Meet the investor - Roux Brits

Roux, Portfolio Director at YFM, talks about why he loves supporting companies through their growth journeys and his unusual student jobs, including guarding a giant disco ball on the top floor of the Gherkin! ??

Why did you decide to go into private equity?

I have always sought out opportunities to put myself in new situations and love to be part of exciting unfolding stories, learning and contributing in real time, alongside people wanting to achieve the same thing - to create value. Working with small companies and supporting their growth journeys draws on so many different disciplines and provides an incredibly diverse range of experience. It demands flexibility, challenges you to constantly venture into, and to be comfortable with, uncertainty, and requires a certain amount of self-awareness - as we certainly don’t have all the answers. I really enjoy being able to continually learn, with success usually dependent on curiosity, teamwork and judgement - and getting that balance right.

Once I honed in on what made me tick, I was very deliberate in pursuing a career in private equity by building out as broad a range of relevant experience as possible and finding opportunities to support businesses to transform or accelerate growth. However, it’s not just about picking the right industry, it is also about the team you work within. Since joining YFM, its flexible, supportive and open approach to investing and supporting companies has really resonated with me.

What do you like about your role?

What I enjoy most about being part the YFM team is that nobody pretends to know all the answers. Make no mistake, there are some very smart and experienced people in the team, but, more importantly, everyone seem to realise that there is much more value in, and satisfaction from, an open, honest and flexible approach to investing and supporting our portfolio. At YFM, we know that in high growth companies everything changes, and has to change, all the time. In the same way that we believe there should always be a plan, we also believe that it is important to adapt quickly when circumstances change, and even better, take advantage of those new circumstances.

In my role as Portfolio Director, I feel very lucky to be part of six separate, exciting growth journeys. Every company is different, each faces its own challenges and opportunities every day, and all are filled with amazingly dynamic people, striving to be at the top of their game, learning together and striving to create value.

For me, it is hard to imagine a better job than that! ???????

What’s the best advice you have ever received and what advice would you give to someone else?

One piece of advice that I have been thinking about a lot of late is best summed up by a quote from Einstein, that goes something like: "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them."?I think this applies to almost every aspect of our lives. It reminds me that growth is so much easier and much more fun when we are open to new ideas, new ways of thinking and we remain humble, and in learning mode.

Get to know Roux a little more …

What is the oddest job you have ever done?

While a student in South Africa, I used to relish using the long summer breaks to travel, but being a poor student, the only way I could do that was if the travels paid for itself. Usually, I didn’t have a job or accommodation lined up– as that was the challenge and half the fun. So on these trips I had to find a job – any job - super quick with the aim of making enough money in a couple of months to pay back my parents, then save for flights the following year, go for a two week holiday at the end of the trip and do this while operating on a tiny budget – one year I shared a small room with five people!

In the first year, I ended up in a ski resort just south of Lake Tahoe, California, where I became a lift operator – helping people on and off the chair lifts and maintaining the lift ramps. The second year I went back as a lift operations manager which was probably the most fun you could ever have on a job – I was basically on a snowmobile or a snowboard for the best part of eight hours a day, every day, in one of the most beautiful places in the world!

On my third and fourth such trips, I came to the UK to earn some money to travel into Europe and did some really odd jobs. From selling beauty products on Regent Street (not a shop in Regent Street), to being a security guard at Sotheby’s in New Bond street, being assigned to one single art work that I needed to guard (while standing as still as humanly possible) for 10 hours a day, seven days a week. When that got old – which did not take long at all - I was reassigned to doing night shift security on the 42nd floor of the Gherkin building, while it was being built and before it had working lifts. I climbed a lot of stairs to guard a giant disco ball on the top floor of the Gherkin! ????????

What are you currently reading and why?

I am finishing ‘The Anatomy of Choice: Whole Brain Living’ by Dr Jill Bolte Taylor, who recently joined me on a webinar we held for our portfolio leadership teams. Dr Jill is a neuroscientist who experienced a brain haemorrhage (stroke) in the left hemisphere of her brain, which caused her to lose the ability to walk, talk, read, write and to recollect anything from the past. She had to re-establish the neuro pathways in her left brain as part of her recovery, so is literally an expert on having a ‘growth mindset’.

The insight she gained has dramatically enhanced the way she looked at and interacted with life. Not many people can say that their story has made such an impact - Dr Jill gave the first ever TED talk to go viral, appeared on one of Oprah Winfrey’s shows, has a New York Times best-seller and was once chosen as Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world!

Our webinar was an intriguing discussion where Dr. Jill explained the reasons behind our behavioural patterns, while introducing us to some tools to manage our mind in order to be better equipped to thrive. It was such a thrill to have her talk to our portfolio as her insights have helped so many to become more effective in their relationships, making decisions and in becoming better leaders. She has also equipped countless people to pursue mental well-being in a very practical way.

Next on my list to read is ‘Make It, Don’t Fake It’ by Sabrina Horn. It is all about the power of authentic leadership. Sabrina is an inspiring entrepreneur who has built one of the most successful Tech Public Relations businesses in Silicon Valley. She will be joining us to share her experience and insights at our next portfolio webinar in September - can’t wait! ?

Sabrina kindly sent me her latest book ‘Make IT, Don’t Fake It’, which I received literally while I was finishing this article. Thank you Sabrina – can’t wait to get started!

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I love cooking, especially slow cooking almost any conceivable dish using a smoker. I have also recently started listening to, or rather bingeing on, podcasts. I am currently working my way through Steven Bartlett’s podcast series, ‘A Diary Of A CEO’ as recommended by a colleague, Mike Clarke. I have also stumbled across and now listening to Mo Gawdat (‘Slo Mo’) and Brene Brown (‘Dare to Lead’). While they might not be everyone’s cup of tea, there is some good content in all of these, and definitely worth a try. Please do let me know if you have any podcast suggestions!

Other than that, I love spending time with my young family, travelling when we can and generally experiencing new things. I also still try to get in some fishing and golf every now and then. Over the next couple of years, once my kids are a little older, I would love to get back on a snowboard, if my body can still take it! ?

Yellow-fin tuna, caught in the waters of Mozambique. That poor tuna provided the best sashimi ever!?