Asset International's Next Chapter

Seven and a half years ago, I left Reed Elsevier with a vision of building a dynamic, global business information platform. I knew from the start that the world was changing, but in January of 2007 we had not foreseen the start of the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression. I had decided in the fall of 2006, with my departure from Reed Elsevier being imminent, to partner with Austin Ventures' Growth Equity team. During 2007 and early 2008 we considered five unique business verticals for platform opportunities. It started to become clear in the spring of 2008, as the world's financial foundations began to shake, that if we were going to emerge on the other side and start a recovery cycle the need for transparency and new regulations would drive the growth of the financial information sector.