#182: Dan Nitowsky (Tiger21) — Wealth Preservation, Legacy, and Ultra-High-Net-Worth Peer Support

Dan Nitowsky, Chair of TIGER 21 Cleveland.

Dan, like me is a native New Yorker who has made Cleveland his home & has spent 30 years here in Cleveland as a highly accomplished executive with a proven history of success in distribution and manufacturing, with leadership roles in the Electrical Distribution industry —  where expanded Mars Electric from one single location to 11 locations through Northeast Ohio and grew sales from under $10 million to over $53 million. This was all prior to his work in peer-group leadership, where his expertise led him to be a Peer Advisory Group Chair for Vistage Worldwide — one of the world’s largest executive coaching organizations for small and mid-sized businesses — in addition to his current work as the inaugural Chair for TIGER 21’s Cleveland Chapter.

TIGER 21 is the premier peer membership organization for ultra-high-net-worth individuals. The organization has over 1,400 members with over $20 million in investable assets, respectively, across over 50 cities worldwide, and it has more than $160 billion in personal assets collectively.

In his role as a Chair for TIGER 21 in this inaugural Cleveland Chapter, Dan facilitates a trusted and confidential community of entrepreneurs here that provides Members with their board of directors and helps facilitate learning and conversation for those who are motivated to grow and protect their wealth while building a lasting legacy.

In our conversation, we explore what professional peer groups even are, the unique challenges that come after a major financial liquidity event, solutions for a balanced life, what kind of thought is afforded to legacy, how to instill good grounded values into your children with extraordinary family wealth, insights around wealth preservation, and many more esoteric topics discussed by TIGER 21 members.

This is a fascinating discussion behind the scenes of what can transpire for those on the other side of entrepreneurial success and wealth

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LINKS:
https://tiger21.com/locations/cleveland/

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

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Telling the stories of entrepreneurship and builders in Cleveland and throughout Northeast Ohio. Every Thursday, Jeffrey Stern helps map the Cleveland/NEO business ecosystem by talking to founders, investors, and community builders to learn what makes Cleveland/NEO special.

--AI-Generated Transcript--
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Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:00:00]:
By having a successful business exit and a grand liquidity event, by all rights, these members have ascended the mountain of success, but that doesn't guarantee that they'll be successful in the challenges and opportunities that wealth creates. So there is a huge difference between wealth creation and preservation.

Jeffrey Stern [00:00:22]:
Let's discover what people are building in the greater Cleveland community. We are telling the stories of northeast Ohio's entrepreneurs, builders, and those supporting them. Welcome to the Lay of the Land podcast, where we are exploring what people are building in Cleveland and throughout Northeast Ohio. I am your host, Jeffrey Stern. And today, I had the pleasure of speaking with Dan Natowski, who currently serves as the inaugural Tiger 20 1 Chair here in Cleveland, Ohio. Dan, like me, is a native New Yorker who has made Cleveland his home, and has spent the last 30 years here in Cleveland as a highly accomplished executive with a proven history of success in distribution and manufacturing, with leadership roles in the electrical distribution industry, where he expanded Mars Electric from one single location to 11 throughout Northeast Ohio, and grew sales from under 10,000,000 to over 50,000,000. This was all prior to his work in peer group leadership, where his expertise led him to be a peer advisory group chair for Vistage Worldwide, one of the world's largest executive coaching organizations for small and midsize businesses, in addition to his current work as the inaugural chair for Tiger 20 1's Cleveland chapter. Tiger 21 is the premier peer membership organization for ultra high net worth individuals.

Jeffrey Stern [00:01:44]:
The organization has over 1400 members with over 20,000,000 in investable assets respectively, across over 50 cities worldwide with more than 160,000,000,000 in personal assets collectively. In his role as chair for Tiger 21 in this inaugural Cleveland chapter, Dan facilitates a trusted and confidential community of entrepreneurs here that provides members with their own personal board of directors and helps facilitate learning and conversation for those who are motivated to grow and protect their wealth while building a lasting legacy. In our conversation, we explore what professional peer groups even are, the unique challenges that come after a major financial liquidity event, solutions for a balanced life, what kind of thought is afforded to legacy, how to instill good grounded values into your children with extraordinary family wealth, insights around wealth preservation, and many more esoteric topics discussed by Tiger 21 members. This is a fascinating discussion behind the scenes of what can transpire for those on the other side of entrepreneurial success and wealth. So please enjoy my conversation with Dan Natowski after a brief message from our sponsor. Lay of the Land is brought to you by John Carroll University's Boulder College of Business, widely recognized as one the top business schools in the region. As we've heard time and time again from entrepreneurs here on Lay of the Land, many of whom are proud alumni of John Carroll University, success in this ever changing world of business requires a dynamic and innovative mindset, deep understanding of emerging technologies and systems, strong ethics, leadership prowess, acute business acumen, all qualities nurtured through the Buhler College of Business. With 4 different MBA programs of study spanning professional, online, hybrid, and 1 year flexible, the Bohler College of Business provides flexible timelines and various class structures for each MBA track, including online, in person, hybrid, and asynchronous.

