DetBozeman Spotlight Series

Lance Dietz is my guest in today's episode. Lance and I dive into:

• His crushed dreams to become a professional basketball player after graduating from West Point
• Transitioning from the Army to a career in investment banking via business school
• Venture investing at the intersection of Sports and Technology
• Finding people to surround himself as mentors, re-creating the culture of learning from those that have held your position in the past
• Continuing to build relationships with other DB members throughout the year between summits

Neuroscience, fusion, renewable power, politics...it's all here in this episode! In today's DetBozeman podcast I interviewed Jason Cahill. Jason discusses his journey from rebellious high school student to accomplished veteran and venture investor during our hour-long conversation, hitting on his philosophy in looking for Pain Killers instead of Vitamins when screening deals.

We touch on his perspective on life as a father, as a founder, and as a funder and his ideas for harnessing toddlers to power the world's economy.

Sean and I touched on the Summit, his vision for the next 12 months of DetBozeman, and some of the actions already being taken by the other leaders and members of the organization.

Les and I had this conversation right before the 2018 DetBozeman inaugural summit, discussing his path from West Point to becoming a Principal at Next Frontier Capital, a venture fund based out of Bozeman, MT that focuses on investment opportunities in the mountain-west region.

We cover his philosophy on sleep and recovery, and how to balance work, play, and family while adding value to each. Les took a big leap of faith moving out of a major east coast metropolitan area for the amber waves of grain and purple mountains majesty of Bozeman when relocating his family, but his adoption of the philosophy of "Ikigai" has helped him merge his passion, mission, profession, and vocation into a lifestyle that has filled in some of the pieces that were missing immediately after his separation from the active duty.

On today's episode, Scott shares with me his path through the Army and towards business school/civilian life. He joined the military to focus on relationship building, and during his time in service had the opportunity to meet and work with partners from Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Africa, then transitioning to consulting and customer success where the name of the game is effective relationship management.

He shares his thoughts on the consulting world as the, "grad school to grad school," and how those experiences shaped his ultimate pursuit of a customer-facing role with a technology company operating at the forefront of customer experience and user satisfaction; meeting customers on their terms and in their chosen medium.

We touch on how his veteran network and connections from the SF world have moved his career in the right direction, his belief in amplifying your strengths vice focusing on weaknesses, and his lifelong desire to bite off more than he can chew, even if it sometimes means dealing with the heartburn afterwards.

Patrick and I had a great opportunity to discuss his background as a Navy Surface Warfare Officer, now reserve officer, who transitioned to Business School followed by employment in Customer/Partner Operations with Google.

Patrick designs and executes processes within Google Finance to onboard and incubate new forms of payment, product expansion to new currencies and countries and verifying that bank recon, AUP, partner operations and PS&D are working correctly prior to hand-off. He is responsible for implementing EU GDRP regulations across Cash and Revenue Operations for the organization.

He is a founding member of DetBozeman and an avid craft beer enthusiast!

Former Google Finance Operations Manager: Led process management and org design for an 80-member team across Asia, Europe, and South America

Former member of US Navy SEAL Team 5: Lead explosives expert on primary assault force
• Bomb squad commander - EOD video below
• Personally led high-risk special operations in Iraq, Lebanon & Trinidad
• Successfully completed over 360 counter-terrorist combat missions

Nonprofit professional
• Onsite business instructor for MEET in Jerusalem (2013 & 2015)
• Advisory Board Member - PATH San Jose (People Assisting the Homeless)

I grow and maintain our personal relationships with equity investors seeking diversified real estate opportunities across growing secondary markets. 

Prior to Humphreys Capital, I worked with both Google and The Boston Consulting Group on a diverse set of growth projects across multiple industries. As a regional program manager for Google Fiber, I led several initiatives to improve capital expenditure forecasting and optimize operating and maintenance costs. As a management consultant with BCG, I conducted strategic planning, market analysis, financial and macro-economic modeling, and presented results to clients' executive leadership.

My academic studies specialized in business finance and energy economics through graduate programs with the University of Oklahoma and French Institute of Petroleum in Paris. 

As a former Marine Corps officer and Naval Academy graduate, I've been recognized with numerous awards for developing and leading cross-functional teams in dynamic environments. I have extensive experience drafting and presenting executive-level strategic plans, and I've held direct responsibility for project and resource management involving multi-million dollar accounts, maintenance supervision, and quality assurance.

PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS:
• Diverse cross-functional experience through top-tier management consulting
• Decorated combat veteran recognized with personal awards including Officer of the Year 2010
• Ranked #1 on seven military performance reviews from five separate evaluators
• Global perspective with professional experience in 13 countries in Europe, Africa and the Middle East

PURPOSE-DRIVEN LEADER AND CHANGE AGENT focused on human-centered technology integration in healthcare.

• Merged expertise as test pilot and doctor to solve human-systems integration problems.
• Led cross-functional teams of engineers, analysts, industry experts and senior executives to develop data-driven, business case analyses of major technology investments. 
• Applied honest, purpose-driven leadership to execute high-risk military test operations.

Former U.S. Navy Fighter Pilot with 13+ years of cross-functional leadership experience. Expertise includes operations management, data-driven process optimization, and strategic communications with technical and executive audiences.

DetBozeman VP of Corporate Sponsorships

https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminfstein/