John is the Managing Principal of First Nations Capital Partners, LLC, (“FNCP”), a new $25 million specialized private equity fund. FNCP’s investors include The Rincon Band of Luiseno Indians, owners of Harrahs Resort and Casino in Valley Center, CA, The Cachil Dehe Band of Wintun Indians, owners of the Colusa Casino Resort near Colusa, CA, and Wells Fargo Community Development Corp., and certain select individuals.

 John also has helped owners sell or obtain capital for their businesses. For example, John sold a $23mm revenue San Diego based home improvement products business to The Home Depot in 2005. John’s forte is in deal-making having completed literally dozens of mergers and acquisitions, sales and divestitures, as well as both control and minority investments over the past 30+ years. The large majority of these involved small businesses that are sometimes referred to as “microcap” (Revenues from $5mm to $25mm) companies. Clients represented have ranged from individuals, to large financial institutions and multi-national corporations. He has also run two bank-owned SBICs.

To complement his deal-making skills, John’s acknowledged expertise is in Valuation and Pricing, Financial Structuring and Negotiations, Due Diligence and Documentation. He also has been a successful small business owner and entrepreneur and is a seasoned executive in the areas of financial management, operations, consulting and public accounting. His operating experience includes filling the roles of Board Chairman, President, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Senior VP-Marketing.  

He is a Core Adjunct Professor at National University where he teaches Graduate and Under-graduate courses in Finance and Accounting, both on-campus and on-line. He is a noted guest lecturer and panelist at various professional organizations and symposiums including ACG. For example, in March (’08), John was a panelist at the Native American Finance Officers Association (NAFOA) annual convention where FNCP won one of NAFOA’s inaugural leadership awards for “Deal of the Year”. He also was a featured speaker at both the Sept, 2007 Falmouth Institute conference on tribal economic diversification, and the National Indian Gaming Association annual convention in April 2006. Furthermore, John has worked extensively in “Indian Country”, serving indigenous peoples both on and off the reservation, at the Tribal and individual member levels, as well as not-for-profit Native American business councils and organizations. John earned his Master of Business Administration degree (with honors) from the University of Southern California, and Bachelors of Science in Business Administration degree from UC-Berkeley. He is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in California (No. 14900E)