March 20, 2024 • 31 mins
Welcome to the latest episode of the Founders Odyssey podcast, featuring an illuminating conversation with serial entrepreneur and sought-after Venture Partner, Brent Bennett, the founder of Spectra, an Inc. 5000 company for five years running. Brent shares his insights into entrepreneurship, discussing the driving forces and challenges he faced throughout his entrepreneurial journey.
Brent divulges the process and dedication behind the founding, growth and eventual acquisition of Spectra. We discuss the significance of adaptability, creativity, and innovation in an industry that can often become stagnant.
Brent also unpacks the leadership strategies that led to Spectra's repeated Inc. 5000 recognition and his current role as an active investor and executive leader.
Throughout the episode, Brent provides actionable advice on goal setting, team building, and the importance of cultivating discipline to structure one's life. He presents his unique concept of 'Zen time' for individual development and progress, highlighting the power of self-awareness, habit loops, and intentional planning in achieving success.
We delve into Brent's unique approach to entrepreneurial vision and company growth, emphasizing the importance of data-driven focus and balance. In addition, he provides a detailed overview of deciding to sell a company, outlining the financial and human considerations involved in this process.
Brent shares exciting insights into his role as a Venture Partner at Lane VC and offers a peak into his latest venture, Photon Marine, revealing how it bucks traditional investment strategy. Listeners are invited to understand the various factors that shape his investment thesis and learn key lessons from his versatile entrepreneurial journey.
Finally, the episode concludes with Brent's advice for young entrepreneurs on personal growth, relationship-building, and the significance of strong support communities, like the Entrepreneur Organization (EO). Through Brent's experiences and success stories, listeners gain a comprehensive view of the future of entrepreneurship in Utah and beyond.
Learn more about Nathan Byrd
https://www.nathanbyrd.co
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to the Founders Odyssey podcast, where we interview founders that have
bought companies, sold companies, raised funds, and are creating significant
impact by solving substantial problems in this world today. My name is Nathan. I'll be your host.
Our special guest today is Brent Bennett, serial entrepreneur and founder of
a company called Spectra, formerly ranked for five years in a row in Inc.
(00:22):
5000 company, and now has been acquired and merged into Hub International,
where he currently resides as the Executive Vice President.
Additionally, he has assumed a position of Venture Partner at a Salt Lake VC fund, Lane VC,
focusing on investing in smart entrepreneurs that are reshaping the world's
(00:43):
mobility through disruptive technological innovations.
Lastly, he serves as the President-Elect for the EO Organization of Utah,
helping advise and mentor entrepreneurs.
Welcome to the show, Brent. Thanks, appreciate it. So we're gonna touch on just
a few things, but the most important thing that I love to ask entrepreneurs
right when we get started is what does entrepreneurship mean to you?
(01:08):
Building, right? I mean, I look at entrepreneurship. I just love the concept.
I love being around entrepreneurs, but I love building.
I love standing back and feeling like I was part of building something bigger, right?
I mean, it's one thing to build a company and to go and have some revenue and build revenue.
It's another thing to be able to stand back and see it actually,
you know, to stand back and have it run on its own is really,
(01:29):
really rewarding. Well, and I'm glad you said rewarding because we're seeing
different entrepreneurs at different sizes. Let's just put Elon Musk, for example.
He's making a significant impact in the world that is then making an income.
He didn't just look for a widget that he could start selling over and over again. He looked for problems.
(01:49):
So let's talk, Sean, problems. And you as an entrepreneur, where did you first
begin looking for problems? problems.
Yeah. You know, it's kind of funny how I got into a specter benefits.
So I did not intend, my dad was a business owner, entrepreneur my whole life
and, and a good, better, indifferent.
I kind of took that as we didn't take vacations much.
(02:09):
He worked all the time. And, and honestly, growing up, I thought,
gosh, I do not want to be an entrepreneur. I actually want to just go to a job and enjoy my vacations.
Went to work, you know, had various careers, but went to work for a PEO professional
employer organization.
It was an outsourced leasing company. And I was doing doing benefits for them
at the time, came up with a business idea, gave them a business plan and said,
gosh, I really think, you know, our best and most progressive clients keep leaving us.
(02:33):
They keep walking out the back door and asking if we can help them.
So I came up with the idea and said, Hey, we got to start a benefits agency,
you know, and gave them the idea, pitched them the idea. And they said,
Brent, this is great, but just keep doing what you're doing.
Like we went from four, I was, I was there for four years, went from 4 million
to 40 million in revenue.
So 10 X in four years, they said, why are we changing? Like,
don't reinvent the the wheels, keep doing what you're doing.
(02:53):
And I had, I had, you know, kind of put my heart and soul in, this is what I want to do.
So I literally, you know, walked away from that meeting. I walked in the next
morning, gave my two weeks and started a benefit agency and said,
you know, gosh, this is what I want to do. Like, I know this is what I want to do.
Good part. They ended up being my first client. Like I, I gave my notice.
They said, well, if you're leaving, like take us, you know, as your first client.
So it ended up being really rewarding.
(03:15):
But part of that problem was just, you know, I looked and thought there's a
plenty of benefit agencies.
It's not unique, right we don't sell product we're by default the middleman
but the way that we did our philosophy i thought
was significantly different let's talk about
looking at how you can be
innovative in an industry right that may be stagnant because it sounds like
(03:36):
you know that was something that you came up against but then you said well
i'm going to jump over that can you bring us back into that position and then
also when you're going into other ventures now you're having to overcome overcome,
and then also be creative.
So share with us a little bit about that innovation. Yeah. I mean-
But by default, in insurance brokerage, we're selling insurance.
(03:58):
It's not a real sexy business. I mean, insurance is not something that people
get really excited about.
But using benefits and using insurance as a tool to define your culture,
I think is really unique.
And so I think that was one of the things at the time and one of the things
we still do is at the time, this is back in 2002, when I started the agency,
is I had mentioned a lot of our clients were fast growing.
(04:19):
PEOs typically focus on smaller companies, 11, 30 employees.
What we found is when our clients got to about a hundred employees,
they felt like they want to pull HR inside. They want to kind of define themselves.
And for the most part, they were kind of creating the exact same benefit package
they had and just looking at price.
And so, you know, one of the things we did, one, we monetize on selling the
insurance, but two is really spend some time with the clients and who do you
(04:41):
want to be when you grow up? Like, where do you want to rank?
And do you want people to come work for you for benefits? Do you want them to
attract you for benefits?
And so we did a lot of unique positioning statements with our clients to figure
out, you know, where do you want to be positioned and relative and let your
employee benefits be one of those things that kind of define your culture. Yeah.
Sounds like that was the first time you caught the entrepreneurial bug or was
(05:03):
there anything that had started to spark your interest of the old entrepreneurial path?
Yeah. I mean, when I, when I was kids, I mean, I, like I sold boats as an example,
you know, growing up, I was, you know, had kind of a really bounce around.
I say growing up when I was 17, I sold boats.
It was a commission only job. It was, I would say very entrepreneurial,
but as an example, people, you know, people used to wait for people to walk in the door.
(05:24):
I used to look in mag, you know, I've lived in Utah at the time,
Utah business magazine.
I'd look for people that had just sold their companies or just had a big promotion.
I used to swing by and drop off brochures like, Hey, you should,
and this is back in like, you know, this is back in like 1993, 94.
We didn't even have cell phones back then. And I would drop off brochures and
be like, you know, you deserve a new boat. Like, come see me. Right.
And I do, you know, where I was, I mean, I, I outsold our other salespeople
(05:48):
there. I was doing it for college part-time and frankly, I was making more money.
I did pre-med, you know, I thought I wanted to be a doctor, did pre-med,
did my MCAT, thought I was going to go to school and then kind of found out,
man, I'm making more money selling boats part-time in the summer than I would
if I actually finished my degree and, and became a doctor.
