The Veteran (Semi) Professional

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Rob retired from the Army as a Special Forces officer and then spent time working with a veteran transition nonprofit.  He was often the one raising money and that put me in contact with a lot of high-net-worth individuals.  

After a bit, they started to ask him "Do you think you can do what we did?  Buy businesses?" 

He said yes, got his first investors, and started getting to work.  

Listen in to hear how. 

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Jack is an Air Force veteran who went to HBS.  

He was told "everyone thinks of veterans as "leaders" but don't let that define you" 

Turns out, Jack liked leading people.  He liked being labeled a "leader."  So he made some career pivots and ended up managing a $500 million business for a PE fund. 

Listen in to hear his story. 

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Jason Anderson is a former Air Force O-6 who retired from the military and started what looked like was his dream job. 

• Business development in a sector of the Air Force he knew
• Got to live in Japan
• Making GREAT money 

But he realized he didn't feel like he was really going to succeed in the role and was not getting the feeling he wanted from his work.  

So he started looking into the veteran transition process and really started to appreciate the MASSIVE jump that someone needed to make to have a successful transition.  

Through this journey, he founded PreVeteran.  They run highly professional courses that help you go through the journey from military to civilian, backed by data and corporate learnings.  It's the real deal.  

Listen in to hear Jason's story and what makes PreVeteran unique.

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Today's guest is Bobby Payne from Shift Group. He is an Air Force veteran and a really awesome guy who I've gotten to know a lot more recently. 

Since starting The Veteran Professional in 2019, I have been contacted by a number of veteran-focused recruiting companies.  I even worked for one for a bit.  

The only one I have decided to partner with in a meaningful way is Shift Group. 

Here is why: 

• 1,000+ veterans and athletes placed
• 300+ hiring partners
• 9 months average time to promotion for new placements, compared to an average of 18 months

And the stat that sealed this for me, they have <5% attrition compared to an industry average of 35%.

They are just REALLY good at placing people in the right job.

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I have had a lot of guests on the show to talk about buying a small business.  From lenders, buyers, and investors- everyone seems to be saying, "Go buy a business!  You will make a ton of money and can't go wrong!"  

Well, today's guest is a story of what happens when it does go wrong. 

Jed Morris is an Air Force veteran who bought a landscaping business and then quickly bought another.  He did a lot of things right: 

• Worked inside business #1 for 6 months before making an offer
• Built a great relationship with the owner
• Made a good deal that made financial sense

But after a few months, the wheels started to come off and Jed ended up going bankrupt on the deal.  

Despite this, he is still optimistic on buying small businesses.  

His is a great story of resilience, grit, and how to think about risk.  

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Gaming culture is huge in the military.  Video games are a way to blow off steam on a deployment, stay connected with friends around the world, and just have fun. 

So I'm really excited to bring this episode to you about two combat veterans who are starting their own video game studio, Old Glory Studios. 

Lewis and Matt served early in the GMOT.  Lewis was a combat engineer in the 82nd Airborne and Matt fought out of a Bradley in Iraq with 3rd ID.  

They both went on to work on big-name games like Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon, Tom Clancy's The Division 1 & 2, Dying Light 2, Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodhunt, Exoborne, and more.  

Now they are working on their own studio, which you can even invest in here. 

"Founded by combat veterans and seasoned game developers Lewis Manalo and Matt Patak, Old Glory Studios brings over 25 years of experience in the gaming industry. Our founders have worked on some of the most popular tactical shooters in the world, bringing their real-life experiences into game development. 

Old Glory's goal is to make combat games that are easy to pick up, but hard to master. Backed by a talented network of developers, writers, and artists, our mission is to deliver games that are accessible to everyone while staying true to the authentic combat experiences of our founders. "

Note: I am not a registered investment broker and am offering this as information purposes only. 

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Donte McGaughy is a seasoned entrepreneur, former government employee, and a United States Air Force service-disabled veteran. As the Founder and CEO of Selenius Holdings, an Atlanta-based freight forwarding and truck hauling company, Donte is dedicated to driving growth through strategic acquisitions. His vision is to establish the largest minority-certified logistics firm in the United States.

With a proven track record, Donte co-founded and served as the President of TDC Premier Trucking, where he played a pivotal role in building a robust infrastructure, managing 50 staff members, and expanding the fleet of box trucks to 35 for the Amazon box truck program. Under his leadership, the company expanded its 18-wheeler fleet to 27 trucks, operating nationwide and servicing major accounts such as Amazon, UPS, and Family Dollar.

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I really like Nate.  He's just...a good dude.  

He's got some serious business chops, too. 

He led $200 million in projects for WeWork and was a VP for a whole region.  

Then he dove into the world of buying small businesses and acquired two HVAC companies.  

AND he runs Smooth Operator, which places veterans in leadership positions in small businesses.  

I like him a lot and I think you will also. 

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Lukas is a previous guest and we talk about the VC-backed startup from our first episode that he shut down.

But his new project, Vetclaims.ai , is pretty awesome.  They use AI to look over your records and find discrepancies in your VA claim.  What is their impact? 

• $694,962 Average Lifetime Earnings Increase
• $111M Overall Economic Impact
• 100% Veteran Feedback

Listen in to hear why and how Lukas started this and be sure to check out Vetclaims.ai for your own needs.