Jeffrey Stern [00:03:45]:
All to offer the most effective options for you, including the ability to participate in an elective international study tour providing unparalleled opportunities to expand your global business knowledge by networking with local companies overseas and experiencing a new culture. The career impact of a bowler MBA is formative and will help prepare you for this future of business and get more out of your career. To learn more about John Carroll University's Buller MBA programs, please go to business.jcu.edu. The Buller College of Business is fully accredited by AACSB International, the highest accreditation College of Business can have. So I'm very excited to have you on the podcast today, Dan. I was thinking through everything that I wanted to ask you about and where the best place to start might be. And I was reminded of a story I had heard from a founder that I knew, that they had actually experienced one of the deepest depressions in their life after they had sold their company, which was surprising to everyone, including himself, because he had thought that was what he was playing for. Right? This big success on the other side of the rainbow and having achieved financial independence for the the first time in his life, but now without a sense of of purpose, plan, or platform that he had used to achieve those ends in the first place.

Jeffrey Stern [00:05:13]:
You know, I feel like so much of the conversation around entrepreneurship that this very podcast included and what we spend, you know, most of the time on Lay of the Land Exploring is the struggle of what it takes to get to a successful place, to create the company and unlock that value. But what happens after you're successful? You know, then what? And how do people in that rare position think about the preservation of the wealth that they've just created rather than merely creating it and how to focus their time and energy going forward? So all that is to say, I am very excited to unpack some of these with you and and obviously in the context of the work that you're doing with Tiger 21, because it's simply, I think, a little understood experience that so few entrepreneurs ultimately achieve, yet it's an experience that I'd imagine most Tiger 21 members explicitly have experienced in one form or another. So we'll get to all of these topics in-depth, but to kick us off, I think it would be great to set the stage for this founding of the Tiger 21 Cleveland chapter and your role in chairing it with how you would lay out, you know, your own professional journey as it's led to you in this undertaking.

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:06:21]:
Sure. And that topic that you bring up is real, so it I think it'd be helpful for us to talk about that maybe a little bit later. But just so you know, I grew up in New York, but I now consider Cleveland home. And I've I've been here for actually decades now. In fact, both of my daughters were born and raised in Cleveland. And maybe the most telling characteristic is that I now consider myself a loyal Cleveland sports fan instead of a New York fan, as difficult as that can be sometimes.

Jeffrey Stern [00:06:56]:
Yes. Yes. Well, our kindred spirits in that way.

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:06:59]:
Right. Right. But growing up, my mentor was my father, who has since passed, but he was a nationally recognized pediatric geneticist. He would examine and treat children with challenging genetic diseases by day. And in the evening, he would do research and prepare lectures as he's taught medical students at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx. And his work ethic, his humility, and innovation have had an impact on me to this day. He really was an entrepreneur in his field, even ahead of his time. And, so I grew up in New York directly after I went to Syracuse University, and I graduated with a degree in engineer.

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:07:44]:
Shortly after graduation, I joined General Electric on one of their management training programs. And after working for GE in a variety of assignments in multiple locations for 10 years and getting my MBA in finance from the University of Cincinnati, I decided to leave corporate America and join a small family business in Cleveland. And it turns out we grew that business from a fledgling company of around $5,000,000 a year, single location business to a multiple location, $60,000,000 enterprise. And there, I learned a lot about taking calculated risks, hiring the right people in the right seats, scaling for growth, etcetera. But after 35 years of executive leadership in that role and others, I made the decision to retire from at least from day to day corporate life. Mhmm. And I realized shortly after retiring that I wasn't ready for it, that there was too much passion for people and business and learning, so I started my 2.0 as a Vistage chair. So, essentially, my background as a business leader along with my experience as a Vistage peer group made me a great fit for the Tiger 21 chair position in Cleveland.

Jeffrey Stern [00:09:03]:
And just for folks tuning in, because I I think the analogies between Vistage and Tiger 21 are interesting to explore in and of themselves, but just how would you describe Vistage and Tiger 21 under this, you know, umbrella of professional peer networks? And when did you come to recognize the power of those kinds of groups generally?

