Service Academy Business Mastermind

"I think all of us who left the Academy know how to adapt and learn in often a rapid, stressful environment. I think that's the hallmark of Academy grads…all of us have learned the skill of learning how to learn. Part of it is having the confidence to know you have that skill." - Niv Caviar (USAFA '90) Niv Caviar is the CEO of Spine Ovations, Inc., a clinical-stage medical device company developin...

"We want to be the dominant player in professional education and usher in an entirely new era of professional education. We want to be the medical education platform for a mobile generation." - Christ West (USMA '88) Chris West (USMA '88) is the Chief Operating Officer of ConveyMed, the number one app for Continuing Medical Education (CME) that aggregates content from leading medical education pod...

"Grittiness and the ability to wear multiple hats simultaneously are the two areas that I see as being big lessons from my time in the military and that have carried over and proved true in spades as the leader of an early-stage startup." - Matt McBride (USNA '06) Matt McBride is a dynamic healthcare leader that has spent the last decade guiding early-stage technologies to the commercial market, m...

"Being the leader of a business is sometimes a lonely spot to be in whether you're leading 10 people or 1000 people. The ability to have someone else to lean on and ideate with, to have conversations with and to think about the next steps with is really important. The more you understand about yourself, the better and more effective you will be as a business owner."   - Jeff Evenson (USMA '90) Jef...

"Almost 80% of the buyers' journey is not attributable. We focus on the 20% that is. Our recommendation is also to focus on the dark funnel, where that 80% are feeding and getting their thought leadership from." - Matt Bolian (USMA '11) Matt Bolian is the Co-Founder of RevPartners, a company that designs, builds and executes revenue operations to support holistic go to market strategies for scalin...

"My formula is 1) develop your relationship with God, 2) when you make big decisions, seek advice from those who are wiser than you, and 3) act. Action says I'm prepared to accept the risks and any consequences associated with this decision. This kind of mentality will help you move forward in any area of your life." - Burnie Lund (USNA '03) Burnie Lund (USNA '03) graduated with a degree in Chemis...

"Not having a paycheck for the first time in my life and taking a jump into the unknown was scary as hell, but honestly, I don't think I've ever felt more fulfilled in my career since making that decision. I was thinking, this feels great…I'm having a blast. For the first time in my life, it opened my eyes to the fact there's a different way of living, there's a different way of doing things. It's...

 "What I discovered, which is the most important message of everything we're saying, is that you have to become an authentic person. An authentic person knows who they are, you have discovered your gifts and powers, you have forgiven those that have wounded you, healed the wounds, you are trusting your intuition, you're confident, you're courageous, you're fearless."   - JD Messinger (USNA '81) Jo...

"There have been times through the years when I've had a complex relationship with my experience of going through the ups and downs of being a student at the Naval Academy. But now, at this point, I would say that for the last 10 years of my professional journey in particular, it's explicitly no question that my experience in the military has been everything to me in terms of my ability to take on...

"My belief is not what the business is, but in people, that's one thing I've learned throughout my career is teaming up with the right people."  – Henry Russell (USNA '03) "I'm a true believer that the strength of your ally determines the strength of your outcome. It's never about me, it's the team that we put together and about the people who are out there helping us achieve the mission. And I'm...

"Our priority is to do well while doing good…Diversity says there's a difference between one person and the next. Inclusion identifies the value of that difference. That's what we need for our veterans, that difference needs to be valued by the civilian marketplace, and it needs to be harnessed so that the collective can be better than the individual." - Cal Quinn (USNA '97) Cal Quinn (USNA '97) i...

"I just want to double down on the idea of letting go…you have no idea how quickly the universe will deliver what you want if you get out of the way. What's the beam of light that you want to stand under? Don't block it! It's important to have goals. Be true to what you actually want to achieve, don't place any filters on it, write it down, and let it go. Work and do your thing, but be open to how...

"If you want to find a way to transition out, it's possible, right? It's possible but it really starts with knowing what you want…just because you're not a commander doesn't mean you're not a leader. You can still find other ways to lead…there's so much opportunity in the civilian world, to still make a difference and influence people in a positive way, through your leadership through your own gif...

