The other day I dined with the richest man in Scotland. While I didn’t actually get to talk to him, I still like the way that sounds. Sir Tom Hunter came to SBS hosted by the Oxford Entrepreneurs. He arrived in faded jeans, a striped shirt, and a pastel pink sweater. He was extremely cool.

He was honest, entertaining, and tangible. He talked a lot about being lucky, but also about that something inside of all good entrepreneurs that no one can quite pin down. So far, I’ve gathered that it has something to do with being restless, energetic, creative, risk-taking, and not liking it when other people tell you what to do. The best part about Sir Tom Hunter was his authenticity. I totally believed that every question he answered he did so without pretence or agenda. Someone asked “If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?” His first answer was, “I’d have hair.”  Then he went on to talk about the education system in the UK and how it wasn’t serving kids, like he had been, who don’t fit the mould. Basically, he was just a guy, who happened to get lucky, and became the richest man in Scotland.

Having sold his company for a quarter of a billion pounds at the age of 37, Sir Tom found himself without much to do. Since, he’s become one of the global leaders in venture philanthropy and has vowed to give away £1 billion in his lifetime. He’s given generously to social change campaigns like “Make Poverty History” and supports much of the work being done by the Clinton Foundation in Africa.

In the Q&A session, I asked what he would recommend to people who want to make a difference in the world but who don’t have a billion pounds to do it with. He said, “You don’t have to have a billion pounds, because there will be people out there like me who already have a billion pounds. And people like me need people like you. Figure out what you’re good at, and get on the right team.” I thought it was a pretty good answer to an admittedly tough question.