Tom Knott

How do you uncover the most interesting companies?

We have deep knowledge, we work very intensively, and we have great access to the resources that allow us to do that kind of quality work. But, we don’t try to be perfect, because there’s no such thing. There’s a phrase in the business, ‘analysis paralysis,’ and that’s to be avoided. If 90% of the information is knowable and 10% is guesswork, then the closer you can get to that 90%, the better off you’ll be – but you should recognize that even insiders in a company don’t know everything about it.

How does Advent maintain a collaborative culture?

This is a firm that operates on the principle that everybody gets a say. It’s not about any one individual being a star; it’s all about the greater good. That’s why we look for people who not only have very high IQs, but very high EQs. It’s not enough to be super smart: you have to be engaging with people. The greatest attribute of people we find attractive as candidates is intellectual curiosity. They’re always asking questions. They could be in the grocery store or walking down the street, and they’ll still be looking for ideas about companies we should be looking at, not just taking in the scenery.

How have you learned to deal with mistakes?

It’s extraordinarily important to be reflective of your mistakes, to understand what happened, and to try not to repeat them again. I’ve been doing this for over 40 years, and I’ve made a great many in my career. They may have been because I didn’t do enough work, or because I saw storm clouds on the horizon, ignored them for too long, and didn’t shelter in time. In general, this is a mistakes business.
It takes a lot of maturity and patience to know when a pitch is right down the middle and you’ve got a free swing at it, and also to know when it’s on the edge.

Can you relate an experience that has stayed with you in your career?

I remember once when I was whining about something, and my boss said: ‘Listen – you get paid for the aggravation. You don’t get paid because it’s easy.’ I thought that was great advice. If this were easy, everyone would be doing it. But if something’s hard and you’re able to tackle that, you’ll get a lot of satisfaction out of it.

What gets you out of bed in the morning?

I’ve always loved puzzles. One of my fondest memories from growing up was walking home from school at lunch every day, and playing Jeopardy! with my mother for half an hour. She was a great crossword enthusiast and bridge player. I got hooked on the stock market at the age of 13, just from my love of puzzles – my family had no investment background – and I learned to play bridge and poker myself. Puzzles are what I do in my spare time, and what I do at work. If you think about things as being a puzzle that you can figure out, this is a great business to be in.