305: [Tim Newell] GreenFi: Making Your Money Work for the Planet
This episode is sponsored by Greenfi
In this episode of About That Wallet, host Anthony Weaver chats with Tim Newell, CEO of GreenFi, a cool fintech company that's all about green banking. They dive into how you can make a real difference for the planet just by moving your money around.
Tim breaks down what green banking is all about and how traditional banks often support fossil fuels, while GreenFi is all about funding eco-friendly projects. He shares tips on how you can grow your wealth while staying true to your values, like planting trees with every debit card swipe!
Listeners will pick up some handy strategies to align their finances with their principles and learn why financial literacy is key in tackling climate change. Tim’s journey from government to leading a climate-focused fintech is super inspiring, showing that your money choices can reflect your ethics.
💬 Question of the Day: How do you mix your values with your financial choices? Let us know in the comments!
🔗 Connect with Tim Newell:
Website: https://greenfi.com
LinkedIn: Tim Newell on LinkedIn
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=|| 📚 Chapters ||=
(00:00) Intro
(03:21) 40% of US consumers
(22:34) Who to cut?
(25:41) Is it easier to acquire a business or start it from the ground up?
(27:42) Jeff Bezos
(39:26) Understanding people
(48:45) Financial Security
(53:58) Final Four
(01:02:47) Where could people find out more about Tim
🙏🏽 Thanks for tuning in! Your support helps more people develop solid financial habits and engage in important talks about money and sustainability.
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⚠️ DISCLAIMER:
This content is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. Always consult a licensed financial professional when needed.
#AboutThatWallet #GreenBanking #ClimateChange #SustainableFinance #FinancialLiteracy
Episode 305
Transcript
>> Tim Newell: Just that change is for most
Speaker:consumers in the US is the biggest
Speaker:impact that they can have on climate, that
Speaker:it's bigger than putting solar on your house, though that's a good
Speaker:thing to do. It's bigger than driving an EV though that's a good
Speaker:thing to do. It's bigger than changing out your gas
Speaker:appliances to be electric appliances. Also a good thing to
Speaker:do. But the biggest impact most people can have
Speaker:is just move their money. And that's where
Speaker:what you'd call the green banking industry comes into play,
Speaker:which is how to put your money to
Speaker:work and do well for yourself, but have it be
Speaker:consistent with your values. And there's different ways that
Speaker:the different banks go about that, but that's the core.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Welcome everybody back to another exciting show of
Speaker:the about that Wallet podcast, where we talk
Speaker:about building wealth in so many different aspects
Speaker:in different areas. And also we are focusing on the sandwich
Speaker:generation, helping them build credit so that they can spend money, talk
Speaker:about money, and enjoy their money in a
Speaker:way that they have complete control and confidence.
Speaker:So one of the things that I want to talk about today is
Speaker:actually green banking. And I have one of the people
Speaker:who is the CEO of
Speaker:GreenFi, a climate focused fintech
Speaker:company. I cannot hold this guy any further
Speaker:back because he has so much information to bring to you.
Speaker:Welcome to the show, Tim.
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: Thank you, Anthony. I really appreciate it. Love the show. I'm
Speaker:really happy to be on and so I'm happy to
Speaker:dive in with you.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Yeah. So for a lot of people who are
Speaker:new to just fintech in
Speaker:general, um, can you just talk about
Speaker:a little bit about that?
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: So I guess the best way to start is
Speaker:what we are. We're a financial technology company.
Speaker:What that means is we're not a bank.
Speaker:Um, we work with banks, we partner with
Speaker:banks, um, but we really focus on
Speaker:being able to pull together a series of products
Speaker:to present to our customers.
Speaker:And, and in doing that, we provide
Speaker:the, the conduit to
Speaker:banks, or it could be crypto
Speaker:firms, or it could be, um, investment
Speaker:firms who are the regulated entities.
Speaker:Um, but we're, our focus is in pulling
Speaker:together a financial experience
Speaker:that matches the customers that we are
Speaker:targeting. The banks
Speaker:and investment companies are in the background and we're
Speaker:working directly with customers. In our case,
Speaker:our customers are climate conscious
Speaker:consumers. Consumers, um,
Speaker:who believe that the
Speaker:climate is an important issue and they're working
Speaker:in various ways in their own life to try to do
Speaker:something about that. And if that for
Speaker:your listeners, if that feels like that describes
Speaker:them, they're in good company because there's about
Speaker:100 million people in the United States
Speaker:who qualify themselves that way. They think
Speaker:that's something that's important to them, um, and
Speaker:they want to try to do something about it. And my job is to,
Speaker:and my company's job is to find easy,
Speaker:effective ways for them to do that.
Speaker:To do well with their money while doing good for the planet.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Wow, that is really good.
Speaker:Because one of the things that I came across during my research
Speaker:was that almost 40%
Speaker:of US consumers say that they would rather
Speaker:enroll in a climate linked financial product.
Speaker:So can you talk a little bit more about what is
Speaker:green banking?
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: Sure. So, uh, to do that, the best
Speaker:way is to start with traditional banking
Speaker:and to understand it. So if you are like most people
Speaker:and your money, your deposits,
Speaker:your cash is sitting in one of the 10 biggest
Speaker:banks in the U.S. then
Speaker:up to 30% of
Speaker:um, your deposits are being used
Speaker:to fund fossil fuels. That's just the
Speaker:structure of our banking system. And that means
Speaker:if you personally care about the climate and
Speaker:you're trying to do what you can in your own life,
Speaker:um, to do that, that as much as you do
Speaker:behind the scenes, your bank account is undoing all
Speaker:that you may try to
Speaker:do. And so what we
Speaker:focus on and what people who are in the
Speaker:green banking focus on is how do you deliver
Speaker:great financial products that meet the
Speaker:financial goals of our customers, but do it in a way that is climate
Speaker:friendly.
Speaker:And we do that um, by
Speaker:at the very beginning saying we give a pledge that
Speaker:none of the deposits, none of the funds people put with us
Speaker:will go to support the fossil fuels industry. And
Speaker:it's a basic pledge up front. And
Speaker:um, just that change
Speaker:is for most consumers in the US is the
Speaker:biggest impact that they can have on
Speaker:climate. That it's bigger
Speaker:than putting solar on your house though that's a good thing to do.
Speaker:It's bigger than driving an EV though. That's a good thing to do.
Speaker:It's bigger than changing out your gas appliances
Speaker:to be electric appliances. Also a good thing to do.
Speaker:Um, but the biggest impact most people can have is just move
Speaker:their money. And that's where
Speaker:you'd call the green banking industry comes into play,
Speaker:which is how to put your money to
Speaker:work and do well for yourself, but have
Speaker:it be consistent with your values. And there's different ways
Speaker:that the different banks go about that. But that's the core idea.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Yeah, because you mentioned values, um, what is the
Speaker:values for GreenFi?
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: So we are climate
Speaker:focused. Meaning, meaning our Our customers
Speaker:are customers who, they may care about a lot of
Speaker:things, um, but climate and
Speaker:impacts on climate change are something that
Speaker:is an important consideration for them and they try to take action
Speaker:on that basis. And so we try to
Speaker:natively build in climate, um,
Speaker:protection into all of our products.
Speaker:And so if you are depositing money
Speaker:with us, you know that it's not going to be used to support
Speaker:fossil fuels. And
Speaker:you can sign up so that every time you swipe your card, every
Speaker:time you swipe your debit card, that
Speaker:we're planting trees in some of our projects around the world.
Speaker:And so our customers fund
Speaker:the planting of trees, a tree every about seven
Speaker:seconds, 24, 7,
Speaker:365. And um,
Speaker:we're planting about two and a half football
Speaker:fields of trees a day. When I say we, I mean our customers
Speaker:are doing this. And last year
Speaker:our customers, um, banded together
Speaker:to plant four and a half million trees.
