Robert F. Smith, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners - One of the World’s Most Successful Private Equity Firms [REPLAY]

Money Maze Podcast

Business, Investing, Management, News, Business News

4.8 • 216 Ratings

🗓️ 7 July 2022

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

With more than 96 billion dollars in assets under management (as of March 31st 2022), Vista Equity Partners is one of the world’s largest and leading software private equity firms. As Founder, Chairman and CEO, this success has helped Robert F. Smith become one of the most respected investors of his generation, being named by Forbes as one of the ‘100 Greatest Living Business Minds’ as well as one of the most generous philanthropists of his time.

Robert describes his upbringing in Denver, how he secured his first work experience at Bell Labs whilst still at school and his education at Cornell University and Columbia Business School, taking him from engineering to finance. Robert describes working in technology at Goldman Sachs Investment Banking, which included advising a then-troubled Apple as it pivoted to become a platform technology company.

He then explains his decision to leave and found Vista Equity Partners in 2000. He talks about the signs that software’s importance would mushroom and how today, Vista’s 80+ portfolio companies have circa 90,000 employees globally, together comprising one of the world’s largest enterprise software companies when combined by revenue, serving over 300 million users.

Robert goes on to examine why software has been the most productive economic tool in the last 50 years and explains why he describes today’s epoch as the ‘4th Industrial Revolution’. After covering the underlying meaning behind ‘digitization’, he provides examples of how his companies have prospered, why their growth trajectory is still so exciting and why software companies are helping to re-shape supply chains and industries across the world.

He discusses the merits of private equity versus public listings, the huge gains investors have made in their funds, and why he believes the investment opportunities are still so significant.

Robert then talks about his philanthropic work, his view on reaching those communities who have been underserved and what needs to be done and committed to in order to create lasting change for good.

Originally recorded in June 2021, we re-releasing this episode as part of our ongoing Private Equity Miniseries.

Sign up to our newsletter for more in-depth insights | Follow us on LinkedIn

The Money Maze Podcast is kindly sponsored by Schroders, Bremont Watches, LiveTrade and Mintus.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Welcome to the Money Maze podcast. I'm Simon Brewer and Will Campion and I have created this show to explore and unravel some of the mysteries surrounding the investment business.
0:19.4	We hope through direct and insightful interviews
0:22.0	with Masters of the Real Life Money maze, we're going to learn about different approaches to
0:26.7	allocating capital, making investment and business decisions, and navigating the pitfalls that
0:32.4	lie in the paths to prosperity. Whether you're a current or aspiring investor, entrepreneur, professional or student
0:39.7	exploring career options, we hope you gain some helpful insights and enjoy the shows. You can keep up
0:45.9	to date by visiting Moneymayspodcast.com and please sign up to our newsletter to ensure you
0:51.3	won't miss a release. If you enjoy this show, please subscribe and we'd love
0:55.4	you to tell a friend or colleague about it. Thank you for listening. We're delighted to have
1:02.5	Schroeder's as a sponsor and corporate partner. Shroder's is a global investment manager
1:07.6	whose purpose is to provide excellent investment performance through active
1:11.9	decision-making. For more than two centuries, Schroeder's has evolved their understanding of
1:16.4	markets, offering investment solutions across fixed income, equities, multi-asset, as well as private
1:22.5	markets through Schroeder's capital. Schroeder's actively invests in companies with
1:27.0	responsible and durable business models.
1:29.4	They're also a leading specialist in impact investing for clients who want to maximize
1:33.7	positive change. Capital is at risk with investing.
1:38.1	Vermont is also a sponsor of the Money Maze podcast.
1:41.7	Bromont is a British company based in Henley that was established 20 years ago by two young
1:46.8	brothers whose dream was to design and engineer beautiful chronometers.
1:52.0	When Giles English, one of those brothers appeared as a guest on the Money Mays podcast last
1:56.8	year, he brought to life the wonderful history of British watch baking, helping to explain why the world sets its time by Greenwich Meantime.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Money Maze Podcast, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Money Maze Podcast and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.