Getting down to business with Adrian Grenier

You went from Hollywood from being this. This star to becoming a farmer, and now you're raising chickens. But again, you're also raising $150 million for du Contra Ventures to invest in impact entrepreneurship. Now let's talk about that. I'm really excited about our guest today. You've probably seen him on the hit show Entourage. Most recently, Adrian Grenier has also returned to Netflix in a new show called Clickbait. Adrian has actually spent the last decade of his life cementing his place in the world as something way more than an actor. He's become an activist on environmental issues. And in a recent article in Austin Monthly, he's also officially become a farmer. He is now a UN Environmental goodwill ambassador. And he has a social impact fund that focuses on matters that encourage human flourishing, such as psychedelics, mental health, sustainable consumption, and communitas, which are wellness retreats with community building. We all know what ROI is. Ducontra coined the word YBM Yield Beyond Money. Let's talk about that.

I've been doing environmental work for a long time. I've been an activist. I was looking for, like, what's the root cause? Like, what inspires us? How do we actually motivate action and change in the world? And when you start boiling it down, you get to the root, and then you go below the root and you realize it's about money. Money is the fuel. It's the energy that motivates people to build the world. And like it or hate it, it's the reality. We have such a good thing going here. Why don't we build an actual fund and let's go out actively, find opportunities, and then we can take capital money and funnel it into businesses that are doing more than just making money. They're seeking something more intangible and more valuable than just money itself. And that's when we came up with the concept of yields beyond money. So that's our metric is ybm, which is not just money for money's sake and seeking zeros and decimal points, but actually the things that make life worth living, the things that enrich our human experience, community, nature, family, the things that are vital. And so that's what we do.

So this concept of YBM Yield beyond money, does this idea play a role in your daily life? Is it a guiding principle in not just your investments, but how you show up in the world?

Absolutely. You know, for a while, I was making more and more and more, and I was seeking relief from that constant accumulation drive. And I wanted something that felt a little bit more embodied and integrated into my entire spirit, not just my ego or my vanity. And so that's when I shifted my whole life settled into something a little bit more holistic, so that my whole entire life, my lifestyle, is aligned with my values. The people I surround myself with are farmers and investors and entrepreneurs who all are mission aligned. And we're all rowing in the same direction to make a world that isn't just about money and accumulation. But if we create a resilient, enriched community, it's heart centered, nature based. That's the true wealth, really. And we won't have to worry about our bank accounts when we're all sharing in the bounty, sharing in, you know, the human flourishing and the abundance that we can create together.

I love that. And you know, heart wise, I'm completely aligned with what you're saying.