Investors & Operators

We go deeeeeeeep in this episode about the life of an entrepreneur, managing crisis, losing a child, and finding hope through taking action.Jason is a serial entrepreneur, has been a board advisor to 50 companies, and coaches CEOs. He is also the founder of ChooseLife.org, which he started in 2018 after losing his 14 year old son to suicide. Their goal is to end teen suicide by 2030.***FULL BIOJason is the co-founder of National Services group. NSG is the majority owner of College Work Painting and Empire Construction and Painting. College Works employs college students to paint residential homes across the USA. Operating in thirty states, CWP employs over 2,000 people at the peak of its season every year. CWP is the largest exterior non-franchise residential repaint contractor in the country. Empire operates across the western USA and works with HOA, apartment and commercial clients to fulfill their reconstruction and painting needs. Empire employs over 400 people year round.As a serial entrepreneur, Jason has also been an owner in other businesses over the last 25 years. A few of them include: Platinum Capital, a leading national mortgage bank; Codeit Computing, a software firm with offices on the east and west coasts which did business with the likes of Cisco and the United Nations; New Image, a Home Depot installation partner covering over 900 stores nationwide. And there are others.Extra CreditJason has been a Vistage member for 18 years as well as a member of YEO, YPO and currently WPO This has put him on the board of advisors for over 50 businesses ranging in size from a few million in sales to well over a billion.BalanceIn the last ten years, Jason has earned his Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do. He has also competed in Ironman races around the world, competing in seven 70.3 Ironmans, as well as two full books, and is currently working on his sixth screenplay. He enjoys playing guitar, cooking and spending time with his wife of 25+ years and children.

What is Grasshopper Bank, who it serves and how it is differentDramatic story of fundraising and starting a bankTips for starting a bankHer WHY Her unconventional upbringingChallenges and mistakes, and what she learned from them Women and diversity How COVID-19 is impacting and will impact our way of work and life***Bio:Judith was on the founding executive team for Square 1 Bank in 2005, responsible for venture capital services globally. Square 1 successfully went public in 2014 and was later sold to Pacific Western Bank. She previously worked at Imperial and Comerica. After 35 years in banking, Judith knew it was the time to make significant changes in the commercial banking industry. Her strategy was to build a bank from scratch providing both a modern technological framework and intuitive user experience for the digital entrepreneurs Grasshopper serves.Grasshopper is a digital bank serving founders, their companies, and the investors supporting them across the innovation economy. They make banking simple, secure, effortless and transparent.

Dan spent 14 years as a U.S. Navy SEAL working with the most elite individuals there are. Among those elite few, he saw how effective leadership and teamwork enabled his teammates and himself to accomplish any mission, no matter the odds. After leaving the military, he saw how those same principles, and the lack thereof, affected an organization's ability to accomplish their own missions. As a coach, he is devoted to bringing that knowledge and experience to you through leadership development programs and coaching. His goal is to enable you and your team to operate at the highest level.As a Navy SEAL, he led cross-functional teams in complex operations across the world, designed and implemented three-year training programs for foreign nation special operation forces, managed million dollar budgets, and worked with foreign military and governments to develop local real estate projects for security purposes. After leaving the military, he was partner and VP of Operations at DebtMaven Inc., a debt-financing startup as well as a consultant to companies in various industries.

1843 Capital is an early-stage VC fund focused on cyber, enterprise software, and “Silver Tech.” It invests in companies with at least one female founder.Tracy Chadwell, Founding Partner, has over 19 years experience in venture capital and private equity. She has 6 years of experience investing in early stage companies with a female founder through her personal entity Coyote Capital.Tracy was Partner of a growth capital fund - Baker Capital which had more than $1 Billion under management. As a frequent speaker and startup competition judge, Tracy has developed a broad network in the female founder community. She is a member of Women in VC and Private Equity Women Investor Network. A trusted board member, she serves on the boards of Marstone and Sachs Insights.Her philanthropic work includes the Advisory Board of the MIT Enterprise Forum, Executive Advisor for the Echoing Green Foundation and New York Institute of Technology. She acts as a mentor for both Techstars KC and Monarq.She is an attorney and earned her JD at Loyola University of Chicago. Tracy speaks conversational Japanese and restaurant French.

This episode will change your perspective on life, work, and family, especially during this difficult time.Bio:Homeless and raised on the streets of Honolulu, Dash sold Hawaiian leis to tourists from 5 years old to help feed the familyArrested at 11 years old for shoplifting food. When the cops looked for his mom, she was in jail for prostitutionAt 13, he was adopted by the Wong family15 years in Navy Special Operations (SWCC), including 9 years at DEVGRUSurvived battle with lung cancer in 2017, leaving him with one lungAfter leaving the military in 2019, he traveled the country interviewing veterans for 10 months in a VW bus with his wife, 2 young kids, and a dogHe’s now a Regional Sales Manager at Kill Cliff and lives in Colorado

The entrepreneurial journey is rarely...ok, never...a linear path. Phil Hurley’s Slim Chillers (low calorie alcoholic popsicles) took 6 years before their products hit Costco’s shelves, became a top selling product, got covered by an influential blogger, and then sales skyrocketed.Throughout 2019, Slim Chillers was always behind the demand and every nickel was going into inventory, machinery and growing the business. They needed money to pour fuel on the fire...in comes Caprice Capital to provide $7M of growth financing.Check out this episode to learn about Phil’s journey building Slim Chillers and the process he went through with Caprice.And, yes, Slim Chillers are available during the quarantine.