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:09:23]:
It's interesting. They're quite similar, but also very, very different. Where Vistage is geared towards current operators, presidents, CEOs of existing businesses, and the struggles that leaders face running businesses, for example, staffing, culture, scaling for growth, capitalizing their business, and, you know, managing debt and financial statements. Tiger 21 is quite different. Tiger is really almost like graduate school for those peer groups like a Vistage or a YPO. Because now the member has achieved an incredible, level of success through an exit or a liquidity event, and their challenges are quite different. So Tiger is where where Vistage is is very helpful and beneficial to the existing operator. Tiger 21 is the premier peer membership organization for ultra high net worth wealth creators and investors.

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:10:28]:
So Tiger is a place where wealth creators go to learn about and reflect upon issues pertaining to wealth preservation, investing, philanthropy, life, and family. Again, there are a lot of similarities. In fact, Tiger 21 was founded in 1999. We're we're experiencing our 25 year anniversary right now. It was founded by Michael Sonnenfeld, who actually was a Vista Gember.

Jeffrey Stern [00:10:55]:
He

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:10:55]:
was an entrepreneur, and when he, he had a major liquidity event and he started looking for advice and perspective on wealth management. So the concept started with a single group in New York City of 6 entrepreneurs who had just sold their businesses and were seeking guidance on wealth preservation. Now it's evolved tremendously. In 25 years, there are now over 1400 members in Tiger in 50 major markets in 7 countries around the world. That translates to a 120 confidential groups meeting monthly with members who consist of entrepreneurs, investors, top executives with a minimum of $20,000,000 in investable assets. The average actually is over a 100,000,000, and the range is from 20,000,000 to a $1,000,000,000.

Jeffrey Stern [00:11:49]:
You know, with all that context, the catalyst for our conversation today is the establishment of the Cleveland chapter of Tiger 21. And so Right. You know, I'd love to just unpack that a little bit. And as we make our way to, I think, exploring some of those challenges of wealth and and wealth preservation.

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:12:08]:
Yeah. So when you think about Cleveland and its surrounding areas, it's very similar demographics and I'll say economic infrastructure to many other Midwest cities where Tiger 21 groups are flourishing. So Cleveland, you know, when you think about it, it's a geography filled with wealth creators and entrepreneurs from a wide variety of industries, including manufacturing, real estate, health care, logistics, financial services, sports and entertainment, and so much more. All of that translates into a robust economy in Northeast Ohio. So it's a growing hub for executives who are seeking guidance on the challenges and opportunities shared among their like minded ultra high net worth peers.

Jeffrey Stern [00:12:56]:
And, structurally, you know, within, let's call it the Cleveland chapter, of Tiger 21, you know, like, functionally, what is happening within these peer networks? How how are are the folks involved interacting with each other? And, you know, as we make our way to some of the the topics that we'll explore, you know, what is the facilitation of this group of people and and practically, you know, how they build a relationship with each other and and interact with each other?

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:13:20]:
So Tiger 21 groups, the local groups meet every month, and Tiger functions as a support group for these ultra successful folks. Many of them suffer from what I'll call loneliness at the top syndrome. You know, they're all tasked with making critical decisions on a regular basis, and no matter who you are, it's helpful to have a support group that can relate to your situation. Ultimately, the members wanna create a well balanced life with a sustainable legacy. So they're they're lifelong learners, the members. And as a member of Tiger 21, they're provided with an abundance of learning opportunities within the group meetings, but also within the entire Tiger 21 global community. But the meetings are roughly almost a full day meeting, and we cover kind of a standard format where we do a what's called a world update. And by that, I mean it's the members' world update.

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:14:17]:
We, go around and talk about what's going on in in their world. We talk about any issues and opportunities they're facing, and we usually have a learning session. We bring in a subject matter expert on a variety of business or life topics. And then a very large part of the the monthly meeting is what we call the portfolio defense. And that's where a member gets to elaborate in great detail on what's actually going on in their world, in their investment world, as well as their their life, what's important to them. So in fact, just going through that process of consolidating their assets, their liabilities, and even what they're spending, sometimes it's the first time they've ever done that.

Jeffrey Stern [00:15:07]:
Right.

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:15:08]:
And it's it's of great value to them to actually go through the process. And then to get feedback from their peers is priceless. And the group almost functions as a personal board of directors for each other.

