So, we will be looking at things like why family offices might need to begin to consider branding, what the typical sort of considerations are, sort of circling back to this idea of privacy and legacy when they begin thinking about engaging within the sort of brand-building process. What is a foundational brand, and how do you go about sort of building a dynamic one and then finally looking to the future? So, how do we think that, ultimately, branding could potentially change the game for family offices? So perhaps we’ll kick off with a bit of a round-robin. I would sort of start with. Let’s start with Nicholas. I’d love to know a little bit more about you, what you’re working on, and which organisation you are from. Over to you, Nick. 

Nicholas Pardon: Hello, Kyle. Hello everybody. I’m Nicholas Pardone. I’m coming to you from Newport Beach, California. I live here. I am the founder of Pardone and the principal. We call ourselves the Modern Family Office, and as Jess said, we unite with culture shapers, invest in ventures, and have an internal venture model inside the family office. I’m also the CEO of a digital publishing group in the US called Optimism. A lot of what has led us to success in that organisation has been brand, identity, and values-based work. 

Through my entrepreneurial journey, I’ve had the good fortune of working with many artists, designers, and creatives. Many of those have now several of those have found their way into the family office system, and we’ve kind of continued to use much of what we’ve, you know, used as tools to build our ventures now have put that inside of the family office structure to both create the identity of Pardone, using a lot of those artists and design skills. And so, yeah, so that’s the perspective I’m bringing here is one of entrepreneurship, one of venture building and also, you know, one of now, you know, embarking since 2021 on the, you know, the creation of my own family office and using those tools and skills and rituals to build our, you know, legacy brand. 

Kyle McDonald: Fantastic. Thanks, Nicholas. Yeah, really looking forward to getting your perspective throughout this. Perhaps we pass over to you, Patrick. It would be great to hear a little bit about, you know, your background, the types of organisations you work with and their relationship to family Offices and ultimately. Yeah. What is your sort of role and relevance for today’s conversation? 

Patrick Hanlon: Yeah, so we look at brands as belief systems. Once you create a belief system that attracts others who share your beliefs, it very organically brings together those people who believe in the same things you do. And it’s the root code for building authentic brands, as someone told me. And so we’ve worked with a lot of larger corporations, such as Google, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Levi’s, and so forth. But we’ve also worked with the Gates Foundation in their school venture. Back in the beginning, we were on Oprah and some other things. Worked with Time Warner on STEM. They were the first people to win. Obama, at the end of his term, started talking about the need to introduce science, technology, engineering and math into our schools. They had a red line, a red phone to a Time Warner, Who kind of had all the facts and so forth straight to the White House. And we also helped the United Nations come up with the argument for changing from global warming to climate change. And so we’ve worked in a lot of profit and nonprofit things over time. And what we found is that they all work under the same principle. 

A lot of celebrities also use primal, as I think Francois has pointed out in his articles in Forbes and elsewhere. So that’s where we are. And right now, we think, I mean, this session is really critical, I think, because regardless of who is in office in the coming months, no matter what country you’re in, I guess it’s really the private sector, not the government, that needs to take up a leadership role in driving home solutions. 

By aligning our stakeholders across corporations, nonprofits, philanthropy, and citizens, we have the innovation, the expertise and the resources to help solve some of. I’m just going to say our regions rather than our countries. But our greatest challenge is that the Sustainable Development Goals, which we’ve also helped out with, are not necessarily working. Everyone has a white paper, but no one really is moving those white papers into activations. And that’s where we’re failing. And that’s where everyone here on this call can help. 

Kyle McDonald: Fantastic. So, I guess it’s going to be really interesting to get your perspectives on the impact that communicating brand and legacy can have. So, yeah, really interested. I believe you have a book; is that correct? Got a great book. 

Patrick Hanlon: I do. I do have a book called Primal Branding. 

Kyle McDonald: Fantastic. Over to you, Dennis. We’d love to know a little bit more about your background, which organisation you’re from, and your sort of role and relevance in today’s conversation.

Dennis Schaffernick: So thank you, Kyle. I wear two hats by day. I’m an activist venture investor. I’m a founder of a venture fund called Concentric. We’re based in London, where I’m sitting, and Copenhagen, and we have the privilege of sharing an office with our hosts, Simple. We invest in early-stage companies across the European tech ecosystem that are solving non-trivial problems in very complex sectors. So, alluding to Patrick’s comment about the private sector building solutions for complex societal issues, we focus on doing that in the real-world sectors that have been going on for the last 10 years. And by night, I run a family office called Ermac Group. It’s a single family. We deploy capital across the more traditional asset classes. 

But the brand of Ermac is really geared towards promoting activist partnerships with the creative sectors where we build ventures with artists, support them philanthropically and so develop their businesses alongside us.

Kyle McDonald: Fantastic. So, I guess a lot of the time, you also put brands to work with those ventures you build. I might sort of hold the microphone or continue to hold the microphone with you, Dennis, just to unpack a little bit about this. You know, if we traditionally think of family offices, there’s obviously a lot of value in discretion and privacy. Perhaps you could tell us why you think that this might be changing. So why do we think family offices are beginning to become a little bit more public-facing? 

Dennis Schaffernick:  It’s a, I guess there’s no simple answer around that our journey wasn’t sort of overnight in a sense that we didn’t, we haven’t decided, okay, we need to have a brand, and we’re going to build it over the next week or two with the contractor. It’s kind of a long process of thinking about what it is that we stand for, what it is that we want to communicate externally, and whether it is going to be helpful actually to our counterparts, to our partners that we are aiming to attract and work with. So why, maybe going back to your question, why are public-facing brands or public-facing communication? Family office is becoming more important. I think there’s a natural sort of trend of public-facing brands being individuals. 

You know, you look at social media, and you’re kind of now expected to have a brand, aren’t you? If you’re meeting somebody, they’ll Google you, they’ll look at LinkedIn, and you know what you say already shapes people’s perception of who you are professionally or socially. I think family offices serve a number of purposes. Right. So I’m sort of very generalising, and of course, there are different levels of complexity as well. You know, there are big institutional family offices that look and feel more like, you know, institutional investors. 

And there are more entrepreneurial families like what I do that, you know, we don’t obviously need to go to that level of complexity, but I think both need an element of branding or projecting what is it that they do externally, whether it be for attracting investment opportunities, if that’s what you do, or building new businesses and telling a positive story to your constituents, or even personally, privately for the family members. If it’s a very large family with dozens of multigenerational members, then it could also be relevant to project some values across to that population as well. 

Kyle McDonald: Interesting. So I guess it’s up to you, Nicholas, to think about this concept of values. If we look at public-facing, in many ways, your family office has taken it to the next level. It very much reflects you. And how have you gone about beginning to think about how the values that represent you get codified into your family office? 

Nicholas Pardon: Yes, I think the goal, too, is to try to have the brand transcend me. I think that’s really what we’re trying to do: create. I was an inspiration to use my own story and my own work alongside the team to build something. Ultimately, the purpose of our brand was to allow other people to our team primarily step into the identity. And I think, you know, we, in some ways, it’s, you know, it also uses my surname obviously, which has, you know, etymology, and to give completely. So, it worked perfectly for the work that we were doing in a more virtuous circle of creation and then giving. So the name was kind of very present, and we chose to, you know, use that. Ultimately, for us, the values came out of a process of building the brand. 

I mean, we began with, you know, a very visual story that was, you know, very much inspired by time and legacy and luxury. We looked at a lot of the, you know, well-known watchmakers and people who, you know, really built a lot of heritage into what they were doing. We then studied the voice, like, how does, you know, does pardon want to speak to people? How do we want to connect with others? From there, in that discovery process, the values emerged. It’s almost like it became clearer through the process. We’re very visual forward. We’re very aesthetically drawn to things that have depth but are also very beautiful in that form. And yeah, and I think it is a process. 

So you begin in one place, and then you go on this ultimately branding or identity journey and through the visual, I mean, language arrives and then, you know, these values start to appear, and then you also, you know, then have a more comprehensive brand and then it really does. As you know, I think, as Patrick even said, it’s these belief systems that I definitely see, and they attract the right people. And this, I think, is very important for me because, you know, this is a very sensitive kind of organisation. You know, very small team, very big impactful work that we want to do together. 

And the values really keep us connected and aligned, and also allow us to, you know, maintain a sense of freedom and independence in our own individuality in the organisation, but also keep us very closely connected around our beliefs. But yeah, I think it’s a journey of very visual exploration for us. Voice and language emerge, and then these values start to appear as the highlighted words in our own story. 

Kyle McDonald: Fantastic. I think there’s something, yeah, really obviously beautiful in that discovery process as you begin to kind of unpack and figure out how those values begin to kind of transcend you. I guess, Patrick, it would be great maybe to pick your brain a little bit around what role you think a brand could or should play in how family offices begin to kind of explore their values and ultimately, you know, think about bringing that to life. 

