MountainWest Capital Network
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The MountainWest Capital Network (formerly the MountainWest Venture Group) is Utah's first and largest business networking organization.
Who We Are
A Utah Business Network Pioneer
The MountainWest Capital Network enjoys a unique position as the original, independent business networking group in Utah. For more than two-and-a-half decades, we have supported entrepreneurs, investors and allied professional services firms with real-time information about capital creation and distribution through sponsored events that inspire, stimulat
Eighteen months into COVID, Derrick Porter was working 18-20 hour days, responsible for thousands of jobs, and started to wonder if what he was feeling had a name.
On this episode of Welcome to the Winners' Circle, he told Cheri M. Waldron and Jason Roberts what pulled him out of it and it wasn't a new strategy or a bigger plan. It was getting on a mountain bike. Rewatching Rudy. Doubling down on the relationships that mattered most. Simple things that let him hear what he calls "the invisible hand" again.
Sometimes the fix for burnout isn't more effort. It's stepping outside long enough to remember what inspires you.
🎧 Full episode on the MountainWest Capital Network Podcast. https://bit.ly/4whShAj
Every value chain has a version people talk about, manufacturing, distribution, sales. Derrick Porter says the one that actually drives growth is invisible.
At Beauty Industry Group, Derrick built what he calls an "intangible value chain," one that starts with a single question at the top: can you be the kind of leader people actually want to follow? No org chart with a CEO at the top. No employees, only team members. Just leadership actions that build commitment, which builds a better customer experience, which builds real value.
It's a simple idea. Most companies still get it backwards.
🎧 Full episode on the MountainWest Capital Network Podcast. https://bit.ly/4whShAj
07/16/2026
🎙 New episode is live!
Derrick Porter, Founder of Beauty Industry Group and Executive Chair of Clean Simple Eats, joins Cheri M. Waldron and Jason Roberts on Welcome to the Winners' Circle.
Derrick traces the path from painting curbs as a kid to building the world's largest hair extension company, sharing the two business school frameworks he leaned on before hiring a single person, the "intangible value chain" that ties leadership to real business value, and how he pulled himself out of a hard stretch during COVID by simply getting outside.
It's an honest, wide-ranging conversation about scale, people, and what actually matters in the long run.
🎧 Listen to the full episode now on the MountainWest Capital Network Podcast.
https://lnkd.in/gQfBK5JT
🎙 This week on Welcome to the Winners' Circle, Jason Roberts and Cheri M. Waldron sit down with Derrick Porter, Founder of Beauty Industry Group and current Executive Chair of Clean Simple Eats.
Derrick's path started with a Huffy bike, a wagon, and a can of spray paint, painting curbs for $5 a pop as a kid in Utah. That same hustle eventually built Beauty Industry Group into the world's largest hair extension company, with operations spanning six continents and three private equity partners along the way.
This is a conversation about the frameworks behind real scale, the leadership habits that build teams people actually want to be on, and what it took, personally, to keep going through the hardest stretches.
Full episode drops TOMORROW!
07/14/2026
Experience is the difference between a smooth deal and a costly one.
In this year's MWCN Deal Flow Report, CLA's Matt Bartholomew and Brendan Sullivan break down why the right diligence team matters so much in a transaction, from spotting risk in reported earnings to catching tax exposures before they become deal breakers. Together, their perspectives make the case that experience is what turns due diligence from a hurdle into an advantage.
Matt Bartholomew, National Leader of CLA's Deal Services team, and Brendan Sullivan, National Leader of CLA's Transaction Tax team, bring nearly three decades of combined deal experience to this year's report.
Read the full article on the MWCN website.
https://bit.ly/3Tz0jpR
07/10/2026
What a day! 🏌
Our sold out Golf Tournament at Thanksgiving Point brought 170+ people out to the course, and it showed.
Beautiful weather, full teams, and energy buzzing from tee time to the last putt.
Beyond the golf, this is what MWCN is all about: old friends catching up, new connections forming, and a community showing up for each other in a big way.
If you were out there, you know exactly what we mean!
More highlights coming soon. Stay tuned. 😎
07/08/2026
Tomorrow we hit the links at Thanksgiving Point for the MWCN Deal Makers' Golf Tournament!
Thank you to the sponsors who make this event possible year after year.
We cannot wait to see everyone out there!
07/07/2026
The question is no longer if a business will be targeted by cyber or fraud, it's whether they're prepared.
A recent KeyBank survey found that seven in ten business owners and executives experienced a cyber or fraud incident in the past year, from phishing and data corruption to a resurgence in check fraud. The latest MWCN Deal Flow article breaks down where these threats are hitting hardest and what it actually takes to protect a business from the inside out, including cross-functional alignment, stronger controls and real investment in employee training.
The piece features insights from Finn Robbins, Senior Vice President and Senior Commercial Banking Relationship Manager for KeyBank Utah.
Read the full article on the MWCN website.
https://www.mwcn.org/2026/07/02/cyber-and-fraud-incidents-are-the-new-normal-are-you-prepared-to-be-vulnerable/
A $300 million supplement brand and the owners still show up at the expos.
Jeff Gardner and Ryan Gardner don't just write checks and sit back. They're on the floor at trade shows, in the warehouse when high school teams come in to earn money for their travel, at every event with their crew.
Ryan said it simply: most people don't even know who owns the brands they buy. Bucked Up's customers do.
That's the kind of brand that builds an army, not just a customer list.
🎧 Cheri M. Waldron and Jason Roberts got the whole story from the Gardners on the MountainWest Capital Network Podcast.
Listen Now > https://pod.link/1818372923/episode/aHR0cHM6Ly9hcGkuc3ByZWFrZXIuY29tL2VwaXNvZGUvNzI3OTA3MzI?view=apps&sort=popularity
07/02/2026
🎙 New episode is live!
Jeff and Ryan Gardner, Bucked Up Co-founders, join Cheri M. Waldron and Jason Roberts on Welcome to the Winners' Circle.
From a $6.99 domain name to the #1 pre-workout supplement in the country and now 75 million energy drinks a year, the Gardner twins have spent 10 years turning instinct and hustle into a $300 million brand sold in 31 countries. They share how they spotted the deer antler spray opportunity, what the Ray Lewis Super Bowl moment really felt like, why they almost passed on the former CEO of Dr. Pepper, and the hard truth about getting out of your own way.
One of the most energized, honest conversations about what it actually takes to build at this level.
🎧 Listen to the full episode where ever you get your podcasts: https://pod.link/1818372923/episode/aHR0cHM6Ly9hcGkuc3ByZWFrZXIuY29tL2VwaXNvZGUvNzI3OTA3MzI?view=apps&sort=popularity
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