Neil Youngblood: Journey from Medicine to Private Equity

Dr. Neil Youngblood, a successful private equity investor, shared his journey from medicine to finance and emphasized integrity, perseverance, and mentorship.

### Neil Youngblood: A Journey from Medicine to Private Equity
* 🏥 Neil Youngblood, a medical doctor turned private equity investor, shared his inspiring journey from **humble beginnings** to managing **billions in investments**.
* 👨 Growing up in a large, financially struggling family, Youngblood was instilled with the belief that "**no price is too high for the privilege of owning yourself**".
* 🎓 His diverse experiences included **studying internationally**, **working in politics**, and **practicing medicine for 12 years** before transitioning to finance.
* 💼 Youngblood emphasized the importance of mentors, citing billionaires like Richard Rainwater, David Bonderman, and Mike Milken as **key figures in his career**.
* 💰 When it comes to raising money, Youngblood stressed the significance of **integrity, passion, and being the best version of yourself**.
* 🌐 Focusing on healthcare investments, Youngblood advised aspiring entrepreneurs to "**be the very best at whatever it is you're trying to achieve**" and to "**think bigger, not smaller**".
* 👪 Despite his financial success, Youngblood highlighted that his greatest achievements are his family and legacy, emphasizing that "**money is a tool**" and not the **ultimate measure of success**.

now for our first conversation, please welcome to the stage Randall Lane, Chief Content Officer, Forbes, and Neil Youngblood, Founding Partner, Chairman, and CEO, Pharaoh's Capital Group. [Applause] This is a smart, good-looking group here, and we've got a lot of young Bloods here, and we thought for the young Bloods, we've got Dr. Youngblood to start off. We've got an OG. We thought we have so many amazing names and stars across today, but what better way to start with somebody who, you know, Javari talked last night about the need to create more black billionaires, and you know, Dr. Youngblood, in the process of doing it. Neil, thank you. Yes, well, I'm sure respect here in Atlanta. We like to show respect, but Neil, it's a real pleasure to have you. Neil came in just so you know from Iceland this morning. So that is dedication. We really appreciate.

it thank you AB. So maybe, uh, maybe Neil, you could tell us, maybe you could tell the, tell the group. I, you've got, I call you, you know, I say Dr. Youngblood because he's a medical doctor. But you know, as Jabari mentioned, and Jabari was, you know, being modest, he's got, you've got several billion dollars under management as a private equity investor. So maybe give us your background on how, just kind of a quick, a quick catch up on, on how you've had, you know, multiple careers. But you know, maybe just, you know, give everyone a sense of where you come from, where you are. Well, first off, it's a pleasure to be here and thank you all for, uh, having me. I grew up, as many of you all did. I, I, I was very, very blessed, had great parents, four brothers, two sisters, big family. But of course, we were always broke, but, uh, but my parents gave me the most important thing was love and, um, the idea that I could do anything. And so look, I had lots of interesting

experiences. 14 got to work in the Texas legislature. 16 was an exchange student to Greece believe it or not even being from a small town in Texas and that experience really transformed my worldview um my friends were Anarchist communist Left Right hated the United States and I thought everybody you know loved America uh but um we come to find out the CIA had overthrown the governor of Greece supposedly uh my friends all were protesting against America but we're all trying to get a green card to get to America uh and so that gave me insight into the Immigrant mentality and that if you're coming over on boat from Vietnam Potato Famine and Ireland programs in Russia you get to the US things are challenging tough but you have a frame of reference to say yeah but it could be so much worse and for many black folks because of his slavery we don't have that frame of reference that that motivated me I came back finished high school went to Princeton studied International systems of Healthcare in Sweden and England as part

of my undergraduate degree. After that, came back, took over the administration building around the anti-Partti movement. But post that arrest, went to medical school. And I thought I was going to be a heart surgeon. I know this is a long-winded answer, but I want to make this quick. Um, I thought I was going to be a heart surgeon and called one of the Prince and alums. Said, Hey look, you know, um, I want to be a heart surgeon like you. Uh, he said, Look, you can come by and see me anytime, but you should go see my roommate first. I thought that was odd. So I went down to Houston to see his roommate, who was black. And he was the most extraordinary man I'd ever met. He had gone to Howard at 15, transferred to Harvard in 1950, finished summa cum laude, turned down the Rhodes Scholarship, went to Harvard Med School, and roomed with this guy. And I met him. Uh, he trained in surgery at Columbia, fellowship in the UK, on the faculty at Harvard, came back to Texas is