Patrick Hanlon: Sure. I think the first thing that we need to point out is that there are two shapes for a brand. One is external, which is, you know, in the consumer world, that’s the stuff that we see on television here on the radio and all that kind of thing. Radio, sorry, the coming back magazines and so forth. And so the, and YouTube and Instagram, blah. And so anyway, it’s the externally facing brand or seeing the shelf. Right. And so that’s the external facing brand, the website and the logo. Usually, people think that when they’ve done their logo and the website, that’s the branding, and it’s all over; they’re done. That’s hardly the case. But the. 

The other thing that is most relevant for this group, I think, is the internal brand, and those are the people that you want to have working with you. And it’s the values that you share that attract others. This really boils down to when you’re trying to bring in people and what values you hold, how you act, how you shape those things, and what you all believe in. And so when people are opting between, you know, your foundation and another foundation and trying to figure out where they want to take their family, themselves and their family, invest their life Work. That’s what it gets down to. Also, I want to point out how we shape that internal brand. 

And just two quick metrics to lay on top of, I think, what Dennis was talking about. When people look at you and your brand, they are looking. It takes five. You have to be in five different places in the United States anyway for people to really know that you exist and for them to even say, yeah, I think I’ve heard of them. So you need to be in five different places. So that could be the website, but when? It’s also LinkedIn, which is probably one of the first places we go, right? It might be Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or whatever. Pick five. Right. So that’s the beginning. Organisations like these used to be more or less invisible. Right. You had to know about them beforehand, I guess, whatever. These days, at least in the US, you need to be in five different places. 

It varies from country to country. I would imagine that Europe would be about the same. And it also takes 1 hour, 100 hours to make a friend, according to some sociologists. Right. So when you combine the five different places, 100 hours a day, to make a friend, there are at least two guiding metrics that we use to help shape media. Our strategies, how we face, put our face against the public out there to the public. The other thing that is important, I think especially for this group, is that we need proof that we’re working with banks and other financial organisations that demonstrate how our actions and activations out in the real world are taking place. We need to point out things like Carnegie putting libraries in every small town in the United States. 

Perfect proof that he was out there in terms of philanthropy. Hershey, I think, helped orphans. Henry Ford, what went to the five dollar day increased the wages, you know, across the board. And so, within the Ford Company, we have the Ford Foundation. Right. And so anyway, these are some of the things. 

Kyle McDonald: Yeah, sorry, I was gonna say, I think this idea of sort of, you know, actually the place-making and the sort of legacy-making kind of leads us quite nicely into the next section, which is this idea around. You know, how do we begin to think about balancing privacy and legacy? You know, increasingly for a lot of family offices, you know, this careful dance sort of needs to happen around a public-facing version of your family office and then ultimately also ensuring that there is a side of yourself and your family that you’re able to keep, you know, private. Perhaps Dennis, you know, as someone who’s gone through this dance twice, you know, through concentric and obviously your family office as well. 

It’d be great to kind of get your point of view a little bit on how you manage that sort of dance. 

Dennis Schaffernick: Yeah. So, the dance of privacy versus having a public-facing profile is a tricky one for a lot of people. For most family officers, I would say. In fact, I had some comments even yesterday prior to this webinar, people sort of expecting this discussion and asking, well, isn’t that sort of in conflict with the family office ethos, you know, having a brand and having a public Persona. But I guess some family offices will be important to stay private just because of the individuals behind them. They, you know, they want to stay private. They value security, and I respect that. And particularly if they’re more passive family officers, those that are vacated capital, and I’m talking probably, maybe unfortunately not in our league yet. And I’m very entrepreneurial. 

I love building new things, and I don’t think I will ever stop, whether it be through concentric or through airmarks. And so when you’re in that business or in that sort of activity, you have to have a public profile. So it’s really up to you how you shape it, isn’t it? So you can give as much away as you can. As you like or as little. So, I don’t think there is a particular conflict as long as you’re active. You have to, you know, be known for something. And once you face that dilemma or once you face that question that you need to answer, it sort of naturally leads you down to the road of essentially building a brand, of thinking about how you would communicate it, which is kind of the beginning of defining your brand journey. 

Kyle McDonald: Yeah. And I guess, Nicholas, if we think a little bit more about your experience, again, you know, the public side of it, what were some of the risks that you took into consideration? And ultimately, why did your. Did you opt to sort of? Yeah. What were the benefits beyond the risks that you explored? 

Nicholas Pardon: You know, I’m not sure we took that into consideration too highly. I mean, very similar to Dennis, I’m also an active entrepreneur, and I’m in the pursuit of building and creating wealth, not just preserving or protecting existing wealth. So I think. But when I was thinking about this topic or thinking about this question, I mean, one of the. That’s something that I think is important. If privacy, security, exclusivity, and these kinds of words are very important to the family, then I think those should be brought forward at the brand creation time. And I think then it gives that opportunity to have the brand be in control of the narrative because I think wealth owners at any level are. It’s important to have some construct of what we’re doing. What is our story, and what impact are we trying to create in the world? 