Speaker:And that's reforesting, um,
Speaker:areas that not only helps the climate because we're
Speaker:pulling carbon out of the air, but it's also helping
Speaker:ecosystems and it's helping the communities in which
Speaker:those projects take place. And
Speaker:we also offer programs like Planet
Speaker:Protection, where not everyone's either
Speaker:ready or able to drive an electric vehicle,
Speaker:but we'll, um,
Speaker:uh, offset the carbon when you pull up and have to fill
Speaker:up the gas of your car if that's what you're driving, and
Speaker:we'll go ahead and offset that for you
Speaker:automatically. Um, and
Speaker:so there's various,
Speaker:uh, features, uh, that we
Speaker:offer that are all designed to make
Speaker:it easy and,
Speaker:and simple to have climate impact
Speaker:while just going about your business. We're not asking you to change
Speaker:your life or go vegan or do something else.
Speaker:Just go about, go about your life, deposit your money,
Speaker:spend, invest, do what you need to do, but do it in a way
Speaker:that you feel good about it, about being able to have an impact.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: That is awesome. I like those core values, um,
Speaker:because we had a prior
Speaker:episode talking about ESG investing, uh,
Speaker:and for the reminder for people that ESG
Speaker:is environmental, social and governance.
Speaker:Uh, just around your investing, make sure you're just doing something
Speaker:that's good for the government, for the planet as
Speaker:well as you can, you know as much as you
Speaker:can and try to lower your footprint. So I
Speaker:noticed on the website that it talks about different investment
Speaker:tools and avenues. So does
Speaker:Greenfire provide like education about the
Speaker:ESG process and what things that you guys
Speaker:are investing in?
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: So we do provide education around that. We offer
Speaker:different investment funds, whether
Speaker:it's a straightforward brokerage fund or it's a
Speaker:retirement fund for you that will allow,
Speaker:um, you to put money in a way that
Speaker:is, um, consistent with what you said
Speaker:with esg, with
Speaker:a broader social benefit. Um,
Speaker:uh, the Redwood Fund is our flagship fund.
Speaker:Um, it's been performing very well this year, so
Speaker:I'm really happy about it. Um,
Speaker:uh, and it's one of the areas in which we
Speaker:are most interested in
Speaker:building out new products for and where
Speaker:we're going is that. And it really
Speaker:requires the use of AI. And so we're leaning heavily
Speaker:into that to be able to do it, which is
Speaker:as anyone looks at making investments
Speaker:and is beginning to choose investments,
Speaker:we want to be able to give a score for an investment
Speaker:that they're looking at. And just seeing how climate
Speaker:friendly is that how carbon intensive and what
Speaker:are different alternatives that may meet the same
Speaker:goal but are more climate friendly?
Speaker:And that's uh, uh, some products that we're
Speaker:actively working on right now.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Okay. And a lot of people, I have to say
Speaker:that somebody just came to me recently
Speaker:because I was, did a live episode talking about
Speaker:utmas and Ugmas, uh,
Speaker:for their children. And when it
Speaker:came to high yield savings accounts, that came
Speaker:up a lot. Now I noticed you guys offer a
Speaker:3% APY high yield savings
Speaker:account. Is this savings a little different
Speaker:than your normal savings or all of your, uh,
Speaker:banking is at high yield savings?
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: So all of our savings accounts, um,
Speaker:have the same yield up to
Speaker:3%. And uh, depending on a
Speaker:couple factors, um, what I would say to
Speaker:your, your listeners is,
Speaker:um,
Speaker:your, your money should be working for you every day.
Speaker:And so wherever you have your money, it
Speaker:should be sitting in some place that earns you 3%
Speaker:or more. And why? Because you want to stay ahead of
Speaker:inflation. And that's, that's how
Speaker:you, that's how you, you don't see a, uh, declining
Speaker:wealth as opposed to your money working for you and going
Speaker:along. So, so you know, it's one, another one of those things.
Speaker:If you're sitting in one of the big banks, you're probably
Speaker:earning.01%.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Yeah.
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: On your savings. Right? Don't do that. Move your
Speaker:money. Make your money work for you. Whether you put it with me or
Speaker:whether you put it with someone else, make your money work for you. You deserve
Speaker:it. Your money deserves it. Be nice to your money. Right?
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Yeah. They need to make some friends. Make them make friends.
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: Well, they need to make more friends. That's
Speaker:right.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: I like the way you think so. But what got
Speaker:you here, uh, in the first place, because you didn't just
Speaker:think a green fire like out of thin air, did you?
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: Uh, you know, I'd like to say that I did, but
Speaker:that will be a lot. Um, uh, it was
Speaker:a long path here and, and I could walk all the way through that.
Speaker:But. But I'll give you the
Speaker:short edition, which is, um, I
Speaker:actually started out in politics and government. And so
Speaker:I spent the first part of my career,
Speaker:uh, in Washington D.C. near you.
Speaker:And, um, working mostly around
Speaker:technology and the intersection between technology and
Speaker:regulated industries
Speaker:and large problems that we want to solve.
Speaker:And, um, when I was
Speaker:released from the government on good
Speaker:behavior, um, I came out to California,
Speaker:come out to Silicon Valley, and I
Speaker:began working in startups, either
Speaker:investing in startups or, um,
Speaker:advising startups, or as a founder in
Speaker:companies or working in startups, all
Speaker:at this intersection between technology
Speaker:and hard, um, problems.
Speaker:And increasingly it was about climate. And
Speaker:it was just, it was just the problem that I wanted to take on.
Speaker:And it was, how do you put together financial
Speaker:products and financial platforms that can help? And,
Speaker:um, I had started
Speaker:several companies, but I started the company
Speaker:Common Assets with a partner of mine that
Speaker:would allow individuals to invest in
Speaker:the big portfolios of residential solar
Speaker:assets that were being built. This was
Speaker:when the solar industry was really taking off
Speaker:major banks and hedge funds. Investment companies
Speaker:were investing in these large portfolios of solar
Speaker:assets. And I wanted to give individual investors
Speaker:the chance to do the same thing. We built a platform to sell
Speaker:solar bonds you just invest in and get returns
Speaker:from solar. Uh, that company was
Speaker:bought by the biggest solar company in the US at that
Speaker:time, SolarCity. And I went on to
Speaker:stay with them and build financial products for individuals to help
Speaker:them buy solar systems.
Speaker:And, um, uh, it was my first
Speaker:introduction to working for Elon Musk,
Speaker:uh, chairman of that company. And then SolarCity
Speaker:was bought by another of his companies, Tesla,
Speaker:that you may have heard of. And, uh,
Speaker:I did the same that Tesla. I worked in
Speaker:building the financial infrastructure to allow people to
Speaker:buy cars.
Speaker:And you, uh, know, I remember
Speaker:sitting in the meeting and Elon looking
Speaker:and saying, we want to sell a car
Speaker:in one minute. And that includes the
Speaker:financing. And so I'm thinking,
Speaker:okay, think about your experience at the last car dealer you went
Speaker:to and how long it took to get the financing done.
Speaker:Was that more than one minute? Yes,
Speaker:it was. Um,
Speaker:and I thought to myself at that moment, wow,
Speaker:that's not gonna happen. But I had learned a very important
Speaker:rule in working for Elon, in particular,
Speaker:which is never say no.
Speaker:Right? Go away, figure it out, don't say no.
Speaker:And that has been something that sort of has served me well,
Speaker:which is don't say no and don't take no.
