Adam Torres and Ann Oleson discuss Return on Good.
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Show Notes:
Return on Good is passionate about the success of founders worldwide and in connecting founders with family offices and investors. In this episode, Adam Torres interviews Ann Oleson, Founder of Return on Good. Explore the family office space and entrepreneurship.
About Ann Oleson
Ann Oleson is a partner at Return on Good, a company that combines impact marketing and AI-driven venture tech to help forward-thinking companies and investors tell their stories, raise capital, and grow revenue. She has over 20 years of experience in marketing, sales, and leadership, and is a four-time Inc.5000 winner, a speaker, and an impact investor.
Ann’s passion is to create positive change in the world through innovative and sustainable solutions. She leads strategy and philanthropy for her family office, and is involved in several corporate boards and angel networks. She also has expertise in higher education, SaaS, and international travel, and has successfully exited two companies, Converge Consulting and Via-TRM. Ann is always looking for new and exciting opportunities to connect, collaborate, and contribute.
About Return On Good
Return on Good is an impact marketing agency with a purpose. Striving to be the global leader in impact marketing, they partner with forward-thinking companies to bring their stories to the world by raising capital, clarifying and activating brands, and building revenue channels.
Full Unedited Transcript
Hey, I’d like to welcome you to another episode of Mission Matters. My name is Adam Torres, and if you’d like to apply to be a guest in the show, just head on over to missionmatters. com and click on be our guest to apply. All right. So today’s guest is Anne Olson, and she’s a founder of Return Ungood.
Anne, welcome to the show. Thank you so much, Adam. I love your podcast and I’m so thrilled to be here. Oh, we’re, we’re happy to have you here. And today’s topics. I mean everybody, as soon as they hear it, they’re going to be like, what? We love this free resources, first off and specifically free resources for founders.
AI analysis, cap table, data room. I mean, we got, we got a lot to talk about here. But just get us kicked off. I mean, I see you’re a founder. Were, were you always an entrepreneur? Yeah. So Adam, great question. Thank you. So my dad was the founder and entrepreneur and started his own business. And so from the beginning of time, I remember him working in the basement and us helping with mailings and filing and the old school office.
My mom was actually a preschool teacher and she started her own business, her own preschool as well. And so I feel like it runs in the family, but yes, I’ve had a, the lucky privilege of starting two companies. The last company that we started. We had a beautiful exit to private equity and it was really focused on digital, digital marketing and education.
And we’re not done yet. So we started another company Return On Good. But the thing that we really love and have in our hearts is that just entrepreneurial spirit and vision. And the people that we love working with are founders and connecting them with Both tools and resources to better fulfill and do their job, but also connecting them with family offices and connecting them with capital.
So how did the tell me about the inception of, of return on good, like, like how’d you come up with the idea? Yeah, great question. So return on good is a company that’s really focused on the triple bottom line. So we focus on people. We focus on purpose, we focus on profit. And we feel that if you have the right people and the right purpose in your company, that the profit comes along with it.
And so, Return on Good is an impact marketing company. Our focus is truly working with companies in the world that are providing impact to make the world a better place. Helping them with brand activation, helping them with positioning for capital. And helping them develop sales channels and then we help family offices connect with these founders and really determine.
Based on their investment thesis and based on their passions and goals which companies could potentially be right for their portfolios. So it’s just this beautiful matchmaking and sort of activation work that we do bringing to life things that, you know, we feel good about every day. So after your, you know, you exited your last company, did you take a break from entrepreneurship for a bit or did you did you go right into the next, like, like how, how was that time period?
And I’ll tell you why I’m asking because I’m dreaming. Maybe one day I I do that, but I feel like that’s never gonna, never gonna let me, but that’d be sad. What did you do? Did you take a break? Yeah. So great, great question. So with our, with our exit of our digital marketing company, we had contract work with the new company for about a year.
And then there was no, yeah, there was, there’s no time off, no weekends, but anyway, we jumped into the idea and planning of return on good. And. Just new with the opportunity that we had in the point throughout in our career, that we really wanted to focus impact and focus our time and resources on founders and on, you know, those companies that are going to change the world.
How did you know? So obviously, you know, your entrepreneurship’s in your blood and you’re obviously talented and you have, you know, you, you know, you’ve Worked and you, you’ve had, you know, mentors along the way, but how, how did you know that this idea was the one, the one that you’re like, you know, I want to spend some time on this.
Like, this is going to be another chapter in my life. Like, how did you know? Yeah. Well, I think as entrepreneurs, you never really know you have many brilliant, many ideas that you think are brilliant and then the market will hit, then the market will tell you what really is brilliant or not. That market, whether we want it to or not.
Right. Yeah, exactly. Adam, exactly. But I would say that, you know, in, in the evolution of any new business and the message I have to all founders is the idea that you start with is typically the one that you end with. And along the way, there’ll be a lot of pivots. And I think that the best companies do a great job of having, you know, a really innovative vision for where they want to go, but also listening to the market and being willing to take feedback and make changes based on what the market demands are.
Yeah. And, and really like when I think about from your position in general, like you’re, it’s a lot of hearts, a lot. It’s, it’s we’re founders, I’m a founder, you’re a founder. We’re not the easiest person to work people to work with at all times.
And we don’t sugar coat things here. Okay. I think you get the point already. Like, I’m like, man, you, you. You were out, you were away from working with founders and then they drug you right back in. How’d it happen? Yes, I know. Well, and Adam, what’s so funny is when people ask me about being an entrepreneur, I say, really, you know, I just want to be my own boss.
I don’t do it. I had to be, or you just want to be, you know, be your own boss. So no, I have a, I have a special place in my heart for people with big ideas and visions. Especially a big heart for those people who sometimes have hit some roadblocks the wrong way, where they lose confidence. And I feel like The idea of solid and modified could be, you know, something really magical.
That’s amazing. And you and you’re a husband and wife team. Is that right? Yeah. Yeah. So my husband always says it’s either the best social experiment ever that will either end really, really well or really, really badly. So I’m always amazed by that. Did the, how do you make it work? Did Jay come from a Jay come from an entrepreneur background or it just works.
It’s an odd, that’s like you’re juggling a lot. They’re always amazed at how I think it’s amazing. Well, I think, you know, I think one of the best parts of relationships is when you have a shared vision for where you’re going and so it works for us. It doesn’t work for everyone. I definitely have more of the entrepreneurial spirit.
He loves sales, marketing relationships. Ah, okay. Quite honestly, the challenge of trying something new. Yeah. Yeah. So incredibly complimentary as far as, as far as skill sets and working together. So we’ve, we’ve absolutely and totally enjoyed it and loved it. And of course there’s been. along the way, but it’s been great for us.
And that was a setup, by the way, Jay, I’m having you on the show. I’m asking you the same question too. So you get ready for that one, buddy.
So you mentioned that you work, you know, you’ve done quite a bit of work in the family office space. So that that’s always an interesting space to kind of explore. I mean, we noticed any trends or what are you seeing right now in the space? Yeah, it is a really fabulous time to be in the family office space.
There is a major, major change happening with transition of wealth and transition of wealth happening from first, second, third generation families down to the next generation. In the trillions of dollars. And what that has meant is that many banks, many financial planning companies are really paying attention to this because so much of the wealth is changing hands.
And it may have started with something that the, you know, matriarch, patriarch of the family was very passionate about. And now that’s being transitioned to a next generation, but maybe that’s not their, their primary interest or their passion. And so some of the things we’re doing at our firm in order to help family offices is really trying to align ourselves with people and resources that can help these family offices with both transition of wealth in a very smart way, but also in planning.
And so we have three consultants that we have, that we love working with that are members of our team. We have at a Pia and she is a strategy consultant, one of the more brilliant people that I’ve met as far as being able to take ideas and pull them in together into a strategy. We have an innovation consultant.
Is Adapea’s last name Yuriko by any chance? That’s such a unique name. Yuriko, yeah. Yeah, we go. Yeah, I know out of Pia. Hi, out of Pia. Yeah, and we know out of Pia. I love out of Pia. She’s amazing. Go ahead, please. Yeah, she’s just done some amazing work in the family office space and in the VC space. Katie LaLarge was a McKinsey consultant and worked in their innovation practice.