Jeffrey Stern [00:15:21]:
I love that you, I think, mentioned seeking the achievement of a balanced life as kind of the pervasive feeling amongst many of of these folks. Because I think at the heart of of a lot of what the value might be of this kind of peer network is this tension between value creation and wealth preservation, and that being a great entrepreneur does not mean that you are a great wealth preserver. And it might actually be that what it took for you to be a great entrepreneur meant that almost by design, you might be a a more average investor because balance is is the word that struck me because I have found that most entrepreneurs, you know, reach that level of success by having built singularly a business by focusing all of their assets and attention and work into a single opportunity and often are imbalanced, I would say, you know, by definition. And so it's it's interesting to think about how it requires the shift in perspective maybe.

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:16:24]:
Yeah. You're you're really spot on there. That post acquisition journey can be really difficult for members. Their identity as an entrepreneur is is wrapped up in the business. Everyone depends on them for major decisions and strategy, and suddenly it's gone. So, many members struggle at least initially and maybe longer with, how do I get fulfillment back in my life? How do I stay relevant? So it's a process that that many other Tiger 21 members have faced, and they can offer support as the members are trying to find purpose in their 2 point o. By having a successful business exit and a grand liquidity event, By all rights, these members have ascended the mountain of success, but that doesn't guarantee that they'll be successful in the challenges and opportunities that wealth creates. So there there is a huge difference between wealth creation and preservation.

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:17:23]:
Being a great entrepreneur doesn't always translate into being a great investor. It's really a totally different set of skill set, and it could be a burden. And there hence the power of the Tiger 21 peer group.

Jeffrey Stern [00:17:35]:
With the, I will call it data, but ability to have, you know, studied this topic holistically from the folks who've participated in Tiger 21, I'm curious if there are patterns, you know, what they are about how people navigate this transition from wealth creation to preservation and this the meaning crisis or, you know, the post acquisition blues, whatever, you know, you you refer to it as, you know, how people have effectively approached that transition in their

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:18:06]:
life. Well, again, it can be very difficult. You know, all of a sudden, waking up one morning and having an ACH transfer into your bank account can have an a tremendous impact on your life. And having extraordinary wealth creates extraordinary challenges, not just the financial challenges of tax consequences and now estate planning becomes a priority, but it's not uncommon for people to look at you differently, whether it's family or friends. And in fact, you might even behave differently without even knowing it and potentially alienate family and friends. So a peer group like Tiger 21 can really expose these blind spots. Sort of to sum it up, most Tiger 21 members are first generation wealth creators, and they don't have a safe place to have these difficult conversations. So what Tiger 21 does is offer them a forum to have these discussions with like minded peers.

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:19:03]:
And the power of the group is incredible. When you get in a room where it's completely confidential and no one has an agenda or a bias. They just want each other to succeed. It's it's really powerful.

Jeffrey Stern [00:19:18]:
I can imagine it is powerful. I mean, like in anything, the the power of of those who are experiencing a similar set of challenges that you are is hard to to understate the the value of what that can do for you. And it it just happens that this set of challenges is so, I think, rare and unique, that it it's it's very cool that there is a group that exists to tailor to this audience. To me, they're really fascinating because I I think they're just a set of challenges that that most folks don't get to think about. But when you think about what these challenges of wealth might be, there are a few topics that I was thinking through that I'd love to just kind of, you know, run by you and and get your perspective on, how how people actually think about these. One of my favorite authors, Morgan Housel, has a a quote, which is, you know, past a certain level of income, what you need sits just below your ego. And that you know, not not many quotes stay in my head, but that one has always stuck with me. And I I'm curious, you know, after that that, ACH transfer comes through, how people specifically think about lifestyle elevation and just that line of thinking generally.

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:20:35]:
Yeah. And, I'm sure you've read Morgan Housel's book, The Psychology of Money.

Jeffrey Stern [00:20:39]:
Yes. Absolutely.

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:20:40]:
It's a great read. But what's interesting is that people have different reactions to this new influx of money. Some, you know, quickly change their spending habits, and others don't change a thing, you know, depending on their background, their personality, you know, what guides them. But the ones that do all of a sudden, you know, look at this pot of gold and say, hey, I can do all these things I've always wanted to do. What Tiger does is give you that peer feedback that says, hey, wait a minute. You worked so hard to earn this money. Let's make sure we have it for a while. In fact, let's make sure we have it indefinitely so we can create a legacy.

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:21:24]:
So as I mentioned, that portfolio defense, we spent a lot of time on where where not only what your investments are doing in your asset allocation, but how are you spending it? Is it maybe out of line with what you've got and we need to be careful here. So it's sort of a acts as a governor to ground folks who are not used to having all of a sudden this wealth in front of them.

