I'm Gianluca D'Agostino and this is 10 Minutes to Inspire. Welcome to Techy Motion 10 Minutes to Inspire. Today we have with us Giovanni Tamburi, one of the greatest Italian investors, so a great pleasure, especially for me, because it's a conversation from which I'd also like to learn something important, given that I too have been in this world for a few years. So, Giovanni, the question we typically open with is: What is the venture that best defines you in your life?
I think it is what we do, what we have created. Since university, I have dreamed of creating a circuit of companies, markets, and excellent savings. I succeeded, it took me almost 50 years, but it works. So I believe our company is the expression of what I wanted to do, managed with great luck to do, and today is functioning quite well, I think.
And what inspired you throughout your career? Was there an initial moment that then guided the following steps, or was it a continuous journey with inspirational moments? Perhaps you could share an anecdote.
I was very lucky to have a person who, for example, brought me from Rome to Milan, where I was very happy. He forced me to come to Milan, forced me to do a job I didn't even know about at first, but he pulled me into this world of finance, which I don't love as a concept, but I've tried to interpret in a very businesslike way, very close to entrepreneurs, psychologically, carefully, not very numerical, absolutely non-speculative, very long-term, and very transparent in the markets. So true inspiration doesn't exist. It's great luck to have found step by step over time the right people, the right operations, and a lot of luck.
You talked about a difficulty on stage a little while ago. Another difficulty perhaps more within your world, building your project that struck you and held you back but you overcame. Can you tell us about it?
Things went so well when we started investing that we got a bit carried away and wanted to do too many things. For example, I delegated to a couple of people the idea that beyond what passes through the top management, I gave them a budget to invest and they made many mistakes because they found a way to dress it up with multiples, superficial things that don't work. Also, we grew in personnel, another mistake I made, but we came back from it. I understood that you have to be very selective, look at things very carefully, study them deeply. As I said before, there is a lot of psychology with people—both shareholders and the companies you invest in. Our work must be done only if you are very attentive to each single operation, not a bulk approach.
I relate very much. In building the team and the mission, every day we approach steps in a disciplined way. But this phase is a bit different from when we started in the '80s and '90s. Now we talk more about impact and indicators. How do you think you can have a positive impact? Have you had a positive impact on the world and society, not just on shareholders but on stakeholders?
I don't want to exaggerate with a self-promotion, but we are the most profitable holding in Europe of our kind for about ten years. We are the largest group of families with aligned interests for making real economy investments. We are listed on the stock market and are a true public company because I once had 100%, today I have 8.5%, and there are two shareholders larger than me. So I tried to combine the savings of these families with investments in excellent companies through a transparent market, avoiding the typical opacity of our world. We have 15 listed companies in our group, and I tried to convey maximum transparency, freedom, and accessibility to the individual saver. Even recently in Trento, I saw people approaching me saying, 'I am a small shareholder.' The joy of having these people follow me, buying maybe 100, 200 shares on the market, and reaching these kinds of people through stock market listing is immense.
I find it brilliant how the underlying is listed but the entrepreneurial trajectory is 7, 10, 20 years, sometimes longer. So it's a different type of private equity compared to the venture capital world I've also experienced. I relate a lot to it. But along this trajectory there are also personal aspects, emotions that guide you, life elements. What is the true emotion that always drives your life and that you've brought into your profession?
It's all emotion. I am passionate. I look entrepreneurs in the eyes more than I look at balance sheets or analyze them. My first master taught me not to look at balance sheets as an analyst: three numbers on assets, three on liabilities, and two on the income statement. That's it. That was a great rule. Companies are simple. You have to find the core of their problems or opportunities and solve those things. So I think impact and indicators are very simple. You have to understand if the company is strong—by brand, product, production process, or other things. Bet on that, invest heavily in the long term. We never have exit agreements. We've been in Interpump for over 20 years, in Prismian, Amplifon for over 10, in Moncler for 12 or 13—because we believe the best of a company is extracted over time. I am against those who, the better the company, the faster they sell to profit themselves. I believe, especially in a complicated country like Italy, the best is to stay close to the entrepreneur, never take the wheel, stay by their side, and accompany them long-term.