You know, if you look at the typical makeup of what a family office system might look like, especially here in the US, there is a foundational element to it. There is a giving part and a creation of wealth or, you know, and so I think, you know, maybe the brand story is through the foundation lens, maybe the brand story happens through more of the impact than the, you know, more investment capital arm. But we, because of our pursuit of very active entrepreneurial work and collaborating with other founders and even other family offices to do this work, we knew we had to be, you know, a bit more public and a bit more out there. But at the same time, I think there’s still a reserve vibe to our brand. 

You know, we’re not even how we use the system where we allow the logo to be where we, you know, where we would put the brand and how it, you know, and almost all the rules that you can’t do with the brand or what make it very exclusive or private. And so I think that to me, while privacy is not necessarily a value for us, I think it’s very present in maybe the identity as well, or it’s quiet tone. And so I think that’s where it’s like sometimes it might be if privacy and those values are very important to your family. This is where the brand can help in ensuring that privacy is maintained and that, you know, we’re public with what we want to be public with. 

And I think we’re just growing in greater scrutiny around, you know, wealth holders to say something. You know, I’ve even personally met really incredible humans who are doing great things in the world. And then when I go and try to find anything about those great stories, there’s nothing there. And you know, they’re referencing this foundation and that, and I’m like googling it, and I’m finding nothing about it. And I think that is not great for our communities. That’s not great for, you know, their ability to again, like attract talent or, you know, and so I think, yeah, privacy is something to be upheld. I think for us all, privacy, security, and safety are critical. 

But at the same time, you know, being out there and controlling how people perceive us and how our teams get to embody some form of identity is just incredibly important at the same time. So I think there’s. That’s the value of working with the right brand creators; they can hold those two things at the same time and, you know, still find a way to create an identity that, you know, fulfils those needs. 

Patrick Hanlon: Yeah, I think we live in a world of transparency. And if you try to hide something or you try to be private, it’s like you’re trying to hide, maybe perceived as you’re trying that you’re trying to hide something, which is not. Never good. So, I would point out that there is no difference between your brand and your brand narrative, which is what creates your brand. And so there’s really no difference there. And so that you. You need to create a cohesive, streamlined Bryant brand narrative that is able to tell, here’s where we’re from; here’s what we’re all about. Here’s. Here’s our point of difference in the world and what we’re trying to do in the world. Right. Here’s how, you know, it’s us and not someone else. 

Whether we can point to the foundation or all the things that we’ve built, made, done already or whatever, here are the rituals. This is how we act out in the world. Here’s how people describe us, the words that we use to describe ourselves. Here’s what we’re not and don’t want to become. And then here’s our leadership and who’s leading the way. All those pieces that you’re able to tell through distributed through all of the social, digital, and traditional media that are out there today are what provide the information necessary for your brand advocates to defend you or talk about you. Who are these guys? I’ve never heard of them before. Oh, they’re xyz. Right. Fill in the blanks. 

And so as long as you provide that information to your advocates, brand zealots, they will defend you when times are tough or when someone. When something goes awry out there in the universe. So. 

Kyle McDonalds: Yeah, so anyway, so I think also something you pointed out, Nicholas, which I thought was really interesting, was that going slightly more public in terms of your brand profile, it ensures that you kind of are proactively owning the narrative around your family office. You’re able to craft that; you’re able to communicate it in a way that allows you to participate in how that is perceived publicly, which I think is really sort of key for a lot of family offices, particularly in this Day and age where obviously, you know, reputational risk is key. It’s a consideration for investment strategies, due diligence, and obviously public profiles if they are public-facing individuals as well. I think, you know, let’s begin thinking pragmatically. 

Okay, so we’ve looked at, you know, what the benefits of this might be, but perhaps, Patrick, I’m going to pick your brain again here. So if I’m thinking from a family office perspective, I’m deciding, okay, we’re this opaque organisation currently. We’d like to proactively begin to craft a narrative. How do we go about launching a brand? What does that process look like? How do I start today? What can I expect during that process? 

Patrick Hanlon: Sure. So what we do, I mean, is there are many different ways, and everyone on the panel here probably has a different way of going about it. But what we do, and we’re doing this week with someone where we basically break down their brand. Okay, where did they come from? What do they do or intend to do? In this case, they have done something very successfully before. But how do they realise that times are changing, the world is transforming, and how do they stay relevant? Basically? How do they stay relevant in this new world? And, then, we figure out the website has to be updated and go along with that and what are the icons that signal here’s who they are and what they’re all about. Then we start talking about language. 

