In this episode of The Mentors Radio, Host Tom Loarie talks with Thom Weisel, a guest whose influence has not only shaped companies, but also culture. A financier and sports leader, Weisel is both Senior Managing Director and a Director of Stifel, a diversified global wealth management and investment banking company. Previously Thom was Chairman and CEO of Thomas Weisel Partners Group, Inc. and Montgomery Securities, one of Silicon Valley’s famed “Four Horsemen”. Thom helped build the financial infrastructure that fueled Silicon Valley’s explosive rise, often referred to as “Wall Street West”. He led the financings behind companies that transformed medicine, semiconductors, and the internet itself. In addition, Weisel was responsible for raising the iconic KLEINER PERKINS’ first venture fund. Along the way, he also exercised his leadership skills toward something entirely different and arguably just as consequential: rebuilding the governance and funding models behind U.S. skiing and U.S. cycling—helping save those sports and elevate American athletes on the world stage. Growing up, Weisel was a five-time U.S. National Junior Champion in Speed Skating, ranked Third in the 1959 U.S. Olympic Trials for the 500 meter in Speed Skating. He remained athletically active the rest of his life, including ranking Third overall in the 1982 U.S. National Master Alpine Championship, in ’85 he launched the Montgomery Cycling Team, four years later he won 2 Gold Medals in 1989 Cycling Kilo & Sprint in the World Master Games in Finland, the following two years he picked up 5 more Gold Medals and a 6th Gold in World Cup Masters Cycling in Kilo in 1991, the same year he was named Masters Athlete of the Year for U.S. Cycling. In 1999, he received the U.S. Ski Association Julius Blegen Award, its highest honor… his athletic achievements continued and in 2018 he was inducted in the U.S. Ski Hall of Fame…. all while pursuing advanced college degrees and innovative business building and exceptional entrepreneurial leadership. Thom Weisel’s is a story of ambition and resilience; of building institutions, losing them, and building again. It’s about competition, yes…but it is also about patience, stewardship, and meaning. LISTEN TO the radio broadcast live on iHeart Radio, or to “THE MENTORS RADIO” podcast any time, anywhere, on any podcast platform – subscribe here and don’t miss an episode!

THOM WEISEL: