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Henry.vtt

English

{{00:00:04}}
Henry, thank you so much for joining
us here at Super Return North America.

{{00:00:07}}
It's great to have you in the studio.

{{00:00:09}}
Carter was founded back in 2012.

{{00:00:11}}
Tell me about what the philosophy was
behind the firm, what it aimed to do and

{{00:00:14}}
where you've got to now, 13 years later.

{{00:00:17}}
Yeah, for sure.

{{00:00:18}}
So we started in 2012.

{{00:00:20}}
We opened the Doors for Business
in January of 2014, and the thesis

{{00:00:25}}
was always, Hey, it's weird in the
public markets, everything's real

{{00:00:29}}
time, everything's electronic, but
in the private markets, everything's.

{{00:00:33}}
Weeks or months delayed and
it's all in paper and PDFs

{{00:00:36}}
and paper stock certificates.

{{00:00:38}}
And could we build software
that would make private markets

{{00:00:40}}
look more like public markets?

{{00:00:41}}
That was the whole thesis.

{{00:00:42}}
So our first product in January,
2014 was cap table management

{{00:00:48}}
for venture funds for startups.

{{00:00:49}}
Basically taking everything out
of spreadsheets and paperwork

{{00:00:52}}
and putting it in the cloud.

{{00:00:53}}
We were 10 people back then.

{{00:00:55}}
Fast forward to today.

{{00:00:57}}
We're about 2000 employees
around the world.

{{00:01:00}}
And we do cap tables for venture funds,
cap tables for private equity funds.

{{00:01:04}}
And then we also do fund accounting now
for private equity and venture funds.

{{00:01:08}}
So you've really evolved.

{{00:01:09}}
How exciting has that journey been
for you and where do you see you

{{00:01:13}}
going next in the next decade?

{{00:01:15}}
Yeah, so we're on this we've always
been a category creation company.

{{00:01:20}}
So we created this category
of cap table management, which

{{00:01:23}}
just didn't exist before.

{{00:01:26}}
Carta.

{{00:01:27}}
And now after that initial wedge we
started expanding our sites into what

{{00:01:31}}
we call an ERP for private capital or
software for the office of the fund, CFO.

{{00:01:36}}
There's no equivalent of NetSuite
for private equity funds.

{{00:01:40}}
And that's what we're trying to build.

{{00:01:41}}
And so the next decade for us is how
do you take what we've built with, cap

{{00:01:46}}
table management, which we think of as
inventory and fund accounting which,

{{00:01:50}}
is really a general ledger product.

{{00:01:52}}
And then start building all
the modules that you need to

{{00:01:54}}
really run private capital.

{{00:01:56}}
Private capital is half a GDP,
but nobody has software for it.

{{00:02:02}}
And that's what we're trying to do.

{{00:02:03}}
And you've also described it as a, as you
want it to become a generational company.

{{00:02:07}}
What does that mean,
and how do you do that?

{{00:02:10}}
Yeah it's a company that
lasts past the founder.

{{00:02:13}}
So it'll be a company that, that
continues even when I'm finished, which

{{00:02:17}}
hopefully won't be for a long time.

{{00:02:19}}
But it's one of these
companies that will just.

{{00:02:21}}
Pass it.

{{00:02:22}}
The test of time that'll be
around in 40 years, 50 years.

{{00:02:26}}
And what do you think that requires to,
as you say to stand the test of time?

{{00:02:32}}
What resilience does a company
need, particularly in, in a kind of

{{00:02:35}}
slightly crazy geopolitical economic
environment we're in at the moment?

{{00:02:39}}
Yeah.

{{00:02:39}}
For a company like ours some other,
some companies can pass this the

{{00:02:45}}
test of time just 'cause they.

{{00:02:47}}
They're so ingrained that
they can never be removed from

{{00:02:49}}
the psyche and the business.

{{00:02:51}}
That's not the kind of
company we'd like to build.

{{00:02:53}}
We want to build one that, that tends the
test of time because we keep innovating.

{{00:02:56}}
And so you have to most startups
or most companies are founded

{{00:03:00}}
'cause the founder innovated.

{{00:03:02}}
And then when they don't become
generational companies is they've

{{00:03:06}}
never built the innovation
engine directly into the company.

{{00:03:09}}
So once the founder leaves,
they can't innovate anymore.

{{00:03:12}}
More, and one of the big differences
between companies that can innovation,

{{00:03:17}}
companies that can outlast the
founders is they, that they

{{00:03:19}}
institutionalize that innovation engine.

{{00:03:22}}
And that's what we spend a lot of time.

{{00:03:24}}
Carter's raised money from both VC and pe.

{{00:03:26}}
So how do you approach those two?

{{00:03:28}}
Is there a different
approach in the boardroom?

{{00:03:30}}
Say?

{{00:03:31}}
Yeah, so they're very different.

{{00:03:33}}
We've been very lucky in having a very
specific strategy around hiring investors

{{00:03:38}}
that'll help us in our markets which makes
a lot of sense for us because in venture.

{{00:03:42}}
Our first customers were startups
and venture funds, and so h ha

{{00:03:45}}
having venture investors help
us do that was super valuable.

{{00:03:50}}
And then over the last few years as we
expanded in private equity, we wanted to

{{00:03:53}}
bring some private equity, investors in
to help us understand the private equity

{{00:03:58}}
market and explore that that vector.

{{00:04:01}}
And they're just different and I'm
a classic product venture, CEO.

{{00:04:06}}
And so when these.

{{00:04:08}}
PE guys showed up they started
using words I'd never heard of, like

{{00:04:12}}
profitability and avida and, gross margin.

{{00:04:16}}
And so you just had to learn how to
institutionalize and mature a company

{{00:04:20}}
out of venture status, which is what
we've been doing in the last few years.

{{00:04:23}}
So what kind of key learnings would you
offer to somebody else who was in the

{{00:04:27}}
position you'd been in that was looking
to perhaps get that sort of backing?

{{00:04:31}}
How do you go about that and
where were the sort of pitfalls

{{00:04:34}}
and where were the opportunities?

{{00:04:36}}
Yeah, it's, there's a level of if
venture is like investing in outliers,

{{00:04:42}}
and you're just you're gonna trade off
operational discipline in institutional

{{00:04:48}}
governance, like all these kinds
of things for like this outlier

{{00:04:51}}
company, that's the venture model.

{{00:04:53}}
And then private equity is a
much more systematic, here's

{{00:04:56}}
how you build companies.

{{00:04:58}}
And for, me and for us,
we wanted to transition.

{{00:05:02}}
We, raised about a billion bucks
now, and we just felt like.

{{00:05:05}}
If you raise a billion dollars and
you're selling to CFOs of private

{{00:05:09}}
equity funds, you should be an
institutionally responsible company.

{{00:05:13}}
You're just like, that's just what you do.

{{00:05:14}}
You're like, you're NetSuite
for private capital.

{{00:05:17}}
And so one of the things I've really
enjoyed learning from the PE folks is just

{{00:05:22}}
how to institutionalize a venture company.

{{00:05:24}}
Like we're still a
venture company at heart.

{{00:05:26}}
We innovate, we take big shots.

{{00:05:28}}
We, we care about changing the world,
not about, building a product that

{{00:05:32}}
makes certain margin profiles like
we, we really are venture at heart.

{{00:05:36}}
But I think what makes us special
is we can do it with a very

{{00:05:39}}
responsible institutional lens which
is rare for companies these days.

{{00:05:44}}
You have to align to a
certain degree in those terms.

{{00:05:47}}
Yeah.

{{00:05:48}}
So with all of that in mind, what we've
just talked about, how excited are

{{00:05:50}}
you perhaps for the next decade and
what that might hold for Carter now?

{{00:05:54}}
Card is I've been doing this
for a little over 10 years now.

{{00:05:58}}
I hope I get to do it for another 10.

{{00:06:00}}
And the next chapter for us in this
ERP vision I think is probably the most

{{00:06:05}}
exciting is we've always been this company
that, the biggest criticism of us the last

{{00:06:10}}
10 years is, oh, the market's too small.

{{00:06:13}}
You just sell to venture
startups, venture funds.

{{00:06:16}}
It's not a big enough market.

{{00:06:17}}
But what we've really tapped into
is we've expanded into private

{{00:06:20}}
equity and now private credit.

{{00:06:22}}
Is that the work we did in Venture
actually transfers across all

{{00:06:26}}
of these other asset classes.

