From Combat to Classrooms: How Jim Vesterman Went from Special Forces to a 13.5x Return in 8 Years

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* My guest today is Jim Vesterman, currently a lecturer at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to joining the faculty at Wharton, Jim was the CEO of Raptor Technologies, a company that he purchased through his own search fund in 2012, and ran through to a successful exit in 2020. Under Jim’s tenure, Raptor technologies grew from serving 7,000 schools in the United States to serving over 40,000 schools with an integrated suite of K-12 school safety software.

Jim ultimately sold the company to JMI Equity, and returned an astounding 13.5x MOIC and 53% IRR to his search fund investors.

Jim also served in the United States Marine Corps in the Special Operations forces and was awarded the Combat Action Ribbon and the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement medal for his service in Iraq in 2004.

Jim graduated from Amherst College with his bachelor’s degree in Economics and Spanish and earned his M.B.A. from the Wharton School in 2006.