Speaker:Um, uh, when I left Tesla,
Speaker:I was relaxing for a while. Seven
Speaker:years of working for Elon was enough for a while.
Speaker:And, and a friend who was a
Speaker:venture capitalist and was an
Speaker:investor and chairman of a company, Aspiration
Speaker:Partners asked me to come, come and take a look
Speaker:at the, at the company. And it
Speaker:was a social and
Speaker:values based bank. Um, but they were
Speaker:shifting to try to focus on investing in global
Speaker:carbon markets. But they
Speaker:had this bank that had been around for 10 years and they were trying to figure out, well,
Speaker:what should we do with it? Like a
Speaker:lot of companies at the time, fintech companies, companies
Speaker:of finance, um, they had been trying to go
Speaker:very rapidly to be able to do an IPO or SPAC
Speaker:to try to get to the point public markets. And which means they're pouring
Speaker:a lot of money in. And that was great when interest rates were
Speaker:really low and investment capital was
Speaker:pretty much free. And then one day it wasn't
Speaker:and one day interest rates rates went up and investment
Speaker:capital is no longer really available.
Speaker:And they were losing a lot of money
Speaker:and struggling with what to do. And
Speaker:um, long story short, I ended up
Speaker:proposing to them and working out with the chairman that
Speaker:I buy the assets for that business
Speaker:from them because I thought
Speaker:that it could be restructured and I
Speaker:saw value in it, but I didn't see it being
Speaker:able to be done there. It needed to be done a
Speaker:different way. And I
Speaker:essentially acquired the business and then began
Speaker:restructuring it. And
Speaker:um, and that was a long, tough job. I
Speaker:mean when, when I first took it over
Speaker:there were about 400 people working there. Today
Speaker:there are about 40. Wow.
Speaker:And, and that's nothing to feel great about
Speaker:because it felt really awful to go through that process.
Speaker:M. But the challenge with, with
Speaker:it's great to have a business that is values driven
Speaker:and focused on climate and those things, but to
Speaker:really have an impact, you have to be profitable and
Speaker:grow. You really do. And you have to be able to
Speaker:offer customers a great customer experience
Speaker:and great products. And that's not what
Speaker:I found when I started. And we spent the
Speaker:better part of two years rebuilding the company
Speaker:and leaned heavily into using AI.
Speaker:Um, and that's why we can run but
Speaker:10% of the
Speaker:team that we once did and
Speaker:we've cut the technology costs and the vendor
Speaker:cost about 60%. Um,
Speaker:and now we're moving forward to roll out a
Speaker:whole series of new products. But that's how I got here.
Speaker:I came in to look at a company. I decided that there was an
Speaker:opportunity. I took the risk, I bought it out
Speaker:and have been restructuring it to
Speaker:build the next, what we believe will be the next great
Speaker:consumer finance brand that's climate friendly.
Speaker:Think Patagonia for your banking account.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: I like that because one of the things that a lot of
Speaker:banks either they overlook it, they probably see it,
Speaker:but it's like there is no money in it to try to run
Speaker:it sustainably. And I commend
Speaker:you for just restructuring it and make it
Speaker:environmentally safer, uh, than the
Speaker:others in lowering that footprint and actually
Speaker:provide meaning for your money.
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: Um, did your parents, is that
Speaker:you don't have to compromise.
Speaker:Um, you can have 3% yield on
Speaker:your savings account and have,
Speaker:and have your money have a great impact for the planet.
Speaker:That's the thing is you have to, you don't have to choose between them
Speaker:and, and that's the most important thing.
Speaker:Which is, which is focus in focus with
Speaker:your money on not only on how you're building it,
Speaker:not only on the legacy of wealth
Speaker:that you may leave to your children,
Speaker:but how does that legacy of wealth fit the legacy
Speaker:of your value system at the same time?
Speaker:Because that's part of the wealth and part of
Speaker:what you're leaving your children.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Now, will this 3%, um,
Speaker:fluctuate as the market does, or this
Speaker:is just a flat 3%.
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: All banks will fluctuate their interest rates
Speaker:somewhat as the market. It'll rise as interest rates
Speaker:as the Fed raises interest rates and they'll decline somewhat
Speaker:as the Fed drops interest rates. Uh, the
Speaker:difference is I might raise mine or lower
Speaker:mine. But with the big banks you start
Speaker:off at rock bottom. So
Speaker:that's where you are until you.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Put like a hundred thousand or two hundred thousand into the.
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: Exactly. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: And then the only FDIC insured until like what,
Speaker:20. Yeah. Was it 250,000?
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: FDIC insurance is 250,000 per account.
Speaker:The way that we do that is that, is that we'll take
Speaker:deposits and we'll spread them across a few banks
Speaker:because we work with banks, um,
Speaker:uh, to hold the FDIC
Speaker:insured deposits. So we offer, right now we offer
Speaker:our customers a million dollars worth of
Speaker:uh, they can deposit up to a million dollars and have it BFDIC
Speaker:insured.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Wow. Okay, now that is key. I did not
Speaker:know that. Is a way like if there's a will,
Speaker:there's a way like you said, don't say no. They gotta find a
Speaker:way. I love that. Um, did your parents instill
Speaker:that in you?
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: To my parents, uh, my
Speaker:father was military, uh,
Speaker:man, and he was in the army. And I
Speaker:spent, you know, the first part of my life traveling around the
Speaker:world and living in different places with there and living on
Speaker:army bases. And really what was instilled was
Speaker:a sense of service, which is,
Speaker:which is you are, you need to dedicate
Speaker:yourself to something bigger than yourself.
Speaker:And um, it
Speaker:was one of the values that was
Speaker:clearly there throughout my upbringing was
Speaker:that was that sense of service. And
Speaker:the second thing that came out of that was that
Speaker:working hard and personal integrity
Speaker:were the. Sorry, I would say the values that definitely
Speaker:he passed on, um, and
Speaker:were part of all our upbringing. All of my siblings
Speaker:eventually, um, went into the military
Speaker:themselves and uh, served around the
Speaker:world. And I, I took a slightly
Speaker:different path and instead served, served
Speaker:in Congress and you know, served in the congressional staff and served
Speaker:the White House staff in Washington. But
Speaker:it's all service. And I still think of
Speaker:what we do today as a service. It's a service to our
Speaker:customers. It's a service to the values that
Speaker:we have.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Yeah, I could really
Speaker:listen to like, your story for like hours because I have
Speaker:so many more questions about like acquiring
Speaker:the business, uh, dealing with the employees. How do you actually
Speaker:hire and fire? What is that process?
Speaker:I mean, how much time you got?
Speaker:Keep going. Okay. Um, because
Speaker:I do want to get to that point because it goes back to your
Speaker:values of serving. Um, and like
Speaker:you said earlier that it didn't feel good, but it was
Speaker:a must need done.
Speaker:So how do you determine on what to cut
Speaker:or who to cut in that industry?
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: It's really tough. And um,
Speaker:anytime you're affecting people's lives and families, it's
Speaker:really, really tough. And,
Speaker:um, and for the most part they're all good people.
Speaker:And so that doesn't make it, make it easier. You know,
Speaker:there are some people who, who
Speaker:knowingly or unknowingly raise their hand and say, I don't really want
Speaker:to be a part of this, either by their actions
Speaker:or by what they say. And,
Speaker:um, so those are easier. There were also
Speaker:a group of the team who
Speaker:they thought they were joining a big company that's about to go public.
Speaker:And when they found what it really was going to be
Speaker:was a startup with both
Speaker:startup risk and startup speed and startup requirements,
Speaker:then I encouraged all of
Speaker:the, the employees to think hard about
Speaker:did they want that environment? Because it's not right for everybody.