{{00:06:29}}
And so for the first time since
we started the company, we're

{{00:06:32}}
not worried about market size.

{{00:06:34}}
We never feel like we're
gonna run outta oxygen.

{{00:06:36}}
There's plenty of wood to chop.

{{00:06:38}}
And so now it's just executing.

{{00:06:39}}
Which as a founder, you de-risk
the tam you re de-risk market.

{{00:06:45}}
And you can just keep building.

{{00:06:46}}
And that's what's been
really exciting for us

{{00:06:48}}
wood to chop and lots of market out
there and very positive outlook, but

{{00:06:52}}
you've gotta be able to be fairly
resilient in this environment as well.

{{00:06:57}}
Describe for me, if you could just
what your teams look like to be able to

{{00:07:00}}
withstand any kind of storms that lie
ahead, be it geopolitical or economic.

{{00:07:05}}
Yeah.

{{00:07:06}}
It's really interesting.

{{00:07:07}}
I,

{{00:07:10}}
I've really noticed a lot.

{{00:07:11}}
We've been through our fair
share of crises all the time.

{{00:07:13}}
There's always something terrible
happening at any given point in time.

{{00:07:18}}
And, on the outside it can look really
tough and fractured and volatile.

{{00:07:24}}
But at, on the inside, I can tell about
the health of the company is if the

{{00:07:27}}
company is well lined from the exec team
all the way down to all the employees.

{{00:07:32}}
The stuff on the outside is actually fine.

{{00:07:33}}
It's.

{{00:07:34}}
Only the only time CEOs I think
really have to worry is when there's

{{00:07:38}}
fissures or volatility inside.

{{00:07:41}}
And so far I've been super lucky.

{{00:07:43}}
I've always had exec teams and
employees that can stay the course

{{00:07:48}}
no matter how big the waves are.

{{00:07:50}}
Hopefully that will continue.

{{00:07:52}}
And it really just goes to if you
need to, if you're gonna do big

{{00:07:56}}
ideas, it's gonna be volatile.

{{00:07:59}}
Some stuff works some stuff doesn't.

{{00:08:01}}
I think one of the best, the
thing I'm most grateful for my

{{00:08:06}}
exec team and my employees is I
make a lot of mistakes for sure.

{{00:08:11}}
But they forgive me, right?

{{00:08:13}}
And if you can't forgive
the CEO for making mistakes

{{00:08:15}}
and the CEO can't try stuff.

{{00:08:17}}
And then eventually you stop innovating.

{{00:08:19}}
And the best gift I have for
my employees is they're okay.

{{00:08:22}}
They're okay with my mistakes.

{{00:08:23}}
Yeah.

{{00:08:23}}
And don't be afraid to speak
out and maybe give an idea over.

{{00:08:27}}
And don't be afraid of
failure if you like.

{{00:08:29}}
Totally iterate

{{00:08:30}}
a hundred percent.

{{00:08:31}}
And just finally, how useful is
it to be at an event like this?

{{00:08:34}}
We talked there about ideas and coalescing
of ideas, and how good is it to have an

{{00:08:39}}
event where you can talk to people that
are within this industry in one place?

{{00:08:43}}
How efficient is it for you and
how does it catalyze your ideas

{{00:08:46}}
going forward to take away from it?

{{00:08:48}}
Yeah.

{{00:08:49}}
So when we said, Hey we really need
to go talk to more, professionals in

{{00:08:55}}
private equity and private credit and
other private capital asset classes

{{00:08:58}}
and especially the CFOs and the gps.

{{00:09:01}}
We said, what's the best way to do that?

{{00:09:02}}
And we found super return.

{{00:09:05}}
And it's been game changing for us
because it's a very fast way for one

{{00:09:10}}
that I can go tell the Carta story
to a large people, a large group

{{00:09:13}}
of people that have an interest
in learning about the Carta story.

{{00:09:16}}
So that's been fantastic in terms
of just broadcasting who we are

{{00:09:19}}
and what we're trying to do.

{{00:09:21}}
And then the second is the way I learn
the, really, the only way I learn

{{00:09:25}}
what customers want is talking to
customers and they're all like, here.

{{00:09:29}}
Like I just I just, before I met you,
I was just talking to a customer.

