Billion Dollar Backstory

Should you ever repurpose an old post on LinkedIn?
Short answer: yep.

Slightly more annoying answer: it depends.

Before you copy, paste, and send that post back into the wild, figure out why it flopped the first time. Was it actually a good post the algorithm didn't push out? Or was the post itself a little off? Those are two very different problems.

In this Story Snack, Stacy gets into how she decides which posts deserve another shot, which need a tweak first, and which she'd leave alone.

Listen in to hear:
The one reason NOT to repost that Stacy isn't buying
How to distinguish a reach problem from a writing problem
When a few tweaks will do, and when you need more than that
Why her short Tuesday posts aren't just chopped-down versions of longer ones
What working with the LinkedIn algorithm right now

This is Story Snacks: a bite-sized series for fund managers who want to get better at strategic storytelling in under 20 minutes a week.

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Running a fund is hard enough.
Ops shouldn’t be.
Meet the team that makes it easier. | billiondollarbackstory.com/ultimus

What if luck plays a bigger role in fund success than anyone wants to admit? 
Simon Evan-Cook isn’t just throwing that idea out there. He’s lived it. 
He spent years on the allocator side, vetting fund managers and learning what really sticks (hint: it’s not just your track record).  
Now that he’s a fund manager himself, he’s pulling back the curtain on the truth no one wants to say out loud… 
 
Yes, being good at what you do matters, but so does luck, timing, and learning how to stack the odds in your favor.  
In this Episode, Simon and Stacy dig into:  
Why some of the most skilled fund managers don’t always win 
13 ways emerging managers can make their own luck 
What allocators actually remember after your pitch 
And why being honest, even when it’s uncomfortable, is the real differentiator 
This is Billion Dollar Backstory: Encore, because some conversations are just too good not to bring back.

About Simon Evan-Cook: 
Simon Evan-Cook is an award-winning multi-asset fund manager. In 2022 he joined Downing to set up and manage the Downing Fox range of funds. Before that he built his reputation at Premier Asset Management from 2006, where he was a senior member of their highly successful multi-asset team. He began his career with Fidelity in the late 90s, before joining Rothschild Asset Management and then Gartmore. 

Simon also writes on investment (and beyond), including a monthly column for Citywire Magazine and his investment blog on Medium.com. Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with his family and dog, devouring movies and books, and superficially damaging European golf courses. 

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Running a fund is hard enough.
Ops shouldn’t be.
Meet the team that makes it easier. | billiondollarbackstory.com/ultimus

Waiting for LinkedIn leads to fall from the sky, land in your DMs, and show up in your funnel? You might be waiting a while.
Posting matters. But there's a missing piece between the post and the people who engage with it, and that's where you go from random strangers to actual rapport (and maybe even grabbing coffee IRL). 
Stacy Havener has a weekly habit to help you fill the gap, and it's not a heavy lift.
In this Story Snack, she's sharing:
The habit she calls "clearing the deck," and why responding days late still counts
What she DMs people who engage, without asking for a single thing
How she follows up when a commenter isn't in her network yet
Why a lot of the power of LinkedIn is in the shadows, with the people who never comment
The note she sends profile viewers, and the one question that gets them talking
If your LinkedIn strategy is basically post and pray, this one's for you. You’ll walk away with quick tips that’ll help you stop waiting around for leads and start going after them (without feeling spammy or weird). 
This is Story Snacks, a bite-sized series for fund managers who want to get better at strategic storytelling in under 20 minutes a week.

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Running a fund is hard enough.
Ops shouldn’t be.
Meet the team that makes it easier. | billiondollarbackstory.com/ultimus

Different > better.

Especially in an industry that loves to rank, chart, compare, and benchmark errrthing. 

Because when everyone is trying to prove they're better, everyone starts sounding pretty much the same.

In this Encore episode, Stacy is bringing back one of her favorite conversations about what it actually takes to stand out.

She’s covering: 
Why leaning into what makes you different means going to the edges and getting radical
Why 80% of executives think their company is differentiated, while only 10% of customers agree
How to create a category of one 
What differentiation is, and what it absolutely is not
Why you must be brave enough to attract and repel 

This is Billion Dollar Backstory: Encore, because some conversations are just too good not to bring back.

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Running a fund is hard enough.
Ops shouldn’t be.
Meet the team that makes it easier. | billiondollarbackstory.com/ultimus

You want to post on LinkedIn.
Compliance wants to hit the taboo buzzer.

Cool. Now what?
In this Story Snack, Stacy Havener shares how to stop treating compliance like the department of "no" and start bringing them into the growth conversation.
Because yes, we live in a culture of compliance. And yes, we have business goals too.

Listen in to hear:
How to get compliance out of "department of no" mode
The question to ask so you know what topics are actually off-limits
How to use safer language without sanding off your entire point of view
Why LinkedIn is possible in a regulated industry, even if your team is nervous

This is Story Snacks, a bite-sized, jam-packed series for fund managers who are ready to master strategic storytelling in under 20 minutes a week.

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Running a fund is hard enough.
Ops shouldn’t be.
Meet the team that makes it easier. | billiondollarbackstory.com/ultimus