Why listen to this? Starting with 100 members in Jan 2019, Sam Jacobs has built a 1,400-person, invite-only global community of revenue leaders, charging $100-200/month. He’s also host of the Sales Hacker Podcast (25,000+ downloads).Before Revenue Collective, Sam helped companies scale from just north of $0 in revenue to just shy of $300M. He gets growth. He gets community. Now, more than ever, we need to build community in our respective industries.TOPICSWe go DEEP in this episode and cover:How to build a strong community: homogeneity + curationHaving his back against the wall for 7 years and the long road to entrepreneurshipHow to start a podcastDaily habits & having coachesPlaying the long gameMarketing in a 2020 environmentBIO FROM LINKEDINRevenue Collective is an exclusive membership for growth operators dedicated to providing support, assistance, education, and career growth to our Members. We come together to ensure CROs, CMOs, COOs, and CCOs perform better in their roles, earn the title and compensation they desire, and achieve their professional goals. We are a global organization with official chapters in New York, London, Denver, Toronto, Boston, Indianapolis, and Amsterdam and more chapters coming online in the next few months and years.For the past 15 years, I have helped companies scale from just north of $0 in revenue to just shy of $300M. During that time, I’ve developed deep operational expertise with particular emphasis on go-to-market strategy and execution mainly with SaaS and recurring revenue businesses. I've been a commercial operator at GLG, Livestream/Vimeo, The Muse, and Behavox.We created Revenue Collective based both on my personal experience and the experiences of my friends, partners, and colleagues in the high growth community.Membership is invitation-only and you must be nominated by an existing Member. If you'd like to learn more, feel free to reach out.I also host the Sales Hacker Podcast. My friends and relatives tell me it's pretty good.

It’s not often that you meet someone who is truly a center of influence, a powerbroker, and a pioneer in their industry. Kelly Williams is that individual.TOPICSAt 8 years old, she wrote her first contract with her mom...for a lunchboxThe “Teflon Associate” and working in Japan doing project financeHow focusing on the hard work that others didn’t want to led to co-founding the Customized Fund Investment Group (CFIG), which managed $30B+ for clientsFounding PEWIN, the largest global network of senior women in private equity with over 700 membersBIOKelly Williams is the Founding Chair and Co-CEO of the Private Equity Women Investor Network (PEWIN). Ms. Williams was a founder of the Customized Fund Investment Group (CFIG) at Prudential Insurance Company in 1999. CFIG was a market leader in providing customized solutions in private equity, real estate and infrastructure, with more than $30 billion managed on behalf of clients. The business was moved to DLJ in 2000 (subsequently acquired by Credit Suisse AG) and Ms. Williams served as its Managing Director and Group Head until 2014, when the business was sold to GCM Grosvenor. At GCM Grosvenor she served as President of Private Markets until June of 2015, and a Senior Advisor from 2015 to 2019. Prior to the founding of CFIG, she was an Executive Director with Prudential's private equity group, where she specialized in product development. Prior to joining Prudential in 1993, Ms. Williams was an associate with Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy specializing in project finance.Ms. Williams is a member of the board of the Robert Toigo Foundation, the Olana Partnership, and the National Philanthropic Trust and is the founding board chair of the Private Equity Women Investor Network. She serves as President of the Board of the Nantucket Historical Association. She also serves on the board of trustees and executive committees of Union College and the NY School of Interior Design. She is the Vice Chair of the Board of Commissioners of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. She is an investment committee member of Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. She also serves as the chair of the Limited Partner Advisory Council to the Sponsors for Educational Opportunity. Ms. Williams was appointed in 2015 to the Board of Directors of The Greenbrier Companies (GBX). Ms. Williams has received many awards throughout her career in the financial services industry and was recognized by the National Organization for Women in 2012 with its Women of Power and Influence Award and was named in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 as one of The Most Powerful Women in Finance by American Banker Magazine. She graduated magna cum laude from Union College in 1986 and received her Juris Doctor from New York University School of Law in 1989.

John Stewart is a Partner at MiddleGround, a private equity firm focused on  Industrials & Specialty Distribution companies. He is responsible for overall management of the firm and management of the Investment Team with Lauren Mulholland. John started his career as an hourly line worker at Toyota Motor Corporation and held numerous management and executive positions over an 18-year career. John made the move to private equity in 2007, joining Monomoy Capital as an Operating Partner. In 2010, John was named the Head of Operations and built out the Operations Group over the next six years with Scot Duncan. In 2016, John became a Partner. Throughout his career, John has worked on numerous transactions and served on the Board of Directors of nearly 20 businesses across both middle market and Fortune 100 companies.Topics:- Upbringing in Kentucky- Starting as a second shift team member at Toyota putting bumpers on Camrys, to managing 7,000 people and being the first American to be promoted to run a division for Toyota Motor - Moving to private equity- Co-founding MiddleGround with Lauren Mulholland and Scot Duncan- Leadership & life lessons

Javier Saade is Founder & Managing Partner of Impact Master Holdings which works with insightful people and dynamic companies building a better future. He is also Venture Partner at Fenway Summer, a VC firm that has backed 50+ companies innovating at the intersection of finance & technology. He serves as board member on several prominent companies and previously led the $30B Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program, a growth capital fund capitalizing >300 PE, VC and structured debt limited partnerships investing in 1000s of businesses, including via a $1B Impact Investment Fund.Topics:- His life from operations management at a pharmaceutical company to leading a $30 billion SBIC program to a respected entrepreneur, investor and board member - Traits of successful entrepreneurs - What he learned from his first business failure- His superpower - The SBIC Program and the issue of diversity and inclusion in business - The importance of storytelling for GPs and entrepreneurs - His advice to the 25-year-old version of himself- His “Why”- Doing things differently and doing things that make him feel uncomfortable - How to be an effective board member and what not to do- Consensus building