Michael Ogrinz joined Advent in 2010 and is a Managing Director in Paris. In addition to being the lead of the French office, he advises on investments in the industrial and technology sectors. Michael has advised on 11 investments during his career, five while at Advent.
Prior to joining Advent, Michael worked at Goldman Sachs, where he was a Managing Director in the Principal Investment Area (GS Capital Partners). Before that, he was the co-founder of the business-to-business internet marketplace Proxchange. Michael began his career working in M&A at JP Morgan in Paris.
Michael holds a master’s degree in Economics from HEC Business School in Paris.
Why is it important to have a presence on the ground in France?
It goes back to Peter Brooke’s vision for Advent, 40 years ago. He wanted Advent’s teams to have both deep sector knowledge and a truly local presence across the globe. Both are crucial to improve the quality and frequency of the conversations we can have with companies we want to team up with. Being here on the ground de-multiplies the touch points we have with French entrepreneurs, business owners, and managers. By fully embedding ourselves in the French ecosystem we can build long-lasting relationships, trust, and get comfortable with local rules and constraints, allowing us to provide better advice.
What motivates and inspires you in your career?
I love the great diversity in what we do – in the topics we cover from day to day, in the types of industry we get involved with over a career, and in the people we meet and work with. Some people have to change jobs to break their routine. That’s never an issue with our business. At any point in time I can be involved in three completely different business universes, be that a telecom services company, an industrial manufacturer, or a media business. And at all times I’m privileged to be dealing with some of the smartest, most positive, and most entrepreneurial executives out there.
“What we do isn’t about storytelling or coming up with a good speech. What matters is building conviction based on true-north answers that stand up to scrutiny.”
Michael Ogrinz
Managing Director, Advent
What are the benefits of being part of a privately owned partnership?
Advent advises its portfolio companies through a long lens, without the pressure of the next quarter. Sometimes that means going full throttle. Other times, we want to take our foot off the gas for a quarter or two. We have the freedom to do that, and we don’t have to reveal our plans to the market. Advent’s ownership structure means we can act on any new information pragmatically, in the best possible longer-term interests of our investors, portfolio companies, and ultimately ourselves as asset managers. We don’t run the risk of any misalignment, notably with public shareholders.
What advice would you give to a new entrant joining your team?
Be curious, entrepreneurial, and develop a “true-north” mentality. What we do isn’t about storytelling or coming up with a good rationale for things. What matters is building conviction based on the best possible true-north answers. It won’t be the only possible answer, and it won’t be perfect, but it has to stand up to facts and scrutiny as we’re putting our money and reputation on the line. On the cultural side, make sure you don’t isolate yourself. At Advent, you have to succeed as part of the team. No matter how good you are, you’ll fail if you work in a silo. Finally, adopt a long-term vision, our job is a marathon, not a sprint (though that marathon may include a lot of sprints within it!).
If you hadn’t chosen this career, what would you be doing?
I’d most certainly try to be an entrepreneur. It would most likely be in the world of technology, media, or telecoms. The process of building something is what gets me going. It’s hard work, risky, but exciting.
