For this episode, Bob sits down to talk with Caroline Chapdelaine, the CEO of Northstar Photonics, about the lessons she learned from her business acquisition.

Caroline is an experienced executive leader. She has worked in national security, defense, and aerospace throughout her career. She served in the US Army as a Military Intelligence Officer on tours in Korea, Thailand, and Afghanistan. Caroline has worked at a range of large defense programs with Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, L3Harris, Draper Laboratories, and countless others. She received her MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

During this episode, Bob talks with Seth Cogswell, the Managing Partner and Founder of Running Oak Capital, about launching an exchange-traded fund (ETF).

Prior to founding Running Oak, Seth was a trader and portfolio manager of the Trillium Multi Horizon Fund, a multi-strategy long/short hedge fund.

Seth received his MBA from The Wharton School for which he was a recipient of the Goldman Sachs H.R. Young Scholarship. He received his undergraduate degree in Decision Making Sciences/Operations Research from the University of North Carolina.

For this conversation, Bob talks with Christoph Westphal MD, PhD, Co-founder and General Partner of Longwood Fund, about investing in biotech.

Dr. Westphal is co-founder and General Partner of Longwood Fund and has spent over 20 years as a biotech CEO, entrepreneur, and investor. Dr. Westphal has been the co-founder, CEO, and lead investor of seven biotechnology companies that have completed initial public offerings (IPOs) and created sustained market value of over $45 billion and have developed and received FDA approval for over 10 important drugs. 

For this episode, Bob speaks to Exequiel (Zeke) Hernandez who is the Max and Bernice Garchik Family Presidential Associate Professor at The Wharton School.

During their conversation they discuss the connection between immigration and economic growth.

Zeke publishes pioneering research in two broad areas. In the first area of research, he explores how immigration patterns affect the investment choices, strategic decisions, and performance of firms in foreign markets. The linkage between immigration and economic growth in this first line of work has crucial implications for immigration policy. In his other area of focus, he studies how firms strategically design corporate strategies through alliances, acquisitions, and divestitures to enhance their innovation and performance. Zeke’s papers have been published in leading journals such as Administrative Science Quarterly, Management Science, Organization Science, Strategic Management Journal, and Academy of Management Journal.

Professor Hernandez has been selected as the winner of the Emerging Scholar Award by the three major academic associations: the Strategic Management Society, the Strategic Management Division of the Academy of Management and the International Management Division of the Academy of Management. In addition to these career recognitions, he’s received awards for individual papers in each of the three themes of his work.

Zeke is one of the highest rated teachers at Wharton. He has been recognized by Poets & Quants as a Best 40 Under 40 professor and received several teaching excellence awards. He teaches global strategy courses in Wharton’s MBA programs and trains executives from leading companies around the world.

During this episode, Bob talks with A.J. Wasserstein, the Eugene F. Williams, Jr. Lecturer in the Practice of Management at the Yale School of Management. They talk about how to determine if a seller really wants to sell a business.

A.J. Wasserstein's research, writing, and teaching concentrate on search funds, entrepreneurship, programmatic acquisitions, and small businesses. He is a private investor with a long-term orientation, interested in lower middle-market businesses and philanthropic organizations, where he can be positively impactful by using his experience, time, and capital. Professor Wasserstein was the president of Onesource Water, the third largest bottleless water service business in the U.S., which was sold to Water Logic, a U.K.-based strategic acquirer, in 2016. Previously, A. J. was the founder and CEO of ArchivesOne, the third-largest records management company in the U.S., which was sold to Iron Mountain (NYSE: IRM).

A. J. received the Faculty Teaching Excellence Award for outstanding teaching in elective courses at the Yale School of Management in 2022. The U.S. Small Business Administration has recognized A. J. as the Small Business Person of the Year in Connecticut.

During this episode of Business Talk with Chalfin, Bob talks with Arleigh Halterman, the CEO of National Imaging Solutions (NIS) about his lessons learned from purchasing a business. 

