Raffaele Riva graduated in Milan with a degree in economics in 1987. In 1989, he became a Qualified Accountant by earning an additional degree. Riva took that education into the corporate world, where he held a number of managerial positions in top firms. He would use his experience to start his own company in 2008.
Known as the AUREA Multi Family Office, it houses a number of regulated companies under its umbrella, including BGB AUREA Ltd., Milano Fiduciaria, and Aurea Consulenti Associati SA. Riva’s specialties include international financial transactions, corporate restructuring, and trust real estate. He opens up more about how he got to where he is today, and what he advises other start-up owners can do to achieve their dreams.
Riva’s Take on the Business World
Raffaele Riva doesn’t think that success is measured in wealth. In fact, he thinks it’s measured in boldness. “A person who is rich is not scared of being poor.” This isn’t a flippant statement for him, as he realizes that lacking cash flow can prompt a lot of anxiety for people. Thinking positively about a bad situation is a true fight, but it’s actually necessary in life if you want to succeed. Otherwise, it’s all too easy to give up and accept defeat.
He’s faced several failures in his life, particularly when it came to expanding too quickly. When he thinks about trying to get his business off the ground, he says “I committed to too many opportunities and projects with too many business partners. Some of them have proved to be the wrong choice and the rapid growth was like cancer.” He had to learn how to decline offers so that his business could sustain growth without crumpling under its own weight.
Keeping his kind of balance has turned out to be a major life lesson for him. Riva says that if you put other people’s priorities first, that doesn’t always mean that they’ll return the favor. In fact, they’re likely to take advantage of the offer without even realizing they’re doing it.
What he does now is look for solutions that don’t discount his needs, but still manages to support those around him. Easy to say and extremely difficult to do in real life, but he’s had enough experience at this point to spot the opportunities that others may miss. He encourages entrepreneurs to constantly evaluate situations from different angles and to make decisions that honor their own values and intentions.
Getting Things Done
One of Riva’s favorite quotes comes from Mr. Albert Einstein himself. “Stay away from negative people. They have a problem for every solution.” There’s a lot to unpack in this quote, as it’s not encouraging you to cut yourself off from anyone who may voice an objection. For Riva, he sees it as a call to keep believing in himself, even when he makes mistakes. It’s this inherent confidence in himself that helps others believe in him too, which makes it easier to get more done throughout the day.
This is a common thread for Riva, as he’s an extremely productive professional. Working from morning to night, he gets the most important work out of the way in the morning and keeps track of it all. Raffaele Riva put it, “I have a daily journal noting down the various activities that have to be done during the day. My typical day depends also upon what type of meetings and clients I have to meet during the day, rather than the achievement I have to reach. I plan my meetings and appointments with wide advance to make the productive day and not to waste time.”
Riva may have focused on finance, but that doesn’t mean that he didn’t learn a lot about how businesses of all kinds work. Entrepreneurs have a lot to do, no matter what industry they’re going into. Riva says that it’s incredibly important to stay up-to-date on anything that interests you. He advises people to branch out whenever possible and give themselves enough time to really explore emerging trends so they’re not left behind.
Read more about Raffaele Riva here: http://www.dougsandler.com/news/2019/8/9/raffaele-riva-pursue-your-passion-and-let-life-experience-guide-you