Billion Dollar Backstory

What do you do when the market tells you there’s no room for another fund? You tell a better story and carve your niche anyway. In this episode, Stacy sits down with Bob Lind, Co-Founder of Lind Capital Partners, a boutique manager specializing in one of the most overlooked corners of the credit market: non-rated municipal bonds. They dive into how Bob went from selling himself into his first rese...

Headed to a new city and thinking, “Should I try to book lunch with that allocator?” Not so fast. If your first email is a wall of text with your bio, your strategy, and your lunch plans all crammed in… it’s probably going straight to the trash. The good news is that there’s a better way to warm up new prospects, and in this episode, Stacy is breaking down exactly how she extends invitations to br...

Picture this: You’ve got a big job in finance, two tiny humans at home, and a brutal 90-minute commute. Then one day, you trade it all in to start a business with your husband. That’s exactly what Liz Fritz did. In this Episode, she joins Stacy Havener to chat about:  Taking the leap from corporate to co-founder (with two babies in tow) What it’s actually like building a company with your spouse ...

What if luck plays a bigger role in fund success than anyone wants to admit? Simon Evan-Cook isn’t just throwing that idea out there. He’s lived it. He spent years on the allocator side, vetting fund managers and learning what really sticks (hint: it’s not just your track record).  Now that he’s a fund manager himself, he’s pulling back the curtain on the truth no one wants to say out loud… Yes, b...

Forget what you think you know about finance careers. Eric Flynn didn’t come up through Wall Street. He grew up on a ranch in Montana. An actual 20,000-acre ranch, wrangling cattle before most of us were out of bed.  Today, he’s the EVP and Head of Wealth Management at Compound Planning, a $3 billion digital family office built by tech founders who believe wealth management should feel a lot less...

When you think about European credit investing, most people assume it’s only for the big shops with billions under management. Agata Dornan, Founder & CIO of Chepstow Lane, is here to challenge that, and she’s doing it with smarts, grit, and real talk about what it really takes to succeed. Agata’s path to launching her own boutique wasn’t a straight line. As a first-generation American who sta...

Stacy and Rob Morier met over 25 years ago at Julius Baer Investment Management, long before podcasting, LinkedIn, and fund manager personal brands were even a thing. Fast forward to today, and Rob’s resume reads like an adventure novel. He’s done it all. From Wall Street, to teaching the next generation about all things VC as a Professor at Drexel University, he knows a thing or two about how ass...

Being great at investing is one thing but if no one knows about you or what you stand for, good luck growing your fund.  It might sound harsh, but it’s true. In today’s world, attention is the new currency and you can’t afford to ignore it. That’s why today, Stacy is bringing her friend Dr. Daniel Crosby back on the mic for a very special 100th episode of Billion Dollar Backstory. They’re picking...

Let’s be honest: writing for LinkedIn can feel like walking a tightrope. You want to sound smart, credible, and professional. But also… like a human. In this Episode, Stacy shares the exact approach she uses to walk that line between being personable and credible (and to generate leads for her firm, Havener Capital, in the process).  Listen in as she breaks down:  How to use the 5 Pillar framework...

Stacy’s had a front row seat to a lot of boutique success stories but this one is something special. Tucker Walsh didn’t just build one billion-dollar firm, he did it again. And now? He’s back at it for a third time. In this Episode, Tucker and Stacy talk about what it really takes to build an investment firm from the ground up.  They also discuss:  The realities of raising capital in today’s mark...

Most fund managers are happiest behind their screens, crunching data and studying markets. That’s their zone of genius, so it makes sense. But when you step into the founder seat, everything changes. Investing is no longer your only job. Suddenly, marketing and distribution aren’t just important, they’re non-negotiables.  Today’s guest, Sean Peche, knows this firsthand. He’s the Founder and Fund M...

Most college students aren’t spending their free time building trading algorithms. But Alex Boyd isn’t most people. From an early start on an investment desk to founding Aware —a tool that helps professionals build real influence on LinkedIn in a fraction of the time—Alex’s journey is anything but typical. He’s also an introvert who understands what it’s like to want to show up online… without bec...

Panels are everywhere in the asset management world. But let’s be honest, most of them aren’t exactly lighting the room on fire. So why is something that seems so simple, so hard to get right? Is it really that tough to throw a few smart folks on stage and ask them questions? To find out, Stacy called in her friend Dan Mikulskis. Dan is the Chief Investment Officer at the £31B People’s Partnership...

