The three of us -- Jerry Kohlberg, George Roberts and I -- left Bear Stearns without a job or a business, but we had what we believed to be a good idea. George and I each scraped together $10,000, and Jerry, who was 19 years older and on much better financial footing, put down $100,000 to start the firm we named after ourselves.
The first conversation we had was about what kind of business we wanted to have. Or didn't want to have. We were so appalled by the "eat what you kill" culture at Bear Stearns, we wanted something very different. We wanted a place where everyone would participate and be owners; a place where people worked together and didn't compete against one another; a place that had a culture of inclusion.
