Sunny Vanderbeck launched his investment firm, Satori Capital, in the midst of the 2008 financial crisis. At the time, it was a difficult sell met with resistance within the institutional investment community: he wanted to invest in business as a force for good.
In this episode, Sunny explains how he puts conscious capitalism into practice, from investing with longer time horizons to transforming the employee experience at the company-level, to going above and beyond minimum environmental standards. At this time of great uncertainty and instability, I’m excited to share Sunny’s refreshing take on how the world is moving toward a more sustainable version of capitalism.
Sunny Vanderbeck
Sunny Vanderbeck is an investor, entrepreneur, best-selling author, and former military leader focused on accelerating the growth of mid-market companies and creating best-in-class, built-to-last businesses.
Sunny is co-founder of Satori Capital, a multi-strategy investment firm founded on the principles of conscious capitalism. By providing real-world insights from its experienced team and long-term funding with no fixed time constraints, Satori acts as a true partner for its portfolio companies as it challenges them to pursue extraordinary outcomes for all stakeholder groups.
Before founding Satori, Sunny co-founded and served as CEO of Data Return, a leading provider of managed services and utility computing. The company sustained 40% quarter-over-quarter growth for more than three years and reached a $3 billion market capitalization, making Sunny one of the youngest CEOs ever to lead a Nasdaq company. For more than a decade, Sunny led the company through all phases of growth and transformation, received numerous honors including an “Entrepreneur of the Year” finalist designation from Ernst and Young, and nurtured a conscious culture for all of the business’ stakeholders.
His experiences with building, selling, buying back, and re-selling Data Return, along with his subsequent involvement with dozens of private businesses at Satori, led Sunny to publish his first book, Selling Without Selling Out: How to Sell Your Business Without Selling Your Soul. The book serves as a roadmap for business leaders who face the unique challenges and quandaries involved in selling a business or taking on a financial partner. Drawing on hard-won wisdom earned through decades of experience, Sunny and other business founders and CEOs provide pragmatic guidance on navigating the complicated ins and outs of the sale process while preserving what matters most. Visit Sunny Vanderbeck.com for more information on the book and supplemental materials.
Simon Mainwaring
Simon Mainwaring is a brand futurist, global keynote speaker, and bestselling author. He is best known as the author of We First: How Brands and Consumers Use Social Media to Build a Better World and the Founder and CEO of We First, a strategic consultancy that works with brands to define their business strategy, company culture, and brand communications.
This episode of Lead With We was produced and edited by Goal17 Media and is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or Spotify.
Resources
Connect with Andras on LinkedIn
Learn more about Satori’s investment approach
For case studies and other free resources about purposeful business, go to WeFirstBranding.com