The language, in this case, the text and the copy, needs to be updated, and all of the content needs to be updated across all the streams. And then what are they? Not importantly. And what are you not? I thought I was just coming out of a world of the burger wars and the cola wars and all this that I grew up with. The. I just thought that human beings needed to battle against something and overcome all odds. You know, it’s part of the hero’s journey and all that kind of thing. But actually, defining what we do not help you helps define who you are. And strategically, this is something that has become very crucial, I would say, in some conversations. 

Because if people are stuck or if they have pivoted too many times, or there’s a change in leadership, or there’s a change in the world out there that we need to respond to, then defining us by defining what we’re not and don’t want to become helps. I mean, it’s just conversational. Well, what if we’re like these guys? Oh, we would never do that. Or what about this over here? Okay, what about this over here, then? Oh, we don’t want that either. Well, how about this? And you kind of back them into a corner. But, at least they’re comfortable in that corner. And then they work out from there. And, and so that’s very crucial, I think. 

And, then, the leader and it may be the existing leader, it might be someone new, or it might be a new generation of leadership. Depends, of course. And so. Or it might even just be a new product inside a company. Right. A new product for a new generation. And so the. And then we wrap all that together and then figure out how, what goes where. And our construct is very useful for that. Where do we communicate these things, and where does the creation story go? For example, does it go on the website? Does it go on the back of a package? Does it go? Do we make a movie out of it? If you remember, Facebook made that movie. The Social Network Beats by Dre had a movie called The Defiant Ones. 

McDonald’s had a movie, and it probably looked like it was produced by Burger King. I think Michael Keaton was in it. Right. I always remember the line where they’re making the milkshakes. Does it have any milk in it? No. Perfect. And then in and on from there. So you can be as low or as high as you want in terms of media. Right. It depends on your budgeting and what you’re comfortable with. But in the US, you have to be in five different places. So what are they? So that includes pr, includes outdoor, includes. 

Nicholas Pardon: For sure, some of those places. I mean, again, if you’re going after this more private and reserve, you know, you’re not going to be in media, and you’re not going to be doing the billboards. Right. So I think, but I think you. 

Patrick Hanlon: Are going to be in media in terms of PR, newspaper articles, magazine articles, even there, even if your alma mater. 

Nicholas Pardon: Yeah. I think it’s just still trying to build even a new framework for branding a company and a venture and then branding the family office because it’s just a completely different kind of work and sensitivity. And I think one thing that you said that was speaking to me too of just these multi-generational families for me, single family, office, principal led, fresh and new. We’re learning by the day about this very vast and impactful space. However, the value of the brand for connecting these multiple generations is that you may have an existing generation leading and running today, but newer generations are coming in, ultimately needing to come into the sense of leadership or guiding the family forward. And the brand process, the building of a successful brand, is what I’ve had a lot of conversations with other family offices. 

Just how do we connect with the next generation? How do we kind of bring our values to the forefront? And I think that’s really where these, through these conversations and ultimately like, you know, connecting the current generation to the next generation. You know, the brands have a lot of opportunities. 

Patrick Hanlon: What do they mean now that they didn’t mean before? 

Nicholas Pardon: Yeah, and I think that’s. 

Patrick Hanlon: And though I agree with you, right? I’m talking about broad scope, and you’re not. I may not be doing a Hollywood movie, but I haven’t met an organisation yet that hasn’t wanted to do the video. Right. For the fundraising event, et cetera. So it’s all the same. 

Kyle McDonald: Yeah. I think this idea of storytelling in its many forms is key, I guess if there’s, you know, just sort of reflecting back. So, Dennis, thinking about your process, you know, perhaps maybe not, there might have been a little bit of nervousness initially when you were kicking off and thinking about, you know, starting the process. Would you mind maybe walking us through a little bit of your experience as a sort of family office member starting out? How did you select a provider? How did you sort of go through the process? What did you experience? 

Dennis Schaffernick: Yeah, I mean, I had the benefit of having done branding work within a number of our portfolio companies on the venture side, particularly those that are more consumer-facing, where brand is key. And over the years. So it’s not one or two examples, and I quickly realised by then that this individual, this firm that is doing the work, is absolutely critical. It’s not just the content or the copyright or whatever that you’re putting out there, but also the mentorship process you have to go through to figure out what it is actually that you stand for. And in many respects, for family offices, it’s more difficult than for singular brands. Suppose you’re an existing company with history, customers, and a particular product that really shapes a lot of the things that you’re going to be communicating. And you can build a brand around it. 