And that was, I would say one of the first times I kind of caught that entrepreneurial
bug as, as like, let's, let's switch it up. Let's do something a little different.
(06:10):
I didn't think it was entrepreneurism at the time. I just thought it was being
a motivated salesperson. Yeah. I like that. it.
But yeah, I would say that was kind of my first time of like,
what's, what everybody else is doing is not working for me. So I'm going to
do something different.
So let's talk about sales. Of course, you're in the insurance business,
but we're all in sales, right? So for those professionals out there, you got to hear this.
So when you set a goal for yourself, how do you attain that goal?
(06:34):
And the reason I'll say that is because sometimes you'll look at what you,
what's right in front of you and you'll get caught in the noise of.
You know, just the, the, the little nuances, but, and cause you're only looking at the end result.
So share with us how you start to systematically approach your end goal and
yeah. And so, I mean, interesting.
(06:56):
You said, you know what, the way you started the podcast and you answer that
question, it makes me think a little differently.
And I say that from a standpoint, the way I approach goals now is completely
different than the way I did five years ago or, or 15 years ago.
And I say that from a standpoint, I'm a wildly selfish with my time.
Right and so when i look at goals i don't know if you know jesse it's or follow
jace jesse answer but i love you know one of the things he says often is like
(07:19):
your job is to be wildly unrealistic
right like don't be realistic your job is to be unrealistic and i i oftentimes
i look at those goals and say gosh this is what i want to accomplish what am i not willing to give up.
To get there right like i'm not willing to work nights i'm not willing to
work weekends here's some of the things that like i don't want to do and then
i kind of figure out where we want to be and work it backwards of like hey what
(07:39):
tools and resources do i need and who do i need to pull in for this right which
was you know how yeah i think i think early on
it was like how do i grind right and i was willing to just grind and grind
and grind to get there and now i'm looking like i'm not willing to
grind but i know there's plenty of other people that are willing to grind not
to take advantage of them but these are 20 and 30 year olds that like are still
making you know are still blazing their career and say gosh how can i work with
(08:01):
them so that that hey i can share in some of this and i don't need 100 i think
that's that's probably what's changed one of the biggest pieces is if I can
take 20 or 30% of a bigger pie,
that's the goal that I'm going after versus having the whole pie right now.
Yeah. Cause there's width and there's depth, you know, and there's also speed,
there's speed to get to the end goal. Right.
(08:23):
But it's typically always found in the personnel and as we're starting to build teams out.
Right. And, and, and then it really starts to stem into how,
how does Brent become the best leader to empower an organization?
So that now brings us to leadership and how you implement structure within yourself
(08:45):
because you're a disciplined person.
You're in good shape for those that can see this. He is.
And then how do you do that in your life? Yeah, you know, you said something
that really meant something to me.
And I had this huge epiphany shift probably a year ago from, from motivation.
You know, I really used to think everything was about motivation. How do I keep motivated?
And I really shifted my mindset of like, it's not about motivation,
(09:07):
it's about discipline, right? If you're wildly disciplined, for me,
anyway, if I become wildly disciplined, my life is so much easier and so much
better structured than if I just have motivation.
And so a lot of that for me is literally writing it down. I mean,
we were talking in the hallway before we walked in here about morning routines.
And for me, I literally will almost outline that.
(09:29):
In like half an hour increments. Hey, when am I going to eat breakfast?
When am I going to work out? When am I going to do things? And it drives other
people nuts. For me, it kind of sets me free, right? That rigidity really sets me free.
But part of that too, is I schedule about three hours a day as Zen time.
Like I literally take and block out two hours in the mornings and an hour in
(09:49):
the afternoon at about three to four and from about 10 to noon to say,
this is my time where I'm not going to schedule appointments, that I get caught up.
I get to do things. If I I want to take a walk around the parking lot.
And that for me has really helped me, right?
Taking those three hours a day has actually set me free in terms of being able
to have that time where I can just finish projects.
(10:10):
And if that makes sense.
Yeah, no, I, I 100% agree. I know for, you know, when I was running my technology
company, I hired and I hired a coach and it was someone that I could speak to
just, you know, on a weekly basis.
And it got me to remove myself from, from myself, like from an objective point
(10:33):
of view, just almost like what you're explaining here in, in, in a Zen time. Right.
And cause sometimes we get caught in, into our own habit loops.
And I think it's important for us to understand that we,
we all have habit loops, no matter who you
are you know for sure we all have habit loops right so
so you you have leadership right within
(10:55):
yourself let's define what leadership is within a company culture and how you
have obviously you had a company that went five years in a row for ink 500 for
5000 and that's really an awesome feat so share with us a little bit about how
you did that in that culture Yeah.
So I, I, I'm a huge fan of vision boards and I say that of just whether it's
(11:17):
life, whether it's personal life, whether it's friends and family,
whether it's business, I like to visualize, call it manifestation,
call it whatever you will.
I'm a huge fan. So even like the ink 5,000 as an example, that was a big,
that, you know, that wasn't happenstance. That was very much by design.
In fact, I, I would say embarrassed myself, but I bought like mugs for everybody
the year before we hit five ink 5,000, I bought mugs for the entire company
(11:38):
of like, Hey, 2000, we're, you know, we're going to hit congratulations.
Congratulations, we hit five, way before it happened, right?
When we built our office, we're just over here.
Off, you know, off state street. I built a plaque with five spaces for our five
years in a row. Right. And set and told our employees, like,
here's what we're doing.
Here's exactly how we're going to do it. Like follow the path.
(11:59):
Like, I really need your help.
And I put it out there. Right. So part of that wasn't just like,
Hey, let's try our best and see if we can make it.
Part of that was like, I pretty much told all our clients, all our vendors,
all our employees, like, here's what we're going to do. Here's how we're going
to do it. I really need your help.
But like, we're not missing, right? Like this is the goal we're hitting.
And you're either on the the bus or off the bus.
And for the most part, everybody got excited. Like it was actually a really
(12:21):
fun ride. Right. And, and I, we probably would still be on if we wouldn't have
sold, but we got a lot of attention during that time.
It ended up selling and it was a growth play, not an exit. I'm still there.
But it was very much by design and figuring out, Hey, what growth numbers do
we need to have? What do we need to sustain?
And, and kind of what vertical are we going to, what, what are we going to own?
Right. Let's not just go get more clients, but let's own this sandbox.
(12:42):
Let's figure out what we're really, really good at.
And if it doesn't fit in this box. Let's not even talk to them,
right? Let's just really focus on what we know that we're going to be good at. Laser focus.
Every good entrepreneur, every business is, they're all laser focused.
You always hear that, you know, had there been any other times in your life
where it seems as if you were not as focused and then how do you rein yourself back in to that focus?
(13:08):
Yeah, a hundred percent. I mean, in fact, I, you know, the journey that I'm
on kind of right I mean, I sold the company in 2018.
I've always been, I've always been involved in entrepreneurism at some point,
or at least since I started the career. And part of that is we're B2B,
right? We work with business owners all day.
I'm sitting, I have a front row seat with our clients.
And so I've been an LPR limited partner in several venture firms,
(13:28):
private equity firms since about 2015.
And, and, you know, when I sold my company in 2018, it really went from making
a lot of income to having some dollars and my income grew less.
You finally had a liquidity event. Yeah, I had, I had a liquidity event and
frankly, I needed to go deploy that capital. Right.
And so when you say, you know, was there a time that I wasn't as focused? That was it.
(13:49):
Like 2018, 2019, I looked at the strategy of like, gosh, you know what,
let's put a little bit of money in a lot of different places.
And, and I realized at about 21, like, gosh, that's, it's not that it was bad,
but it wasn't serving me nearly as well as being laser focused.
So, you know, I was on the board of build capital at the time,
Casey Evans, who was part of build left and started lane VC.
(14:09):
I was an advisor for lane VC.
And really we started talking really in about 2022 and just saying,
you know what, I would really rather be very involved instead of just having
a board position and investing in some of the companies.