{{00:09:33}}
We had an event last night on the yacht,
and half were Carta customers, half

{{00:09:37}}
were hopefully future Carta customers
and being able to talk to what their

{{00:09:41}}
problems are, what they need, what's
not working for them, what they want.

{{00:09:45}}
In like a 24 hour, 48 hour period
is worth its weight in gold for me.

{{00:09:50}}
So this is I love coming to these events.

{{00:09:52}}
Well, Henry, I'm really pleased you've
had some valuable conversations and thank

{{00:09:54}}
you for your conversation with me today.

{{00:09:56}}
It's been really insightful, so thank you.

{{00:09:57}}
Super.

{{00:09:58}}
Thank you.

Henry, thank you so much for joining
us here at Super Return North America.

Tell me about what the philosophy was
behind the firm, what it aimed to do and

We opened the Doors for Business
in January of 2014, and the thesis

was always, Hey, it's weird in the
public markets, everything's real

time, everything's electronic, but
in the private markets, everything's.

Weeks or months delayed and
it's all in paper and PDFs

And could we build software
that would make private markets

So our first product in January,
2014 was cap table management

Basically taking everything out
of spreadsheets and paperwork

We're about 2000 employees
around the world.

And we do cap tables for venture funds,
cap tables for private equity funds.

And then we also do fund accounting now
for private equity and venture funds.

How exciting has that journey been
for you and where do you see you

Yeah, so we're on this we've always
been a category creation company.

So we created this category
of cap table management, which

And now after that initial wedge we
started expanding our sites into what

we call an ERP for private capital or
software for the office of the fund, CFO.

There's no equivalent of NetSuite
for private equity funds.

And so the next decade for us is how
do you take what we've built with, cap

table management, which we think of as
inventory and fund accounting which,

And then start building all
the modules that you need to

Private capital is half a GDP,
but nobody has software for it.

And you've also described it as a, as you
want it to become a generational company.

What does that mean,
and how do you do that?

Yeah it's a company that
lasts past the founder.

So it'll be a company that, that
continues even when I'm finished, which

But it's one of these
companies that will just.

The test of time that'll be
around in 40 years, 50 years.

And what do you think that requires to,
as you say to stand the test of time?

What resilience does a company
need, particularly in, in a kind of

slightly crazy geopolitical economic
environment we're in at the moment?

For a company like ours some other,
some companies can pass this the

They're so ingrained that
they can never be removed from

That's not the kind of
company we'd like to build.

We want to build one that, that tends the
test of time because we keep innovating.

And so you have to most startups
or most companies are founded

And then when they don't become
generational companies is they've

never built the innovation
engine directly into the company.

So once the founder leaves,
they can't innovate anymore.

More, and one of the big differences
between companies that can innovation,

companies that can outlast the
founders is they, that they

Carter's raised money from both VC and pe.

Is there a different
approach in the boardroom?

We've been very lucky in having a very
specific strategy around hiring investors

that'll help us in our markets which makes
a lot of sense for us because in venture.

Our first customers were startups
and venture funds, and so h ha

having venture investors help
us do that was super valuable.

And then over the last few years as we
expanded in private equity, we wanted to

bring some private equity, investors in
to help us understand the private equity

And they're just different and I'm
a classic product venture, CEO.

PE guys showed up they started
using words I'd never heard of, like

profitability and avida and, gross margin.

And so you just had to learn how to
institutionalize and mature a company

out of venture status, which is what
we've been doing in the last few years.

So what kind of key learnings would you
offer to somebody else who was in the

position you'd been in that was looking
to perhaps get that sort of backing?

How do you go about that and
where were the sort of pitfalls

Yeah, it's, there's a level of if
venture is like investing in outliers,

and you're just you're gonna trade off
operational discipline in institutional

governance, like all these kinds
of things for like this outlier

And then private equity is a
much more systematic, here's

And for, me and for us,
we wanted to transition.

We, raised about a billion bucks
now, and we just felt like.

If you raise a billion dollars and
you're selling to CFOs of private

At SuperReturn North America, Henry Ward, CEO & Co-Founder, Carta, shared the journey of building a generational company that’s reshaping private capital management. From creating a category of cap table management to expanding into private equity and credit, Henry reveals the keys to innovation, resilience, and scaling in a fast-evolving market.