first director of research at the Texas Heart Institute doing more heart surgery than any place in the world. I met this guy and I realized I was not that good. I was like drop the mic. I can't do, you know, he was a wonderful man. He challenged me in ways that other people had not because everybody always patted me on the back and he was like no, your game's weak. You got to, you got to raise your game and so I, I said I, I can't do heart surgery. If I can't be as good, if not better than this man, I, I need to do something else. So I came back to medical school, did a wrote a proposal, went to Egypt, apartment on the Nile, pyramids in the background and then I was there for a few months during surgery and infectious disease and at the, you know, I would go out to the Sahara Desert and I'd say look at the end of my life when I'm dying and taking my last breath what is it I want to

Define who I want to be, and maybe I can reverse engineer to get to that point. I then trained in surgery in New York, did my residency here at Grady EM Hospital, emergency medicine. I came back. All comes back to the ATL. Always come back to the ATL. Practiced medicine for 12 years in back home in Texas, but again, I wanted to get back. And as a 14-year-old, I recognized that money was the driver of politics, and that's where I could give back. So, I organized my friends. We started raising money for candidates. Started with a guy named Bill Bradley who's running for the Senate in New Jersey. He became senator. Ann Richards, Texas, came Governor. Carol Mosley Braun, Illinois. Ron Brown asked me to help a guy named Bill Clinton raise money for him, and that really exposed me to the world of politics. Bill Bradley said something very simple, very profound. The president of the United States walks in the room. What's your ask? I said, What do you mean? He said, Don't get distracted with the lights, cameras, all that. If you're in a

room with the president. You're there for a reason. They know what they want out of you. You should know what you want out of them. It's like, oh wow, and Richards calls him. He says, Say, look, I want to put you on the board of medical examiners. I said, No, I want to be on the tax policy committee. She said, What are you talking about? I said, Yeah, I want to be on the tax policy committee. She said, Why? I said, Because the tax policy committee is composed of CEOs from around the state of Texas. If it's important enough, it's important enough. If it's important enough for them, it's important enough for me. I want to be in that room. There's no one like me in that room. She said, Fine. I get a call from, uh, in the emergency department, someone saying, Hey, look, this guy was talking about this tax thing. I said, Look, uh, can I help you? You know I'm really busy here in the ER. Said, Look, you don't know me. I'm a CEO of a company called

trael Crow. I live in Dallas, you live in Dallas. I'm on the tax policy committee. The meetings are in Austin. Let's go together. I said sure. What American Airlines Southwest a fight. He's like, I got my own jet. So just come flower with me. Like, excuse me. Damn, I'm in the wrong business. So I got on the Jet and I said, I'm quit. I'm out. I'm done. I, I, I quit mine. I'm quitting. But you know, I'm married. I got six kids. I got private schools. I couldn't afford to go back get an MBA all, you know. So I said, let me get an extra money had the governor put me on the board of the pension fund. She thought I was crazy then too, but she realized later I was right. The pension fund exposed me the money. I looked at public equities, fixed income, real estate, private equity. And that's what I decided to do. I said I needed great mentors, great team credibility, mentorship side. I got some great mentors and then I, I said.

credibility serving on corporate boards. If I could be on one board, the best board would be an airline because they let you fly for free. I was able to get connected with American free first class traveling anywhere in the world. American flu then Starwood Hotels. I need a place to stay. I was on the board there. I was bard of the Gap. I had six kids. I was bard of Burger King food and then I started the firm and we've raised a couple billion dollars and you know we invest in healthcare invest in healthcare sorry that was longwinded but anyway that's it yeah now that that's what I call side hustling that is that is that is impressive you mentioned uh you know and you mentioned mentors you you have had some amazing ones like like I believe when you were starting with private Equity you went you know if we talk about becoming billionaires you went two billiona Richard rainwater I think was a who people probably don't know who he is he's one of the most important investors.