And we love her. She is amazing and brilliant at both working in the family office space, but also looking at Changing principles are changing strategy to be able to really encapsulate that innovation and really move it forward. And then we have another really amazing person that we just brought on to our roster.
His name is Rohan Harris, and he and his talent are really working with family offices, VCs and PEs. And really focusing on diversity, equity, inclusion. So he is sort of the master of bringing talented individuals into the framework of your team and really helping to equip, equip you with those things that you need in order to have the best talent pool out there.
And so I think the things that we see in the family office space are both that transition of wealth. And what that means. And our goal is to just bring as many resources and people to the situation that can help with some of the issues, right? And so I think every family office right now is looking for increased deal flow.
It is been said that in the future that actually family offices will have more money in private investment than per venture capital. And so that’s a big Big change. And so that feel flow and looking for those really great entrepreneurs and founders to invest in is definitely something we’re excited about.
The idea of technology really driving performance is another big trend. We’re starting to work with more and more tech companies that specifically cater to the family office space. And then a number of family offices that are just looking at transition plans of succession and how they equip themselves for.
So really, really a fun time in this space to be working with family offices. Yeah. Yeah, I think it’s it’s it’s an interesting time for founders. And I like, I like the shift and the shift I like specifically is and correct me if I’m wrong, or if you have a different view on this, but in my experience, the family office space, like some of the investors and the investment style, they’re looking for more long term investments versus some of the, you know, ways that founders had to, whether they’re going private equity or something else, like where they had to, you know, think about you know, how, how fast that money was going to be returned.
And again, not, not to generalize for every family office, obviously they have different, you know, reasons for different investments, but in general I feel like that longer term relationship is, is more possible. Is that an incorrect assertion from your assumption? Or has that been some of your experience?
Because it may be. Yeah. Adam, no, I absolutely think that. But looking at the, the financial return and the time frame, but also looking at the impact of the person and the impact of the work that they’re doing is really interesting. Impact investing has been something that’s, Definitely on everyone’s mind.
And I think when you’re looking at those impact investments, especially the return time might be longer in some cases in some cases not, but I definitely think the, the essence of that entrepreneur and the relationship and what they’re trying to build is a huge piece of, you know, family offices and what they.
Some of them are thinking about and looking at investing in for sure and not saying this is a I Always try to make this connection, but I know it I don’t want to make it too strong because it’s more like a pseudo But it’s almost like if a family office and a particular family had They were going to be giving money to nothing.
This is a giving this would be an investment obviously in a company But if they’re let’s say oceans like protecting the oceans Was one of their like things that that family and that hierarchy or matriarchy or patriarchy, whatever, that they really cared about. So now that family office, you know, a founder comes across with this, you know, ocean saving technology, right?
So, but, but it may be, you know, sometime it, then, then there could be another component and impact investing to where. You know, they’re willing to accept different types of risks or different types of things versus maybe the typical private equity or something else might just be looking at the numbers, not saying the numbers don’t matter.
So again, I’m saying this is kind of like loosely, but the numbers matter. But I just mean, like, there could be some other components to the story there that won’t necessarily necessarily. Always resonate or matter in a black and white, you know you know, private equity situation or something that that’s what I’m trying to say.
Is that my saying that right? Yes, absolutely. And I think, you know, some of the things that we’re starting to be able to do through technology for some of our family offices as well is really look at impact and impact for, and one of the pieces of technology we use is Hatcher fast and they have an ability for founders to access free tools.
So a free AI analysis of their pitch deck their market valuation, a number of different aspects, but they also have an impact score. So they have a score that’s based on loosely UN sustainable development goals and looking at what are those things that matter most in the world as defined by the UN and how does this company relate or score in relation to impact?
And so I think it’s something that. absolutely people are, you know, concerned with and interested in. And it’s all about that relationship and all about the passion of those, of those investors. Go, go further into the the, the resources and things that you’re, because I think I want, I want to spend a little bit more time on that because I think it’s definitely unique from the value proposition.
And also, you Like the way I see it is a lot of times when people are missing this type of information, that can be the difference between succeeding and failing really. It’s usually what we don’t know, right? Like that’s, that’s usually what gets us. So I mean, maybe go a little bit further into like that, that tool and others and why that’s important.