Speaker:And everyone should know their own risk tolerance and
Speaker:what they need. And if what you really needed at
Speaker:that point in your life was just to have very
Speaker:regular hours and regular job and
Speaker:very steady and not much change, sometimes that's what
Speaker:people need, but that's not what, uh, typically a
Speaker:technology startup delivers. And so
Speaker:there was a group of people who clearly that was their choice.
Speaker:And then you have to really just dive in and start
Speaker:digging into what are your requirements, what do
Speaker:you really need to run the business? Because again, you have to be
Speaker:able to run the business profitably or be heading toward
Speaker:profitability, because that's the only way you can scale up.
Speaker:And the only way you can really have impact on, on either
Speaker:consumers or the, or the climate for us is to scale up.
Speaker:And so we, we did a bottoms up analysis. What do we
Speaker:need? What's, what's the. What do we really think
Speaker:we can get away with what we need
Speaker:for marketing and operations
Speaker:and building products and compliance
Speaker:and technology and engineering and those things.
Speaker:And then I, uh, sat down with the
Speaker:leaders and really
Speaker:let them drive in each of their areas. Okay,
Speaker:what do we think the best team from what we have
Speaker:to that could go forward? And
Speaker:you have a group of good people that you trust
Speaker:or that you come to trust. You work together enough
Speaker:and you trust them and you move forward.
Speaker:So there's a group of seven or eight people
Speaker:on the management team who feel like we've just been
Speaker:through the wars together and we trust each other,
Speaker:we know each other. And when you have
Speaker:something hard to take on,
Speaker:it's like a, it's like a sports team that has a tradition of
Speaker:winning. You're used to taking on, um, hard problems and
Speaker:solving them, and so you continue thinking that you're doing
Speaker:that. And so when you have to do one of these,
Speaker:you know, letting people go or working through that,
Speaker:it's just part of the hard problems you need to solve. It's
Speaker:heartbreaking, but you have to do it.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: So is it easier to,
Speaker:um, like acquire a business or start it from
Speaker:the ground up? Because you hear a lot of people that want to, oh, I want to start
Speaker:my own business, I want to start my own business
Speaker:versus acquiring a business that's already
Speaker:in your niche, something that you're proud of
Speaker:and you can really run with.
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: Each has their pluses and minuses. Right. If
Speaker:you're acquiring a business that is already up
Speaker:and running, you've taken some of the risk out of it,
Speaker:and you can grow faster from
Speaker:there, but you're Also taking on um,
Speaker:existing problems and maybe a
Speaker:legacy way of doing business or thinking
Speaker:that can be difficult to change
Speaker:and it can be wrenching change. Whereas
Speaker:uh, with a startup you're starting from zero
Speaker:and so it takes a while,
Speaker:uh, to get some momentum and some growth.
Speaker:Um, but at the same time you get to build it exactly
Speaker:the way you think it needs to be built and
Speaker:um, without any legacy issues holding you back.
Speaker:Um, so it's really a case by case. Which is the
Speaker:better way to do it. Do you want to take on that
Speaker:challenge? I'm going to start something with myself or one person or
Speaker:another person and build it all,
Speaker:um, uh, and grow it from there. Or
Speaker:do you want to take on the challenge of taking something
Speaker:that has some real value in it, but you're going to have to restructure it?
Speaker:Um, restructuring is not for the faint of heart,
Speaker:you know, um, because you're, you're,
Speaker:you're in that proverbial car driving down the
Speaker:highway at 60 miles an hour and you're
Speaker:rebuilding the damn car while you're, while you're driving,
Speaker:you know, and there's, you know,
Speaker:it's different than having the car in a garage building a piece by piece
Speaker:and then saying let's take it out and see how it drives.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Mhm, I like that analogy. Um,
Speaker:we usually do the airplane model was like
Speaker:we're flying a plane and trying to build the wings at the time.
Speaker:Uh, because when you go into the hiring piece,
Speaker:do you look for a, ah, students or just people that are like really
Speaker:excited about one niche or they, they got like side
Speaker:projects or they have like something they've proven
Speaker:in a different job. Because the reason why
Speaker:I asked is because a lot of people right now
Speaker:are losing their jobs by
Speaker:so many different means, especially from the government are
Speaker:getting cut left or right and
Speaker:sometimes they either did side projects or that
Speaker:was their specialty at work. So when
Speaker:you go to look at a resume or if your team looks at a resume,
Speaker:what are you guys looking for specifically?
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: I'm looking for a few things. Um,
Speaker:uh, one, um, I'm,
Speaker:I'm looking for someone who
Speaker:really has some knowledge in the area that
Speaker:they're, that they're working in. And
Speaker:especially as technology
Speaker:drives businesses forward and as AI
Speaker:really drives us all forward, that,
Speaker:that you end up focusing on people who have some real
Speaker:expertise. Um,
Speaker:and we can talk about the challenge for young
Speaker:people coming into the workforce and with that,
Speaker:um, because I think that's real. Um,
Speaker:but we're looking for someone who really Comes with some knowledge.
Speaker:We're looking for people that, um, who
Speaker:are player coaches. What that means is, is that,
Speaker:is that we generally don't have managers.
Speaker:We have, we have people who are getting in and doing the business
Speaker:and then over time they have, they have people working with them to do
Speaker:it, but, but they have the ability
Speaker:to do it themselves and they are the primary
Speaker:expert in their area. And
Speaker:as opposed to managing people who manage people
Speaker:who can do it, um, you,
Speaker:we really look for people who, who can do it
Speaker:themselves and move forward. So,
Speaker:um, I also put a lot of
Speaker:emphasis on, on whether
Speaker:people have an
Speaker:understanding of their risk profile.
Speaker:Right. Which we talked about before, which is
Speaker:you have to understand this is the right place for you.
Speaker:And when you're in a business that by its nature is going to
Speaker:pivot a lot, where you come in one day and your, your
Speaker:job just changed and you come in the next day and
Speaker:now you have two jobs that you didn't have before. Some
Speaker:people thrive in that environment. And you're looking
Speaker:for that.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Yeah, right.
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: You're looking for someone who wants to move fast and
Speaker:break things and, and go. And who, you
Speaker:can't really phase them. Right. You give them a
Speaker:new problem, they solve a problem, they get a problem, they solve a problem.
Speaker:Because that's what it's all about. Find a problem, fix a
Speaker:problem. Find a problem, fix a problem. Um,
Speaker:and they, they, they need a, a level
Speaker:of resilience that
Speaker:is, um, that is
Speaker:something that you can't really replace,
Speaker:that kind of resilience. And um,
Speaker:it is, it is, it is such
Speaker:a crucial part of this because almost the most important
Speaker:thing about startups like this or
Speaker:about, uh, building these businesses is don't quit.
Speaker:Just don't quit. Because almost all of
Speaker:these businesses, whether you're fundraising or whether you're building the
Speaker:business or you're trying to sell or you're
Speaker:looking for that job. It's all no,
Speaker:no, no, no, no, no. Yes. Right.
Speaker:So you have to realize no does not mean stop.
Speaker:No is just one step closer to yes.
Speaker:And, and you, you want to find people who just
Speaker:don't quit. And, and I
Speaker:would, I would take that over someone
Speaker:who's the most brilliant person
Speaker:any day of the week, any sick, any eight days of the week
Speaker:to do that. Just don't quit.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: So, okay, that is awesome.
Speaker:So that. But also it's like, how do
Speaker:you prove that within that first few moments of time that you have
Speaker:with somebody, unless they share with you that story
Speaker:of like, man, I was Just struggling with this. And I just
Speaker:took me like, forever until I went home.
Speaker:I was in the shower and I was like, ha, I got
Speaker:it. Now I can actually solve it.