he's passed but he's was one of the most important investors in Texas. I recall I think he I think he made a lot of his money because he started buying land uh in a swamp in Florida that eventually became Walt Disney World. You got it from 20 million to 12 bill but anyway I had three very important mentors. One guy named Richard rainwater look I started reading about finance and again I happened to be at a big event in in Dallas and thousand people in there and I saw this guy and I was like oh wow that's Richard rainwater so I ran up to him and said Mr rainwater I want to be like you and I grow up. He said well come by and see me so I went by s on and he just kind of opened the world up and what it did for but how did so you you just random random complete random no connection you should not let people's status statute title stop you from asking for the order and so that's really really important so Richard

became a great mentor, great friend, and he gave me confidence because I felt like if this man, who is successful as he is from 20 million to 12 billion, took the time to meet with me and help me, then he must see something in me that I didn't see in myself. Next was then a guy named David Bonderman, who you again you wouldn't have necessarily known but founded a firm called TPG. David, another billionaire, multi-billionaire, multibillionaire, great friend, great mentor, but rich. I mean, but David said, Look, you know what? I'll invest with you. I'll give you some money. I'll give you a few million bucks to get started. Like, whoa. And then another guy by the name of Mike Milken became a great mentor, great friend. Michael's like, Look, I'm in. And look, you don't know these names, but for instance, Mike Milken's bonus in 1986 was $550 million. Thirteen people who work for Mike Milken on either an NFL, NBA, or major

league baseball team. That's right, that's right. So he invented an entire class of invest. So, in choosing your mentors, you know, again, maybe for this group, that's great on how. How do you have the fortitude to go up to a to a rainwater, to a bonder, to a to a milk in and just say hey, yeah, again, look, what can someone say other than no? I mean, they can say yes or no. I mean, they're not going to hit you or or you know, I it's you should um, there there are a couple of things. I would say is no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. That's Frederick nche pres. No price is too high for the privilege of owning yourself. So that's that's one thing. And then another quote that I go by is he who has found his why in life can tolerate almost any howow. And so understanding finding your purpose, finding your your drive, your ambition, you can you can sustain yourself there.

going to be a lot of no's in life. There continue to be a lot of no's in my life and everyone's life, but you have to be willing to persevere, to adjust to, you know, no means not yet. Yep, no no means not yet, that is terrific advice. The, um, for you, you've raised hundreds of millions, even. How do you, you know, whether or not you're raising money for a fund or for a start-up, what's the key to raising money? I think the key to raising money, uh, a couple things. First off, my parents were instrumental in helping me to understand that. What they would say is never let money get in the way of your success. I like, what do you mean, never let money get in the way of your success? I said, look, we have seven kids here in this household, we can't really afford for all y'all to go to college, but you know what, you do well in school, we're going to make it happen, all seven of my, my all, all of us.

went to college. Most of us went to grad school. They got it done. And so look, it's again. It's the why you can tolerate. Anyhow, that's what I would say. I mean, if you have belief, well, first off, what I would say is make sure that you're the best version of yourself. Make sure that there's integrity in what you do. Make sure that you show up on time, that you do your homework, that you understand what it is you're trying to do and what your vision is for how you can make it better. And that enthusiasm, that passion, I think really is what people are looking for when they are, you know, looking to make investment. Money is not the problem. Money, believe it or not, money, money is the easy part. Money is the easy part. It is what are the most compelling ideas, who are the people who are driven to make things happen, who understand how to manage folks. Let's stick with that because, right, you're sitting on a pile of money that you give.

to entrepreneurs and business leaders, you talked about the idea. But like you said, there are a lot of great ideas. There's a lot of money out there, and there are a lot of great ideas. What is it about the person? If any of these people walk in, you know, and they're pitching you, what are you looking for when you say, I'm looking for the person who can manage, who can take ideas and execute them? What is that spark you're looking for? What I would say is a couple things. First off, you need to be talking to the right people because different people. What I invest in, I only invest in healthcare, and I invest in my equity checks. The checks I write are for 50 plus million. Do that's what I do. If you got a startup that, that's I'm not your guy. I, it's just not what. But there are plenty of other women and men in the venture space who are in that space. And so one of the things we did here actually at Spellmore House created a

center for black entrepreneurship. The Black Economic Alliance, which I'm on the board of, we've raised about 50 plus million for that. So there's a course there for entrepreneurs. You can take it online, you know, etc. But then we also raised another 30. So far, we'll raise another 50 million because the lack of friends and family within the black community to be able to be the first risk dollars. And so it's $500,000 check or $100,000 check. We got about a minute left. The idea again, what I love about everything you're saying is, you know, you're showing as much as telling. But I do want to ask for a tell one piece of advice. We're looking at kind of the macroeconomic trends. And it's not, you know, if you look at black wealth, you know, it should be skyrocketing, but it's not. If you look at medium black wealth.

