Cimbria Capital - 2023 New Year's Letter

By Brian V. Iversen, Founder and Managing Partner of Cimbria Capital

“I wish you may get exactly what you deserve” ?

(Danish: ”Jeg haaber du vil faa det pr?cist som du har det fortjent”)

Those were my words in the late Spring of 1999, soon to be 25 years ago. I was speaking for the last time in front of 35 newly educated soldiers in the Royal Danish Army. They had endured a 12-month program, including basic training, taking them from civilians to brand new and still mostly inexperienced young army infantry men. One-third of them had volunteered for this training and experience. The rest had been the ‘unlucky ones’ in the lottery draft still in place for all healthy young men in Denmark at that time.

Those words of mine may have been yet another indication that I was almost as inexperienced as them, but still their senior officer – effectively graduating as a 1st Lieutenant on that same day - who had guided them via the army’s traditional versions of ‘carrot and stick’ through early mornings, late nights, and an unusually cold Danish winter. I had been in charge of them becoming soldiers, barely being one myself. I had throughout that year earned the reputation as tough and, at times, completely unreasonable, but also loyal to them and our platoon, and more than willing to join them through the cold mud and with the hard work required by our profession. Looking back, everything seemed simpler in those younger years. Life’s tasks and challenges seemed exceedingly ‘black and white’ and even had the illusion of being fair. I meant it when I said it… I did actually wish for them to get exactly what they would deserve. I wanted to send the message that if each of them tried hard enough and made the right choices, it would be rewarded. My words were, in that moment in 1999, perceived as harsh and even callous. It wasn’t meant that way. It was my simple approach to sending them on their way telling them that I wished for the world to treat them fairly. ?

For me, the year 2022 became a year with significant ‘ups’ and ‘downs’, both professionally and personally, and another year proving to me that life is [a lot] more complicated than what my young wisdom nearly 25 years ago indicated. Unfortunately – in my view - the truth is that there is less of a ‘direct correlation between effort and outcome’ as one would have hoped, and significantly less correlation than some folks will try to sell to you. Personally, throughout my life, I have mostly had significantly better or significantly worse outcomes than the [my] actual effort put in. Maybe the end-result will become some version of a zero-sum game. I am not sure, but I, admittedly, doubt it. I think there is more to it, and I wish to do better.

With this in mind, I want to acknowledge the professionals – executives and entrepreneurs - with whom Cimbria collaborates. It may seem like a platitude to recognize entrepreneurs and leaders of smaller enterprises for their ingenuity and their stamina. Since there is truthfully a lot of that going around. It is widely understood that we - those of us brave and na?ve enough to pull out a blank sheet of paper with the purpose of creating something new - are hard-working challengers of status quo. But it is less spoken about, and at times missed, that whether success is achieved or not, the price paid is oftentimes much greater than advertised. ?

Due to hard-earned calluses of my own from my experience as an entrepreneur, I wish to acknowledge entrepreneurship for the parts that are less glamorous… those parts that cannot be romanticized even in the most creative LinkedIn post. Those parts we – entrepreneurs still in creation mode - cannot share, since we by doing so would risk our reputation as ‘invincible’… our doubts, uncertainties, an abundance of sleepless nights, the willingness to take lop-sided financial and personal risks, etc. ???

I have recently been forced to revisit certain beliefs of mine with the purpose of right-sizing my expectations and goals, both personally and professionally – no real surprise for somebody ‘suddenly’ being a tad closer to his 50th birthday than his 40th. As most, my past more rigid and ‘absolute’ world views and opinions were in dire need of revisiting. Now, it is clear to me that the world is less black and white than I once thought, that ‘benefit of doubt’ should be provided more often than not, that most people act reasonable inside their own paradigm, and that most of us are truly just trying our best. Where does that leave me… what would I tell those 35 young men ‘way back when’, if I had to redo my send-off message? I think I would say something very similar, but I would provide additional clarity… maybe something like this:

“I wish you may get exactly what you deserve. I wish the world will grant you fairness, and that you will have the strength to endure when instant gratification is not available since it rarely is. And I wish for you to find the ability to find and gain energy from supporting those next to you fighting the exact same battles… since most people you will ever meet – whether it seems so or not - are truly just trying their best.”

[I realize this would have been a bit of a mouthful for my 21-year-old self!]