I really want to take a much more active role. And, and, and he had asked me
to take a more active role.
And so in last year in 2023 came on as a venture partner and a GP,
(14:31):
you know, have some equity in the firm, but now I have a board seat at one of our portfolio clients.
And so, you know, I've kind of taken that switch of, Hey, let's let other people
manage this. Even though I'm not, it's not my company.
I like the fact of being much more involved in a fewer amount of items and being,
you know, I don't want to say laser focused,
but being hyper-focused focused on a few things well and at lane vc you guys
(14:55):
are really focused in on the mobility sector i've done some research and it
seems like it's definitely an expanding market as well as energy conservation
we were talking about that as well.
You guys have a very laser-focused thesis of investing, which,
once again, we're on the topic of focus here.
Man, you've had a road so far. Share with us a little bit about when you exited
(15:21):
that company or when you had your sale.
Let's talk a little bit about the structure there, but then also the carry-on
because you're still working in some regards within that.
Share with us about that. Yeah. So, so, you know, Hub International,
huge corporation, right?
I mean, over 4 billion a year in revenue, 17,000 employees, over 500 offices in North America.
(15:45):
And for us, a lot of that was a growth play. We had, we frankly had some big
clients. We had no business having at the time and we needed some additional resources.
So we either had to invest a lot of money back in the company or,
you know, merge with another company or get acquired, you know,
with somebody with a lot more resources.
So I chose to do that. You know, I sold a hundred of the company,
but I rolled 20% back in equity and hub.
(16:08):
And so, you know, today I'm still an equity shareholder at hub international.
It's privately held company.
I signed a three-year agreement with a three-year earn out with the intent,
you know, Hey, there's some bonuses on growth.
Cause frankly, we were still a fast growing company at the time they approached
me. I wasn't that excited about selling.
Cause I felt like, gosh, we still got a lot of runway left, but after talking
with them, after talking with, you know, some investment bankers,
(16:28):
I was pretty convinced that, Hey, we can grow faster with them or better with
them than we can without, which was, I think was true.
I don't know that I intended to, to leave at the end of the three years, but here it is six years.
It was March as of March 1st, it was six years and I'm still here.
Part of that is they just treat me really well. Right. I mean, and I'm having fun.
Like I'm actually having more fun today than I think I did when I was CEO of
(16:50):
the company. I don't have the same control.
We hired a president that actually runs the day-to-day. So I literally don't
have a single direct report, although I'm still involved in our executive team.
I'm still involved in merger acquisition and I'm enjoying that,
I'm actually really enjoying just working with our people, right?
I mean, last year at a Christmas party, I think I literally kind of stood back
as like, wow, I've never really enjoyed this this much because I'm not in charge.
(17:14):
I'm actually meeting our employees and looking, I'm going to meet their families.
And it's like, I think for 15 years I was running around, you know,
so busy that I, although I knew their names and I knew who they were,
I didn't really stop to take the time to get to know them.
Right. And I'm enjoying I think that's important to understand too in business, right?
Not to get too busy and not to say that you were, you know what I mean?
But of course, we're always.
(17:35):
I was, yeah. Okay, well, you made it. So it's, you know, we need to focus in
on the assets that we do have.
And it's the personnel that's a part of our organizations.
And of course, you can't do everything all at once. And as a CEO of a company,
it can be difficult, right?
Because you have a lot of people that you need to make happy.
Yeah. investors, board members, customers.
(18:01):
When as an entrepreneur do you do you know that you are going to sell your company,
when is a good a good time you know i don't
know i mean it's kind of i think asking that question is it's not it's not personal
it's kind of like asking somebody when the right time is to have a baby right
like i don't know that it's ever a right time it's just there's times that feel
(18:21):
better or not i think for me personally i was not intending i was actually not
intending this i i I always knew we were going to sell the company.
I thought it was way too early. Okay.
And, and, and hindsight looking back, it was, it was a great structure, right?
And, and, and, and, you know, part of that, we hired an investment banker,
you know, hub international approached me.
I had talked to one other company prior to that, or several other companies,
(18:42):
you know, throughout the years and just kind of no, no, no, no, no.
They put the right deal structure in front of me that, that when I met their
leadership team, when I met them, it, it literally wasn't about the exit as much as it was.
I was excited to work with those people if that makes
sense i was it does make sense and i think it's important
though if you're an entrepreneur out there looking for an exit
(19:02):
don't just get too excited about the exit think about think about the merger
of the team just like what you're saying right now because there's a lot of
companies that they get excited about an exit then all of a sudden they realize
they have to stay on with people they don't want to work with yeah you know so So it was,
you know, I won't name his name because I think they're actually announcing today,
(19:24):
but one of my good friends sold 60% of his company Friday.
And we were talking about that and giving each other hugs and celebrating,
giving each other high fives. He's like, man, I'm waiting for,
you know, he was checking his bank account. Yeah. To look for that wire.
And I was kind of joking with him. I'm like, but I hate to say this.
It's going to be very uneventful. Like it's going to be awesome.
And then tomorrow you're going to wake up and go, oh, I don't feel any different, you know?
And, and so I think that's really good. you know, if, if somebody was to ask
(19:47):
me, or as you talked about, you know, what, what to look for or what not to
look for, you know, we, we hired an investment banker. We talked to five different companies.
We went out and had really deep talks and it was, it was pretty easy for us
because we weren't just looking.
I mean, frankly, we did not take the highest number, right? We didn't take the highest offer.
I probably would have, or treated it differently if I was exit,
(20:08):
if it was a transaction and I was walking out the door, but I felt like for
me, I was doing a job job interview, right?
I was, I was literally interviewing people for who do I want to work for next?
And, and we treated that process much differently and, and, and it's worked
out good, right? Here it is six years later and I'm enjoying it.
I love it. Let's talk about investments, strategies, things that you're looking at right now.
(20:29):
And we talked before we got on air about the season of life you're in right now.
Going through an exit, of course, you still have equity and you're still working
with the company. But now it's another season of learning.
You've got to now permeate your mind with, I now am a venture partner at a company
where now we're looking for multiple deals in different companies of all sorts.
(20:52):
So share with us. I bet you that's fun, but what does that job entail?
Yeah. I mean, you know, again, at Lane VC, we take a little bit different approach
because it's much more about quantity.
It's much more about driving outcomes than it is in spreading our capital.
And so, you know, I think the investment thesis is, hey, we're going to do a
lot fewer deals and be a lot more involved.
As an example, I've got a board role, right? And so we do a call every Thursday with their team.
(21:17):
You know, I do a call every Thursday with their team. It's about 15 to 30 minutes, right?
It's not a long call. It's more just touching base of here's kind of what we
accomplished this week.
We touch base on what do you need from me? Is there any assets or any introductions you need?
And they're really straightforward, right? And it's early startup,
right? This is seed investment, which is not something Lane typically does.
We're typically between A and B, but this is a company we really liked.
(21:39):
It's a company called Photon Marine.
They're in the, you know, 300 horsepower, larger outboard workboat industry.
And, you know, from our previous past with Exos, with Enride,
with several other mobility plays.
The company is amazing. The infrastructure is amazing, but there's not enough
infrastructure. And I say infrastructure, meaning, you know,
their products are amazing.
There wasn't enough infrastructure. Let's say you take Exos as an example,
(22:01):
their headquarter in Pasadena, they do class five to class seven work trucks.
I love that space. I think there's such a great market for it,
but they can sell, they sell trucks and a lot of the manufacturers can't buy
more because there's not the infrastructure ready for them to actually plug
in enough chargers to buy more trucks.
If you look at, you know, photon Marine is an example that you look look at
any marina or workboat marina, they've got 220 bolt at every single,
(22:24):
like every single workboat can plug in at night.
And so we were really excited, you know, just about the infrastructure play,
the fact they don't rely on government subsidies.