After exiting a successful startup, Rafael Loureiro went looking for a better way to do estate planning…and came up empty. The experience? Clunky. Expensive. Outdated. So like any smart entrepreneur would do, he decided to build something better. Today, Rafael is the CEO of Wealth.com , a FinTech firm backed by Google Ventures and designed to modernize the estate planning process for advisors and...

Founders don’t start firms because it’s easy; they do it because they believe there’s a better way. That was true for today’s guest, Ben Beneche, who left the comfort of a $200B+ global firm to launch his own boutique: Tourbillon Investment Management. In this Episode, he sits down with Stacy to discuss: His backstory: How his nomadic childhood shaped the independence and resilience he leans on as...

There’s nothing worse than walking into a conference room full of investors. Suddenly, everything you thought you knew about running a great meeting goes out the window. You’re wondering who to make eye contact with, whether anyone is actually interested, and why no one is saying anything.  Crowded meetings are awkward. They’re intimidating. But they aren’t impossible to rock. You just need a good...

Whether you’re raising capital on your own or thinking about hiring someone to help, chances are… you’re focused on all the wrong things. The biggest lesson Stacy learned while raising $8B for boutique asset managers (which ultimately helped drive over $30B in follow-on AUM)? Flashy resumes, market hot takes, and smooth talkers don’t close deals. The fundraisers who consistently crush it in meetin...

Raising capital starts with real relationships. And in 2025, social media is the easiest way to make those connections…right? Well… not always. What if the allocators you’re trying to reach aren’t posting? You can’t comment. You can’t DM them. Heck, maybe they don’t even accept your connection requests on LinkedIn.  Then what? How do you reach someone who seems impossible to reach? How do you star...

You know storytelling is powerful. You’ve heard that facts don’t close deals—feelings do. But when it comes time to talk about yourself, it suddenly feels...awkward. When is the right time to tell a story? And how do you know if you’re sharing too much or sounding too braggy?  Listen in as Stacy tackles these questions and breaks down:  The #1 storytelling mistake fund managers make  Why telling y...

As a boutique, blending in isn’t just a mistake; it’s a death sentence. You don’t need to be BlackRock. You need to own what makes your fund different.  But let’s be real: finding your edge—and actually leading with it —can feel like showing up to a black-tie event in your pajamas. Awkward. Exposed. Uncomfortable. That’s why in this Episode, Stacy breaks down: Why trying to prove you’re “better” i...

Raising capital isn’t about having the perfect pitch deck. And there’s no magic button that makes assets pour in. At the end of the day, it all comes down to one thing: trust. If you want to grow your boutique, you have to build real relationships with investors. Take it from $6B CEO Conor Hoey. He’s spent over a decade raising capital, leading investments, and even securing the right backers for...

Most fund managers panic when investors push back. They freeze. They fumble. And they walk away from capital they almost had. Not because their pitch was bad but because they didn’t know how to handle objections with confidence. In this Episode, Stacy is sharing her best tips for handling push back like a pro. She’s breaking down:  Why objections can actually be your best friend - and bring you cl...

Struggling to stand out to allocators? Wondering why your pitch isn’t landing? Kristof Gleich has sat on both sides of the table. Today, he’s the President & CIO of $50B Harbor Capital, but before that? He spent 8+ years leading manager selection at JP Morgan, fielding pitches from managers just like you. In this episode, he and Stacy dive into: Kristof’s path from physics to finance—how he we...

If you’re always chasing investors, hires, or deals… you’re doing it wrong. The most successful boutique founders don’t try to close everyone. They focus on alignment —and that’s exactly what Amy Volas is here to help you master. As a top sales leader turned founder of Avenue Talent Partners, she helps startups hire the right sales leaders. Along the way, she’s seen the costly mistakes founders ma...

Judith MacKenzie’s path is as unconventional as it is inspiring. She didn’t learn to invest on Wall Street.  The lessons that led her to the founder’s seat, running the boutique investment arm of $2.5B Downing LLP, started in her dad’s small news and ice cream shop in the Highlands long before finance was on her radar. In this Episode, she sits down with Stacy to discuss:  Her backstory– the surpr...