I am still searching for methods and recipes allowing for a gentler ride through life’s unavoidable peaks and valleys. It has always – still is – been difficult for me to accept that I cannot fully control most outcomes, and that my efforts and input don’t always grant me matching results. It is an artform, I believe, to balance one’s strong sense of responsibility, but recognize and even appreciate that variable outcomes are unavoidable. Here is what I have learned and concluded so far…

Don’t ‘go it alone’. We all need help, assistance, and support. Even the strongest of us. Find and create alliances with people of similar as well as dissimilar walks of life. Seek alliances with people with overlapping values, always take time for these relationships – even when time seems impossible to spare - with the purpose of strengthening and deepening them. Since those relationships will keep you afloat in difficult times and provide balance otherwise difficult to find. Granted, creating alliances and relationships of this kind takes time and energy, and it requires a willingness to be open-minded and even vulnerable. Know that it is more than okay to be selective in this quest, but that it is one of few routes to reestablish the otherwise escaping correlation between efforts and positive results (wins!).

"Don’t ‘go it alone’. We all need help, assistance, and support."

This is what Cimbria is all about. This is what’s behind our company culture. We have since day one known that few starts-ups make it, but those that do… forged a strong company culture from the first day of inception. Our continual focus on company culture, beyond revenues and profits, is undoubtedly the one thing that allowed us to always progress despite uneven outcomes and an always changing and challenging environment. It is also the reason I am in a position to provide the following update about our firm.

The year 2022 was a highly active and productive year for the Cimbria Companies. Our consulting firm, Cimbria Consulting, more than doubled its year-over-year revenues. The consulting activities and clients behind this growth continue to be mostly water economy-focused enterprises – including serving as a trusted consultant for one of the largest and most sustainable Danish water engineering firms in the world with over 16,000 employees. In addition to its revenue growth, Cimbria Consulting continues to strengthen as an ‘investment sourcing tool’ for Cimbria Capital’s investment activities. Several proprietary investment opportunities are emerging and a number of these are expected to turn into specific investments over the coming months and years.

As an investor, we have in the past year welcomed new alliances with Aganova, Florida Design Drilling, and RODI Systems. And we have proudly been following and participating in the impressive commercial growth of our anchor investments, AMI Global and APX10. We are very excited about the current commercial momentum across our portfolio, and we are looking forward to the new year already underway. ?

To kick off this new year, it is again time for me to revisit the familiar and always powerful words of Theodore Roosevelt – words hanging on the wall next to my office desk. Words potentially relevant and hopefully energizing for some of you as well…

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man (person) stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The CREDIT BELONGS to the man (person) who is actually IN THE ARENA, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who STRIVES VALIANTLY, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself (or herself) in a WORTHY CAUSE; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the TRIUMPH OF HIGH ACHIEVEMENT, and who, at the worst, if he (she) fails, at least he (she) fails while DARING GREATLY, so that his (her) place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”

Theodore Roosevelt, Excerpt from the speech “Citizenship in a Republic”, delivered at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910. ?

I emphasize my utmost gratitude to those around me whose support, professionalism, patience, and friendship have allowed Cimbria to continue to succeed. A sincere thank you to my business partners and colleagues, and to the executives who decided to allow Cimbria’s participation in their professional journeys. The executives of our Partner Companies: AMI Global, APX10, Aganova, Cimbria Consulting, Florida Drilling, Slater Infrastructure Group, Fixed Earth Innovations, Micronic Technologies, and RODI Systems.

These executives, their skillsets, and experiences are the true fabric of our firm. A sincere thank you and continued good luck to each of Henrik Skov Laursen , Or Peled, David Drake , Ulrich Borup Hansen , Agustín Ramírez García , Vanessa van Rossum , Richard Eberle , Femi Osidele, Ph.D. , Brian Solvig Stenberg , Mahreen Qureshi , Daniel Ringdahl , Noah Ringdahl , Jeanne Simkins Hollis, Esq. , Andrew Hollis , Timothy Repas , Daniel Lanman , Karen D. Sorber , Patty Vance , and Stan Lueck .??

Cimbria will continue to support you and your companies with the best of our abilities in your ongoing and future endeavors. We are very proud to be on your team. ?Onwards and upwards!

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We are welcoming the new year with a readiness to reach additional milestones and to further strengthen our position as a change-maker in water, agriculture, renewable energy, and resiliency. Maybe - just maybe - we will all get exactly what we deserve (!).

I wish all of you – friends, colleagues, business partners, and investors - a prosperous and happy 2023. We at Cimbria thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to updating you on our progress and developments in the new year via our websites, newsletters, and LinkedIn.

Happy New Year!

Brian V. Iversen, Founder and Managing Partner, Cimbria Capital