Obviously, you can pivot in any way, but at least it’s a good foundation. As a family office, you actually have no foundation unless you are really dependent on a large operating business or have a legacy business that you are very well known for. These are a minority of cases, I would say. And so that is a nervousness because you don’t have a base to start off with. You really have to spend a lot of time debating and answering very personal questions about your values and about what you’re actually doing with your life. And so it’s very much a mentorship process that takes a few weeks, at least in my experience. Took a few weeks not just with myself but also with my colleagues. And we did it both for concentric and for earmarks at different times. 

But the process is very similar. And that actually is a key value driver. You know, the visuals and everything else that comes after is a derivative. And I would say maybe I’m sort of downplaying the value of that. There are a lot of talented designers and copywriters out there, but there are very few talented people who combine all of these in one firm or organisation. And that’s why they’re so valuable. Yeah, that’s why they’re so valuable. So when our founders now go for, let’s say, a rebrand project, which you ultimately have to do even as a family office, every few years, you have to kind of look back and see, you know, things have changed, the world has changed, you need to kind of refresh it. 

And it can be a very kind of intense process. Again, I always recommend our founders that go for, you know, very professional. And so, the more professional, the better the firms use. My boss, I used to work in banking, so I had a very colourful boss who used to say you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. And I think it’s very true for the branding work, you know because it’s such a personal project. 

Kyle McDonald: Yeah, definitely. Maybe. Nick, I’d love to pick your brain a little bit on how, within family offices, you begin to think about that sensitivity you spoke about. So, how do you begin to run a series of different experiments to find out which channels are the right to communicate your brand? How, when, where, and what type of traction are you looking for? What type of metrics are you maybe looking at if you’re looking at these things? You know, looking at this from a venture perspective versus a private, exclusive perspective. 

Nicholas Pardon: Yeah, I don’t think we’ve put that kind of DNA into the family office brand for us. I mean, it’s really, again, more we’re doing this work very differently than our venture work. We approach it very differently. For me, I think it’s been almost like a self-actualisation journey, creating the Pardon brand and something that we still feel like we’re in the process of doing. I mean, we’ve brought forward visual identities, as I’ve said. We have, you know, language to describe the brand. We’ve, you know, we’ve worked on origin stories, where we come from, why we come from those places, and what we believe. But yeah, I think it’s a whole different ballgame, if you will, building in this space. 

And I think that’s really where we’ve looked more, you know, inspiration from more legacy heritage-based organisations that have rich archives and deep roots in working inside the public and doing profound things for society. Whether you go back all the way to the Medicis or even to some of the brands that take up a lot of space in, you know, maybe the luxury space today. And we’re just asking what these intrinsic things are that make this identity so desirable, so special? So. And I think we actually truly approach that from a very artistic place. Our team is made up of what I would believe is the majority of artist energy. And then we couple that with entrepreneurial energy and that purist form, right? Like going into, you know, uncharted territories. 

The artists do that very well, and then the entrepreneurs bring order to maybe what has been uncovered. So we use that, I think, DNA in our own brand creation at Pardone. And you know, and I think that question that came up from Alessandro is about how we select the right partner. You know, we built that kind of inside of our own family office to do that work. Because we had that ability, and we, many of us, had, that was our skill in designing brands and building ventures. And now we’re starting to, you know, we have tried to, you know, we are out in the world meeting. You know, the first time I met Dennis, I asked who created your website. Who had the ability to translate you into this? 

And you know, I jumped on a call with him right away just to find the talent that knows how to work in this kind of space. It’s just a very unique thing. And that’s where, you know, even just having this conversation is illuminating for me and, you know, learning as well. But yeah, I think it is very sensitive. It’s very different. The goals and objectives, you know, again, for each family office, are going to be different. Some do want people to call them, and others do not want anyone to have their phone number. So I think the, you know, those two different approaches. But yeah, I think we are again just approaching it from a more artistic lens form, you know, more of this Intrinsic essence, you know, thinking of the world, you know, the work that connects multiple generations. 

And you know, I think the way we see it is like heritage has this individuality to it. We all have a heritage. And how do we, you know, transcend this heritage through branding work to become more of a legacy mark? Something that kind of stands the test of time. 

And yeah, I don’t think there is a lot of. I don’t think that language or that kind of work happens in the venture world. Your typical startup or your typical company isn’t really thinking about legacy. They’re not getting to think about some of the luxury touchstones that I think the private wealth space has the capital to invest in. So that’s where, when you have the resources to invest in the brand, what the potential to create is incredibly profound. 

