167 - Charlie Eadie - West Point Graduate & Founder, General Partner, CMD Capital (1 of 2)

Nick Smith - Navy Veteran & Partner, 37th & Moss

From a young age, Nick had a desire to take to the skies, inspired by his Great Uncle's job of flying F-86s during the Korean War and his Grandfather's service in the Air Force. Opting for the Navy, he fulfilled his passion for flying as an F-18 test pilot during his active duty service. Post-military life, Nick set his sights on entrepreneurship, gaining valuable experience in small businesses at a bank. This journey led him to join forces with a business school colleague, giving birth to 37th and Moss – a dynamic search fund dedicated to empowering entrepreneurs in acquiring and running small businesses.

37th & Moss

Learn More

Nick Smith Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-b-smith/

37th & Moss

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/37th-and-moss/

Website: https://www.37thandmoss.com/

VeteranCrowd Network

Our "forever promise" is to build the veteran and military spouse community a place to connect and engage. VeteranCrowd is simply a national network of veterans, veteran led businesses and the resources they need to prosper. Subscribe to stay in touch.

 Discount Heroes by VeteranCrowd Network

Why do thousands of merchants put us through a bootcamp to join their loyalty program? Why do they make checkout an obstacle course?

It’s embarrassing. Time consuming. Intrusive. Cumbersome. Broken.

Why?

Because no one ever built a simple & secure way to validate our veteran status at checkout.

Until now.

Want to be recognized at select merchants simply by swiping your existing Visa card?

Join our waitlist and be one of the first veterans to have this power in your wallet.

About Your Host

Bob Louthan is a VMI Graduate, Army veteran, and executive with over 25 years of experience in mergers, acquisitions and private capital formation. He founded the VeteranCrowd Network to bring veterans and veteran-led businesses together with each other and the resources they need to prosper.

Sherman Williams & Emily McMahan - Academy Investor Network, Helping Service Academy Graduates Invest in Venture-backed Startups

Sherman Williams is a Naval Academy graduate. After serving as a Naval Intelligence Officer, he headed to Chicago’s Booth School to study finance and landed himself in investment banking. While in banking he started investing and advising startups. This was a perfect segue to co-founding Academy Investor Network.

Emily McMahan is a WestPoint Academy graduate. After her time in the Army as a Military Police Officer, she has always been focused around community and working with entrepreneurs. She has a passion to work with startup companies and founded Capitol Post, which taught military veterans how to start and grow businesses, a great foundation for beginning the Academy Investor Network. She is also the Deputy Director at the Common Mission Project, an international platform supporting mission-driven entrepreneurs.

Academy Investor Network

Academy Investor Network was founded in 2020. From Sherman’s and Emily’s own academy experience they personally saw the unique population that made up the graduates. They wanted to offer an investment syndicate for U.S. Service Academy graduates to invest in venture-backed startups. “We enable every Service Academy graduate to connect, learn and invest in the venture asset class.” 

Learn More

Sherman Williams Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sherman-williams/

Emily McMahan Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilymcmahan/

Academy Investor Network

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/academy-investor-network/

Website: https://academyinvestor.com/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/AIN_members

VeteranCrowd Network

Our "forever promise" is to build the veteran and military spouse community a place to connect and engage. VeteranCrowd is simply a national network of veterans, veteran led businesses and the resources they need to prosper. Subscribe to stay in touch, or consider if Individual or Corporate Membership in the Network is a fit for you.

 by VeteranCrowd Network

Why do thousands of merchants put us through a bootcamp to join their loyalty program? Why do they make checkout an obstacle course?

It’s embarrassing. Time consuming. Intrusive. Cumbersome. Broken.

Why?

Because no one ever built a simple & secure way to validate our veteran status at checkout.

Until now.

Want to be recognized at select merchants simply by swiping your existing Visa card?

Join our waitlist and be one of the first veterans to have this power in your wallet.

About Your Host

Bob Louthan is a VMI Graduate, Army veteran, and executive with over 25 years of experience in mergers, acquisitions and private capital formation. He founded the VeteranCrowd Network to bring veterans and veteran-led businesses together with each other and the resources they need to prosper.

Learn More

Bull City Ventures Website: www.bcvp.com

VeteranCrowd Network

Our "forever promise" is to build the veteran and military spouse community a place to connect and engage. VeteranCrowd is simply a national network of veterans, veteran led businesses and the resources they need to prosper. Subscribe to stay in touch.

