Welcome back to Being Invested. I’m excited to bring you Ep 4, with private equity powerhouse Wol Kolade. We explore the fascinating terrains of his life - what it was like to be the only black student in an all-white boarding school, the experience of hitting rock bottom early in his career and envisioning a solution, and the ‘let’s do it’ impetus behind the 10,000 Interns Foundation. You’ll hear why a low boredom threshold can lead you to private equity, why he cares about bringing business-mindedness to the biggest social challenges, and the photo-finish precision of card games in the Kolade family.As Managing Partner of Livingbridge, a mid-market private equity firm, Wol is one of the most prominent people in the private equity market in London. But his influence and interests extend far beyond the sector. Wol is also Deputy Chair of NHS England, a founder and Trustee of 10,000 Interns, a Board Advisor to Level 20, and formerly Trustee of Somerset House, Chair of Guy’s and St Thomas’, Chair of the BVCA,  Governor of the LSE and a non-exec director at Social Finance. He’s also a husband and father of 5. Wol graduated with an engineering degree from Kings College London and has an MBA from the University of Exeter. This episode is dedicated to Wol's father.WHAT'S IN STORE“I arrived in this very private British prep school with a very broad West Indies accent, and I realized quite quickly no one could understand what on earth I was saying."“Not just, what can we do down the line, but what can we do right now? Why don't we do something impactful like 10,000? It seemed completely insane. And I looked around the table, well why don't we just do it?"“I rarely think about the return. I start with, okay, we're going to involve ourselves with someone's life's work, we're going to have a major influence and role. So, the yardstick I use is, can we look back and say, because of Livingbridge's involvement, that is a better business? The amazing thing is, if you start doing the right things, hopefully the return follows almost as easy as night follows day.” "There's no right answer to what the best society is.”“If everyone's looking to the right and the received wisdom is go right, I will be going, yeah, but what's left?"“What can we learn from the intern rather than what did the intern learn from us?” "When I chair the board, I start off with, if we're not having fun, then something's really wrong.”“Friendship isn't about having just really easy conversations."“What I'm trying to iron out is that greed of squeezing every last penny out of everything all the time. We'd rather be known for selling really good stuff, where people have upside still to come.”“There are 3 investment decisions. And everyone forgets the third. The first one is buy. Second one is sell. The third one is do nothing.”“I find the business of government is probably the next big challenge. It's not politics…it's how does government actually work to deliver for society?”FILM: Godfather I and IIQUOTE: “Be careful how you treat people on your way up, you might meet them again on your way down.”PODCAST: Desert Island Discs (NB: Ian Wright interview)BOOK: The Lensman Series - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lensman_seriesWol’s statement in response to the murder of George Floyd: https://www.livingbridge.com/a-personal-statement-from-wol-kolade/Thank you for tuning in! I'd love your feedback, and if you'd like to suggest a guest, please message me on LinkedIn.GRATITUDESound: Alexander RussellDesign: Sophie HardyMusic: Tom McKean Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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