Austin Hotel In Rainey Street District: Kimpton Hotel Van Zandt
 

Kimpton Hotel Van Zandt is a refined riff on Austin's world-famous music scene and your front-row seat to all the action.

A perfect base whether you crash hard or chill out. A leader among Austin hotels with signature happenings and exclusive hideouts geared for music tastemakers. And you can bet there's a shot of creativity and a hot streak of independence roped in that only boutique hotels like Kimpton can muster.

Kimpton Hotel Van Zandt is distinguished, laid back and designed from the ground up to be an all-access pass to an authentic Austin experience.

This is an opportunity for you to grab a few members of the crew at the cocktail hour networking event and continue the conversation while breaking some bread together. We highly suggest making a reservation either in advance or quickly during the event, so you can eat before it gets too late. Busy day tomorrow!

I’m a reformed journalist, turned institutional investor to now a Partner at Entourage Effect Capital, a private equity firm w/ $200MM in assets in the emerging asset class of cannabis. I left a multi-billion business I built up in Latin America to take advantage of this green emerging sector.

I’ve always worked at the intersection of media, marketing and money, finding contrarian ways to invest. I actively own and have investments into over 17 companies across asset classes and cashflow off of 7 of them that I’m actively involved in.

I played in institutional investing land at SSGA (w/ trillions under management), learned about active investing and alternatives at Goldman Sachs and was at the forefront of the ETF business with Vanguard.

I’ve led global teams in all asset classes, negotiated JV’s, bought and sold businesses, sat on boards, lost money, made money, and gotten a few degrees.

But the most fascinating part of all of it, as a former journalist, I saw the inside of how investment firms acquire wealth through M&A and business acquisition. And it’s not nearly as complex for us all to repeat as most say.

Wealth is created when you buy profits.

SUMMARY REAL ESTATE, SALES, ENTREPRENEUR. REPEAT.

I’ve lived a few lives. I started out graduating in the shadows of 9/11. No jobs, no opportunities anywhere. So I did something I’ve repeated many a time, I chose myself. I went and became a rep for Cutco Knives, quickly becoming a top 10 manager with 100 people selling underneath me.

After that I wanted to continue leading and teaching so I went and became a teacher. You all know what teachers make. It ain’t a lot. Although my early success allowed me to spend time on a passion I was hungry to continue to earn.

So I moved to real estate and quickly became a leader, then an owner, then an owner and investor in multiple real estate brokerages. This was where my interest in acquiring stakes and businesses blossomed.

It’s what’s led me to writing quite a few books (a few bestsellers which is candidly a terrible way to make money but a great way to increase your deal flow and network), closing $1 Billion+ in acquisitions and traveling around the world teaching others how to do it. I have no ego in this, I sold knives door to door to get my start.

SUMMARY REAL ESTATE, SALES, ENTREPRENEUR. REPEAT.

I’ve lived a few lives. I started out graduating in the shadows of 9/11. No jobs, no opportunities anywhere. So I did something I’ve repeated many a time, I chose myself. I went and became a rep for Cutco Knives, quickly becoming a top 10 manager with 100 people selling underneath me.

After that I wanted to continue leading and teaching so I went and became a teacher. You all know what teachers make. It ain’t a lot. Although my early success allowed me to spend time on a passion I was hungry to continue to earn.

So I moved to real estate and quickly became a leader, then an owner, then an owner and investor in multiple real estate brokerages. This was where my interest in acquiring stakes and businesses blossomed.

It’s what’s led me to writing quite a few books (a few bestsellers which is candidly a terrible way to make money but a great way to increase your deal flow and network), closing $1 Billion+ in acquisitions and traveling around the world teaching others how to do it. I have no ego in this, I sold knives door to door to get my start.

I’m a reformed journalist, turned institutional investor to now a Partner at Entourage Effect Capital, a private equity firm w/ $200MM in assets in the emerging asset class of cannabis. I left a multi-billion business I built up in Latin America to take advantage of this green emerging sector.

I’ve always worked at the intersection of media, marketing and money, finding contrarian ways to invest. I actively own and have investments into over 17 companies across asset classes and cashflow off of 7 of them that I’m actively involved in.

I played in institutional investing land at SSGA (w/ trillions under management), learned about active investing and alternatives at Goldman Sachs and was at the forefront of the ETF business with Vanguard.