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: Like, you get to
Speaker:the point where you can start to pick up the signals and
Speaker:okay, you ask the right questions and you,
Speaker:um, uh,
Speaker:one of the great interviewers of this that I found was
Speaker:when I was coming out of government, I, I.
Speaker:One of the spots I considered going to work was Amazon
Speaker:M. And I remember sitting in a meeting with
Speaker:Jeff Bezos while he, while he walked through this, and
Speaker:it was none of the normal questions.
Speaker:It was all. He was testing how I thought he was testing how
Speaker:fast I could think he was testing
Speaker:how I did with the. With.
Speaker:With questions that were. Basically had no answer,
Speaker:but he expected an answer. Right.
Speaker:Um, uh, and, and at one
Speaker:point he said, you know, you came in to interview for this job,
Speaker:I want you to do this job instead.
Speaker:And he was looking for how would I react to that?
Speaker:And, um. And so part
Speaker:of it is just you get to learn how to, how to talk to people and how
Speaker:to. How to dig in and, and then you can also just
Speaker:be honest with them. Here's what it requires. Are you that person?
Speaker:And do you think you're that person? Right, Because.
Speaker:Because you quickly find out if they're that person
Speaker:once they're on board. So trust me. And,
Speaker:um. And if they're not that person, they'll be miserable. They won't
Speaker:be effective. And you know, their, their peer, their
Speaker:peers will see it pretty quickly.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: And so like, they say they're a Braids wrong with their m. Abras.
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: Yeah. And I don't mean to say that you're either that person or you're not.
Speaker:Right. Someone could, could
Speaker:be that person for, you know, in
Speaker:greenfi, because they love it. They have the ideas,
Speaker:they have some experience put to work, and they just love that build.
Speaker:But then another context, another business, another type of
Speaker:job, they're just not right.
Speaker:And so it doesn't mean you are or you aren't. It
Speaker:just means find the place where, where you can put that to work.
Speaker:The other thing is I always just look for people smarter than us,
Speaker:you know, which some, some people would laugh and say, well, that's not hard, Tim.
Speaker:But, um, uh,
Speaker:you know, I mean, so, you know, the old, the old saw, which
Speaker:is A players hire A players, B,
Speaker:players are C players, right? You hire
Speaker:A players all the time. The, the biggest
Speaker:benefits you get in the business, the biggest
Speaker:accelerant for your business is really Great people.
Speaker:Right. The biggest drag is people who are, who are not
Speaker:as good. So those are the most important decisions you make is who are
Speaker:you bringing on.
Speaker:My job as a CEO is relatively simple.
Speaker:Not easy, but it's simple. Which is set a
Speaker:vision for the business.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Mhm.
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: Um, hire a team to execute
Speaker:against that vision, to work with them, to set the strategy and then give them
Speaker:the resources to do their jobs. Right. That's what I
Speaker:do. And ah, so the, the most important
Speaker:part of that is hiring that team to get it done.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: I like that because, you know,
Speaker:when like working for teams and I used to
Speaker:manage multiple teams is that I always
Speaker:find the laziest person on the team and I'll
Speaker:have them lead the projects. Mostly because they'll
Speaker:find you're a cruel.
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: Man, just a cruel man.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Because I will have them lead it, mostly because
Speaker:they have a, A, the most disgruntled and just
Speaker:doesn't understand the process. But
Speaker:they find things that are outside of the norm to
Speaker:make it simpler, make it easy to use
Speaker:and everybody winds up liking it. And I was like, I like
Speaker:this. But it's a rotational thing, so I don't let them, um,
Speaker:you know, obviously the projects come and go. So it's just kind of one
Speaker:of.
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: Those, I think, I think laziness
Speaker:can be a great personal strength.
Speaker:M. Right. That's the person who's going to say, no, I
Speaker:don't want to do it the way you've been doing it because there's an easier
Speaker:way.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Yeah.
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: Right. And you want to encourage that about people.
Speaker:Right. You know, you have to, you have to be
Speaker:willing to hear no or hear do it different or
Speaker:we don't want to do it that way.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Yeah. And um, I have to say that a lot of people coming
Speaker:from the government that has
Speaker:been in the government since like high school, work study, that there was like, I
Speaker:don't, I don't understand, I don't compute. This is the way it's
Speaker:been. This is the way we like to do it. I don't like to
Speaker:take anything extra. You know, this is the
Speaker:way it is and it irritates me a
Speaker:lot. So that's one of the reasons why I had to move around.
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: You know, I felt really lucky, uh, in my time
Speaker:in government because I got, I got to, I worked for some great
Speaker:people. Norman, who's a fabulous member of
Speaker:Congress from Silicon Valley, and
Speaker:um, uh, and then Bill Clinton and
Speaker:Al Gore in the White House.
Speaker:Um, and I got to work on issues that were all
Speaker:about growth and change. Because it was all about using
Speaker:science and technology to address hard problems.
Speaker:And, um, I would not have done very well
Speaker:in an environment that was about doing something else.
Speaker:Processing loan applications or doing something
Speaker:else. You got to know yourself. You got to know.
Speaker:Because everyone can be innovative. You just got to know where is the right place for you
Speaker:to do that.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Yeah, I like that.
Speaker:So, um, because we're talking about innovation, this brings
Speaker:us up to the third segment, which is the features. Um,
Speaker:what skills or habits that you feel they will
Speaker:take you. Uh, you can either go personal, even
Speaker:with your business, to that next level.
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: Okay, I'll do a mix.
Speaker:So skills and habits. Um,
Speaker:uh, I talked about one of them,
Speaker:which is. Is. Which is in
Speaker:all of these challenges. Don't quit.
Speaker:It's resilience. And more
Speaker:than being brilliant, more than
Speaker:having the best idea. Ideas are
Speaker:cheap. Yeah, uh, they
Speaker:are, right? People who can execute ideas,
Speaker:that's more often about showing up and just
Speaker:grinding away at it because you're really
Speaker:focused on getting it done. And you just don't
Speaker:quit. No matter how many obstacles are thrown at you, you just don't
Speaker:quit. So that's a really crucial
Speaker:skill for people to have. The second
Speaker:thing that I would say is that your
Speaker:operating system in business, as it is in other
Speaker:places, is people. In order to get
Speaker:it. Again, ideas are cheap. But in order to get anything done, in
Speaker:order to build something, you need to get
Speaker:people to see your vision. You need to get people to work
Speaker:with you and build that vision.
Speaker:You need to get people to want to invest in that vision.
Speaker:You need to get people willing to buy your products.
Speaker:Right? That, that any success you
Speaker:have with, with. With some exceptions,
Speaker:but rarely is. Is going to come
Speaker:because you figured out that,
Speaker:that working with people was your
Speaker:route to succeed. And,
Speaker:um, in a sense, I was lucky. I started off in
Speaker:politics and government where, where that was sort of
Speaker:M90 of. It was understanding people's motivations,
Speaker:their concerns, their interest, and trying to find ways
Speaker:to, to. To be able to bridge those.
Speaker:Um, and it is the same
Speaker:thing. Same thing in business, same thing in startups. Your
Speaker:operating system is people. And I would take someone
Speaker:who's really, really good at
Speaker:working with people to someone who is just an expert any
Speaker:day of the week.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Interesting.
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: Is that helpful?
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Yeah, that was really good.
Speaker:So is there a book that you recommend that
Speaker:you've read that kind of help you out understanding people?
