The Military Veteran Business Network is a Strong & Generous Community

1/ Yesterday and today the Context VC team is at the Rice Business - Jones Graduate School of Business for the 9th Veteran Business Battle. It’s the only veteran focused pitch competition run by a veteran student club and it's fantastic! I commend the Rice University alumni and students who started and continue to run this exciting event. I also really commend the many military veteran entrepreneurs who have pitched at this event this year and in years past! Pitching & fundraising is not easy. More info here: https://lnkd.in/d8snCMDT

2/ On Thursday night I took the red eye from San Francisco to Houston and while waiting in the airport’s TSA line I ran into Shay Finley, a fellow United States Military Academy at West Point classmate. We caught up while waiting for the plane and on a car ride into Houston. We talked about our respective journeys, our shared experiences, and fatherhood. The last time we saw each other was roughly 2 decades ago at the infantry officer basic course but in a split second we were fast friends once again. We were both in the Philosophy club at West Point and on the plane we even briefly talked about Schopenhauer and Hegel. Yes, even US Army infantrymen talk about philosophy!

Our common service background helped us reconnect quickly and find ways to support one another - this is a common theme among veterans.

3/ Once I arrived in Houston, it was fantastic to see veterans in the Houston area some that I also had not seen in decades: Brendan Aronson, my teammate at Context VC and The Military Veteran, Asad Akram, Wrendon Perry Hunt CFP®, CLU®, ChFC®, THERESA IRVING, Brandon Shelton, Alex Chivers, Kirt Anderson, and many others.

Yesterday and today I’ll be catching up with several more veterans in the Houston area.

4/ One of the best things about being a military veteran is being able to activate military veteran (positive) sleeper cells --- there is a large, generous, and strong veteran "diaspora." The military veteran business network is an awesome advantage. It cuts across race, gender, sexuality, and even political divides. It is a shared experience forged by service and mutual respect.

5/ We try to foster and build the military veteran tribe with The Military Veteran. We are hosting 2 in person events this year. Our event in San Francisco is July 20 & 21. Here are a few of the speakers: Phil Connolly, T. Scott Patterson, Mitch Motlagh, Erik Malmstrom, Steve Chiou, Matt Johnson, Garrett Haddad, Randy Hetrick, and more.

Our second event in New York City is Sep 28 & 29 and here are a few of the speakers: Larry Smith, Gregory Brown, Mike Kay, Nick Lodestro, Bobby Tuohy, and more.

Sign up here to join us at our two events: https://lnkd.in/gstWP2ZJ

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