Chapter 2
From Peril to Pivot: Acknowledging Mistakes & Transitioning Ahead

"You don't learn by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over."

-Sir Richard Branson

The SALT Conference is the ultimate affirmation of my entrepreneurial beliefs. At a time when the financial system was collapsing and my business was failing, we took a bold risk to reinvigorate SkyBridge and positively shift the trajectory of the firm. We developed a different kind of conference, took on a different type of mind-set, and ultimately built a different type of business. Today, I carry that out-of-the-box approach into everything we do at SkyBridge.

The one constant in my career has been a burning desire to be an entrepreneur, to solve problems. In order to achieve that goal, I have been forced to embrace hardship. My career has been littered with failures, and my firm's success was ultimately defined by our ability to learn from mistakes and turn failures into success.

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"We've got a big problem," Victor said on the other end of the phone.

"Have you ever heard of Deepavali?" he asked. "The Festival of Lights? It's is a holiday celebrated in Southeast Asia."

My throat tightened. Right away, I knew what he was about to say next. You see, my team and I had just come back from a month's worth of discovery meetings in Asia, where we met with prospective SALT delegates, speakers, and sponsors to raise awareness for the two-year-old SALT Asia Conference. And, something told me this holiday had something to do with our upcoming event.

He continued, "Well, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) called this evening to inform us that this holiday has now moved to Wednesday, October 22 . . . smack in the middle of our conference. Apparently, the date of this holiday moves each year due to the lunar calendar."

Before I could say a word, he continued, "And, they have asked that we consider moving the date or postponing SALT."

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After the incredible success of SALT in Las Vegas, Victor and I decided to take the show on the road. Having seen the impact SALT had on our alternative asset business and brand awareness, we truly believed that we needed to expand beyond Vegas and the United States to help us create a truly global platform. In speaking with my partners, Asia seemed like the obvious choice, given our firm's-and the industry's-interest in raising capital from the region as well as in boasting allocations from Asia-based managers. If executed well, we believed that the conference could be a very effective tool for establishing bigger, broader relationships in the region. Once again, we were employing our Trojan Horse Strategy.

While Victor and I reached into our Rolodexes and sorted through old business cards to contact anyone we knew in Asia for their assistance, our team quickly got to work contacting the tourism boards for their assistance in helping us identify venues for the prospective event. We then impulsively booked the next flight to Hong Kong, where we proceeded to look at various skyscraping hotels throughout the magnificent city. From there, we traveled to Singapore and did the same. Something clicked for Victor and me while we were in the Jetson-like, sci-fi, futuristic city. Thanks to a booming private banking industry, the city was chock-full of ambitious visionaries who were seeking to take their companies to the next level. In a way, this entrepreneurial spirit was similar to the values we instilled at SkyBridge.

What's more, Singapore's flagship venue-the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, which was designed by famous Israeli architect Moshe Safdie and built at a staggering cost of $4.7 billion-was grand enough to host our projected 500-plus delegates. Boasting celebrity restaurants-such as Wolfgang Puck's legendary CUT restaurant-and an iconic rooftop pool that is considered to provide one of the "best views in the world," the Marina Bay Sands was in keeping with the image we sought to project to the world.

But, perhaps most importantly, we ultimately chose Singapore because of the government's willingness to endorse SALT and assist us throughout the planning process by providing key introductions to public policy officials and investors in the region.

Fast forward to October 2012. Thanks to the countless hours of our dedicated team-who literally worked both U.S. and Asia hours to pull this colossal event off-the inaugural SALT Asia Conference was a rousing success for SkyBridge, Singapore, and-perhaps, most significantly-for our delegates, speakers, and sponsors. The attendees raved about our distinguished list of accomplished keynotes, including former Vice President Al Gore, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Michael Milken, while the media applauded our efforts in assembling 900 members of the global investment community together to facilitate discussions on the intersection of the global economy and the markets. What's more-SkyBridge started to build traction in the region, creating goodwill with Asian investors and allocators.

Given the rousing success of the conference-and industry feedback-we decided to sign a two-year contract with the Marina Bay Sands to host SALT Asia in September 2013 and October 2014. Based on the feedback of the delegates, the SALT Asia 2013 agenda focused more on financial and geopolitical discussions and featured Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, Jean Claude Trichet, Jim Rogers, and more than 75 leading global investment managers. I also had the privilege of interviewing my dear friend-Wolfgang Puck, celebrity chef and serial entrepreneur-who then proceeded to prepare an intimate VIP dinner for me, my partners, and a select group of prospective SkyBridge clients and SALT speakers.

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Fast forward to July 2014. We had already contracted the venue. We had secured our featured speaker-Ben Bernanke, who had just stepped down from the Fed-and were minutes away from signing two additional keynotes. We had created the website, sent invitations, and met with sponsors. We were far along in the discovery and planning process . . . just three months away!

"How did we miss this?" I asked Victor.

"Although it is no excuse, the observed holiday falls on a different day every year. And while it is being celebrated earlier in the week in other countries, Singapore will now be observing it on Wednesday." Victor sighed heavily. "I don't know what else to say . . . we messed up. Plain and simple."

As a side note-this was just one of many setbacks plaguing the 2014 Singapore conference. That same year, the government discontinued its nonstop flight from the States. Instead of a direct, 18-hour flight that made you miserable, now you were looking at a 27-hour trip that would leave you in full-blown tears. We believed this change would certainly restrict the number of North American participants.

"All right, we have to respect the suggestion of the Monetary Authority and postpone the event," I said to Victor. "That is an important relationship to the firm, one we must not jeopardize."

"And, we need to pivot," I continued. "We need to adapt. It is time to brainstorm."

With less than three months until SALT Asia, it was time to develop a new strategy.

The most common and biggest mistake many executives make is not admitting that they've made one. The hardest phrase for many entrepreneurs and CEOs to utter is, "I screwed up." Most would rather paint a rosy picture, either out of concern for losing their job or appearing weak to their employees. That's a big mistake. Admitting you're wrong is actually a sign of strong leadership. It demonstrates you have enough self-awareness and humility to take a step back, recognize what isn't working, and take the appropriate steps to fix it.

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After assessing the entirety of the situation and consulting the necessary stakeholders, we devised a strategic, pivotal proposal that would satisfy the request of MAS and ensure that we fulfilled our previously confirmed commitments to our featured speakers, sponsors, and delegates, while minimizing our financial losses. But before we took any next steps-or made any public announcements-I told Victor that we must first speak to MAS as ensure that they were 100 percent on board with our decision. Upon a phone call to their senior team that evening, we collectively agreed to postpone the conference until further notice.

And, then the apology, tail-between-our-legs calls began. We called the Marina Bay Sands. Our confirmed speakers and sponsors. Our production partners. Our vendors. We drafted a statement-which MAS approved-and sent it to all of our media partners and-then-to all of our prospectively registered delegates.

By sunrise, we had put SALT Asia to bed. And before the bell was rung downtown at the New York Stock Exchange, we began working on the SkyBridge Global Symposium.

Remember, I told Victor we needed to...