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: So I'll, uh, answer this question
Speaker:maybe in the way that you
Speaker:don't think I would, or maybe Some of the guests don't, which is. I have always
Speaker:been a reader. I read a lot of books and
Speaker:I could pick out a business book or I could say something,
Speaker:but I think that
Speaker:I'd recommend something else. Two of my very favorite
Speaker:authors were Samuel Clemens, Mark
Speaker:Twain and George Bernard Shaw,
Speaker:both satirists. Both spent most of their
Speaker:careers looking at people and. And
Speaker:dissecting us all. And
Speaker:with Mark Twain,
Speaker:the focus was on making us look
Speaker:at ourselves and not take ourselves seriously and
Speaker:question ourselves and question our
Speaker:motivations. And, um,
Speaker:he had the very famous quote that whenever you find yourself on the side of the
Speaker:majority, it's time to pause and reflect.
Speaker:Um, wow. Uh, which is. Which is a great quote
Speaker:that I've loved from him. And. And,
Speaker:um. And then the other that I wanted to bring up
Speaker:was George Bernard Shaw, who was similar,
Speaker:an English author who, um. But.
Speaker:But what? His real lane
Speaker:was focusing on looking at social systems
Speaker:and how we exist in social systems and how ridiculous
Speaker:it can be and. But how we get there. It's like
Speaker:if Mark Twain focused on the nonsense that we are,
Speaker:then Shaw focused
Speaker:on how do we build that nonsense? Why do we
Speaker:build it? Um, and if
Speaker:you're trying to build things and if
Speaker:you're trying to do something different,
Speaker:then it really helps to
Speaker:cultivate a sense of questioning.
Speaker:Question yourself, question the structure, question
Speaker:the practices or how it was done, because you're trying to change that
Speaker:and you really need to be able to do it. And so,
Speaker:um, uh, I recently
Speaker:reread a bunch of works of both Samuel
Speaker:Clemens and George Burn Shaw as I was going through this
Speaker:building process. Um,
Speaker:and it's a wonderful sort of witty way of
Speaker:reteaching ourselves, that lesson. And,
Speaker:um, one of the. One of the best quotes, if anybody's
Speaker:thinking about starting a business or doing a startup
Speaker:or anything else, was George Burton Shaw, who
Speaker:said, very famously, the reasonable man adapts himself to the
Speaker:world, and therefore all progress depends on the
Speaker:unreasonable man.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Okay, it's going to take me. I'm going to have to
Speaker:rewind it a little bit. I'm going to have to rewind it
Speaker:myself and play that back because I
Speaker:would definitely have to live in that
Speaker:moment to figure out where am
Speaker:I on that spectrum to
Speaker:figure out my next move.
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: And all of us, all of us are
Speaker:different points in the spectrum at different times. Right?
Speaker:None of us are one thing or another. Right?
Speaker:Um.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Uh, and like Walt Whitman said, uh, well,
Speaker:we all contain multitudes.
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: We. We contain multitudes. And whose voice
Speaker:do you listen to of that multitude at any moment
Speaker:in time, and which sort of takes us
Speaker:to. Often I get that the
Speaker:question of how did I get here on this path?
Speaker:And there was no path.
Speaker:There were just challenges. And there
Speaker:was a, uh, at each step, there was a challenge that
Speaker:intrigued me, that excited me,
Speaker:that I couldn't ignore, that I wanted to take on.
Speaker:And that's it. And you take on that challenge,
Speaker:and that challenge leads you to the next challenge,
Speaker:and that challenge leads you to the next challenge.
Speaker:And. And it is, it is. It is
Speaker:very much
Speaker:where most of us who are in the. Certainly in the business that I do,
Speaker:that's how they get to where they got to, which is they.
Speaker:They. They weren't afraid. They weren't
Speaker:afraid to listen to their questions. They weren't afraid to.
Speaker:To do something that was different. They weren't afraid to fail.
Speaker:I failed. I've had businesses fail. I've been
Speaker:fired. I've been. I mean, I've been through all those
Speaker:things that, that all of your listeners have all been through
Speaker:themselves. And you find yourself picking yourself up
Speaker:and say, okay, what's the next challenge?
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: So, uh, what is your next challenge?
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: This one is taking. This is. This is my challenge right
Speaker:now. I'm going to be building this one for a little while. And the
Speaker:idea of, of building a
Speaker:modern consumer finance
Speaker:brand that is inherently
Speaker:built to not only
Speaker:provide great financial products and help people meet
Speaker:their financial goals, but do it in a way that
Speaker:is climate friendly and protects the planet, that
Speaker:just feels like, to me, it's like I'm really excited about that
Speaker:every day. It's a great thing to be doing right now.
Speaker:Feels like. Feels like I've been leading through this for a while. It's sort of a
Speaker:full circle for me. My first inside
Speaker:job, my first job that was not just laboring somewhere.
Speaker:M. I did enough of those. My first inside
Speaker:job was one summer when I was in college.
Speaker:I worked in a bank as a teller.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Wow.
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: And it was a little community bank on a
Speaker:army base in Kansas, Fort Riley. And so I
Speaker:worked as a teller at Fort Riley National Bank. And that was my first
Speaker:job. First inside job. And. Right. And now
Speaker:come full circle. I'm back. I'm back to the bank.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Have you decided to partner with them since then?
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: Uh, you know, they. That little bank was bought by another bank.
Speaker:Was bought by another bank. And, you know.
Speaker:Okay, on it goes.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Yeah. Um, man, this is awesome.
Speaker:And thank you for sharing your story.
Speaker:So is there anything that you want to do you, uh, want
Speaker:to say to the audience, before we dive into the final four
Speaker:questions.
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: Um, I think I've said a
Speaker:lot of what I, I would pass on.
Speaker:Um, there's one thing I would add which is,
Speaker:uh, I'm on the board of a. Of an organization
Speaker:that was originally started by my. By my. My
Speaker:brother, Pete Newell. The, the. Um.
Speaker:The. The organization, the. The. The
Speaker:um. Common mission that is.
Speaker:That is, that runs courses
Speaker:in universities throughout the country.
Speaker:And the purpose of those. Of
Speaker:those courses is to teach
Speaker:innovation to students. And
Speaker:what they do is they take on hard problems
Speaker:and they form a team and they take on a problem.
Speaker:And the problems are usually problems that have some national
Speaker:significance. They can be national security, they can
Speaker:be other things. And they spend a
Speaker:semester trying to come up with a solution to that problem
Speaker:that could also be a business. And so
Speaker:it's a great program. Um,
Speaker:and hacking for
Speaker:defense, hacking for diplomacy, hacking for their. Hacking for
Speaker:classes. And one of the things
Speaker:you watch those students go through is
Speaker:they'll get the problem and they'll immediately think of a
Speaker:solution to the problem. And then we say
Speaker:to them is, you got to get out of the building. You got to go out and talk to
Speaker:the people in there. You got to figure out what is real. And what
Speaker:inevitably happens is that their initial
Speaker:conclusion was wrong. And so they
Speaker:start off on a big high saying, we got this great problem, we've
Speaker:got a solution to it. And then they go through their first interviews
Speaker:and they find out, no, it's not actually the
Speaker:solution to it.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Right?
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: And. And what we see is them going through this up
Speaker:and down and up and down as they
Speaker:generate new MVPs, we call
Speaker:them minimum viable products. And they do
Speaker:it again and again until they. Until they really get to the
Speaker:solution. But it takes a lot of.
Speaker:It takes a lot of up and down. And what it
Speaker:really takes is, is that you got to take that idea and you
Speaker:got to get out of the building. You got to go talk to people
Speaker:and ask your customers or potential customers, wherever they may
Speaker:be, is this really a solution? Is this really
Speaker:what you want? Forget what I want to do for what I'm interested
Speaker:do you want this is. You want this enough to buy it,
Speaker:right? And so, so get out of the building and go
Speaker:ask questions. Because what you really want is you're looking for a problem. You're
Speaker:trying to solve a problem. And the hardest thing is you got to understand that
Speaker:problem first from your customer's perspective, which may
Speaker:not be yours.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Yeah. And it brings up the book,
Speaker:the dip. Um, I'M not sure if
Speaker:you read that yet.