So I say that from a standpoint, I think what's, you know, that,
that big change there is, is looking to identify what works and what can we
really help them using our, you know, not,
not that I'm smarter than anybody else, but like, I feel like I make a lot smarter
(22:46):
decisions today than I did 10 years ago or 15 years ago.
And so it's it's and i know a lot of people right
and so i think that's you know like a lane we've got about 120 lps
almost 80 of those are very strategic it's not just about bringing money to
the table it's who do we know that can help them get here faster right and so
a lot of that is is as we pass up deals all the time that are amazing amazing
(23:08):
technology good valuations but we look and say we just can't add value right
i mean we we can invest in it we think we can make some money,
but we don't know how to add value to this because we don't have any expertise where,
you know, the companies that we typically invest in, we're kind of foaming at
the mouth of, wow, we can't wait to introduce them to this guy and this person
and this person, because we know they're going to know the right people to help them succeed.
(23:30):
And so I think that's very much part of that investment thesis.
Isn't just mobility focused.
It's also, you know, what companies do we, do we have LPs that are willing to
give their time and energy and, and Rolodex, so to say, as well as some dollars
so that, so we have alignment throughout the whole play.
You're in a position right now where you're mentor advisor to,
(23:53):
you know, younger entrepreneurs, right?
So what would you say to your younger self? Probably one of the most important
things that you would say to your younger self in this journey of entrepreneurship.
You know, this is a theme for me. I mean, my son just, we just sent my son off
of college this year and I don't know why that I, and I just turned 50.
Right. And so, so like this year has been really an interesting year.
(24:16):
Cause it's one of those, it's like, I'm not over the hill. I don't feel old,
but I look at it and say, gosh.
I probably have 30 years left, right? In terms of like my life,
I've lived more than I probably have left. Right.
I, I, you know, sending my son off to college this year was a big deal for me,
just from a standpoint, he's not there every day. Right.
I used to eat breakfast with him every morning. We used to, I,
I, I don't say took that for granted, but now that it's not there, I think differently.
(24:39):
And so I think one of the things I'd really tell my younger self is be be more
selfish with my time, right?
I think I traded time for money or time for success or what I viewed was success,
which it was, it was great.
But had I gone back, I think I would have been a little more selfish with my
time. Yeah, that's good to hear.
(25:01):
So let's talk about the EO organization and the way that they mentor.
Yeah. And they provide resources, which you are also involved in.
So share with us a little bit about how you came to EO and then what you're
currently doing there and then how you guys really help entrepreneurs.
Yeah. So EO, Entrepreneur Organization, global organization,
(25:22):
there's about 14,000 members.
In, I want to say it's about a hundred countries all across the globe.
I was introduced by a good, actually was introduced by a good friend of mine.
It was a client of mine at the time. You know, I brought to a jazz game.
He was an insurance client and we were just talking about stuff and,
and he was bouncing ideas off me.
(25:42):
I was bouncing ideas off him. And he's like, gosh, you know what you really,
uh, and I, at the time I was thinking about getting a board of directors, right?
I just thought, you know what, we're, we're growing fast enough.
We're, we're growing growing about 25, 30% a year compounded every year and
being an entrepreneur is lonely, right?
Like, you know, you, you've got employees, you don't want to come home and moan
and groan to your spouse.
You don't want to moan and groan to your employees of like, man,
(26:04):
we're having some growing pains.
And so there's not a lot of people typically that you could talk to other than other entrepreneurs.
Yes. Right. And so, cause they get it, right. They just know it,
they get it, they laugh about it and it's, you know, it's your people. Right.
And so, so his name was Mike Mike Robson, we'd gone to a jazz game.
We were talking, he invited me to an EO event and said, Hey,
rather than get a board, you might want to think about this other route.
(26:25):
You know, here's this group called the EO.
I went and literally I, I, we, is it like I, uh, here in Utah, it was a lunch meeting.
I was probably halfway through the meeting. I'm like done, right?
Like where here's my credit card. Like, where do I sign up? Uh, that was back in 2007.
We were barely doing a million a year in revenue at the time.
And that was kind of, you know, you're required to do a million a year to join.
And we literally just passed that threshold, old, you know, months earlier.
(26:48):
And so pretty excited. Fast forward, uh.
You know, part of how they do that, they put it in forum forums,
typically groups, eight to 10, you meet once a month. It's pretty intense, four or five hours.
You're not, you're heavily discouraged from giving advice. You're just sharing experiences.
Right. And so you share experience of, you know, if I'm saying,
Hey, here's something I'm dealing with, people will be like,
(27:10):
gosh, I remember when, you know, this happened and here's how I dealt with it. Here was the outcome.
And for me, that was been monumental, right? Cause, cause not giving when people
give advice, oftentimes you're not peers anymore, right?
You have that, Hey, not better than you, but Hey, I've been there,
done that. So let me tell you how to solve your problem.
When you're just sharing advice, it's like, all right, great.
And, and I walked away from those meetings every single time,
(27:32):
not just with my own problem.
Even if I didn't, you know, have an issue that I brought to the table,
other people would give issues or problems.
I'm like, Oh my God, I'm dealing with that exact same issue or something so
similar that I would walk away with like, wow, I know what to do now. I made my decision.
And, and And I mean, my business grew 10 X within the first, you know, 10 years.
And I really attribute a lot of that to EO, but more than that was just the
(27:56):
network, just that camaraderie.
And I think one of the big byproducts, you know, people ask me all the time,
like of selling, like when he sold the business in 2018, what would you have done differently?
I think one of the biggest things I would have done differently wasn't actually
business. It was my personal life, right? I'm, you know, I'm married.
I've been married for 23 years at the time.
You know i involved my wife when she was excited but i didn't explain to her
(28:18):
like hey i have this three-year earn out which means i'm actually going to work
harder for the next three years not not slowing down and i think you know she
very much felt like hey we're having this liquidity event.
Now we're going to take more vacations and you have more time and you're going
to be home more and that wasn't the case for that three years right that was
actually the case probably the three years prior to me selling because i had
things dialed in and then three years after this big goals that i had to hit
(28:39):
for my bonus and target that for me it was like well that's part of the sale
right like i want to hit that and so i think aligning that communication.
Was really key. And one of the things that EO brought is, is,
you know, kind of talking about like personal matters and how you interact with
your children and how you interact with your spouse and entrepreneurs typically are that go, go, go.
And it's not just that they're going for success.
(29:02):
It's kind of where we're wired and what we like, right? I mean,
my life wouldn't be the same if I wasn't running around with my hair on fire,
I don't think I'd be happy.
Right. And so, so dealing with that, you know, from a personal standpoint,
not just with your employees, but on your personal life was something that's been really good for me.
I think that's so important to understand. There are so many aspects of quote unquote success.
(29:24):
You know, your younger years, you called it grinding, right?
Where you're just on it, trying to get to the next level. And then all of a
sudden you realize you're like taking for granted certain things in life.
And it almost reverts back to all the good things, the personal experiences
that you're going through.
And it's very interesting how that all comes full circle, right? It is for sure.
(29:48):
Well, listen, we appreciate you spending some time here with us today on the
Founders Odyssey podcast.
And if you guys have liked today's episode, definitely subscribe.
And last question to you is how do we get ahold of you? And really,
what are you excited about coming here in the future? Yeah.
So, so Brent Bennett, if you can get ahold of me by phone, 801-727-6003,
(30:13):
or my email is just brent at lane VC or brent.bennett at hubinternational.com.
Yeah. I mean, looking forward in the future, I, I, I love Utah.
I, you know, I've, I've been here 30 plus years. I just, I love,
I'm so excited to see what's happening in our local community, right?
I mean, I look at the entrepreneur, I just look at how many business and founders
(30:35):
and especially in the VC space and the private equity space,
there's just a lot of people and money and resources and some exciting things happening.
I think there's also a lot of entrepreneurs that really do want to give back.
I think Utah is a really interesting community.