you know it's, it's not, you know, the tide is not automatically going up. What is it, you know, again, going back to Jabari's Mantra, that, you know, I mean, you're a bill, you know, private Equity, like you said, Venture seeds the money that private Equity grows. It, you're a billionaire maker. If we want more black billionaires out there, what is the one piece of advice you give to this room? 'Cause in this room, I guarantee you, I guarantee this, we, we come back to this event 20 years, there are multiple black billionaires in this room. I don't know who it is, that's why it's important to network, because you know who it is, but they're out there. So talk to the, there's some future billionaires out there, what is the one, one piece of advice about how to get there? Um, the one piece of advice I would say is be the very best, best at whatever it is you're trying to achieve, be, be the very best, whether that's in artificial

intelligence, whether that's in Quantum Computing, whether that's in retail, whether that, that would be one piece of advice, but, but, but not only be the best, I think you also have to think bigger, not smaller. You have to surround yourself with the very best and brightest people who can challenge you and who you can challenge as a team. I think that, you know, you have to um, have integrity. You have to be honest. You have to believe in yourself, um, and you have to persevere. It's not one answer. And let me clarify, I'm not a billionaire yet. I'm working on it. But, you know, uh, I would also say I've been fortunate that I have six extraordinary children. I've been married to a black woman for almost 40 years, who I met here in Atlanta. I got married here in Atlanta. And, you know, in the midst of your careers and life, prioritize the things that are important. Money is important, but it's just a tool. It, it's, it's just a tool, um.

the thing that I'm most proud of are my kids, my wife, my family. Those are the things that for my legacy, you know, or really what, you know, what it's all about, and continuing to try to make my parents proud who've passed many many years ago. So money's a money's a tool. It's also just a reflection. If you're great at what you do, the money will follow. I think you've been a great, you know, in multi many careers. You've been a great example of that. Nean, thank you very much for kicking off this day. It was very inspirational work. We appreciate it. Thank you. Peace.

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Discussion Between Randall Lane and Neil Youngblood

Randall Lane and Neil Youngblood discuss the need for more black billionaires and Youngblood's journey from a small town in Texas to becoming a successful private equity investor.

Youngblood talks about his transformative experiences as an exchange student in Greece and his academic journey from Princeton to medical school.

He also shares the story of meeting an extraordinary black surgeon that changed his career path.

A chance encounter with a talented heart surgeon led to a career shift back to medical school and eventually to a residency in emergency medicine.

The desire to make a difference in politics arose at the age of 14, leading to fundraising for various political candidates, including Bill Clinton.

The importance of having a clear agenda when meeting with influential figures was emphasized through impactful interactions with political leaders.

From Quitting to Success: A Story of Hustle and Mentorship

A man from Dallas quit his job, joined the pension fund board, and pursued a career in investing and healthcare.

He strategically sought mentorship and board positions, eventually founding his own firm and raising billions for healthcare investments.

His journey included being mentored by Richard Rainwater, a significant Texas investor, and he emphasized the importance of not letting people's status stop you from pursuing opportunities.

Meeting successful and wealthy mentors like David Bonderman and Mike Milken gave the speaker confidence and support.

The speaker emphasizes the importance of finding mentors and being persistent in the face of rejection.

The key to raising money, according to the speaker, is to not let it hinder your success, a lesson learned from their parents.

Keys to Successful Entrepreneurship and Investment

Belief in oneself and a strong work ethic are crucial for success in entrepreneurship.

Successful investors look for people with passion, the ability to execute ideas, and the skill to manage others.

Specialized centers and funding initiatives, such as those for black entrepreneurship, are essential for providing support to underrepresented communities in the business world.

The key to becoming a billionaire is to strive to be the best in your field and think big.

Surround yourself with talented people, have integrity, believe in yourself, and persevere.

Prioritize the important things in life, as money is just a tool, and success will follow if you excel in your work.