October is Pensions Awareness Month. As a founder or person of UHNW – the financial structures are likely in place. What almost nobody plans for is who they are when the business is gone. 76% of founders regret selling within a year. 58% of high-net-worth individuals report regret about decisions made too quickly after a major transition.
Why The Hardest Business Transition Isn’t Financial
October is Pensions Awareness Month. As a founder or person of UHNW – the financial structures are likely in place. What almost nobody plans for is who they are when the business is gone. 76% of founders regret selling within a year. 58% of high-net-worth individuals report regret about decisions made too quickly after a major transition.
400 Miles. 9 Days. For the Kids Who Can’t.
After 25 years working with founders, investors and people who have built extraordinary things, one thing has become clear. The numbers tell you surprisingly little about the person sitting opposite you. What does tell you something? Whether they are interesting. Whether their word means something when keeping it becomes inconvenient. And whether they are still the same person when the waiter comes to the table as they were thirty seconds earlier. A reflection on how the definition of success changes when you have been in enough rooms.
Alison Goodwin: “I’m Not Sure We’re Measuring Success Particularly Well”
After 25 years working with founders, investors and people who have built extraordinary things, one thing has become clear. The numbers tell you surprisingly little about the person sitting opposite you. What does tell you something? Whether they are interesting. Whether their word means something when keeping it becomes inconvenient. And whether they are still the same person when the waiter comes to the table as they were thirty seconds earlier. A reflection on how the definition of success changes when you have been in enough rooms.
70% of Wealthy Families Lose Everything by the Second Generation. Here Is Why.
$124 trillion is transferring between generations by 2048. In the UK alone, £5.5 trillion is changing hands. And yet a 20-year research project on 3,200 families found that 70% of wealthy families lose their wealth by the second generation – and 90% by the third. The reason is almost never technical. It is not about investment selection or tax planning. It is about the conversations most families are actively avoiding. Here is what the ones beating those odds are doing differently.
Gold, Diamonds and Faberge Eggs: Why Our Network Never Goes on Holiday
The most significant transactions in private markets do not begin in boardrooms. They begin with a conversation between two people who trust each other, and a very simple question: do you know anyone? This week alone, opportunities passing through The Syndicate Global network have included Gold Dore and bullion across multiple jurisdictions, live requirements for EN590, D6 and A1, 450 metric tonnes of uncut diamonds, a privately offered Jackson Pollock, and Faberge eggs. This is how it actually works.
Ten Essentials for Every Founder’s Agenda in 2026
Most founders spend their days managing the urgent. The hire, the P&L, the decision that cannot wait. But the agenda that gets crowded out is usually the one that matters most. From AI strategy tied to the P&L to the peer group that challenges you, here are the ten things every founder needs to be deliberately thinking about in 2026 – not just reacting to.
Why Where You Holiday, Eat and Spend Time Determines Your Deal Flow
Nearly 80% of UHNW individuals prefer connections introduced through mutual relationships. Warm referrals produce a 75% higher response rate on cross-border opportunities. The most significant deals in private markets do not begin in meeting rooms. They begin in the spaces people choose with their discretionary time. Here is what the most intentional founders and investors are doing differently.
You Are Not Just Building a Business. You Are Building a Legacy. What’s the Real Difference?
Most founders do not spend much time thinking about the difference between building a business and building a legacy. They are too busy building. But the research is clear – 85% of family business executives say succession planning is critical, yet fewer than a quarter are actively doing anything about it. The decisions that shape your legacy are being made right now, not later. Here is what the founders who get this right are doing differently.
Why the Best Businesses of the Next Decade Will Be Built on Networks, Not Products
The businesses that will define the next decade of private market returns are not necessarily the ones with the best products. They are the ones that have built the most defensible networks around those products – and whose value compounds in ways that a traditional financial model will systematically underestimate. Here is what the mathematics of network effects means for how serious investors evaluate opportunity in 2026.