And then I think then all of the activities, whether they’re investments, philanthropy, patronage, all follow that brand lead. 

Kyle McDonald: Great, thank you. Well, I’m going to move on to the final section, and I think, you know, obviously, much of what Nicholas has said sort of weaves beautifully into that. So, Patrick, I might sort of pick your brain on this. I’d love to get a bit more of a philosophical view, sort of following some of that thread that Nicholas has mentioned. You know, if you think of a brand within family offices, it very much needs to be a patient brand. Right. It’s a brand that, hopefully, is evergreen; it grows and evolves. How do you know when it’s done when it’s ready to kind of put out into the world? 

Patrick Hanlon: Well, it’s never. Yeah, yeah, it’s never really done, is it? I mean, it’s something that you hope will be long-lasting and will, as Nick pointed out earlier, will survive you. I’ll survive you. Right. And will be long-lasting. And so this will hit. Go back to Alessandro’s question, which is a great question and very difficult to do on one’s own. But the. I would suggest that to help put together the pieces, look at the things that are out there. And I think Nick pointed to this as well. Look at the things out there that you like, you know, like who did your website and who does other people’s websites, who did a really great logo, or who did some piece of work. 

I was a global creative director, so it’s a little bit easier for me to perceive what is good and what is not, where to find these people, and so forth. However, when I’m going out looking for websites or doing some other things, it’s not always. It is not always simple to find that one person. And so the. I can understand the frustration, or it’s harder for me to find an accountant; let me put it that way: early in an attorney because everyone promises the same thing. How do you pull out who the perfect person is for your project? Right. And so I can understand that frustration. So one thing that a lot of designers ultimately ask anyway is what are the things that you like out there that you see, whether it’s other foundations or just other things out in the world? 

Simples Logo immediately asked them who did their logo. Right. And so the. Because the importance of that is that you want something that stands for something and looks solid, one of the things that we do when we’re designing logos is to put them with all the others. The bucket of other logos that we like, whether it’s. I was going to say Twitter, but the original Twitter, Tweety Bird or Facebook or, you know, all the rest of them, Airbnb and so forth, put them up there. Do we fit within that group of people, or are we in the C or D category? And you always want that logo to be, for example, great and fit in the A category because that’s in the beginning; that’s all you have. So. But finding those people is, you know, I would call someone on this crew in this thing.

Kyle McDonald: Great. And Dennis, I think, I guess, thinking a little bit about the importance of how, you know, obviously, as the. Your brands evolve, and your family office evolves; how do you think the brand will play an integral role in attracting the right type of talent, the right type of investment opportunities, et cetera? 

Dennis Schaffernick: I think it’s key, to be honest, unless you’re a very famous name and you don’t need really a brand because the brand is your name. Again, this is a tiny minority. You need a brand or some sort of. I think, particularly the younger generation, they live in brands and deviate towards them. They want to work somewhere that has a story, some sort of heritage, or some sort of route where it’s going. So I think it’s critical. Absolutely. I mean, it’s probably for us, for me personally, it’s more critical on the Concentric side, which is a much more kind of active investment firm, and it attracts talent, it recruits people, and I guess it recruits founders by investing in them. So that is absolutely critical. We spend a lot of effort on events, content, and everything that’s involved in maintaining a brand presence. 

On the family office side, we don’t recruit tons of staff. All the time. So it’s a bit less, I guess, accentuated, but still, prospective partners look at it, and they take something out of it for sure. So I think that attracting investment opportunities is not the key thing, but it’s certainly a benefit, I would say, to having a story. 

Patrick Hanlon: Google had a sign on their wall and on their office walls that said smart people work with other smart people. And this was their way of attracting other smart people. Just ask your friends if your friend’s looking for a job, send them here. Right. And I think it’s kind of the same thing because I never wanted to work on anything that I could, that I had to describe to my mother what it was, you know. And so anyway, I always worked with name brands, and I think that in the sense of people being attacked from the outside and so forth if you give them the information that it’s all about the brand, it’s that story. And so if someone comes up with some other counter story, as people do these days. 

Thank you Twitter, the, your advocates will, if you give, if you provide them with the right information going in, will counter that on their own. You don’t have to, you will not have to defend yourself. You may ultimately. 

Kyle McDonald: But I think on that question. Yeah, so we’ve obviously had an interesting couple of questions sort of coming in when people begin to engage with your brand. So we had a question: How do you begin to think about when people begin to engage with your band and create a counter-narrative? How do you sort of engage with that, and how do you think about it? So Nicholas, maybe over to you. 

