Mike Taylor learned a lot about character living on a farm in the 1980s. 

“Times weren’t great. You were forced to be resourceful and to improvise and find ways to make things work,” Taylor said. 

“What I do now (at a private equity fund), even though it sounds very sophisticated and clinical, you spend a lot of time with people trying to make things work.

“On a farm, you can’t control the weather, but you can control fertilizer programs and crop insurance. The same is true for private equity. We could make an investment today, and tomorrow there could be a legislative change, or a recession. You have to think about what you can’t control.”

It sounds like a good path to Rolaids, but Taylor enjoys it.

“I enjoy solving problems,” he said. “People hear private equity and they think it’s high-stakes betting. We’re actually pretty risk adverse. 

We actually de-risk things before we write a check.”

Along the way, he has owned stakes in pharmacies, ethanol plants, tire distributors, steel fabricators, chemical manufacturers, hog and grain contract operations, and real estate rentals. 

Off the job, Taylor coaches YMCA football and basketball and teaches Sunday school, in part because his parents were involved in his activities.

“It’s something I enjoy,” Taylor said. 

“Teaching kids to compete is a valuable thing. I’m not a tactician or an X’s and O’s guy, but I can guide the kids on the right path, and work on teamwork. Sports is a good teaching mechanism. It’s not as much as winning and losing as learning to work together.”

Reasons he’s a forty:

• He volunteered for the marketing committee of Greater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity’s Project LIGHT.
• His company raised $41 million in capital.
• He served as program co-chair for the Leadership Iowa Board of Governors.
• He is active in the Iowa Association of Business and Industry.