Service Academy Business Mastermind

"For me, the greater the challenge, the more fun it will be." - Scott Chesson Scott Chesson (USNA '84) is a highly experienced finance executive with over 20 years of experience as the CFO of several small to medium-sized businesses. After graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy with a mathematics degree, Scott served as a Surface Warfare Officer and got a masters degree in accounting. In 2020, Sco...

"We work with people who are unwilling to accept that life is going to be boring...people who want to go out and grow together, to be excited, to make things an adventure, to look at the next challenge as a mountain to climb rather than a drudgery to push through. We're looking for people who want to be better leaders, who want to show up more authentically and more intentionally as leaders, and w...

"What would you do if you knew you would not fail? Fail as many times as you need to be successful. You only fail when you quit." - Randy Wimmer (USNA '91) We're so excited to have Randy Wimmer (USNA '91) on the SABM podcast today.  After 10 years of active duty military service, Randy launched his first Federal Government contracting company from his home after his kids went to bed and later sold...

"Instead of thinking about re-growing hair, we're helping men to embrace and accept hair loss. Our mission is to empower the bald and balding to live their best lives through our online community and we've created a skincare routine around that...I struggled with losing my hair and created MANTL,Inc. to help men through that process." -Pete Ricci (USMA '02)   Pete Ricci is CEO and Co-Founder of MA...

"Nothing will ever feel as good as striking someone out in front of 40,000 people, but helping new clients realize what they can accomplish for their families with the financial resources they have and seeing the look of relief and amazement on their faces comes pretty close."  - Mitchell Harris (USNA '08) In this episode, we discuss: How Mitch balanced military service and a professional baseball...

"It's a specialty field, but if you can find and understand the risk, you can find the potential value to capture on a real estate purchase...I heard it described as a bond investment wrapped in real estate and I resonate with that. There's consistent cash flow securitized by the credit of the company and there's a lot of value in that because there aren't tons of players in that space right now."...

"Sometimes old rules are the best...be nice to your friends, treat people well, and if there's someone you want to meet, provide them with value." - Jason Williscroft (USNA '95) Jason Williscroft is a U.S. Navy veteran and Founder and CEO of Tribify, LLC, an enterprise-grade, AI-enhanced data management system that leverages the power of social networking to help businesses find future customers,...

Joe is a financial attorney and co-owner of ASR Alternative Investments with over 20 years of experience in both the legal and financial industries. After graduating with a degree in Electrical Engineering from the United States Air Force Academy, Joe was commissioned and served as an A-10A Thunderbolt II fighter pilot and was stationed in the United Kingdom and West Germany. Joe also received his...

Hersh Rai and Nick Vu (USNA '19) have set the record for the youngest Academy grads on the podcast!  Hersch and Nick are both active duty in the Navy, stationed in Hawaii and Florida, and are partners in RaiVu Capital, a real estate investment firm that invests in multifamily real estate and mobile home parks. In this episode, we discuss: How they got started in real estate investing and how they...

Click here to register for the Real Estate Investing Accelerator 2.0 Discovery Webinar on Saturday, September 18th! "People love the content, the fact that it's military and action-based...I care about helping people get closer to their goal of financial freedom. That's it. The results people have attained has skyrocketed because of how the course is structured. We all sharpen each other. The netw...

"I'm really passionate about understanding as much as possible and sharing as much as possible on what it takes to be successful as a small B2B business owner...whether you're a client or not. It's a tough job and we're here to guide B2B business owners through the process." -David Wuensch (USMA '77) Following graduation from West Point, David served as an Artillery Officer in the U.S. Army. He we...

" If you can get the right tools behind you and understand where your vision will take you, there are no limits to what you can do. " - Greg Martin (USAFA '98)   Greg Martin (USAFA '98) is a Principal at The Enginuity Group in Charlotte, North Carolina where he provides boutique M&A services including buy-side advising, sell-side advising, business scaling, and other M&A services. Greg's military...

I want to share our story. Our goal is to help you figure out what your next step is. I'd love to hear from you and connect, not only with the real estate side of things, but also if you're interested in RV living, mountain biking, or traveling around America the Beautiful ." - Victor Thompson (USAFA '07)   Victor Thompson (USAFA '07) is a lifestyle entrepreneur, real estate investor, and military...

David Duncavage (USMA '75) joins us on the podcast with a background very different from many of our previous guests. David was a linebacker on the West Point football team and an infantry officer before he became a Trappist monk. He then joined the corporate world, working in companies that developed cutting edge technologies. David is now an executive coach and founder of Monk Coach where he hel...

"This deal reinvigorated me. Being part of the Real Estate Accelerator gave me a new focus where I applied what I learned to go after what I wanted." - Jeff Quinn (USAFA '93)   "This is the best deal I've ever been part of. Action is the number one thing that separates the dream from reality...seize control of your fear and plow forward." - Buddy Rushing (USNA '04)   "Money moves at the speed of t...

Ty Rose (USNA '06) is a Managing Director at Oaklins Capital Alliance , a leading international mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and financial advisory firm. In his role as Managing Director, Ty focuses on working with business owners to capitalize on acquisition opportunities.   In this episode, we discuss: The  typical process Oaklins walks business owners through to achieve a successful sale Comm...

John Schwartz (USMA '86) is the Founder and President of the Center For Combating Elder Financial Abuse .  His Center is focused on reducing elder financial abuse by providing innovative detection and prevention solutions. Prior to establishing the Center, John served his country for over three decades in the Army and FBI.  In this episode, we discuss: His  best tips for preventing elderly financi...

Dan Yokoyama (USMA '05) is a commercial insurance broker with Clarke & Sampson , a company focused on helping business owners mitigate risk. Although Dan never dreamed of being in the insurance field, he has become very passionate about helping business owners protect their businesses with commercial insurance.  In this episode, we discuss: His tips for the type of insurance coverage every busines...

Chase Hobby (USNA '07) is the Co-Founder of VRB Labs , a CBD company focused on optimizing physical and cognitive performance.  Coming off active duty, Chase and his business partner Evan Seale (USMA '10) joined forces while at Wharton Business School to create a company focused on creating a clean, safe, and effective CBD product for elite military veterans. In this episode, we discuss: His perso...

Brendan Aronson (USNA '12) is the Co-Founder and CFO of Paintru , a company that turns photos into custom paintings.  Through their network of artists, Paintru makes it easy to turn your most cherished moments and memories into a work of art.   In this episode, we discuss: His moment of clarity that led him to bet on himself as an entrepreneur How Paintru can turn your photos into custom paintings...

Barry Lingelbach (USMA '99) is the Co-Founder of BlackGreyGold and Slides Wizard , two companies that he started with his West Point classmate, Matthew Hargrove. Matt and Barry started BlackGreyGold to help small to medium-sized companies shorten the path to success and they started Slides Wizard to help people create winning pitch decks. In this episode, we discuss: Why he decided to go into busi...

Ricky Waters (USNA '06) is a professional engineer and Principal with Bowman Consulting leading the Charleston, SC and Charlotte, NC offices.  At Bowman, Ricky works with a broad range of clients on real estate development projects such as large commercial development and master-planned communities.  Ricky also plays an important role in our 10X Vets program as the leader of the 10X Vets Real Esta...

Jordan Foley (USNA '12) is the Founder and CEO of Chow , a community-focused nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide active vocational food truck training to veterans and military spouses.  Chow seeks to provide its fellows with a "Food Truck MBA" and offers everything from food safety and culinary instruction to marketing and business training.  In this episode, we discuss: Why Jordan...

Josi Heron (USCGA '00) is the Founder and CEO of Waypoints Equity, a company that empowers like-minded real estate investors to reach financial freedom through passive income with tax benefits. They buy, renovate and operate multifamily properties with teams and partners in growing U.S. markets.  She is a graduate of Real Estate Accelerator class 2020-1. In this episode, we discuss: How Josi is us...

Michael Cashman (USMA '91) is an estate planning and business attorney.  He served as an infantry officer and Airborne Ranger before attending law school.  Michael runs his own firm based in California and Hawaii in addition to serving as a lawyer for the Hawaiian Air Guard.  He is the recipient of Lawyer's Weekly Leadership in Law Award and has been recognized for two consecutive years as a risin...