MountainWest Capital Network
Share
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
07/23/2026
4 weeks out from our next MWCN Business Forum!
John Koelliker, CEO and Co-Founder of Leland, will join us to talk about building an AI-native business. He has raised $20M from investors including Forerunner and GSV, made the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, and previously worked in product at Uber, LinkedIn, and Curated.
Join Us on Thursday, August 20 at 11:30am to 1:00pm MST!
RSVP Today! https://www.mwcn.org/event-registration/
07/21/2026
Private equity firms are rewriting their playbooks for growth, and AI is both the accelerator and the biggest risk on the table.
In the latest Deal Flow article, Protiviti draws on 13 years of research with NC State University’s ERM Initiative to break down where PE leaders see the most opportunity, from revenue expansion to cross border M&A, and what keeps them up at night: talent gaps, cybersecurity exposure, and the race to deploy AI at scale.
This piece features insights from Jason Roberts, Salt Lake City Office Market Leader and Managing Director in Protiviti’s Internal Audit and Financial Advisory practice, and Rob Gould, global leader of Protiviti’s Private Equity practice.
Read the full article on the MWCN website.
http://bit.ly/44AXqHB
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!
Click here to claim your Sponsored Listing.
Contact the business
Telephone
Website
Address
Salt Lake City, UT
84125