 Discount Heroes by VeteranCrowd Network

Why do thousands of merchants put us through a bootcamp to join their loyalty program? Why do they make checkout an obstacle course?

It’s embarrassing. Time consuming. Intrusive. Cumbersome. Broken.

Why?

Because no one ever built a simple & secure way to validate our veteran status at checkout.

Until now.

Want to be recognized at select merchants simply by swiping your existing Visa card?

Join our waitlist and be one of the first veterans to have this power in your wallet.

About Your Host

Bob Louthan is a VMI Graduate, Army veteran, and executive with over 25 years of experience in mergers, acquisitions and private capital formation. He founded the VeteranCrowd Network to bring veterans and veteran-led businesses together with each other and the resources they need to prosper.

Brandon Shelton - Removing the Barriers to Capital for Veterans, TFX Capital

Brandon grew up in rural Virginia. He was part of a long line of military service. This led him to utilize the ROTC program and attend the University of Richmond. After being commissioned as an Airborne Infantry Officer in the U.S Army. and serving for eight years he landed himself on Wall Street. This was the beginning of Brandon’s experience in the financial realm. He worked hard and received his MBA from Duke University. 

It was through these years that Brandon began the passion and desire to remove the barriers to capital for veterans. He firmly believes that Veterans make great startup founders because of their experience in service. According to the Small Business Administration, 1 in 10 small businesses in the United States are owned and operated by Veterans. This is despite that less than half a percent of the the U.S. population has served in the military.  Knowing this in 2015 Brandon founded TFX Capital

Task Force X Capital Management

Started in 2015, TFX Capital “invests in service driven, high performing and commercially tested former military and national security leaders.”

Learn More

Visit Brandon Shelton's  LinkedIn Profile 
Visit Task Force X Capital Management
Check out their Instagram @taskforcexcap

Email:  bshelton@tfxcap.com

VeteranCrowd Network

Our "forever promise" is to build the veteran and military spouse community a place to connect and engage. VeteranCrowd is simply a national network of veterans, veteran led businesses and the resources they need to prosper. Subscribe to stay in touch.

 Discount Heroes by VeteranCrowd Network

Why do thousands of merchants put us through a bootcamp to join their loyalty program? Why do they make checkout an obstacle course?

It’s embarrassing. Time consuming. Intrusive. Cumbersome. Broken.

Why?

Because no one ever built a simple & secure way to validate our veteran status at checkout.

Until now.

Want to be recognized at select merchants simply by swiping your existing Visa card?

Join our waitlist and be one of the first veterans to have this power in your wallet.

About Your Host

Bob Louthan is a VMI Graduate, Army veteran, and executive with over 25 years of experience in mergers, acquisitions and private capital formation. He founded the VeteranCrowd Network to bring veterans and veteran-led businesses together with each other and the resources they need to prosper.

Brendan Aronson - USMC Veteran, Co-Founder & CEO The Military Veteran

Learn More

Brendan's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/derrenburrell/

The Military Veteran Website: https://www.themilvet.org/

MilVet Startup Conference:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/military-veteran-startup-conference-2024-tickets-528521832027

VeteranCrowd Network

Our "forever promise" is to build the veteran and military spouse community a place to connect and engage. VeteranCrowd is simply a national network of veterans, veteran led businesses and the resources they need to prosper. Subscribe to stay in touch.

Discount Hereoes by VeteranCrowd Network

Why do thousands of merchants put us through a bootcamp to join their loyalty program? Why do they make checkout an obstacle course?

It’s embarrassing. Time consuming. Intrusive. Cumbersome. Broken.

Why?

Because no one ever built a simple & secure way to validate our veteran status at checkout.

Until now.

Want to be recognized at select merchants simply by swiping your existing Visa card?

Join our waitlist and be one of the first veterans to have this power in your wallet.

About Your Host

Bob Louthan is a VMI Graduate, Army veteran, and executive with over 25 years of experience in mergers, acquisitions and private capital formation. He founded the VeteranCrowd Network to bring veterans and veteran-led businesses together with each other and the resources they need to prosper.