And I say interesting, team, meaning vibrant and cool and very collective that
like, I think they're going back to EO.
(30:57):
I mean, I'm going to serve as a president EO this year, super excited about that.
And part of that is a give back. And I say that give back, not like altruistically
as I feel like so many people grabbed their hand and helped me through this
process and wanted to, right. Like didn't do it to get anything.
It was genuinely of, Hey, we see something and we want to help you succeed.
(31:17):
And we're cheerleaders, right? And I feel like that's pretty unique.
I mean, we have a pretty good ecosystem for entrepreneurship in Utah.
I mean, I moved here from Alaska and I've seen it so far, you know,
and all the events that we're hosting and the different people that have helped
along that way. So I'm glad you're one of those people.
Well, thank you. So anyway, guys, make sure that you subscribe to this episode
(31:42):
and then share it with your friends and definitely subscribe.
We'll talk to you again soon.
Welcome to the Founders Odyssey podcast, where we interview founders that have
bought companies, sold companies, raised funds, and are creating significant
impact by solving substantial problems in this world today. My name is Nathan. I'll be your host.
Our special guest today is Brent Bennett, serial entrepreneur and founder of
a company called Spectra, formerly ranked for five years in a row in Inc.
(00:22):
5000 company, and now has been acquired and merged into Hub International,
where he currently resides as the Executive Vice President.
Additionally, he has assumed a position of Venture Partner at a Salt Lake VC fund, Lane VC,
focusing on investing in smart entrepreneurs that are reshaping the world's
(00:43):
mobility through disruptive technological innovations.
Lastly, he serves as the President-Elect for the EO Organization of Utah,
helping advise and mentor entrepreneurs.
Welcome to the show, Brent. Thanks, appreciate it. So we're gonna touch on just
a few things, but the most important thing that I love to ask entrepreneurs
right when we get started is what does entrepreneurship mean to you?
(01:08):
Building, right? I mean, I look at entrepreneurship. I just love the concept.
I love being around entrepreneurs, but I love building.
I love standing back and feeling like I was part of building something bigger, right?
I mean, it's one thing to build a company and to go and have some revenue and build revenue.
It's another thing to be able to stand back and see it actually,
you know, to stand back and have it run on its own is really,
(01:29):
really rewarding. Well, and I'm glad you said rewarding because we're seeing
different entrepreneurs at different sizes. Let's just put Elon Musk, for example.
He's making a significant impact in the world that is then making an income.
He didn't just look for a widget that he could start selling over and over again. He looked for problems.
(01:49):
So let's talk, Sean, problems. And you as an entrepreneur, where did you first
begin looking for problems? problems.
Yeah. You know, it's kind of funny how I got into a specter benefits.
So I did not intend, my dad was a business owner, entrepreneur my whole life
and, and a good, better, indifferent.
I kind of took that as we didn't take vacations much.
(02:09):
He worked all the time. And, and honestly, growing up, I thought,
gosh, I do not want to be an entrepreneur. I actually want to just go to a job and enjoy my vacations.
Went to work, you know, had various careers, but went to work for a PEO professional
employer organization.
It was an outsourced leasing company. And I was doing doing benefits for them
at the time, came up with a business idea, gave them a business plan and said,
gosh, I really think, you know, our best and most progressive clients keep leaving us.
(02:33):
They keep walking out the back door and asking if we can help them.
So I came up with the idea and said, Hey, we got to start a benefits agency,
you know, and gave them the idea, pitched them the idea. And they said,
Brent, this is great, but just keep doing what you're doing.
Like we went from four, I was, I was there for four years, went from 4 million
to 40 million in revenue.
So 10 X in four years, they said, why are we changing? Like,
don't reinvent the the wheels, keep doing what you're doing.
(02:53):
And I had, I had, you know, kind of put my heart and soul in, this is what I want to do.
So I literally, you know, walked away from that meeting. I walked in the next
morning, gave my two weeks and started a benefit agency and said,
you know, gosh, this is what I want to do. Like, I know this is what I want to do.
Good part. They ended up being my first client. Like I, I gave my notice.
They said, well, if you're leaving, like take us, you know, as your first client.
So it ended up being really rewarding.
(03:15):
But part of that problem was just, you know, I looked and thought there's a
plenty of benefit agencies.
It's not unique, right we don't sell product we're by default the middleman
but the way that we did our philosophy i thought
was significantly different let's talk about
looking at how you can be
innovative in an industry right that may be stagnant because it sounds like
(03:36):
you know that was something that you came up against but then you said well
i'm going to jump over that can you bring us back into that position and then
also when you're going into other ventures now you're having to overcome overcome,
and then also be creative.
So share with us a little bit about that innovation. Yeah. I mean-
But by default, in insurance brokerage, we're selling insurance.
(03:58):
It's not a real sexy business. I mean, insurance is not something that people
get really excited about.
But using benefits and using insurance as a tool to define your culture,
I think is really unique.
And so I think that was one of the things at the time and one of the things
we still do is at the time, this is back in 2002, when I started the agency,
is I had mentioned a lot of our clients were fast growing.
(04:19):
PEOs typically focus on smaller companies, 11, 30 employees.
What we found is when our clients got to about a hundred employees,
they felt like they want to pull HR inside. They want to kind of define themselves.
And for the most part, they were kind of creating the exact same benefit package
they had and just looking at price.
And so, you know, one of the things we did, one, we monetize on selling the
insurance, but two is really spend some time with the clients and who do you
(04:41):
want to be when you grow up? Like, where do you want to rank?
And do you want people to come work for you for benefits? Do you want them to
attract you for benefits?
And so we did a lot of unique positioning statements with our clients to figure
out, you know, where do you want to be positioned and relative and let your
employee benefits be one of those things that kind of define your culture. Yeah.
Sounds like that was the first time you caught the entrepreneurial bug or was
(05:03):
there anything that had started to spark your interest of the old entrepreneurial path?
Yeah. I mean, when I, when I was kids, I mean, I, like I sold boats as an example,
you know, growing up, I was, you know, had kind of a really bounce around.
I say growing up when I was 17, I sold boats.
It was a commission only job. It was, I would say very entrepreneurial,
but as an example, people, you know, people used to wait for people to walk in the door.
(05:24):
I used to look in mag, you know, I've lived in Utah at the time,
Utah business magazine.
I'd look for people that had just sold their companies or just had a big promotion.
I used to swing by and drop off brochures like, Hey, you should,
and this is back in like, you know, this is back in like 1993, 94.
We didn't even have cell phones back then. And I would drop off brochures and
be like, you know, you deserve a new boat. Like, come see me. Right.
And I do, you know, where I was, I mean, I, I outsold our other salespeople
(05:48):
there. I was doing it for college part-time and frankly, I was making more money.
I did pre-med, you know, I thought I wanted to be a doctor, did pre-med,
did my MCAT, thought I was going to go to school and then kind of found out,
man, I'm making more money selling boats part-time in the summer than I would
if I actually finished my degree and, and became a doctor.
And that was, I would say one of the first times I kind of caught that entrepreneurial
bug as, as like, let's, let's switch it up. Let's do something a little different.
(06:10):
I didn't think it was entrepreneurism at the time. I just thought it was being
a motivated salesperson. Yeah. I like that. it.
But yeah, I would say that was kind of my first time of like,
what's, what everybody else is doing is not working for me. So I'm going to
do something different.
So let's talk about sales. Of course, you're in the insurance business,
but we're all in sales, right? So for those professionals out there, you got to hear this.
So when you set a goal for yourself, how do you attain that goal?
(06:34):
And the reason I'll say that is because sometimes you'll look at what you,
what's right in front of you and you'll get caught in the noise of.
You know, just the, the, the little nuances, but, and cause you're only looking at the end result.
So share with us how you start to systematically approach your end goal and
yeah. And so, I mean, interesting.
(06:56):
You said, you know what, the way you started the podcast and you answer that
question, it makes me think a little differently.