Jeffrey Stern [00:21:50]:
What kind of thought is afforded to legacy and how people think about what that is?

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:21:58]:
Yeah. It's it's a really important component of meetings and discussions and portfolio defense. So philanthropy, of course, is one area that we talk about in great detail. In fact, the members become very entrepreneurial about their philanthropic strategy. You know, what's important to them? How can I make an impact on my community, on the world sometimes? So philanthropy is very important. We also facilitate what we call a life defense, not just portfolio, but a life defense, where we ask them to take a deep dive into their health and wellness. Mhmm. What goals do they wanna achieve? What goals should they wanna set for themselves and their family? But one of the big considerations comes down to family and children, and that's an area of common concern for many Tiger 21 members.

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:22:58]:
As I mentioned, many members are 1st generation wealth creators, and they want their children to have the same middle class values that they grew up with. Yeah. They also want their children to have purpose so they have the drive to be successful on their own. So members don't want their children to feel entitled, and, additionally, they want them to maintain a strong work ethic along with, hopefully an entrepreneurial mindset. So dealing with your children and passing along wealth, talking about trust, talking about estate planning are topics that become very important in our meetings and to bounce ideas off of each other. Remember, we we are not a state. We're not lawyers in our meetings. We're not wealth advisors.

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:23:43]:
We are peers who offer advice with no agenda other than to see them succeed.

Jeffrey Stern [00:23:53]:
Lay of the Land is brought to you by Impact Architects and by 90. As we share the stories of entrepreneurs building incredible organizations in Cleveland and throughout Northeast Ohio, Impact Architects has helped hundreds of those leaders, many of whom we have heard from as guests on this very podcast, realize their own visions and build these great organizations. I believe in Impact Architects and the people behind it so much that I have actually joined them personally in their mission to help leaders gain focus, align together, and thrive by doing what they love. If you 2 are trying to build great, Impact Architects is offering to sit down with you for a free consultation or provide a free trial through 90, the software platform that helps teams build great companies. If you're interested in learning more about partnering with Impact Architects or by leveraging 90 to power your own business, please go to ia.layoftheland.fm. The link will also be in our show notes. Yeah. I'm glad you you raised the topic of children.

Jeffrey Stern [00:24:57]:
I was just recently actually reading a book by Rockefeller, who, you know, is is quite topical in this conversation as both arguably, you know, Cleveland's most accomplished entrepreneur historically. And, you know, who in his life is certainly could have been part of this community in within Tiger 21. Right.

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:25:16]:
For sure.

Jeffrey Stern [00:25:16]:
There was a specific of the many things he wrote about. There was one topic which was about children that I I wanted to quote from to just kind of put it out there. Because I I would imagine it is quite a prominent topic. It's one that I I've certainly heard raised with a a relative frequency, which is almost surprising to me. But he wrote these series of letters to his son. And in in one that he titled Starting Points Don't Determine Endpoints, he expressed basically the the following, which I'll I'll quote and then would love to just, you know, hear how this resonates knowing that there's not a prescriptive solution to this problem, but just how how he had thought about it as a a Cleveland entrepreneur, which was that in most cases, the the status of parents will determine the starting point of their child's life. But the only truth, though, is that as long as you work hard enough, you will succeed. And I firmly believe that our destiny is determined by our actions and not by our origins.

Jeffrey Stern [00:26:10]:
This, however, is the distressing story, but in our society today, the rich children are caught between advancing and retreating, and many of them are destined to be pitiful. I feel that once rich children begin taking advantage of their family's success, they will have little opportunity to learn and develop the skills needed for survival. As people of poor backgrounds will actively develop their creativity and their abilities while also cherishing and seizing various opportunities because they urgently need to rescue themselves, I have also observed that the kind of ambition of the rich have often lacks the motivation and attributes of those less well off, hence they resort to praying for their own success. And, therefore, when you and your sisters were very young, I deliberately concealed the fact that I was well off. I cannot bury my beloved children with wealth and foolishly make you all into one that is incompetent and only depends on the success of their parents. So, obviously, just, you know, his take, but I it it really struck me the way that you could think about, you know, the challenges that would come with how do you instill the right values in in your children.

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:27:11]:
Yeah. It's it's really interesting, this whole topic. First of all, it takes a special person to be a member of Tiger 21. They have to be willing to accept feedback, give feedback. They have to be lifelong learners. They have to have, like, growth mindsets, and they have to be self aware. So, you know, I think being self aware of what's happening with your children, your family is the first step. And just by bringing it to the forefront, I think you can hopefully minimize any negative impact on children and that entitlement feeling and you know, keep that purpose, that work purpose alive and nurtured.