Ryan Micheletti - The Veteran Fund & Founder Institute 

Ryan Micheletti served in the California State Military Reserve for six years. He would tell you that he learned leadership, resilience and the value of a team during his time in service. This laid the foundation for his journey as an entrepreneur.  He began by starting a security company with his brother. This grew from just the two of them working overtime to now being the 2nd largest veteran owned business in the San Francisco bay area. They focus on hiring veterans. Ryan has also helped to found Vet-Tech, which works with startups by providing “advanced mentorship, traction with corporate partners and access to our international investor network.”  Ryan’s most recent endeavor was co-founding The Veteran Fund in 2021.  He truly believes that “a veteran founder, is one of the most powerful change agents that we have to actually drive positive impact in the world.” In addition to the Veteran Fund Ryan is the Head of Global Operations for Founders Institute, the world's largest pre-seed start up accelerator. For the last 10 years, he's been leading the operations team there as head of operations to help us scale to 7,000 portfolio companies across 200 cities with a mentor network of 35,000 mentors.

“The Veteran Fund is an early stage venture capital firm based in Silicon Valley that invests in top military veteran-led technology startups. The Veteran Fund finds, funds and scales top performing startups within the military veteran and spouse community by leveraging our unique access to the global startup ecosystem and our partners' experience launching thousands of startups worldwide.”

Learn More

Ryan Micheletti LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanmicheletti

Website:  https://veteran.fund

Veteran Startup:  fi.co

Applying for Funding: veteran.fund.startup

VeteranCrowd Network

Our "forever promise" is to build the veteran and military spouse community a place to connect and engage. VeteranCrowd is simply a national network of veterans, veteran led businesses and the resources they need to prosper. Subscribe to stay in touch.

 Discount Heroes by VeteranCrowd Network

Why do thousands of merchants put us through a bootcamp to join their loyalty program? Why do they make checkout an obstacle course?

It’s embarrassing. Time consuming. Intrusive. Cumbersome. Broken.

Why?

Because no one ever built a simple & secure way to validate our veteran status at checkout.

Until now.

Want to be recognized at select merchants simply by swiping your existing Visa card?

Join our waitlist and be one of the first veterans to have this power in your wallet.

About Your Host

Bob Louthan is a VMI Graduate, Army veteran, and executive with over 25 years of experience in mergers, acquisitions and private capital formation. He founded the VeteranCrowd Network to bring veterans and veteran-led businesses together with each other and the resources they need to prosper.

Derren Burrell - Air Force Veteran, Founder Veteran Ventures Capital

Derren is back on the Mission Oriented podcast sharing an update on Veteran Ventures Capital, his advice for entrepreneurs in the current economy and about his excitement connect with others at the upcoming MilVet Startup Conference next month. 

Derren Burrell’s father was a Citadel graduate of 1964. It was an indoctrination that began young but led Derren to graduate from The Military College of South Carolina, class of 1994. He hadn’t planned on commissioning but upon graduation did in the Air Force. He served 21 years as a financial management officer. This laid the ground work for his work in the civilian sector. Immediately upon retirement from the Air Force he went to work for TAG Resources, a financial services company. He would attribute his success at TAG Resources to his military experience. He was able to help the company grow exponentially. This led to him being tasked to raise 2 million dollars. It was this specific experience that eventually led him to found Veteran Ventures Capital.  He realized the struggle of raising capital but especially for veteran entrepreneurs.

Veteran Ventures Capital

Veteran Ventures Capital founded in 2015 is an investment and consulting firm focused on scaling veteran-owned businesses. Derren is the founder and president. He “oversees all aspects of the company operations and fund management of Veteran Fund I which invest in early stage / growth companies.”  Find more information below.

Learn More

Darren’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/derrenburrell/

Veteran Ventures Capital Website:  https://www.veteranventures.us/

NOVA Veterans Association

Northern Virginia Veteran Association is  “one point of entry for comprehensive support”. This unique approach helps the whole veteran get care. “We are the only local veteran nonprofit that performs a comprehensive veteran intake, determines priority of needs, case manages, coordinates with multiple potential service providers, advocates, and provides continual follow up to ensure services are received and continued as needed.”