Absolutely. So at your fastest technology, and we’re actually a. A reseller of their technology, but all their tools are free for founders. And so if you were a founder and you were interested, the return on good website, there’s a free founders page and you can sign up for free and create a profile. And the tools that are included in Hatcher fast are an AI powered analysis.
So it is a comprehensive review. Based on 500, 000 other companies that have been evaluated and looking at the pitch deck and looking at the 13 things that are most critical to investors. And so an AI generated score is developed along with feedback on how you can improve your scores. So it’s very helpful as far as looking at across the board.
Everyone thinks their pitch deck’s the best or it’s been perfected, but it’s more scientific and database. Okay. Then perhaps subjective. And so that’s an awesome tool. There’s a free cap table and a lot of founders are very resource, you know, restricted in relation to having assets and money to spend.
And so if you’re interested in having your cap table and it’s free data room, that’s a tool that’s there as well. And it’s really created again, so that these founders have these amazing tools and aren’t having to pay for them. There’s also a fundraising CRM. So the fundraising CRM gives founders access and matches to companies, individuals, family, and investors who have invested in things like them in the past that may be interested.
So it really becomes almost as match. com for a founder to say, Hey, this is my offering and how I score and how I do. Yeah. And here’s here’s some potential prospects or investors for me. Wow. That’s an amazing story. What, what’s your end goal for this? Like, what is the like what’s the vision and like long term for return on good, we’re, we’re, we’re, we’re entrepreneurs here.
There’s a bunch of entrepreneurs listening too. So let’s dream for a moment. What’s the end goal here? Let’s dream. Yeah. Our dream is when people think impact marketing. That’s I think return on good and that we have really helped, we have really helped founders and family offices connect that make magic together.
And that we really are working with some of the leading clients in the world that are solving problems. And so whether that be mental health. You know, clean drinking water, whether that be climate tech that we’re really helping both with the connection piece of founders and family offices and investors, but also helping those founders position themselves.
So that they have beautiful websites, they have great content strategy, they have strong digital marketing. So not only are we helping them raise money, but we’re helping them tell their story as well as really activate their brands. And so I guess it’s working with the best companies in the world, making the most impact to really make changes and leave, leave our world in a better place for the future.
Yeah, I love it and and I think that’s a that’s a great way to end this so and if somebody’s listening to this and they want more information, they want to get access to those resources. They want to follow your journey and your team. What’s the best way for them to do that? Yeah, so absolutely. Thank you, Adam, for asking that question.
So my email is an at return on good. org. Our website is return on good. org and I’m always on LinkedIn. So that’s another great way to find me. It’s Anne Olson spelled O L E S O N. And I just want to thank you, Adam, your podcast and your work is so meaningful to so many people. And I just truly appreciate.
Being able to be a guest today. Awesome. And Hey, we appreciate you. And I always tell people there’s a, sometimes I get too much credit. They’re like, Oh, you’ve done, you know, thousands of interviews. This sounds like there’s another person on the other side of the story. I’m I wake up every day and I’m like, it’s a miracle.
If somebody wants to talk to me and about their story, I’m in. So that’s what keeps me going. I’m like, there’s two parts to make that conversation. If this was a monologue, we’d be all in trouble. I’ll tell you that one. There was that being said, I love, I love your humbleness, but yes, thank you. Thank you again.
The work you do is so important. And I think we’re, we’re still aligned between companies missions and the work that they do being important, but really that storytelling journey of. You know, it’s so, so important for people to be able to articulate where they’re going, what they’re doing in their hopes and dreams.
So thanks for helping to make that a reality. Amazing. And I appreciate you and to the audience that are, that’s listening. Hey, I want you to make a reality for me too. That reality is hit that subscribe button. If you’re brand new to this to this show, just so you know this is a daily show each and every day.
We’re bringing you amazing guests. Like and, and we want to make sure that you don’t miss anything. So hit that subscribe button. And if you’re a long term listener and you haven’t left a review yet, come on, shame on you, leave that review already. What are you doing? You’re listening every day and you still haven’t left me a review.
Come on. We should do appreciate that. And, and seriously, thank you so much for coming on. It’s been, it’s been a ball. What a pleasure. Thank you so much, Adam. Bye bye.