Nicholas Pardon: I mean, I haven’t had any personal experience in that, you know, kind of as it relates to, you know, any negative kind of context of the brand, fortunately. But I think, yeah, it’s still about just the brand, and even in a digital way, it is just holding the story firm. Who you are, what you stand for. And I think it just acts as a coming back place where people can just again re-ground what we’re doing. I think it’s whether that’s public, whether that’s private, or if that’s an internal document or ritual that the organisation has, isn’t it? Even in the chaos that we see in the world, it allows us to just come back to the work that we intend to do, the value that we believe we bring into society, and how and why our work matters. 

And I think that is ultimately what a digital or external brand experience should convey. And I think it almost becomes the foundation again of whether, as the world gets rockier, we stay steady in who we are, what we’re doing, why we’re doing it, why it matters, and ultimately all of the, you know, the rituals, beliefs, systems that may be put into those brands. So for those who are experiencing that or are, you know, scared of experiencing something like that by being public, I would actually reverse it. It would be more scary not having that foundation and clarity on who you are, what you’re doing, and what those values are. And again, people get to choose how public they make those components of their culture. 

But yeah, I think that’s really like where the Pardon site and our [email protected] does not have a lot of CTAs. There’s not a lot of call to action. We’re not trying; we’re not assessing Google Analytics to see how many leads we got today. If we look at any of that data, it’s like how many people were curious about us and how many people arrived here to read our story and understand the work that we’re doing. And I think a lot of family offices, you know, the work is not their own. It’s the work that they’re empowering the businesses that they’ve funded. 

That’s why I think Dennis’s site is also a beautiful and very poetic example of just, you know, the artist kind of essence behind him and a portfolio of both artistic, very artistic forward ventures and also those that, you know, have a, you know, a capitalistic model of them, whether they’re, you know, they’re selling art or selling contemporary dance. But it looks more like an artist’s portfolio than your typical venture portfolio. So, I think the impact is very clear. And I think that’s really where, by having all of that established again, it just becomes that footing for the organisation and how you show what you’re investing in, what you’re empowering, what you’re actually, what you’re using your wealth to create in the world. 

Patrick Hanlon: We have a process where we ask the questions beforehand and then we answer those questions so that if someone attacks, you know, what our values or what we’re, what our purpose or what we’re all about or our authenticity, we have answer so that we can be proactive, our clients can be proactive. And rather than being reactive and have those 2:30 in the morning conversations. 

Dennis Schaffernick: So I would just probably add to Nicholas and build on what he was saying. You know, if you already have a brand, even if you don’t want it, you know, it’s already out there. It’s just created by somebody else, and the narrative is being populated by somebody else. And the more famous you are, the more prolific you are as a business person or as a philanthropist or artist, and the more there’ll be people who would want to contribute to your brand without you even sort of having any control of it. So, I think, in that sense, I agree with Niklas 100%. It’s more scary to be private actually than public and control your own sort of narrative and destiny. 

Be it related to privacy concerns that a lot of people have been asking in the comments here, but also in terms of the attacks point that was raised there. 

Kyle McDonald: Fantastic. Well, it’s been a fascinating conversation today. Thank you all of you for tuning in. Thank you everyone for your comments. Obviously, some of the topics we’ve unpacked today, the importance of sort of going through the process of having foundational values tied to the narrative that you want to sort of create and put forward in the world, and then also understanding that those values, you know, can reinforce your sort of family perpetually throughout time. Jess, over to you. 

Jessica Spiro: Thank you, Kyle, and thank you, Patrick, Dennis, and Nicholas, for sharing your wisdom so generously with us. Building a family office brand is clearly a hot topic, one we’re only just getting started with. If you’re familiar with Simple, you’ll know that this webinar forms part of an ongoing series where we find new ways to shed light and increase transparency in the family office industry. Our next discussion will tackle strategic service provider selection, so make sure you don’t miss that one. If you’d like to learn more about the work we do at Simple, including our high-touch service offering and new products for family offices, please reach out to the Simple team. We can act as strategic discussion partners. 

We can help you solve specific problems, such as finding the right providers, or we can assist with expansion by connecting you with our network across the globe. Drop us a mail or note in the comment section. We would love to hear from you. Lastly, thank you to everyone who tuned in today. The Simple Network only continues to grow, and we’re so proud to have such an engaging and receptive audience. For anyone who would like to revisit this discussion, the recording will be available to watch right here on our LinkedIn page or via the simple platform. Once more, thank you to everyone who made today possible, and we hope to see you at the next one. Bye for now.