For years, I've been connecting with interesting people and documenting insights that might help my clients and myself. What was once private is now (mostly) public.

People often ask: "How do you know all these people?" and "How do you connect these (re: random) ideas?" The answer is simple: consistent relationship cultivation and thoughtful note taking. My north star is trusting my instincts, my maps are the constellations in these reflections.

This approach to multidisciplinary networking has helped dozens of clients, colleagues, and friends strengthen their networks and unlock new opportunities. Feel free to steal these ideas directly - that's what they're for! I can't promise you'll learn FROM me, but I guarantee you can learn something WITH me. Let's go. Count it off: 1-2-3-4!

Do you know Rob Majteles? He's a three-time CEO, co-founder and chairman of Confluence Capital Impact Partners, and an NYU educator who teaches at the Gallatin School.

If not, allow me to introduce you. Rob grew up in the Bronx working in his father's hides and skins business, ran three tech companies, and then spent 30 years as a board member and investor. Today his focus is impact, where social and financial returns can't be separated, and he's launching an industrial energy transition ETF.

I wanted to connect with Rob because he embodies something I value deeply: a philosopher's edge in the boardroom, paired with the humility to listen for what's underneath the anger.

Our conversation is LIVE now on The Intentional Investor on YouTube (and this Cultish Creative Playlist). Listen and you'll hear about a first date with ten guys from the hall tagging along, three stints as CEO, and why his NYU class pairs Adam Smith with Frankenstein.

In the meantime, I wanted to pull THREE KEY LESSONS from my time with Rob Majteles to share with you (and drop into my Personal Archive).

Read on and you'll find a quote with a lesson and a reflection you can Take to work with you, Bring home with you, and Leave behind with your legacy.

Key Concept: Rob rejects the idea that profit and purpose sit on opposite ends of a seesaw. He treats the "or" as a habit we picked up, and builds on the idea that social and financial impact are inseparable. Drop the false choice and the work becomes finding where each kind of impact actually pays off.

Personal Archive Note-To-Self: My buddy Jon gave me a copy of an Ethics and Moral Philosophy book when we were in high school with the pitch, "I love this but you will really love this." He was right. And even if I never felt good enough to hang with the philosophy kids in college (they had this way of thinking down to a deeper level than I could ever grasp, which might be tied to my math skills but that's another post), the introspection that book forced into my brain is with me every day.

Rob making a career out of leading businesses and backing them with a philosopher's edge is one of the things that drew me to him. That, and his line "I speak angry 16-year-old," which I think goes hand in hand with it. Rob doesn't dismiss the anger, he listens for what's underneath it. Without a philosophy book in your hands at 16, you might be all anger and none of the nuance of an argument. I'm not sure I had the second part either - but the humility that comes from developing it, and the paths humility and honesty open up with people who don't want to live in a zero-sum world, makes all the difference in a life and career that ends in community and not in a cult.

Work question for you: Where in your work have you accepted an "or" that might actually be an "and"?

Key Concept: Rob describes his epiphanies as a kind of listening. He stays attuned to the small signals that something is happening, and he treats the willingness to move toward them as the real skill. When the conversation floated epiphany as the thing that makes an entrepreneur, he sharpened it into curiosity that has to start with willingness. Fear is still part of the picture for him, and sometimes he isn't scared enough.

Personal Archive Note-To-Self: Another thing my buddy Jon taught me was we really could just do things. We played music together and then in bands together growing up. He was part of my epiphany of why just listen when you could play, and why just play when you could perform? There's a confidence element of seeing that spark and doing something about it that not everybody has.

If you extend the metaphor, you see how it unfolds across decades, and Rob is full of those stories. I think about the crack that his dad, a Holocaust survivor and immigrant, saw, founding his business between the meatpacking and garment industries of New York in a novel way. You have to be looking to see this stuff.

In the conversation, I said epiphany as the thing that makes an entrepreneur was a bumper sticker I'd happily sell to somebody. Rob's response built on it (and I still want that sticker): epiphany makes entrepreneurs, AND it's gotta start with willingness. Because seeing the spark is one thing, and being willing to play with it is the part that changes your life.

When it enters your consciousness you often need others in your life, directly involved or at the margin, who can give you the confidence to push forward. Hearing Rob talk about his business partners, mentors, his wife, and people in general, across his whole journey, that's the electric spark (or Rice Krispies) of the universe saying you can just do something.

Life Question For You: What's the last small signal you felt in your life, a sizzle or a crack, and did you run toward it or away from it?

Key Concept: Rob spent decades building a career before he felt it was serving something larger than himself. What changed was recognizing that his mix of finance, technology, climate, and the arts filled a gap, and that nobody else was coming to fill it. The insight is that a career's real value can show up late, once your scattered experiences turn out to meet a need.

Personal Archive Note-To-Self: All of these accumulated interests and experiences we have, we hit this point, like what Rob's describing here, where we start to understand how we fit back into the world. It's the Jessica Livingston idea to "grow the puzzle around you."

Looking at the impact space, and thinking about what those ideas really mean - they're all about the future. They're all about generations beyond the current ones benefiting from what's been laid. And those generations might squander all the efforts too, but it's about giving them a good, fighting chance at the generations to come after them.

The way we do that is understanding what we have to offer, and then making relationships around us click too. That's different logic than finding a puzzle where you as a piece fit in. This is the idea in practice of admitting you will build that puzzle around you, based on the funny edges you possess, that your experience and beliefs shaped. Rob's a rare person, to be this focused on a future he admits he won't control but can exert some positive influence over.

Legacy question for you: Where might you be assuming someone else is carrying the ball, when your own mix of experiences is the thing that's missing?

You have a Personal Network and a Personal Archive just waiting for you to build them up stronger. Look at your work, look at your life, and look at your legacy - and then, start small in each category. Today it's one person and one reflection. Tomorrow? Who knows what connections you'll create.

Don't forget to click reply/click here and tell me who you're adding to your network and why! Plus, if you already have your own Personal Archive too, let me know, I'm creating a database.

Want more? Find my Personal Archive on CultishCreative.com, watch me build a better Personal Network on the Cultish Creative YouTube channel, and listen to Just Press Record on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, and follow me on social media (LinkedIn and X) - now distributed by Epsilon Theory.

You can also check out my work as Managing Director at Sunpointe, as a host on top investment YouTube channel Excess Returns, and as Senior Editor at Perscient.

ps. AI helped me pull and organize quotes from the transcript, structure the three lessons, and sharpen the Key Concepts. If you're curious about how I use AI while keeping editorial control and my own voice intact, I wrote about my personal rules here: Did AI Do That: Personal Rules