What Is The Karma School of Business?

Sean Mooney (00:05):

Welcome to BluWave's Karma School of Business. I'm Sean Mooney, the founder and CEO of BluWave, an intelligent B2B marketplace that is trusted by more than 500 of the world's leading private equity firms and thousands of proactive companies, connecting them with the very best-in-class third-party resources they need to expertly assess opportunities and build value in their companies with speed and certainty. Today, we're gonna talk about what Karma School of Business means. Karma School of Business is a philosophy that I developed over years and years while I was a way overly eager young buck, learning things the hard way over and over and over. Eventually I learned that if you make life simple, it becomes simpler. From my perspective, the Karma School of Business means a number of things. First and foremost, it means do good things with and for good people, and the world tends to take care of itself.

Sean Mooney (01:00):

It's not necessarily the fastest path to roam, but in my experience, this approach yields the highest-percentage chance of long-term success. The Karma School of Business philosophy also surrounds yourself with people who have similar worldviews. For those who are baseball or Brad Pitt fans, you wanna play Billy Ball or Moneyball. This is the expected-value play versus the binary boom, bust, swing-for-the-fences path to life. Second, the Karma School of Business philosophy entails having good values and work with people who have good values. We've all seen those who take shortcuts and compromise themselves for short-term gains. I think Warren Buffett said it really well. In looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if they don't have the first, the other two will kill you. Once again, it's this idea of living life based on an expected-value calculation, even if only out of selfish altruism, living with values is the way to go.

Sean Mooney (01:59):

Third, have a preparation, hard work, and growth mindset. You get out of things what you put into them. Secretary Colin Powell said it very well. There are no secrets to success. It's the result of preparation, hard work, and learning. I've always also appreciated the words my dad shared while I was growing up: “The second you feel like you’ve figured the world out, you're already falling behind.” In the Karma School of Business, you never cross the finish line, and at the same time, appreciate that life is a journey, not a destination. We feel that investing time and energy into constantly growing knowledge and skills will inevitably benefit you, your team, and your business in spades. I built my career in the private equity industry with many of the smartest people in the world. Admittedly, I'm pretty sure I wasn't the smartest person in most of the rooms I shared with my peers.

Sean Mooney (02:48):

I was smart enough, but the thing that set me apart was that I had worked really hard, asked lots of questions, and constantly sought answers from people who had already figured out how the world works. At the same time, in retrospect, I probably learned much later in life than I should have that rarely is there a need to recreate the wheel. Don’t be afraid to pursue the Walmart form of innovation. Next, all this being said, it’s still important to win and not be a pushover. Don't be afraid to say no. In conjunction with strong values, do what you need to win for your customers, win for your stakeholders, win for your company and yourselves. Winning isn’t easy. No is often the easiest word to say. As our listeners no doubt appreciate, the trick is to figure out how do you turn a no into a yes for you, your team, your customers, by going around, above, below obstacles that you encounter every day. With this in mind, we hope the Karma School of Business podcast will share insights from top private equity investors, business leaders, and thought leaders who have unique perspectives on the teamwork, values, growth, and winning mindsets that will in turn actually help you improve your businesses and perhaps even your life.

Sean Mooney (03:55):

Thank you for listening. Please continue to look for us anywhere you find your favorite podcasts, including Apple, Google, and Spotify. We appreciate your support. If you like what you hear, please subscribe, review, and share. In the meantime, let us know if there's anything we at BluWave can do to support your success

Sean Mooney (04:11):

Onward.

Private equity insights for and with top business builders, including investors, operators, executives and industry thought leaders. The Karma School of Business Podcast goes behind the scenes of PE, talking about business best practices and real-time industry trends. You'll learn from leading professionals and visionary business executives who will help you take action and enhance your life, whether you’re at a PE firm, a portco or a private or public company.

BluWave Founder & CEO Sean Mooney hosts the Private Equity Karma School of Business Podcast. BluWave is the business builders’ network for private equity grade due diligence and value creation needs.