And I say that from a standpoint, the way I approach goals now is completely
different than the way I did five years ago or, or 15 years ago.
And I say that from a standpoint, I'm a wildly selfish with my time.
Right and so when i look at goals i don't know if you know jesse it's or follow
jace jesse answer but i love you know one of the things he says often is like
(07:19):
your job is to be wildly unrealistic
right like don't be realistic your job is to be unrealistic and i i oftentimes
i look at those goals and say gosh this is what i want to accomplish what am i not willing to give up.
To get there right like i'm not willing to work nights i'm not willing to
work weekends here's some of the things that like i don't want to do and then
i kind of figure out where we want to be and work it backwards of like hey what
(07:39):
tools and resources do i need and who do i need to pull in for this right which
was you know how yeah i think i think early on
it was like how do i grind right and i was willing to just grind and grind
and grind to get there and now i'm looking like i'm not willing to
grind but i know there's plenty of other people that are willing to grind not
to take advantage of them but these are 20 and 30 year olds that like are still
making you know are still blazing their career and say gosh how can i work with
(08:01):
them so that that hey i can share in some of this and i don't need 100 i think
that's that's probably what's changed one of the biggest pieces is if I can
take 20 or 30% of a bigger pie,
that's the goal that I'm going after versus having the whole pie right now.
Yeah. Cause there's width and there's depth, you know, and there's also speed,
there's speed to get to the end goal. Right.
(08:23):
But it's typically always found in the personnel and as we're starting to build teams out.
Right. And, and, and then it really starts to stem into how,
how does Brent become the best leader to empower an organization?
So that now brings us to leadership and how you implement structure within yourself
(08:45):
because you're a disciplined person.
You're in good shape for those that can see this. He is.
And then how do you do that in your life? Yeah, you know, you said something
that really meant something to me.
And I had this huge epiphany shift probably a year ago from, from motivation.
You know, I really used to think everything was about motivation. How do I keep motivated?
And I really shifted my mindset of like, it's not about motivation,
(09:07):
it's about discipline, right? If you're wildly disciplined, for me,
anyway, if I become wildly disciplined, my life is so much easier and so much
better structured than if I just have motivation.
And so a lot of that for me is literally writing it down. I mean,
we were talking in the hallway before we walked in here about morning routines.
And for me, I literally will almost outline that.
(09:29):
In like half an hour increments. Hey, when am I going to eat breakfast?
When am I going to work out? When am I going to do things? And it drives other
people nuts. For me, it kind of sets me free, right? That rigidity really sets me free.
But part of that too, is I schedule about three hours a day as Zen time.
Like I literally take and block out two hours in the mornings and an hour in
(09:49):
the afternoon at about three to four and from about 10 to noon to say,
this is my time where I'm not going to schedule appointments, that I get caught up.
I get to do things. If I I want to take a walk around the parking lot.
And that for me has really helped me, right?
Taking those three hours a day has actually set me free in terms of being able
to have that time where I can just finish projects.
(10:10):
And if that makes sense.
Yeah, no, I, I 100% agree. I know for, you know, when I was running my technology
company, I hired and I hired a coach and it was someone that I could speak to
just, you know, on a weekly basis.
And it got me to remove myself from, from myself, like from an objective point
(10:33):
of view, just almost like what you're explaining here in, in, in a Zen time. Right.
And cause sometimes we get caught in, into our own habit loops.
And I think it's important for us to understand that we,
we all have habit loops, no matter who you
are you know for sure we all have habit loops right so
so you you have leadership right within
(10:55):
yourself let's define what leadership is within a company culture and how you
have obviously you had a company that went five years in a row for ink 500 for
5000 and that's really an awesome feat so share with us a little bit about how
you did that in that culture Yeah.
So I, I, I'm a huge fan of vision boards and I say that of just whether it's
(11:17):
life, whether it's personal life, whether it's friends and family,
whether it's business, I like to visualize, call it manifestation,
call it whatever you will.
I'm a huge fan. So even like the ink 5,000 as an example, that was a big,
that, you know, that wasn't happenstance. That was very much by design.
In fact, I, I would say embarrassed myself, but I bought like mugs for everybody
the year before we hit five ink 5,000, I bought mugs for the entire company
(11:38):
of like, Hey, 2000, we're, you know, we're going to hit congratulations.
Congratulations, we hit five, way before it happened, right?
When we built our office, we're just over here.
Off, you know, off state street. I built a plaque with five spaces for our five
years in a row. Right. And set and told our employees, like,
here's what we're doing.
Here's exactly how we're going to do it. Like follow the path.
(11:59):
Like, I really need your help.
And I put it out there. Right. So part of that wasn't just like,
Hey, let's try our best and see if we can make it.
Part of that was like, I pretty much told all our clients, all our vendors,
all our employees, like, here's what we're going to do. Here's how we're going
to do it. I really need your help.
But like, we're not missing, right? Like this is the goal we're hitting.
And you're either on the the bus or off the bus.
And for the most part, everybody got excited. Like it was actually a really
(12:21):
fun ride. Right. And, and I, we probably would still be on if we wouldn't have
sold, but we got a lot of attention during that time.
It ended up selling and it was a growth play, not an exit. I'm still there.
But it was very much by design and figuring out, Hey, what growth numbers do
we need to have? What do we need to sustain?
And, and kind of what vertical are we going to, what, what are we going to own?
Right. Let's not just go get more clients, but let's own this sandbox.
(12:42):
Let's figure out what we're really, really good at.
And if it doesn't fit in this box. Let's not even talk to them,
right? Let's just really focus on what we know that we're going to be good at. Laser focus.
Every good entrepreneur, every business is, they're all laser focused.
You always hear that, you know, had there been any other times in your life
where it seems as if you were not as focused and then how do you rein yourself back in to that focus?
(13:08):
Yeah, a hundred percent. I mean, in fact, I, you know, the journey that I'm
on kind of right I mean, I sold the company in 2018.
I've always been, I've always been involved in entrepreneurism at some point,
or at least since I started the career. And part of that is we're B2B,
right? We work with business owners all day.
I'm sitting, I have a front row seat with our clients.
And so I've been an LPR limited partner in several venture firms,
(13:28):
private equity firms since about 2015.
And, and, you know, when I sold my company in 2018, it really went from making
a lot of income to having some dollars and my income grew less.
You finally had a liquidity event. Yeah, I had, I had a liquidity event and
frankly, I needed to go deploy that capital. Right.
And so when you say, you know, was there a time that I wasn't as focused? That was it.
(13:49):
Like 2018, 2019, I looked at the strategy of like, gosh, you know what,
let's put a little bit of money in a lot of different places.
And, and I realized at about 21, like, gosh, that's, it's not that it was bad,
but it wasn't serving me nearly as well as being laser focused.
So, you know, I was on the board of build capital at the time,
Casey Evans, who was part of build left and started lane VC.
(14:09):
I was an advisor for lane VC.
And really we started talking really in about 2022 and just saying,
you know what, I would really rather be very involved instead of just having
a board position and investing in some of the companies.
I really want to take a much more active role. And, and, and he had asked me
to take a more active role.
And so in last year in 2023 came on as a venture partner and a GP,
(14:31):
you know, have some equity in the firm, but now I have a board seat at one of our portfolio clients.
And so, you know, I've kind of taken that switch of, Hey, let's let other people
manage this. Even though I'm not, it's not my company.
I like the fact of being much more involved in a fewer amount of items and being,
you know, I don't want to say laser focused,
but being hyper-focused focused on a few things well and at lane vc you guys
(14:55):
are really focused in on the mobility sector i've done some research and it
seems like it's definitely an expanding market as well as energy conservation
we were talking about that as well.
You guys have a very laser-focused thesis of investing, which,
once again, we're on the topic of focus here.
Man, you've had a road so far. Share with us a little bit about when you exited
(15:21):
that company or when you had your sale.