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:27:55]:
You hear so many stories about businesses. The first generation worked very hard to to build a big business, a strong successful business, and then generation 2 comes on board and things start to fall apart. They don't have the same level of passion and just don't have the same feelings and, ties to the business that the founder had, and then generation 3 diminishes even further. So I think, you know, from my experience, the Tiger members are very aware of this and wanna do everything possible to prevent that kind of thing from happening. It may not be easy, but at least being aware of it and taking action and listening to your peers who are facing the same issue can be very, not just comforting, but very helpful in determining strategy for the family going forward. Certainly, an important topic that comes up very regularly.

Jeffrey Stern [00:28:57]:
Yeah. No. I I could imagine. It is a fascinating one. One of the components that I feel, you know, runs pretty parallel to this transition from value creation to wealth preservation is someone's understanding and tolerance for and of risk. I would love to hear, you know, how risk tolerance is even thought about, you know, in this transition as I think the tolerance for risk is often, you know, what got people there and, you know, may not get them to where they want to be going forward. And so how how you deal with not just figuring out how to reallocate the assets that you have, but, you know, your own feelings about risk.

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:29:38]:
Sure. And risk is a very personal thing. Right? My you and I might have completely different viewpoints on this no matter what our balance sheet looks like. When a member is processing and going through their portfolio defend, risk component comes up. It's a very important component. What is their tolerance for risk? Is it make sense? Is it pragmatic? So we talk about risk, and when the member does a portfolio of defense and becomes very transparent about where his investments are, the group will act as, again, as a personal board of directors and say, wait a minute. Either either your portfolio is not risky enough based on, you know, the years you have ahead or your family structure or it's too risky. You have too much in alternative investments or too much in venture capital.

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:30:34]:
You know, you're at risk for, losing what you work so hard to gain. So they get that perspective from others. And, you know, what's interesting again is that these entrepreneurs are so used to running their own show when they're creating wealth. They're making all the decisions. They're creating strategy for their business and enterprise. But when they become an investor, even if it's private equity or venture capital, quite often they have little say in the decisions of the company and certainly the strategy of the company. They're they're minority investors. They like having control, and all of a sudden they have little control over what happens in that business.

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:31:14]:
So it's a different component, and they have to, you know, recognize that and deal with it appropriately.

Jeffrey Stern [00:31:21]:
What would you say are the biggest misperceptions that folks coming into Tiger 21, you know, have about their own journey ahead? And then in a very similar vein, what what would you say are the the most common misperceptions people have about the problems that wealth creators face from the outside?

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:31:42]:
You know, some of the surprises are more financial in nature. You know, they realize that all of a sudden, the state planning becomes incredibly important. Tax consequences become very important in their planning. They may not be aware of all of that beforehand. They may not have even consolidated all of their wealth. They may not even know what they have. Believe it or not, that's not that uncommon for folks to not really have an understanding of their complete portfolio. So the fact that we we sort of force that on them that they really need to consolidate and understand what's there so we can give them feedback.

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:32:19]:
So certainly, that's one of the misperceptions of New Wealth. And just the challenges that come with family, with your friends who may look at you, again, may look at you differently now that you've achieved this success. And, you know, being aware of those things becomes very important.

Jeffrey Stern [00:32:36]:
Yeah.

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:32:37]:
And they never had to think about that before.

Jeffrey Stern [00:32:39]:
Right. It is really fascinating. So if you could kind of distill and I, you know, I think we've kind of laid a good groundwork for some of the challenges that come with wealth. But how you would kind of lay out what the most salient takeaways are from the collective intelligence gathered, you know, by individual Tiger 21 members about and again, you know, knowing that it's an individual process, but if there are, like, guiding principles for how people might think about wealth preservation, what those might be, and how people think about that for themselves.

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:33:12]:
What's interesting is once an individual or wealth creator becomes a member, you know, in addition to the local group, and they'll get tremendous feedback and advice from the local group, there's incredible collective intelligence from the entire community. So as a member, you have access to the entire tiger 21 member global community and the vast resources, including best practices, webinars, training, and networking opportunities that come with membership. And members also meet virtually in networks on topics of shared interest. So whether a member's interested in investing networks, such as private equity, real estate, or venture capital, or in lifestyle networks such as family office, or post liquidity, or travel, wine, etcetera. Members have an abundance of opportunities to connect with other members who have, you know, similar interests. The other difference between Tiger and some of the other peer groups is that as a member of Tiger, you have access, and Tiger encourages this, to all members in all markets. So in fact, Tiger 21 encourages members to visit groups in other markets across the globe to expand their network and learning potential. Tiger's really great at connecting people.