I’ve led global teams in all asset classes, negotiated JV’s, bought and sold businesses, sat on boards, lost money, made money, and gotten a few degrees.

But the most fascinating part of all of it, as a former journalist, I saw the inside of how investment firms acquire wealth through M&A and business acquisition. And it’s not nearly as complex for us all to repeat as most say.

Wealth is created when you buy profits.

I’m a reformed journalist, turned institutional investor to now a Partner at Entourage Effect Capital, a private equity firm w/ $200MM in assets in the emerging asset class of cannabis. I left a multi-billion business I built up in Latin America to take advantage of this green emerging sector.

I’ve always worked at the intersection of media, marketing and money, finding contrarian ways to invest. I actively own and have investments into over 17 companies across asset classes and cashflow off of 7 of them that I’m actively involved in.

I played in institutional investing land at SSGA (w/ trillions under management), learned about active investing and alternatives at Goldman Sachs and was at the forefront of the ETF business with Vanguard.

I’ve led global teams in all asset classes, negotiated JV’s, bought and sold businesses, sat on boards, lost money, made money, and gotten a few degrees.

But the most fascinating part of all of it, as a former journalist, I saw the inside of how investment firms acquire wealth through M&A and business acquisition. And it’s not nearly as complex for us all to repeat as most say.

Wealth is created when you buy profits.

From a childhood of drug addiction, abuse and group homes Mark rose above the societal stereotypes to become an entrepreneurial success story. As a high school drop out Mark obtained his GED and used that to secure a Masters Degree in Social Work. Mark and his wife moved to Austin Texas for a clinical therapist job fresh out of graduate school. It was there that Mark took his first sip of the entrepreneurial Kool Aid.

After hiring a mentor on the back of a networking event Mark wrote his first book, launched a speaking career, and constructed a consulting business that grossed over 6 figures in under 6 months of its establishment. Mark was referred to client after client through his ability to dissect issues, find assets and construct and/or reconstruct teams, implement systems, turn on or up marketing efforts, and scale companies.

Through this process Mark decided he needed some companies of his own. He transitioned 8 of the 9 clients hee was working with at the time through consulting to value add acquisitions which means Mark would not only be paid for his work but he would gain ownership for his work.

He exited 6, was bought out of 2 and maintained ownership of 1. Mark now owns a roofing, solar, and siding company that went from $800k in annual revenue in 2019 to nearly $5M in annual revenue in 2022.

Mark scaled himself, and his partner out of the day to day and developed a rockstar team when. Mark has gone on to gain ownership in an electrical company, marketing company, and is the host of the Purpose Chasers Podcast.

Mark’s company Heart Centered Marketing & Consulting is where he spends most of his time. Consulting & Coaching entrepreneurs on the following areas:
 

Team development (started 5 team members grew to 13 in a year “when no one wanted to work”.)  When Hiring most employers are thinking about pay, payment is a small piece of what your future team is looking for. 

Implementing systems (scaled myself out of d2d operations)

Scaling marketing efforts (brought Energy Shield of New Hampshire $800k to $2.4 in a year, and 5x’ing in 3 years)

Launching products or services (Solar launched $500k sold in 3 months & $750k in 5 months)

Taking ownership in companies with no $ upfront

Robert was born in Nebraska but was raised, from a very early age, in Edinburgh, Scotland. In 1999 Robert moved to Arizona, USA with the hope of finding a better lifestyle, new opportunities and to widen his traveling options.
 
In 2001, Robert and his business partner established Integrated Landscape Management (ILM) and grew the company to multiple states. With more than $20MM and over 350 employees, ILM was sold to a $4B global tree and vegetation company in 2016. The company was enthusiastic about continuing to hire him for his operations experience and growth mindset after the exit.

Robert left the parent company in early 2018 to set up his own coaching/advisory company and decided to set up the HQ in Greenville, South Carolina. He is a Certified Scaling Up coach and a trained High Performance coach. The Radix Group removes the pain points for CEO's facing growth challenges, employee concerns, or cashflow issues, among many other challenges, all this, while guiding executives on how to build a road map for sustainable profit and quality of life.
 
Robert has also traveled extensively throughout many countries but has had time to write two books including “Ironman Mindset for Entrepreneur’s”. He played competitive rugby and soccer for 20 years and has completed 4 Ironman’s to maximize personal performance and goals.