Let's talk a little bit about the structure there, but then also the carry-on
because you're still working in some regards within that.
Share with us about that. Yeah. So, so, you know, Hub International,
huge corporation, right?
I mean, over 4 billion a year in revenue, 17,000 employees, over 500 offices in North America.
(15:45):
And for us, a lot of that was a growth play. We had, we frankly had some big
clients. We had no business having at the time and we needed some additional resources.
So we either had to invest a lot of money back in the company or,
you know, merge with another company or get acquired, you know,
with somebody with a lot more resources.
So I chose to do that. You know, I sold a hundred of the company,
but I rolled 20% back in equity and hub.
(16:08):
And so, you know, today I'm still an equity shareholder at hub international.
It's privately held company.
I signed a three-year agreement with a three-year earn out with the intent,
you know, Hey, there's some bonuses on growth.
Cause frankly, we were still a fast growing company at the time they approached
me. I wasn't that excited about selling.
Cause I felt like, gosh, we still got a lot of runway left, but after talking
with them, after talking with, you know, some investment bankers,
(16:28):
I was pretty convinced that, Hey, we can grow faster with them or better with
them than we can without, which was, I think was true.
I don't know that I intended to, to leave at the end of the three years, but here it is six years.
It was March as of March 1st, it was six years and I'm still here.
Part of that is they just treat me really well. Right. I mean, and I'm having fun.
Like I'm actually having more fun today than I think I did when I was CEO of
(16:50):
the company. I don't have the same control.
We hired a president that actually runs the day-to-day. So I literally don't
have a single direct report, although I'm still involved in our executive team.
I'm still involved in merger acquisition and I'm enjoying that,
I'm actually really enjoying just working with our people, right?
I mean, last year at a Christmas party, I think I literally kind of stood back
as like, wow, I've never really enjoyed this this much because I'm not in charge.
(17:14):
I'm actually meeting our employees and looking, I'm going to meet their families.
And it's like, I think for 15 years I was running around, you know,
so busy that I, although I knew their names and I knew who they were,
I didn't really stop to take the time to get to know them.
Right. And I'm enjoying I think that's important to understand too in business, right?
Not to get too busy and not to say that you were, you know what I mean?
But of course, we're always.
(17:35):
I was, yeah. Okay, well, you made it. So it's, you know, we need to focus in
on the assets that we do have.
And it's the personnel that's a part of our organizations.
And of course, you can't do everything all at once. And as a CEO of a company,
it can be difficult, right?
Because you have a lot of people that you need to make happy.
Yeah. investors, board members, customers.
(18:01):
When as an entrepreneur do you do you know that you are going to sell your company,
when is a good a good time you know i don't
know i mean it's kind of i think asking that question is it's not it's not personal
it's kind of like asking somebody when the right time is to have a baby right
like i don't know that it's ever a right time it's just there's times that feel
(18:21):
better or not i think for me personally i was not intending i was actually not
intending this i i I always knew we were going to sell the company.
I thought it was way too early. Okay.
And, and, and hindsight looking back, it was, it was a great structure, right?
And, and, and, and, you know, part of that, we hired an investment banker,
you know, hub international approached me.
I had talked to one other company prior to that, or several other companies,
(18:42):
you know, throughout the years and just kind of no, no, no, no, no.
They put the right deal structure in front of me that, that when I met their
leadership team, when I met them, it, it literally wasn't about the exit as much as it was.
I was excited to work with those people if that makes
sense i was it does make sense and i think it's important
though if you're an entrepreneur out there looking for an exit
(19:02):
don't just get too excited about the exit think about think about the merger
of the team just like what you're saying right now because there's a lot of
companies that they get excited about an exit then all of a sudden they realize
they have to stay on with people they don't want to work with yeah you know so So it was,
you know, I won't name his name because I think they're actually announcing today,
(19:24):
but one of my good friends sold 60% of his company Friday.
And we were talking about that and giving each other hugs and celebrating,
giving each other high fives. He's like, man, I'm waiting for,
you know, he was checking his bank account. Yeah. To look for that wire.
And I was kind of joking with him. I'm like, but I hate to say this.
It's going to be very uneventful. Like it's going to be awesome.
And then tomorrow you're going to wake up and go, oh, I don't feel any different, you know?
And, and so I think that's really good. you know, if, if somebody was to ask
(19:47):
me, or as you talked about, you know, what, what to look for or what not to
look for, you know, we, we hired an investment banker. We talked to five different companies.
We went out and had really deep talks and it was, it was pretty easy for us
because we weren't just looking.
I mean, frankly, we did not take the highest number, right? We didn't take the highest offer.
I probably would have, or treated it differently if I was exit,
(20:08):
if it was a transaction and I was walking out the door, but I felt like for
me, I was doing a job job interview, right?
I was, I was literally interviewing people for who do I want to work for next?
And, and we treated that process much differently and, and, and it's worked
out good, right? Here it is six years later and I'm enjoying it.
I love it. Let's talk about investments, strategies, things that you're looking at right now.
(20:29):
And we talked before we got on air about the season of life you're in right now.
Going through an exit, of course, you still have equity and you're still working
with the company. But now it's another season of learning.
You've got to now permeate your mind with, I now am a venture partner at a company
where now we're looking for multiple deals in different companies of all sorts.
(20:52):
So share with us. I bet you that's fun, but what does that job entail?
Yeah. I mean, you know, again, at Lane VC, we take a little bit different approach
because it's much more about quantity.
It's much more about driving outcomes than it is in spreading our capital.
And so, you know, I think the investment thesis is, hey, we're going to do a
lot fewer deals and be a lot more involved.
As an example, I've got a board role, right? And so we do a call every Thursday with their team.
(21:17):
You know, I do a call every Thursday with their team. It's about 15 to 30 minutes, right?
It's not a long call. It's more just touching base of here's kind of what we
accomplished this week.
We touch base on what do you need from me? Is there any assets or any introductions you need?
And they're really straightforward, right? And it's early startup,
right? This is seed investment, which is not something Lane typically does.
We're typically between A and B, but this is a company we really liked.
(21:39):
It's a company called Photon Marine.
They're in the, you know, 300 horsepower, larger outboard workboat industry.
And, you know, from our previous past with Exos, with Enride,
with several other mobility plays.
The company is amazing. The infrastructure is amazing, but there's not enough
infrastructure. And I say infrastructure, meaning, you know,
their products are amazing.
There wasn't enough infrastructure. Let's say you take Exos as an example,
(22:01):
their headquarter in Pasadena, they do class five to class seven work trucks.
I love that space. I think there's such a great market for it,
but they can sell, they sell trucks and a lot of the manufacturers can't buy
more because there's not the infrastructure ready for them to actually plug
in enough chargers to buy more trucks.
If you look at, you know, photon Marine is an example that you look look at
any marina or workboat marina, they've got 220 bolt at every single,
(22:24):
like every single workboat can plug in at night.
And so we were really excited, you know, just about the infrastructure play,
the fact they don't rely on government subsidies.
So I say that from a standpoint, I think what's, you know, that,
that big change there is, is looking to identify what works and what can we
really help them using our, you know, not,
not that I'm smarter than anybody else, but like, I feel like I make a lot smarter
(22:46):
decisions today than I did 10 years ago or 15 years ago.
And so it's it's and i know a lot of people right
and so i think that's you know like a lane we've got about 120 lps
almost 80 of those are very strategic it's not just about bringing money to
the table it's who do we know that can help them get here faster right and so
a lot of that is is as we pass up deals all the time that are amazing amazing
(23:08):
technology good valuations but we look and say we just can't add value right
i mean we we can invest in it we think we can make some money,
but we don't know how to add value to this because we don't have any expertise where,
you know, the companies that we typically invest in, we're kind of foaming at
the mouth of, wow, we can't wait to introduce them to this guy and this person
and this person, because we know they're going to know the right people to help them succeed.
