I owe my first official Art Basel Miami experience to my longtime love, sister, therapist, crazy, sexy, genius friend-preneur Bea Arthur.
A little backstory…
It was a balmy December on South Beach. We had over a decade of memoir-worthy experiences raising 💰 from cosplay VCs between us. We were transitioning from founders to funders. Bea invited me to a fancy midweek affair hosted by the Family Office Experience: a private family office and sports investor community that “intentionally keeps their experiences and events private for the benefit of their community.” Private, private, private. It was in this exclusive room full of millionaires where I heard the heir of a billionaire fortune explain how he and many like him intended to lean more heavily on family and a lot less on fund managers to control the flows of their massive stashes of cash. 🚩
It was a foreshadowing…
I eventually veered off the prestigious path towards partner at a VC fund of funds to focus on growing the Visible Figures brand and community full time. I got the message, loud and clear: with an exception for the greedy, portfolio performance metrics don’t matter nearly as much as impact and who is with you on the journey. I can’t fully articulate what I believe the byproducts of the pandemic did to our brains, social, financial, and professional behavior, but I know trust is an increasingly valuable and invisible currency.
Money is cheap, freedom is expensive.
Fast forward four years…
I return to Miami on a shoestring budget, but with full creative freedom. Most Art Basel activations are backed by banks, billionaires, or big brands. Art Basel itself is backed by UBS. Nonetheless, two weeks ago, I flew to Miami low on backing, but loaded with trust. Trust might not be bankable, but stay tuned and watch the work.😏
OK, now for the full recap: what went right, what went wrong, and what we learned…