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: I haven't read it yet. I know of it, but I haven't read it yet.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Okay. It's exactly what you just said. Usually most
Speaker:of those books you can just finish the first chapter, you kind of get the gist of
Speaker:the rest of them is just stories. Um, but it's just talking
Speaker:about going through that initial dip
Speaker:of like, I'm wrong now, it's just kind of
Speaker:like, what are you going to do to kind of get out of
Speaker:that diploma and actually create a
Speaker:moment for you to shine. And that's what it is.
Speaker:It's amazing. Um, and it's a great. You
Speaker:bringing back books that I haven't read in a while that I need to pick back
Speaker:up again. So greatly appreciate this.
Speaker:Um, so you ready for the final four?
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: Yes. Let's do it.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: All righty.
Speaker:Question one. What does
Speaker:wealth mean to you?
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: Great question. Um,
Speaker:I'm going to answer this in two ways. Wealth
Speaker:means security and
Speaker:freedom.
Speaker:Security, um, in that we all need a
Speaker:basic level of security. It's really
Speaker:hard to be innovative and really hard
Speaker:to be brave and really hard to
Speaker:stick to things if you don't have a
Speaker:basic level of financial security. Mhm.
Speaker:And so however you get that, that is part of
Speaker:getting to where you want to go, which is getting to a basic level
Speaker:of financial security. And everybody defines that differently. Um,
Speaker:but it doesn't have to be that much. But that
Speaker:financial security, that's wealth.
Speaker:And because it enables you
Speaker:to take a little risk to try a different job,
Speaker:to try startup, to try,
Speaker:um, uh, a career
Speaker:move that, that you might
Speaker:not have done otherwise. Um,
Speaker:and what I would definitely
Speaker:counsel people is do whatever it takes. Have the
Speaker:side job, what, work at something that's not exciting,
Speaker:but, but build up that, that,
Speaker:that basic financial security that
Speaker:you need. Because, because that security is wealth.
Speaker:It's not about the, the dollars that you have. It's just, do you,
Speaker:do you have security? Does your family have
Speaker:security? Because it's pretty hard to do things if you're
Speaker:worried about where your family's going to be in a month
Speaker:or, or in two months. Right. That takes up a lot of
Speaker:bandwidth in your head, if that's what you're worried about.
Speaker:Um, the second thing is that, is that wealth
Speaker:is freedom and it's not freedom in
Speaker:that you don't have to go by the rules. Though it seems to be
Speaker:that there are a lot of people in our country who think that's what it
Speaker:means. Um, that if you're
Speaker:really wealthy, then the rules don't apply to you. When
Speaker:I think about that, what I think of, it gives you the
Speaker:freedom to try
Speaker:things that you might not be able to try. It gives
Speaker:you the freedom to extend yourself
Speaker:and to take some risks that
Speaker:you might not have been able to try. It also, very
Speaker:importantly to me, it gives you the freedom
Speaker:to live by your values.
Speaker:And it can be tough
Speaker:to live by your values when you are hand
Speaker:to mouth and
Speaker:you got bills and debts and everything else. And you got to put
Speaker:that, you got to put that first for your family.
Speaker:And so wealth is getting to the point where you
Speaker:can start living according to your
Speaker:values. And,
Speaker:and I think that's just really, really important to
Speaker:be able to have. And it means we have to think about what our
Speaker:values are. But. Yes, but to be able to do that.
Speaker:And that's not. Again, that's not about the total dollars.
Speaker:That's about m. Am I, am I
Speaker:feeling like I'm free enough to be able to do that?
Speaker:Um, and that
Speaker:living according to your values is, you know, was
Speaker:drilled into me when I was growing up and has been part
Speaker:of my career throughout. And it's something that's just important to me.
Speaker:And, uh, I feel very lucky that I have,
Speaker:that I've had some fortune as I built companies and done some other
Speaker:things and that I can, can
Speaker:indulge in, in really exploring
Speaker:how to live according to my values. And it's
Speaker:a constant challenge every day to try to do that.
Speaker:And finally, people say that you can't,
Speaker:that money can't buy time. And
Speaker:it's right. We all have 24 hours in a day. But in a
Speaker:way it can, it can. Because
Speaker:having wealth enables you to engage
Speaker:in more projects, to invest in things,
Speaker:to participate and
Speaker:support a community organization that's
Speaker:doing something that you really think is important.
Speaker:Um, to engage in activities,
Speaker:whether you like biking or hiking or whatever it is,
Speaker:and also to support companies and support endeavors.
Speaker:It enables you to extend the, the, the
Speaker:things that you can get involved in and
Speaker:extend your range more than just the
Speaker:hours in a day you have to work.
Speaker:And so wealth, wealth, you can buy time,
Speaker:but you can, you can buy an extension of your
Speaker:time. In that sense, our days are
Speaker:limited, but we can make those days more full.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Love it. Um, that's like. It's a
Speaker:whole nother episode.
Speaker:Uh, I love your questions, by the way.
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: They're great questions.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Oh, um, thank you. Uh, put a lot of
Speaker:thought into these. Uh, take some time.
Speaker:Uh, number two, what was your worst money
Speaker:mistake?
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: Oh, my worst. Well, I could, you know, there are definitely times when
Speaker:I put money, I made investments that didn't work out. Uh,
Speaker:and some of them were really painful. There's definitely,
Speaker:you know, some times where I invested my time
Speaker:in something that, that, that
Speaker:ultimately blew up, that didn't, that, that didn't come
Speaker:back. And that's a mistake because I could have invested that time in something else
Speaker:that had a better return. And so,
Speaker:um, ah, and,
Speaker:and there's, you know, there's definitely those people in my
Speaker:life who, who I was standing alongside of
Speaker:at one moment and now they're far, far ahead of
Speaker:me in wealth and other things. So you wonder
Speaker:what mistake did I make along the way? Um, and all of
Speaker:us have those thoughts. And, um,
Speaker:I think that the
Speaker:biggest mistake, though, over time for me
Speaker:was not always keeping in mind I
Speaker:am my biggest risk because I'm a risk
Speaker:taker. And so if I'm the
Speaker:biggest risk, then my money should not be taking a lot
Speaker:of risk. Right. Once. Because it's hard for me
Speaker:to make money because I got to risk a lot and build a
Speaker:lot to do it. So once I have that money, it
Speaker:needs to stay conservative. I need to put it
Speaker:to work. I need to just let it work and not play with
Speaker:it, not focus, uh, on it. It just needs to be
Speaker:safe and building and let time do its business.
Speaker:And the biggest
Speaker:pain I have taken is when I didn't follow that
Speaker:advice when, when I, when
Speaker:I wasn't careful and worked a plan
Speaker:and put the money away and, and
Speaker:let it work according to a quarter plan
Speaker:and, and uh, keep my money safe while I,
Speaker:while I roamed out in the world doing risky things.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: I think.
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: And you can say, you know, that's what you get for leaving your money
Speaker:in, in a savings account that don't pay you 0.1
Speaker:0.01%. Don't do that. Put your money
Speaker:somewhere where it can work for you because you work hard to get that
Speaker:money.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Yeah, like greenfi.
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: Yeah, but put it somewhere.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Right, right.
