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What F1 Teams Know About Sustaining Excellence That Most Firms Miss
Behind the Scenes at Mercer Advisors, Next Level Hits 100, & Milemarker Release Notes
Jud Mackrill
July 12, 2025
Good morning.
As you read this, I’m pushing off from the dock here in Charleston, chasing redfish with one of our clients and my youngest son, Simeon.
These early mornings on the water—where the calm, the light, and the tide all meet—are some of my favorite moments on earth. It’s a kind of quiet magic that’s hard to explain unless you’ve felt it.
Mornings on the Wando River
This week was full of great moments. We celebrated a couple of birthdays (shoutout to Jessica and Kailash 🎉), landed some awesome media features with our friends at Ritholtz Wealth Management, and crossed a big milestone: the 100th episode of Next Mile, featuring the team at Mercer Advisors.
Somewhere in the middle of it all, I made a quick road trip through Birmingham and Nashville—got some good wheel time, caught up with friends, and talked a whole lot of Formula 1.
That’s what this week’s Rising Tide is about:
What Formula One is reminding me about building a winning a business right now.
I hope it’ll encourage you, challenge you, or maybe just give you something fun to think about as you close out the week.
Here’s this week’s Rising Tide.
What F1 Teams Know About Sustaining Excellence That Most Firms Miss
On the Pod: The Secret to Mercer Advisors' 100 Partnerships & Growth-Driven Success 🎧
Bookmarks
Michael Batnick and Kyle Van Pelt on How Advisors Can Find Success in Integrating Data vs Technologies
The Power of Integration: A Live Webinar with Black Diamond
Eliminate the Hidden Costs of Messy Data with Milemarker + Wealthbox
Milemarker On the Road ✈️
What F1 Teams Know About Sustaining Excellence That Most Firms Miss
What Red Bull Racing teaches us about sustaining high performance—in motorsports and in business.
Wednesday night.
I’m somewhere between Birmingham and Nashville. Enjoying time behind the wheel and knocking out a ton of calls.
I call one of my closest friends and catch up. At the center of our catch up conversation is the days headline.
Christian Horner is out at Red Bull Racing.
Wait—Horner?
The guy who’s been at the helm for two decades.
The guy with 6 Constructors’ and 8 Drivers’ Championships.
Gone.
Just like that.
And as we talked, the conversation moved past the headlines and into something deeper.
Two Championships. One Goal.
In Formula 1, there isn’t just one championship—there are two:
The Constructors’ Championship: won by the team with the best car.
The Drivers’ Championship: won by the driver with the most points.
You can’t win the latter without the former.
And you can’t win the former without investing in the latter.
That balance—machine and man, system and talent—is what defines excellence in F1.
And honestly?
It’s what defines excellence in business, too.
Sound familiar?
In the advisory world, I see it every week.
Some firms obsess over process—tight systems, perfect compliance, polished planning.
Others go full-throttle on growth—marketing, sales, prospecting, speed.
Both win… for a while.
But the greats? The truly great firms?
They do both.
They know that a brilliant advisor with a broken chassis goes nowhere.
And a perfect back office without a driver? That’s just an idle engine.
What the Horner exit really says
Elite teams don’t just chase performance.
They chase sustained performance.
They’re willing to rebuild mid-season.
They’re willing to let go of legacy if it means future wins.
Even if it means letting go of the person who built the legacy.
That kind of attrition doesn’t come from failure.
It comes from the weight of expectations.
Here’s the punchline:
Your firm has two championships, too.
Growth.
Excellence.
One without the other is just noise.
But together? That’s a podium finish.
Let’s build firms that can do both.
And let’s not be afraid to let go of what got us here—if it’s not what gets us there.
If you’re thinking about what needs to be rebuilt—or rebalanced—this quarter, reply to this email. Let’s talk strategy, systems, and drivers.
______________________
On the Pod: The Secret to Mercer Advisors' 100 Partnerships & Growth-Driven Success
Episode 100: On this week’s episode, Kyle Van Pelt sits down with Dave Welling, CEO of Mercer Advisors. With over 25 years of experience in wealth management, Dave has an extensive track record of serving clients and helping businesses and people define and achieve the next level of success.
Together, Kyle and Dave unpack the human side of Mercer's incredible growth story, reflecting on how the firm's partnerships have fueled its scale and shaped its culture. From his unlikely entry into the RIA space to overseeing 95+ acquisitions since 2017, Dave shares insights on staying purpose-driven, maintaining empathy, and choosing growth as an integral part of an organization's DNA.
(00:00) - Intro
(01:31) - The journey to Mercer's 100 partnerships
(03:17) - Dave's money moment
(06:45) - How Dave's past experiences have influenced his present career
(11:05) - Why firms choose to partner with Mercer Advisors
(14:45) - Mercer Advisors' organic growth strategies
(17:11) - Talent attraction and growth as part of Mercer's DNA
(19:13) - The continuous journey of improvement
(23:51) - Leveraging technology experience on the RIA side
(27:49) - The best time to invest in technology solutions
(31:06) - The lessons Dave learned from working with Charles Schwab
(34:28) - Dave's thoughts about the future of Mercer Advisors
(37:34) - The role of AI in orchestrating workflows in the organization
(39:36) - Dave’s Milemarker Minute
⚡️Bookmarks
Michael Batnick and Kyle Van Pelt on How Advisors Can Find Success in Integrating Data vs Technologies
Kyle Van Pelt joined Michael Batnick’s Unlock to discuss how Milemarker solves the challenges that advisors have with managing all of their technology.
The Power of Integration: A Live Webinar with Black Diamond
Tired of your tech stack feeling more like a tangled mess than a growth engine?
Let’s fix that—together.
🗓️ Wednesday, July 16 | 12–1PM ET
📍 Virtual | Save Your Spot
Join Milemarker and Black Diamond for a live, fast-paced webinar on how the smartest firms are transforming their data chaos into clarity—and turning integration into their secret weapon for growth.
This dynamic conversation will dive deep into:
Why data integration is critical for driving operational efficiency and scalable growth
Real-world examples of how leading firms are unifying their tech stacks to gain deeper insights
Best practices for leveraging integrated platforms like Black Diamond to create a seamless advisor and client experience
The strategic mindset forward-thinking firms adopt to turn data into decisions
If you’re ready to ditch the tech headaches and build a connected, high-performing firm…
This is the conversation you can’t afford to miss.
Messy data isn’t just annoying—it’s expensive.
Join Milemarker and Wealthbox for a quick, tactical webinar on how poor data hygiene quietly drains your firm’s time, resources, and client trust—and what to do about it.
🗓️ Wednesday, July 23 | 2PM ET
Learn how to clean up your CRM, eliminate risk, and finally make your data work for you.
Milemarker on the Road
Catch my team on the road at the following events or cities:
July 23-24 - Atlanta, GA
July 25 - Birmingham, AL
July 29-31 - Denver, CO
August 17-20 - Lincoln, NE
September 3-4 - New York, NY
September 7-10 - Los Angeles, CA
September 10-12 - San Diego, CA
If you’re in any of those cities and want to arrange a meeting time, reply to this email, and we’ll get something on the calendar.
Jud Mackrill