Learn More

Website: www.novavets.org

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/cartermattj

VeteranCrowd Network

Our "forever promise" is to build the veteran and military spouse community a place to connect and engage. VeteranCrowd is simply a national network of veterans, veteran led businesses and the resources they need to prosper. Subscribe to stay in touch.

 by VeteranCrowd Network

Why do thousands of merchants put us through a bootcamp to join their loyalty program? Why do they make checkout an obstacle course?

It’s embarrassing. Time consuming. Intrusive. Cumbersome. Broken.

Why?

Because no one ever built a simple & secure way to validate our veteran status at checkout.

Until now.

Want to be recognized at select merchants simply by swiping your existing Visa card?

Join our waitlist and be one of the first veterans to have this power in your wallet.

About Your Host

Bob Louthan is a VMI Graduate, Army veteran, and executive with over 25 years of experience in mergers, acquisitions and private capital formation. He founded the VeteranCrowd Network to bring veterans and veteran-led businesses together with each other and the resources they need to prosper.

Gregg F. Martin - Army Major General (Ret.), Author, Bipolar Survivor & Thriver

Gregg Martin is a retired major general and a distinguished 36-year Army combat veteran who has left an indelible mark on the military. Throughout his illustrious career, he commanded various military units, including an engineer company, battalion, and the 130th Engineer Brigade in combat.

Beyond the battlefield, he held esteemed positions such as the president of the National Defense University, commander of Ft. Leonard Wood, and commandant of the Army War College. What makes Gregg's journey truly remarkable is his unwavering resilience in the face of bipolar disorder, a personal battle he openly shares about in his book BIPOLAR GENERAL: My Forever War with Mental Illness.

Gregg Martin's journey exemplifies an indomitable spirit that offers hope and inspiration to others confronting challenges in their lives.

BIPOLAR GENERAL: My Forever War with Mental Illness

"This memoir serves as both an education and a source of inspiration, aiming to dispel the stigma around mental illness, alleviate suffering, and save lives, aligning with my personal mission. It tracks my journey through the ups and downs of bipolar disorder.  In sharing my story, I hope to offer a beacon of hope, a spark of inspiration, the power of love and faith, and knowledge that could be life-saving.” 

Learn More

Website:  www.bipolargeneral.com

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregg-f-martin-222735aa/

VeteranCrowd Network

Our "forever promise" is to build the veteran and military spouse community a place to connect and engage. VeteranCrowd is simply a national network of veterans, veteran led businesses and the resources they need to prosper. Subscribe to stay in touch.

 by VeteranCrowd Network

Why do thousands of merchants put us through a bootcamp to join their loyalty program? Why do they make checkout an obstacle course?

It’s embarrassing. Time consuming. Intrusive. Cumbersome. Broken.

Why?

Because no one ever built a simple & secure way to validate our veteran status at checkout.

Until now.

Want to be recognized at select merchants simply by swiping your existing Visa card?

Join our waitlist and be one of the first veterans to have this power in your wallet.

About Your Host

Bob Louthan is a VMI Graduate, Army veteran, and executive with over 25 years of experience in mergers, acquisitions and private capital formation. He founded the VeteranCrowd Network to bring veterans and veteran-led businesses together with each other and the resources they need to prosper.

Brendan Duebner - Army Veteran, Founder & CEO of Life Skills for Soldiers

Life Skills for Soldiers

Learn More

Email:  info@lifeskillsforsoldiers.org

Website: LifeSkillsforSoliders.org

LinkedIn:  www.linkedin.com/in/brendan-duebner-34737197

VeteranCrowd Network

Our "forever promise" is to build the veteran and military spouse community a place to connect and engage. VeteranCrowd is simply a national network of veterans, veteran led businesses and the resources they need to prosper. Subscribe to stay in touch.

 by VeteranCrowd Network

Why do thousands of merchants put us through a bootcamp to join their loyalty program? Why do they make checkout an obstacle course?

It’s embarrassing. Time consuming. Intrusive. Cumbersome. Broken.

Why?

Because no one ever built a simple & secure way to validate our veteran status at checkout.

Until now.

Want to be recognized at select merchants simply by swiping your existing Visa card?

Join our waitlist and be one of the first veterans to have this power in your wallet.

About Your Host

Bob Louthan is a VMI Graduate, Army veteran, and executive with over 25 years of experience in mergers, acquisitions and private capital formation. He founded the VeteranCrowd Network to bring veterans and veteran-led businesses together with each other and the resources they need to prosper.