NIS is a medical imaging sales and service provider based in Houston, TX. Arleigh acquired NIS in April 2019 through a self-funded search.

Before acquiring NIS, Arleigh ran a funded/traditional search fund from 2015 – 2018 in Temecula, CA. Prior to his entrepreneurial path, Arleigh was in the US Navy for 11 years. He was an F-18 Weapon Systems Officer, was stationed in Japan, and did multiple deployments to the Western Pacific. Arleigh finished his active duty service as a flight instructor in Pensacola, FL and afterwards began his MBA.

Arleigh earned an MBA from The Wharton School, a Masters in International Affairs from The University of Pittsburgh, and a Bachelors degree in Political Science from Auburn University.

During this episode, Bob talks with Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Harry’s Inc. about creating things that people like. 

Jeff Raider aims to build companies and brands that people like more. The ambition of Harry’s Inc. is to create a next generation CPG company by putting people first and delivering against unmet consumer needs. Harry’s Inc. has grown significantly over the last ten years, and is now made up of five brands -  Harry’s, Flamingo, Cat Person, Lume, Mando -  and Harry’s Labs, the company’s incubation and M&A engine. Prior to Harry's, Jeff co-founded Warby Parker, the transformative lifestyle brand that offers designer eyewear at a revolutionary price while leading the way for socially-conscious businesses.

For this conversation, Rising to the Challenge of the Covid-19 Vaccine and Beyond, I talk to Mace Rothenberg, MD, a physician-executive with more than 30 years of experience in government, academia, and industry. Mace is the former Chief Medical Officer at Pfizer and will describe the leadership skills that enabled Pfizer to deliver a Covid-19 vaccine in record time.  He will also discuss how those skills helped him in his new venture, creating The Museum of Medicine and Biomedical Discovery.  I am certain that you will enjoy this episode.

During this conversation Bob talks about Crisis Management with Kim Naylor, President of Fenix Event Management.

Over 25 years ago, Kim Naylor started her own conferences, meetings and incentive event company, Naylor Event Management (NEM). NEM was a Toronto based event Management Company with a specialization in providing innovative and exclusive corporate solutions involving reward and incentive programs, conferences, corporate retreats and major sporting events.

Kim built NEM from scratch into a multi-million-dollar success story. NEM made a strong name for itself in corporate hospitality by employing the best people, designing the most creative solutions and producing “awesome end results.” In August 2002, Pareto acquired her award-winning business through which it commenced its event management division. Kim went on to run the event/incentive divisions of Pareto until October 2013. She acquired and grew many national accounts through her strategic approach in driving results.

As strategy goes, Kim thinks at 50,000 feet, with the added ability of making things happen at ground level. Kim brings over 25+ years of experience working shoulder-to- shoulder with blue chip brands, helping them build their businesses and reward their stakeholders. At Fenix, Kim leads teams that are responsible for developing program strategies and implementing plans across target accounts. Her role is that of key strategic advisor on all solutions for all of the company’s clients and delivery capabilities and the overall success of Fenix’s business.

During this episode, Bob speaks with Leonard Witman about retirement planning.

Leonard J. Witman is a nationally noted lecturer and author in the tax, estate and elder law planning and deferred compensation fields. He is the senior tax partner in the law firm of Witman Stadtmauer, P.A. located in Florham Park, New Jersey. Mr. Witman is a graduate of Rutgers College and New York Law School, and is a member of the New York and New Jersey Bars. He

He is a Dean of the Mid-Atlantic Fellows Institute of ACTEC. He formerly was a tax law specialist, instructor and lecturer with the Internal Revenue Service in the Employee Plans and Exempt Organizations Division. Mr. Witman is a former Chairman of the New Jersey State Bar Association Taxation Committee.

He has written extensively for many tax periodicals including the Journal of Taxation, CLU Journal, Medical Economics, Prentice Hall, and CCH and is the author of two books: A Retirement Planning Techniques Book (10th Edition) and Roth IRAs. In addition, he is frequently quoted in financial