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Interview With Darryl Daniels, President & CEO of Jacobsen|Daniels

I had the opportunity to interview Darryl Daniels, President & CEO of Jacobsen|Daniels. In 2001 Mr. Daniels founded this technical and strategy consulting firm in the aviation industry. Today the firm has grown to 9 regional offices across the United States. Jacobsen|Daniels has been involved in many large projects at major airports across the country. We talked about the aftermath of the 9/11, business leadership, startups and entrepreneurial finance, funding options, business growth, and much more.

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2019 Airport Wildlife Training Review

Readers,

This upcoming Monday, August 12, 2019 I will be conducting an Airport Wildlife Training Review at the Raleigh-Durham International Airport. This presentation is a yearly review for personnel directly involved in wildlife hazard mitigation practices at airports.

As the Wildlife Coordinator for the Raleigh-Durham International Airport,  I oversee our wildlife hazard management program. I work closely with multiple state and federal agencies to ensure the airport operates in a safe and efficient manner in accordance with federal regulations.

Here are the details for the presentation:

2019 Wildlife Training Review
August 12, 2019 12:00 pm

Raleigh-Durham International Airport
Airport Operations Center, Room 440
1050 Cargo Drive, RDU Airport, NC 27623

If you are interested in obtaining more information, feel free to reach out to me directly.

Best regards,

-Jose F. Saavedra

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Interview With Tara M. Hernandez, Marketing & Communications Director at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR)

I had the pleasure of interviewing Tara M. Hernandez. She is the Marketing & Communications Director at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR) in Grand Rapids, Michigan. We talked about airport ownership structures, air service development, marketing strategies, branding, and a lot more.

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Harvesting (7th Fundamental of Early-Stage Investing)

The last step of any investment deal is a successful exit – Harvesting. Notice that this statement says nothing about profitability, but rather the ability to walk away from a given deal. In the aviation industry, specifically pilot training, there is a proverb that says “any landing you walk away from, is a good landing.” Most landings are smooth and uneventful, but this statement technically includes crash landing an airplane and surviving the crash. In this regard, harvesting is the same way, ideally, one would like a nice, uneventful, and profitable exit, but should not discard the real possibility of a negative exit. David Amis and Howard Stevenson describe harvesting as, “the endgame of early-stage investments, the financial score by which you will measure your success” (p. 287, 2001). With this thinking in mind, below are some brief descriptions and highlights regarding positive and negative harvesting scenarios. Continue reading “Harvesting (7th Fundamental of Early-Stage Investing)”

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Supporting (6th Fundamental of Early-Stage Investing)

It takes more than money for an investment to flourish. This is especially true for startups and early-stage investment opportunities. Angel investors typically possess an additional number of skills and resources that increase the likelihood of success for a business. Startups will need these skills and resources to achieve early-stage milestones called Value Events. The level of support offered to a startup will largely depend on three critical factors: the investor(s) participation role, value events, and the type of startup. The crossroads of these three factors are further explored below in an attempt to better understand Supporting as a key fundamental of early-stage investing. Continue reading “Supporting (6th Fundamental of Early-Stage Investing)”

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Negotiating (5th Fundamental of Early-Stage Investing)

Negotiating is perhaps the most romanticized aspect of partaking in an investment opportunity. The idea of meeting room negotiations is widely portrayed as the climax of movies, in TV advertisements, and other media outputs. However, David Amis and Howard Stevenson suggest that it is often the shortest stage because many winning investors simply do not negotiate (p. 225, 2001). On the other hand, they also acknowledge that “Negotiation will almost certainly bring improved terms” (p. 228, 2001). Unlike other fundamentals of early-stage investing, negotiating is not a spectrum of choices. Negotiating starts with a choice between actually negotiating and not negotiating at all. Both are valid options and deserve further analysis to better understand the intricacies of negotiating early-stage investment deals. Continue reading “Negotiating (5th Fundamental of Early-Stage Investing)”

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Structuring (4th Fundamental of Early-Stage Investing)

While some fundamentals are open to interpretation, early-stage structuring seems to have a more specific foundation. The principles behind structuring early-stage investment deals are to keep it simple, comprehensive, yet unrestrictive for future funding rounds. Regardless of the structure employed, it is important to consider its implications on future funding rounds. A simpler structure will speed up negotiations as the venture transitions from the angel round to VC funding. Below you will find some structuring highlights and links to helpful resources. Continue reading “Structuring (4th Fundamental of Early-Stage Investing)”

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Valuing (3rd Fundamental of Early-Stage Investing)

After discussing Sourcing and Evaluating, it is time to look at the process of Valuing early-stage investment deals. An important lesson learned from those prior discussions is that there is more than one way to accomplish each of those two functions. Valuing early-stage business opportunities follows the same pattern. There is more than one way to value early-stage investment deals and there are numerous considerations influencing this decision-making process. Continue reading “Valuing (3rd Fundamental of Early-Stage Investing)”

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Evaluating (2nd Fundamental of Early-Stage Investing)

The best way to approach evaluating early-stage investment deals (or any deals for that matter), is to think of it as an ongoing process. The idea behind evaluating investment deal is to cover all bases to determine its potential and suitability to an angel investor’s portfolio. A thorough evaluation of an investment deal will lead to an investment opportunity or a rejection. Both of these outcomes have important takeaways and are worthy of further analysis. There is no scientific formula for evaluating investment deals; however, there is plenty of steps that can be taken to assess an opportunity objectively. Continue reading “Evaluating (2nd Fundamental of Early-Stage Investing)”

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Interview With Arnulfo Valdez, Investment Associate with Backstage Capital

I recently had the opportunity to interview Backstage Capital investment associate Arnulfo “Chacho” Valdez. Backstage Capital is a unique seed-stage investing firm that specializes in startups founded by founders who identify as women, person of color, and/or LGBTQ. We talked about entrepreneurship, startups, seed-stage investing, financial capital, and much more.