Ryan Martin (USMA '11) is a West Point graduate and Co-Owner of Fulfillment CO, a personable and startup-friendly fulfillment center in Colorado Springs, CO. Concurrent to Ryan's military career as a Blackhawk helicopter pilot, which includes two combat deployments to Afghanistan, Ryan handles all new client outreach, software integrations, and onboarding. Ryan also serves as Fulfillment CO's "Spe...

Frank Scappaticci is a U.S. Army veteran and full time real-estate professional and partner with Gray Line Investments. Over the past five years Gray Line Investments has become successful in single family and small multi family investing and completed over 100 deals. The company now focuses the majority of their attention on self storage facilities. Prior to his career in real estate investing, F...

Scott Leishman (USMA '77) has over thirty years of experience in B2B sales and marketing. After working for West Point Association of Graduates as Assistant Director of Career Services, Scott decided to buy a shipping and freight franchise with his son. InXpress is an international shipping and freight consulting firm and authorized sales partner for world class courier companies including DHL, TN...

"My whole goal, whoever I coach or whoever I'm working with, is clarity. I want you to have clarity about where you're going…I help people get better at what they do." -Gary Slyman (USNA '81) Gary Slyman (USNA' 81 ) is President and Founder of Great Transitions Strategies, a Leadership Consulting and Coaching practice with the mission to empower individuals and organizations to reach the next leve...

"The most important thing you know is what you don't know…we present opportunities to people. We look at the law, we look at the code, and we say here's something you could do that will have this impact."  - Geoffrey Dietrich (USMA '00) Geoffrey Dietrich (USMA '00) is a full-time Managing Partner of Cantley Dietrich, PC, a national boutique law firm of experienced tax attorneys servicing high net-...

"The goal of this program is not to give you a checklist of things you have to do in ten days, the goal is to shift the way that you're showing up so that your reflexive self becomes your best self...You can't un-see the perspectives that you create as a result of what you do through Madefor. You're going to see things a little bit differently and you're going to see things in a way that is aligne...

"Networking is not what you can get, it's what you can give. If you're willing to give and to give over time and to give without an ulterior motive, then more than likely if you need something it will be available in the network that you've established already because you gave first." - Kymberli Speight (USAFA '87) Kymberli Speight (USAFA '87) is passionate about helping people build relationships...

"Abandon the fantasy of, hey, I'm going to get to this level and have everything figured out. That's a dangerous mindset to have because you should always be trying to get better and learn more and keep pushing yourself...don't have the grass is greener mentality. The comparison game will kill you. It's always a grind and I have utmost patience and respect for anybody putting themselves out there...

"It's great to get together with like-minded individuals to discuss the things that bring us together and certainly, the vetrepreneur community that we're part of is something that's growing and thriving...we wanted to create a fund that addressed the veteran network because we know how veterans have this incredible ability to execute and get things done. They've served their country, they continu...

"When starting a business, subject matter expertise makes all the difference and it gives you credibility."  - Simone Zacharias , USAFA '12  Simone Zacharias is an Acquisitions Officer in the U.S. Space Force and COO and Co-Founder of GoBeagle, Inc, a company that helps business owners conquer corporate compliance by helping them keep all their legal entities in good standing. She graduated from t...

"I am extremely happy...waking up and going to work everyday is fun. The "Sunday Scaries," those feelings you get before going back to work on Monday, are gone. It's fantastic." -Beth Sutey (USMA '07) Before leaving active duty military service, Beth Sutey served in Italy, Afghanistan and Iraq. Following active duty, Beth worked for Amazon.com in Transportation Execution and joined the U.S. Army R...

"I always struggled to fit into a mold...people in Africa didn't want to fit me into a mold, they wanted to know who I was. There was no mold to fill and I really held onto that. I saw the impacts of having genuine conversations with people with no expectations or knowledge on either side of who the other person was or who they were in the past. Those interactions are liberating and we're trying t...