Rodney Schwartz - CEO, Catalyst
When I left business school in 1980 I was certain I wanted to become a venture capitalist. The subject was made interesting by a terrific professor in "entrepreneurship". I sent out 200 CVs (résumés) and received only 18 rejections! The other 182 never bothered to respond. My career began in New York with PaineWebber as a strategic planner and was shifted quickly into equity research, studying the financial services industry. I then enjoyed ten of the best years (and best managers) anyone could ever hope for. Within this time I moved to London, to continue to develop my knowledge of the sector and to seek new horizons, moving to Lehman Brothers in 1988. However, in 1991 I became Co-Head of Equities and managed Lehman's 235 people involved in the research, sales, and trading of equities, convertibles and equity derivatives in Europe.
The appointment surprised me, as I had no serious management experience, but Lehman was desperate! Fortunately, I had two gifted bosses. Under their tutelage I learned how one could motivate people appropriately to enable them to surpass their own expectations. The result was that as a collective endeavour we reversed years of large losses and amazed ourselves with our accomplishments. I joined Paribas in June 1994 as Global Head of Investment Banking, Financial Institutions. I went there largely because I knew and admired the Chairman and believed that I could be a part of his reinvigoration of Paribas. Despite enormous effort, commitment and intelligence, he enjoyed only partial success. From observing him I learned how difficult it is to "spit into the wind". In less grand fashion, the same could be said of me. I learned that I was, in my heart, never going to be a great corporate financier.
However, in the process I was treated to three years of meeting senior management teams from many large European financial services companies, formed some wonderful relationships and engaged in stimulating conversations about the industry's future. This experience provided a fantastic complement to my days as an analyst-I got to see the other side of the mirror! When I quit Paribas in June of 1997, without any clear idea of what I was going to do, it was in reflecting upon the conversations mentioned above that I came to found Catalyst. Put simply, it seemed obvious that the European financial services industry would change. What Catalyst became, thanks to the efforts of the entire team, was a different type of VC firm, organised to be an effective change agent.
After nine years as a conventional VC, it became clear that my own, and our collective “hearts and minds” were drifting towards the social business sector. When this disconnect continues for too long it is essential to take action. Thus, early in 2006 we decided to follow these two parts of our bodies and focus our efforts on the Social Business Sector. This story is only just beginning, for me and for Catalyst.
Contact on: +44 (0)20 7281 5948 or email: rod@catfund.com