Neil Mehta

So we went around and raised $150 million of capital from some great investors, many of our longtime investors, and we started a holding company. Now- I don't think one person asked us, have we been to Africa or Pakistan or any of these places? But we did it. And then we took a small team from McKinsey Insurance Practice, which was known for helping some of these insurance companies.

So we went around and raised $150 million of capital from some great investors, many of our longtime investors, and we started a holding company. Now- I don't think one person asked us, have we been to Africa or Pakistan or any of these places? But we did it. And then we took a small team from McKinsey Insurance Practice, which was known for helping some of these insurance companies.

And our idea was, you can't buy Ping An in China. It's too big. But you can buy... the frontier and emerging market insurers in places like Pakistan or Rwanda or Nigeria, places like this. So the first thing we did was just get on a plane and go to these places. So we went to Nigeria. I have so many fun stories about this. I love this. Man, it was the craziest.

And our idea was, you can't buy Ping An in China. It's too big. But you can buy... the frontier and emerging market insurers in places like Pakistan or Rwanda or Nigeria, places like this. So the first thing we did was just get on a plane and go to these places. So we went to Nigeria. I have so many fun stories about this. I love this. Man, it was the craziest.

So we decided we started a holding company. It's called GGH. By the way, the punchline here is it went terrible. It's the single biggest mistake we've made at Green Oaks, I think. It's a funny story. So we took a team out of Zurich, Switzerland. That was our operating team. We had about 12 people. They were working with local teams. The first trip we made was to Nigeria. Actually, before...

So we decided we started a holding company. It's called GGH. By the way, the punchline here is it went terrible. It's the single biggest mistake we've made at Green Oaks, I think. It's a funny story. So we took a team out of Zurich, Switzerland. That was our operating team. We had about 12 people. They were working with local teams. The first trip we made was to Nigeria. Actually, before...

I got on the plane to Nigeria. I was in London. There's this late night flight. And we had assembled a list of businesses that we might potentially want to buy. The list was probably six companies, seven companies. We had a banker that was on the ground that we were working with that was like only an insurance banker. We had known him for a little while.

I got on the plane to Nigeria. I was in London. There's this late night flight. And we had assembled a list of businesses that we might potentially want to buy. The list was probably six companies, seven companies. We had a banker that was on the ground that we were working with that was like only an insurance banker. We had known him for a little while.

We'd been studying our approach for maybe six months or so. The flights arrive at 10 p.m. And our banker calls. He's like, hey, I'm so excited about the trip. Can't wait for you guys to get into town. And I'm like, hey, I can't wait to get there. And he's like, I got to tell you, I got to skip dinner with you guys tonight. But when you get in, why? You know, we're really excited about our dinner.

We'd been studying our approach for maybe six months or so. The flights arrive at 10 p.m. And our banker calls. He's like, hey, I'm so excited about the trip. Can't wait for you guys to get into town. And I'm like, hey, I can't wait to get there. And he's like, I got to tell you, I got to skip dinner with you guys tonight. But when you get in, why? You know, we're really excited about our dinner.

He's like, I had a long night. I was up all night. It was kind of crazy. And we're like, oh, what happened? I had a guy from London here last night. He flew in. I was going to do with you guys. He stays at the same hotel, dropped off his bags, took him out to dinner. And we went out to this great dinner, had a bunch of drinks.

He's like, I had a long night. I was up all night. It was kind of crazy. And we're like, oh, what happened? I had a guy from London here last night. He flew in. I was going to do with you guys. He stays at the same hotel, dropped off his bags, took him out to dinner. And we went out to this great dinner, had a bunch of drinks.

He goes back to his hotel and he proceeds to tell us the following story, which is this English banker goes up into his room. It checks into his room. There's a guy sleeping in his bed. The English banker's like, what is going on here? And he closes the door, goes downstairs, tells the person at the check-in desk, there's someone sleeping in my bed. You must have double booked the room.

He goes back to his hotel and he proceeds to tell us the following story, which is this English banker goes up into his room. It checks into his room. There's a guy sleeping in his bed. The English banker's like, what is going on here? And he closes the door, goes downstairs, tells the person at the check-in desk, there's someone sleeping in my bed. You must have double booked the room.

This is a huge problem. The guy's like, no, no, no. That's like not possible. I'm sure. Reissues him the key. This is your room number. Go on. Goes in. Guy's still sleeping in his bed. Banker goes downstairs, goes to the front desk counter and says, you've got to come up with me. This is crazy. There's a guy sleeping in my room. I just want a different room.

This is a huge problem. The guy's like, no, no, no. That's like not possible. I'm sure. Reissues him the key. This is your room number. Go on. Goes in. Guy's still sleeping in his bed. Banker goes downstairs, goes to the front desk counter and says, you've got to come up with me. This is crazy. There's a guy sleeping in my room. I just want a different room.

The front desk check-in person goes up with him. Sure enough, this guy's still sleeping in his bed. The front desk person goes and checks his pulse. It's cold. Dead guy in the bed. And the banker's just telling us this story. We're like, listening to it, like, where is this going to go? And the banker is furious. He's like, this is crazy. I just want to go to sleep. It's like 2 a.m.

The front desk check-in person goes up with him. Sure enough, this guy's still sleeping in his bed. The front desk person goes and checks his pulse. It's cold. Dead guy in the bed. And the banker's just telling us this story. We're like, listening to it, like, where is this going to go? And the banker is furious. He's like, this is crazy. I just want to go to sleep. It's like 2 a.m.

in the morning. I got a big day tomorrow. Like, they're saying, I don't know what's going on, but just, like, figure this out. And the front desk check-in person's like, I don't think you understand. I got to call the police. There's a dead guy in the bed. You got to stay right here. And the police come. Sure enough, dead guy in the bed. And the banker's furious. It's now 3 a.m. in the morning.

in the morning. I got a big day tomorrow. Like, they're saying, I don't know what's going on, but just, like, figure this out. And the front desk check-in person's like, I don't think you understand. I got to call the police. There's a dead guy in the bed. You got to stay right here. And the police come. Sure enough, dead guy in the bed. And the banker's furious. It's now 3 a.m. in the morning.