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:34:36]:
And in addition, they, as a benefit of membership, have access to unique travel opportunities, including curated trips and the annual Global Exchange. The Global Exchange offers an opportunity, a unique opportunity, for members to meet and network with all Tiger 21 members from all over the country in the world. And in addition to the networking that's afforded at this annual once a year meeting, Tiger 21 affords incredible learning experiences. There's training sessions on a wide range of topics and world class speakers. So at the last global exchange, which we call GX, the speakers included CNBC's Brian Sullivan, Cathie Wood, the CEO of ARK Invest was there, Olympic champion Lindsey Vonn, and then we had 2 former US presidents, George w Bush and Bill Clinton, on one stage. It was an incredible event.

Jeffrey Stern [00:35:36]:
That is amazing.

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:35:38]:
It really was amazing. It was incredible energy at this event that you just had to see it to believe it.

Jeffrey Stern [00:35:44]:
Yeah. In the spirit of connecting people, you know, obviously, it's quite a bar to surmount for for most entrepreneurs and and candidly, you know, most will not ultimately surmount it. And I'm curious, you know, obviously, there's a furtiveness, a secrecy, you know, associated with those who are involved, which makes sense to me by design. But I'm curious to the degree to which these entrepreneurs are interested and focused on mentorship and kind of helping those along the path in their journeys who are, you know, not quite at that level yet, but just their kind of general perspective on how they think about mentorship as it's played a role in their own lives and also, you know, for those who are are on that path themselves.

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:36:27]:
Yeah. I can tell you that the ones I have met, I've met several now, during my journey are incredibly gracious with their knowledge, their learning, love to be mentors, you know, recognize the level of success that they've achieved and are eager to pass on anything they can to help others. Many of them volunteer, you know, now what wealth does provide for them is maybe the ability to use their time in ways that they couldn't before. So they're volunteering. They're getting involved in projects that are dear to them. So I think there are example after examples of members doing that kind of work.

Jeffrey Stern [00:37:11]:
That's cool. There's kind of one more high level meta topic that I'm very interested in, which is the recognition of the role that luck kind of plays in a lot of this. And it actually goes back to some of Morgan Housel's, you know, writing. But to the degree to which people often associate success in others attributed to luck and often fail to recognize the role that it has played in their own lives. I'm curious if that topic at all, you know, comes up and how people think about the role of luck. And it would just be an interesting day to hear your perspective on that, because I I know that it kind of runs the gamut of the you know, what is within your control and what is without.

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:37:53]:
I think one of the common traits of many members and what's in and this is a trait that makes them good members is their humility, their modesty. And I'm not sure what precisely how they think about how luck played into their success, but I know many of them don't take enough credit for it. Mhmm.

Jeffrey Stern [00:38:14]:
You

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:38:14]:
know, they're they're humble. They give accolades to others around them. It's just how many of them are wired. But on the other hand, there's a certain level of confidence that goes along with this and the ability to sway others and influence others in positive directions. But that would be a great thing to do a survey on is is how they think luck did play into some of their success. I'm not sure if we have data on that.

Jeffrey Stern [00:38:39]:
Yep. No. It's it's it's fascinating. I I don't have considerable data on my end either, but anecdotally, you know, one of the things that's been very fun about the podcast itself is is trying to extract the the patterns of behavior that I've recognized in in just entrepreneurs generally. And I've really come to believe that there's kind of these core motivations for someone who would try to do the very difficult thing of building a company, and it's often centered around this tenet of ownership, agency, autonomy, culture, and impact. And if you're going to be an entrepreneur, it's most likely you will have those kinds of attributes, you know, within you. I think though, again, about, you know, how few people actually get to make it to the level of success that we're talking about here. Are there other attributes that, you know, you have have noticed as somewhat more common in the folks who are are able to achieve the level of success required to be a member of Tiger 21?

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:39:39]:
A lot of the things we all talk about frequently, you know, hard work and, quote, unquote, luck go together. Right? They're willing to take some risks. They see opportunities that others don't see. These are some of the traits that I've seen. They can look at a very complex situation and make quick sense out of it. They can look at an opportunity and investment, look at a financial statement and quickly decide if it makes sense or not, or if there's an opportunity. I think many of them have that innate ability, but a lot of it comes down to hard work. You know, they get up early, they stay late, they get the right people around them, and all of a sudden, they get lucky and do very well.

