Managing expectations is a key part of being a proxy solicitor, Bruce Goldfarb said on this week’s Drinks With The Deal podcast.
“A lot of that skill I learned from working in client services businesses my entire life,” he said. “My dad owned a dry cleaning store. People would come in with their dry cleaning and want it back right away. There would be stains that you couldn’t get out of clothing, but you could indicate that you could try to get them out. There were stains that you knew you could get out and you did. It was a matter of managing expectations.”
In his current role, said Goldfarb, CEO and president of New York-based proxy solicitor Okapi Partners LLC: “You realize that you’re not always going to get everything right. Investors don’t want you to know how many shares they vote or when they vote. While we are quite good at identifying which shareholders vote and when they vote, sometimes you make a mistake. The issue is how you own your mistakes, how you correct the mistakes you make.”
Goldfarb also discussed how he found his way into the business and the challenges — and opportunities — he and his partners faced in launching Okapi during the financial crisis of 2008 and its aftermath.
Listen to the podcast with Bruce Goldfarb below:
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