technology, Society & Culture, Business, Self-improvement

4.7 • 5.1K Ratings

🗓️ 8 November 2025

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This is a fan fav episode. The word ‘capitalism’ seems to make some people happy, while making others cringe. The U.S. started as a capitalist society and has evolved into a mix of capitalism and socialism. As society and technology evolves, how should our economic system evolve in response? In this episode, Sir Ronald Cohen, “the father of British venture capital” speaks with Tom about the importance of social impact and what impact investing is evolving into and how it can change the social world for the better. Creating systems that support entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and social responsibility of big companies is just the tip of a massive iceberg. Listen in to see how this all ties into our natural desire to evolve and strive for more than just money. Order Sir Ronald Cohen’s new book, Impact (all proceeds donated to impact charities): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Impact-Reshaping-capitalism-drive-change/dp/1529108055/ Original air date: 4-13-21 SHOW NOTES: Impact Investing | Sir Ronald explains what’s reshaping a new economic system [1:57] Coming to Britain | Sir Ronald reveals how he moved from Egypt and ended in Britain [4:48] Venture Capital | An overview of how venture capitalism came to be and what it is [7:23] Social Impact | Getting an accurate view of a company’s impact not just profits [9:41] Deciding | Sir Ronald gives tips on what to look for evaluating a company’s impact [12:47] Redistributed Wealth | Why redistributed wealth is needed, but it’s not enough [15:30] Poverty Problem | Sir Ronald discusses what’s been missing from solution [18:20] 1800 Companies | The $3 trillion environmental damage being measured [21:28] Capitalism | Sir Ronald breaks down capitalism driven by profit and social impact [28:05] Communism | Setbacks of communism and how increased prosperity redistributed is better [32:30] Turning Point | Recognizing social problems and having technology to measure impact [34:59] Striving | Sir Ronald introduces human nature to strive for money & quality of life [42:14] Re-Skill | Sir Ronald identifies why opportunities for new skills is part of the system [45:12] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, everybody, welcome to another episode of Impact Theory.
0:03.0	I am joined by somebody today that I think you guys are going to find incredibly interesting.
0:08.0	It is Sir Ronald Cohen.
0:11.0	Thank you so much for joining me today.
0:13.0	Pleasure to be here with you, Tom.
0:15.0	All right. I am super excited to talk about your book, Impact.
0:19.0	And I think so, obviously with the title Impact
0:22.2	theory, people know I am obsessed with impact and what we can do on our own lives and at grand
0:26.7	scale. You're coming at this as somebody who has built an incredibly successful investment firm.
0:33.4	If you would, walk people through exactly what impact investing is and what you see as the future of
0:39.3	this movement well time we're we're all aware of risk when we make decisions we're all aware of
0:49.3	the return that we get when we make an investment but to to date, we've left impact out of the picture.
0:58.0	And things are changing.
1:00.0	We see young people in particular, like those joining us today,
1:04.0	refusing to buy the products of companies whose values they don't share
1:09.0	because they disagree with using child labor or they
1:12.0	don't like the pollution they're creating. They also don't want to work for these companies.
1:17.7	And this has become noticed by investors. So today, for the first time in history, we see massive
1:26.2	sums, $40 trillion, being invested on the basis of risk, return, and impact.
1:34.5	So what impact is about is improving lives and the planet. And what impact investment is about is generating profit as well as impact.
1:50.0	And it's basically changing the world. We've had a technology revolution. All of us are aware of that.
1:59.0	This technology revolution is being followed by an impact revolution now.
	...

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