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:40:21]:
Right? Yeah. But the luck didn't just happen.

Jeffrey Stern [00:40:25]:
Right. Well, I, could continue to barrage you with a series of questions on this topic because it's it's kind of endlessly fascinating to me. What is entailed by this level of success and what goes into it? But I think we've covered a a fair amount of ground here. I wanna leave a little bit of space for anything particularly salient about the Cleveland chapter and kind of Tiger 21 writ large that is left unsaid that that you think is important to bring up?

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:40:52]:
I think it's important for people to know and people considering Tiger 21 that if you've achieved success in the business world and you've had a significant liquidity event, many people think you're on easy street, but the reality is that there are many challenges inherent with wealth that you can't learn in school. And the value of having a group of people who are also experiencing similar challenges and opportunities and willing to share in a confidential setting is it's really priceless. So I mean, with tiger 21 does is bring these peers together so they can find strength in numbers. I'm really pleased. The inaugural tiger 21 Cleveland group has launched with great enthusiasm and interest, and I'm looking forward to continuing to to grow the group and continuing to expand it.

Jeffrey Stern [00:41:42]:
It's very exciting. So I think we can bookend the conversation here, kinda keeping it within, the the realm of of Cleveland. And Yeah. For entirely unrelated to anything we've talked about, but for, a hidden gem in Cleveland, our our traditional closing question. Something that other folks may not know about, but perhaps they should.

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:42:04]:
We have so many hidden gems in Cleveland. Right? But here's one. I don't know if you're familiar with it. I recently went to an event at Nottingham Spurc Innovation Hub.

Jeffrey Stern [00:42:14]:
Absolutely. John was on the the podcast, a few back.

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:42:19]:
Okay. So maybe it's not as hidden as I thought, but I've talked to many people who are not aware of it. But it's housed in a landmark building in Cleveland near Case and the clinic. And as you know, the focus is on taking ideas from concept to commercialization, and they help corporate innovators grow their business by partnering with them from design to delivery. And they've created some incredible product innovations, some incredible medical devices, and consumer products. It's it's really a unique place where innovation and entrepreneurship come together. I I would encourage everyone to visit. Yeah.

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:42:55]:
And, in fact, I look forward to welcoming maybe some new Tiger 21 members who have used NottinghamSpurk to monetize their great idea.

Jeffrey Stern [00:43:04]:
Absolutely. The building itself is quite a hidden gem, and I will note because it's actually one of the quotes that that I remember. Yeah. So one of the few that is stuck in my head. But in John's episode, episode, he had mentioned that if you assume something difficult is impossible from the onset, then you'll never even try. And that that always stood with me because I I feel like he, they constantly go for the impossible there, which is very cool.

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:43:28]:
I agree.

Jeffrey Stern [00:43:29]:
Well, Dan, I, I appreciate you coming on for for sharing a bit more about your path to Tiger 21 and the work you're doing in establishing the the Cleveland chapter.

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:43:38]:
Well, thanks for having me. It was great to be here. I'm very excited about the group and looking forward to great things ahead.

Jeffrey Stern [00:43:45]:
Amazing. If folks had anything they wanted to follow-up with you about, what would be the the best way for them to do so? Where where would you point them?

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:43:53]:
I would encourage anyone who has an interest in learning more about Tiger 21 to reach out to the tiger21.com website where they can inquire about membership. Jeffrey, it might be a decision that'll change their life.

Jeffrey Stern [00:44:06]:
Awesome. Well, thank you again, Dan. Really appreciate it.

Dan Nitowsky (TIGER 21 Cleveland) [00:44:09]:
Thank

Jeffrey Stern [00:44:10]:
you. That's all for this week. Thank you for listening. We'd love to hear your thoughts on today's show. So if you have any feedback, please send over an email to [e-mail], or find us on Twitter at podlayofthelandor@sternfa, j e f e. If you or someone you know would make a good guest for our show, please reach out as well and let us know. And if you enjoy the podcast, please subscribe and leave a review on iTunes or on your preferred podcast player. Your support goes a long way to help us spread the word and continue to bring the Cleveland founders and builders we love having on the show.

Jeffrey Stern [00:44:44]:
We'll be back here next week at the same time to map more of the land. The Lay of the Land podcast was developed in collaboration with the UP Company, LLC. At the time of this recording, unless otherwise indicated, we do not own equity or other financial interests in the company which appear on the show. All opinions expressed by podcast participants are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions of any entity which employs us. This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions. Thank you for listening, and we'll talk to you next week.