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: And then keep building it. Keep, keep, you
Speaker:know, invest a little bit every month. You know,
Speaker:you don't notice it if they take the same amount out every month and put
Speaker:it in, but it builds up and, and
Speaker:time is your most valuable ally
Speaker:in building wealth. If you're going to do it
Speaker:according to a good plan that's conservative and then builds
Speaker:it, you'll get there. But you've got to let
Speaker:time work its magic
Speaker:and be conservative and be Safe
Speaker:and let it build up.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: I like it.
Speaker:All right, number three, is there a book that
Speaker:inspired your journey or changed your
Speaker:perspective?
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: We talked about that, we talked about, um,
Speaker:there's a lot of books I could point to, but I think
Speaker:the books most recently that I've been rereading is
Speaker:Samuel Clemens and Mark Twain and George Burton Shaw
Speaker:and um, you know, the
Speaker:journey of. Well, it sounds crazy. The journey of Huck and Jim down
Speaker:the river. And that
Speaker:experience and what it taught us about ourselves
Speaker:and um, or,
Speaker:or Superman by um,
Speaker:George Bernard Shaw, um,
Speaker:is there's such great
Speaker:looks at ourselves to dissect ourselves
Speaker:and dissect the society that we're in
Speaker:that, that it helps, it helps you put aside the,
Speaker:the shackles that we all wear and
Speaker:enables you to see things differently. And so, so
Speaker:those are the authors that most recently old
Speaker:authors that I love that I return to.
Speaker:Uh, and at this point in my life, that's what I took from it
Speaker:was reminding me of that.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: And I like that you're constantly digging
Speaker:back deeper into things that you were exposed before
Speaker:to kind of see, like have a bit different perspective
Speaker:now that you have some more life experience to
Speaker:help you. I guess I want to
Speaker:say, um, drive
Speaker:that notion of like, hey, this isn't
Speaker:all that cracked up to be. There has to be another
Speaker:way. Mhm.
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: Well, and also things change.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Yeah, right.
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: So things that were older and new again in some way.
Speaker:What's the, what's the saying is you can, you can never dip
Speaker:your cup, um, into the same river
Speaker:because the river has changed and so have you.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: I'm like. And you pick full of quotes
Speaker:and.
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: And, and, and that's life in a way, because you're, you've
Speaker:changed and you're different. And so when you look at something and you're going to take something
Speaker:different from it and, and it will, it will.
Speaker:Ideally, if you're open to it, it will give you what you need at the
Speaker:time. M. You know, and whether
Speaker:you're, whether you're reading
Speaker:a book of fiction you love or a religious text or,
Speaker:or um,
Speaker:a business book or
Speaker:autobiographies or whatever it may be, it'll give
Speaker:you what you need at the time if you open yourself to it.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: I like that.
Speaker:All right, this is the fourth question,
Speaker:which is what is your favorite dish to make?
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: My favorite dish to make. Well, I'm
Speaker:coming to you today on a farm up in Vermont
Speaker:and um, the family farm up here. And
Speaker:so the favorite dish to make here is definitely,
Speaker:you know, pancakes and maple syrup and the
Speaker:whole works because it's a maple farm.
Speaker:And, um.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Oh, even better, right?
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: Even better, right? So best maple syrup in the world is, man
Speaker:up here. Um, uh, when
Speaker:I'm back in California, which is. Which is. Which is where
Speaker:I'm. Where I'm from. Um,
Speaker:favorite dishes, favorite dish to make.
Speaker:Um, uh, lately
Speaker:I've been. Been making
Speaker:soup. That is, I love to
Speaker:cook and I love doing different things, but lately m. We've
Speaker:been really focused on making soup. And, and my partner's been.
Speaker:Been teaching me, you know, how to
Speaker:make soup differently, how to. How to bring in
Speaker:different vegetables, how to bring in different spices, how to bring
Speaker:in. How to bring in,
Speaker:um, nutrients that will. That will help
Speaker:heal. And it's been, it's been a. It's been an interesting
Speaker:journey.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Is there like a particular soup or just all soup in
Speaker:general?
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: Oh, it's, it's, um,
Speaker:uh, it's. There are different
Speaker:forms of vegetable soups that, okay, that, um,
Speaker:uh, and it's taking. It's basically walk into your
Speaker:refrigerator, start pulling stuff out
Speaker:quickly, turn that into something really great.
Speaker:But then. But then. Which seems easy. But then
Speaker:her alchemy is in, Is in what are all the
Speaker:things you add to it that, that,
Speaker:that turn into something that really tastes great but also
Speaker:gives your body what it needs? And
Speaker:she's definitely been teaching me to pay much
Speaker:more attention to. To how I live
Speaker:and, and. And what I put in my body. And,
Speaker:and um. And if I, If I don't pay more
Speaker:attention, I'll never catch her on the bike. So.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Right. You got to
Speaker:keep up. Gotta keep up.
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: Gotta keep up. In my case, I cheat. I, you know,
Speaker:I use electricity.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Electric bike.
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: Yeah.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Yeah. I, I commend a lot of people who haven't
Speaker:converted yet. Um, I've been on the verge of converting,
Speaker:but I just can't because the weight of the bike
Speaker:to me is just. I need the. I
Speaker:need to be a little lighter so I can carry up and down the steps.
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: Yeah, yeah, you know, it's, It's.
Speaker:It's, um. Ah, one
Speaker:of the first experiences I had
Speaker:this, um, trip out here in Vermont was there's a. Ah,
Speaker:there's. There's some great trails near here, the Kingdom Trails
Speaker:that are. That are. That are
Speaker:a large network of trails throughout the hills
Speaker:and mountains here that you can take. Go mountain biking
Speaker:on. And um.
Speaker:And you know, for many people, they might say mountain
Speaker:biking, that does not sound so fun. But
Speaker:take a bike that has a battery and that you Can. You
Speaker:can dial it up and you can use the.
Speaker:You can use the battery to drive you up the hills, and it
Speaker:becomes a whole different experience. So,
Speaker:okay, try it sometime. You'll be hooked.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Yeah, I might have to rent one and try it out.
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: That's what I did. I rented one of your. And I was like, oh, this
Speaker:is wonderful.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: So take my money. But again, finding the problem
Speaker:that, uh, that's right. They didn't know.
Speaker:So, perfect.
Speaker:Um, so this is the very last question of the show, which
Speaker:is where could people find out more about you?
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: M. Find more about me. Go, um, to greenfi
Speaker:and. And, um,
Speaker:uh, see. See what it is
Speaker:I'm doing. That's probably the best way to find out about me. I'm on
Speaker:LinkedIn. Pretty easy to find me there, and it's
Speaker:easy to figure out what my path has been. I'm always
Speaker:happy to talk to people about the path that
Speaker:I've been on and alternative paths, uh,
Speaker:and talk to people about ideas. Um, uh,
Speaker:so I'm pretty easy to reach, and they're pretty
Speaker:easy to reach at greenfi as well. So t
Speaker:newellgreenfi.com that's where I am.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Perfect. Love it. Tim,
Speaker:thank you so much for sharing your story, sharing your
Speaker:insights, and actually, how did you even get to where you
Speaker:are today? It's been such an inspirational journey, for sure.
Speaker:Um, learning to not say no,
Speaker:no. It's just a start to getting to that. Yes.
Speaker:Um, so I want to leave you, the listener who is listening right
Speaker:now, please remember to always
Speaker:put water in
Speaker:your suit. I just want to leave that with you.
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: Anthony. This is great. I really enjoyed record.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: There we go. There you go.
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: Sorry, Anthony. I really enjoyed the discussion.
Speaker:We're very happy to be on and, um, happy
Speaker:to join again sometime, uh, when you
Speaker:circle back around. So thank you, man.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: That's awesome. Thank you. I'll be out.
Speaker:We'll be safe.
Speaker:>> Tim Newell: All right. All right. Does that work for you?