(23:30):
And so I think that's very much part of that investment thesis.
Isn't just mobility focused.
It's also, you know, what companies do we, do we have LPs that are willing to
give their time and energy and, and Rolodex, so to say, as well as some dollars
so that, so we have alignment throughout the whole play.
You're in a position right now where you're mentor advisor to,
(23:53):
you know, younger entrepreneurs, right?
So what would you say to your younger self? Probably one of the most important
things that you would say to your younger self in this journey of entrepreneurship.
You know, this is a theme for me. I mean, my son just, we just sent my son off
of college this year and I don't know why that I, and I just turned 50.
Right. And so, so like this year has been really an interesting year.
(24:16):
Cause it's one of those, it's like, I'm not over the hill. I don't feel old,
but I look at it and say, gosh.
I probably have 30 years left, right? In terms of like my life,
I've lived more than I probably have left. Right.
I, I, you know, sending my son off to college this year was a big deal for me,
just from a standpoint, he's not there every day. Right.
I used to eat breakfast with him every morning. We used to, I,
I, I don't say took that for granted, but now that it's not there, I think differently.
(24:39):
And so I think one of the things I'd really tell my younger self is be be more
selfish with my time, right?
I think I traded time for money or time for success or what I viewed was success,
which it was, it was great.
But had I gone back, I think I would have been a little more selfish with my
time. Yeah, that's good to hear.
(25:01):
So let's talk about the EO organization and the way that they mentor.
Yeah. And they provide resources, which you are also involved in.
So share with us a little bit about how you came to EO and then what you're
currently doing there and then how you guys really help entrepreneurs.
Yeah. So EO, Entrepreneur Organization, global organization,
(25:22):
there's about 14,000 members.
In, I want to say it's about a hundred countries all across the globe.
I was introduced by a good, actually was introduced by a good friend of mine.
It was a client of mine at the time. You know, I brought to a jazz game.
He was an insurance client and we were just talking about stuff and,
and he was bouncing ideas off me.
(25:42):
I was bouncing ideas off him. And he's like, gosh, you know what you really,
uh, and I, at the time I was thinking about getting a board of directors, right?
I just thought, you know what, we're, we're growing fast enough.
We're, we're growing growing about 25, 30% a year compounded every year and
being an entrepreneur is lonely, right?
Like, you know, you, you've got employees, you don't want to come home and moan
and groan to your spouse.
You don't want to moan and groan to your employees of like, man,
(26:04):
we're having some growing pains.
And so there's not a lot of people typically that you could talk to other than other entrepreneurs.
Yes. Right. And so, cause they get it, right. They just know it,
they get it, they laugh about it and it's, you know, it's your people. Right.
And so, so his name was Mike Mike Robson, we'd gone to a jazz game.
We were talking, he invited me to an EO event and said, Hey,
rather than get a board, you might want to think about this other route.
(26:25):
You know, here's this group called the EO.
I went and literally I, I, we, is it like I, uh, here in Utah, it was a lunch meeting.
I was probably halfway through the meeting. I'm like done, right?
Like where here's my credit card. Like, where do I sign up? Uh, that was back in 2007.
We were barely doing a million a year in revenue at the time.
And that was kind of, you know, you're required to do a million a year to join.
And we literally just passed that threshold, old, you know, months earlier.
(26:48):
And so pretty excited. Fast forward, uh.
You know, part of how they do that, they put it in forum forums,
typically groups, eight to 10, you meet once a month. It's pretty intense, four or five hours.
You're not, you're heavily discouraged from giving advice. You're just sharing experiences.
Right. And so you share experience of, you know, if I'm saying,
Hey, here's something I'm dealing with, people will be like,
(27:10):
gosh, I remember when, you know, this happened and here's how I dealt with it. Here was the outcome.
And for me, that was been monumental, right? Cause, cause not giving when people
give advice, oftentimes you're not peers anymore, right?
You have that, Hey, not better than you, but Hey, I've been there,
done that. So let me tell you how to solve your problem.
When you're just sharing advice, it's like, all right, great.
And, and I walked away from those meetings every single time,
(27:32):
not just with my own problem.
Even if I didn't, you know, have an issue that I brought to the table,
other people would give issues or problems.
I'm like, Oh my God, I'm dealing with that exact same issue or something so
similar that I would walk away with like, wow, I know what to do now. I made my decision.
And, and And I mean, my business grew 10 X within the first, you know, 10 years.
And I really attribute a lot of that to EO, but more than that was just the
(27:56):
network, just that camaraderie.
And I think one of the big byproducts, you know, people ask me all the time,
like of selling, like when he sold the business in 2018, what would you have done differently?
I think one of the biggest things I would have done differently wasn't actually
business. It was my personal life, right? I'm, you know, I'm married.
I've been married for 23 years at the time.
You know i involved my wife when she was excited but i didn't explain to her
(28:18):
like hey i have this three-year earn out which means i'm actually going to work
harder for the next three years not not slowing down and i think you know she
very much felt like hey we're having this liquidity event.
Now we're going to take more vacations and you have more time and you're going
to be home more and that wasn't the case for that three years right that was
actually the case probably the three years prior to me selling because i had
things dialed in and then three years after this big goals that i had to hit
(28:39):
for my bonus and target that for me it was like well that's part of the sale
right like i want to hit that and so i think aligning that communication.
Was really key. And one of the things that EO brought is, is,
you know, kind of talking about like personal matters and how you interact with
your children and how you interact with your spouse and entrepreneurs typically are that go, go, go.
And it's not just that they're going for success.
(29:02):
It's kind of where we're wired and what we like, right? I mean,
my life wouldn't be the same if I wasn't running around with my hair on fire,
I don't think I'd be happy.
Right. And so, so dealing with that, you know, from a personal standpoint,
not just with your employees, but on your personal life was something that's been really good for me.
I think that's so important to understand. There are so many aspects of quote unquote success.
(29:24):
You know, your younger years, you called it grinding, right?
Where you're just on it, trying to get to the next level. And then all of a
sudden you realize you're like taking for granted certain things in life.
And it almost reverts back to all the good things, the personal experiences
that you're going through.
And it's very interesting how that all comes full circle, right? It is for sure.
(29:48):
Well, listen, we appreciate you spending some time here with us today on the
Founders Odyssey podcast.
And if you guys have liked today's episode, definitely subscribe.
And last question to you is how do we get ahold of you? And really,
what are you excited about coming here in the future? Yeah.
So, so Brent Bennett, if you can get ahold of me by phone, 801-727-6003,
(30:13):
or my email is just brent at lane VC or brent.bennett at hubinternational.com.
Yeah. I mean, looking forward in the future, I, I, I love Utah.
I, you know, I've, I've been here 30 plus years. I just, I love,
I'm so excited to see what's happening in our local community, right?
I mean, I look at the entrepreneur, I just look at how many business and founders
(30:35):
and especially in the VC space and the private equity space,
there's just a lot of people and money and resources and some exciting things happening.
I think there's also a lot of entrepreneurs that really do want to give back.
I think Utah is a really interesting community.
And I say interesting, team, meaning vibrant and cool and very collective that
like, I think they're going back to EO.
(30:57):
I mean, I'm going to serve as a president EO this year, super excited about that.
And part of that is a give back. And I say that give back, not like altruistically
as I feel like so many people grabbed their hand and helped me through this
process and wanted to, right. Like didn't do it to get anything.
It was genuinely of, Hey, we see something and we want to help you succeed.
(31:17):
And we're cheerleaders, right? And I feel like that's pretty unique.
I mean, we have a pretty good ecosystem for entrepreneurship in Utah.
I mean, I moved here from Alaska and I've seen it so far, you know,
and all the events that we're hosting and the different people that have helped
along that way. So I'm glad you're one of those people.
Well, thank you. So anyway, guys, make sure that you subscribe to this episode
(31:42):
and then share it with your friends and definitely subscribe.
We'll talk to you again soon.
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