Nick Jain is the CEO of IdeaScale, the leading innovation software company. IdeaScale is the core of many leading global organization's innovation efforts including NASA, Comcast, NASCAR, Doctors without Borders and many others.
Nick graduated at the top of his class from Harvard Business School and holds a degree in mathematics from Dartmouth. He enjoys playing poker, running and travelling with his wife.
Eric Burns is a Cincinnati-based entrepreneur. His journey has taken him from being a finance major to a Cincinnati Firefighter to a residential real estate investor and flipper to finally landing in commercial real estate. He values his journey and believes in the entrepreneurial spirit.
His message to fellow entrepreneurs is simple, STOP TRADING YOUR TIME FOR MONEY and LIVE LIFE BULLISH.
Like many, Eric started his real estate investment career in the residential space and expanded into the commercial arena. His first property was a student housing rental in 2016, while he was still active with the Cincinnati Fire Department. Later, he expanded into renovations, and eventually, after many years of growth, education, and “failing forward”, Eric found himself in the commercial space.
Eric’s story is similar to many entrepreneurs’ as he has navigated ups and downs with successes and failures in his entrepreneurial journey. As it turns out, it was during a less-than-ideal renovation when he realized, after years spent starting side hustles and residential real estate, that he was still only trading his time for money! As a believer in financial freedom, Eric leaned into commercial real estate and found a path to lead him to that destination.
To that end, Flowers Capital reflects Eric’s fundamental philosophies of sourcing and funding deals. Priorities include, firstly, the preservation and growth of investor capital. As a strong proponent of multiple, passive sources of income and protecting the commodity of time, he believes financial freedom is achievable through commercial real estate investment. Flowers Capital is fully intent on achieving those goals for its investors.
Eric considers himself a life-long learner. He believes in the entrepreneurial spirit and understands the realities of that life path. His greatest strengths include curiosity, personal accountability, and resilience.
Real estate investing is truly a labor of love for Eric, but he also thoroughly enjoys fly fishing, traveling, and his Labrador Retriever, Baron.
Brad spent most of his life trying to uncover his purpose, “Why are so many people brilliant at one thing?”, “Why am I average at a number of things?”, “What is my main thing?” – questions he'd often ask himself and close family members. In an ironic twist these questions unknowingly led him to find his purpose in a way he didn't expect; by connecting others with theirs.
With over twenty years of experience in digital and user experience design and marketing, Brad works with founders to help them understand the fundamentals of market positioning and differentiation – with a twist!
Brad helps these business owners make their competition irrelevant so that their business can become their buyer's only logical choice. He does this by connecting them with their personal purpose, using that purpose to make their business unique and using that uniqueness to make the competition disappear.
Gary Brode brings over 30 years of experience in the securities industry, most recently serving as Managing Partner and Senior Portfolio Manager at Silver Arrow Investment Management, a concentrated long-only hedge fund with a strategic focus on options-based hedging.
Gary began his career in the Mergers & Acquisitions department at Morgan Stanley. He later worked alongside Doug Hirsch at Smith New Court before helping Hirsch co-found Seneca Capital. Following this, Gary spent three years honing his expertise in long/short equity investing at Brahman Capital. He then joined John A. Levin & Co., where he had full investment discretion and delivered consistent returns, generating profits on all 15 investments he managed.
As a founding partner of Akita Capital Management, Gary expanded his entrepreneurial endeavors, culminating in the launch of Silver Arrow Investment Management in 2012 with Raji Khabbaz.
