How Do Great Companies Start?
MD of FG Ventures Derek Distenfield Shares His Insight on “Play the King” Podcast
How Leadership Influences a Company’s Success
Derek Distenfield, who is the Managing Director of Fundamental Global and FG Labs, revealed in a 16-minute interview with “Play the King” podcast that he looks for “outstanding leaders” when investing in companies.
As an award-winning entrepreneur, Distenfield has achieved many accomplishments working with technology companies. In the interview, he explained that his experience as an investor and mentor has allowed him to work with companies that have ranged from $0 failures to $2 billion dollar successes.
Throughout the podcast, Distenfield continued to stress the importance of leadership. Emphasizing the point, he noted that when a company begins to lose money and is struggling, the CEO and leadership team is “what you're betting on” to turn things around.
“We really do believe that great companies start with great founders and great CEOs, and that could be in the lumber space, it could be in the movie industry, or it could be in tech companies like Firefly,” Distenfield said on the podcast. “And we've ultimately found, if you find the right leader, good things can happen.”
Leadership is More than Running a Company
In Distenfield’s eyes, leadership means more than just running a company, though. The entrepreneur served as an officer in the U.S. Army, which he credits as the foundation to his leadership experience.
With leadership being a core value for Distenfield and Fundamental Global being his main outlet to take small businesses to the next level, the managing director explained that Fundamental Global takes a customized approach with each startup that it works with.
“We really support the CEO in the way that they want to be supported,” Distenfield said during the interview. “Sometimes that means getting really hands on. Sometimes it just means being a good board member and providing advice and governance that we're required to do at that level.”
Opportunities Coming to North-Metro Atlanta in 2023
In 2023, Distenfield will bring his expertise to the North Metro-Atlanta area as he launches FG Labs, a growth initiative arm of Fundamental Global, at Digital Ignition, located in Alpharetta, GA. FG Labs will invite innovators to join a catalytic business summit and business accelerator program among many other events and opportunities throughout the year. The program will allow Distenfield to do what he does best- inspire leaders and help companies to thrive. Learn more from Derek by applying for Digital Ignition’s accelerator at https://www.digitalignition.com/business-accelerator-program