While British billionaire Richard Branson is perhaps best known for his ambitious plans for filling the skies with supersonic jets, he recently made headlines by making an investment in a more traditional form of transportation, railroads. Branson is lending the name of his company, Virgin, to the railroads in the United States run by Fortess Investment Group. The new company name will be Virgin Trains USA.
Currently, Fortress Investment group operates railroads in Florida, and their operation is going extremely well. Their vision is to take their railway service nationwide, which is a hugely significant development since it will be a private-sector railroad system in a country where government-subsidized Amtrak has long been the dominant intercity railroad company.
Even though millions of Americans ride on intercity trains each year, currently Amtrak is virtually their only option. Amtrak came into existence when the Federal Government consolidated existing railroads from private companies, and the planned Fortress Investment Group system will be the first privately-funded, intercity railway system built in over a century.
With Branson’s backing, Fortress Investment Group plans to first extend their Florida service to Orlando and Tampa and, pending Federal approval, next to Las Vegas and Southern California. Wes Edens, chairman and co-founder of Fortress Investment Group, plans to ultimately add lines to Charlotte, St.Louis, Dallas and other major cities. Read the article about Fortress at The Wall Street Journal.
As far as the new company goes, Fortress Investment Group will operate and manage the railroads while Virgin will have a stake in the company of a few percentage points in return for its investment. Richard Branson said that he is thrilled with the new plan. He noted that he has struck similar deals with other United States firms, and his company Virgin America, which operates on a similar model to the planned railroad system, has been extremely successful.
How Talos’s CEO arranged for the Acquisition of Stone Energy. The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey’s rendered the north of Houston impassable for two days after floods were experienced in most parts of Kingwood, Texas. Duncan who is a 45-year-old CEO of Talos Energy had been in the scene when it first happened and reports about the second six feet hurricane that was on the way had him wade through the floods for safety. The level of the water was on his waistline where he waded to help his wife, son, and their two dogs onto the FEMA rescue boat.
Further, with the completion of the transaction saw Talos energy adopting Stone listings with the new ticker symbol as TALO. Also, the Stone Energy’s revenue, which had an annual turnover of over $900 million led to Talos energy’s assets expansion in the Gulf of Mexico. Today, the Talos company pumps 16,000 barrels per day from its Phoenix Field that was formerly called the Typhoon Field into a ship known as the Helix Producer. Better still, Talos would benefit from Stone’s platform known as Pompano that it had initially acquired for $200 million from BP.
The Talos Energy is an independent firm that deals with the production and exploration of oil and gas in Houston, Texas. The company’s management team has a wealth of knowledge and experience in the offshore exploration and production of oil after decades of operations in the deep-water assets around the Gulf of Mexico. In additon, the Talos energy has previously been involved in two successful transactions of selling Phoenix Exploration Co. and Gryphon Exploration Co. that gave them high returns, thus its success in oil and gas production.
Mike Baur, founder of the Swiss Startup Factory has been helping other founders as he can with the best tips he can offer. Most young entrepreneurs, or those who found new companies may fear that they don’t have what it takes to make it. This is why Mike Baur is the best person to answer these questions.
One of the most commonly asked questions that Baur gets is “What can you do to come up with a brilliant idea?” Baur keeps it simple, sharing with entrepreneurs that the easiest way to come up with an idea is to let it come to you. There is no such thing as forcing an idea in his opinion. Baur also talks about being in the moment. If you start making notes about something that is needed or can solve a problem, just ask, “Why is it not there yet?” Baur always appears to keep it simple and low stress. He feels that the less you think about it the easier it becomes.
There also challenges that he sees when nothing happens once an entrepreneur has considered what is needed. He has always noticed that oftentimes ideas are not implemented as they should be. There is a lot that entrepreneurs know they should do but yet the are left undone. One of the most basic according to Baur is the lack of a website. There are also numerous tools available at no cost to entrepreneurs for communicating with their audience. He has noticed that oftentimes, entrepreneurs fail to use these tools. This is why Baur feels so strongly that startups have a great chance to succeed and maintain a strong business.
Although tools and resources are easy to come by these days, many are still asking what qualities matter most to others. Baur makes it clear that these tips are super simple too, and mostly they are personal choices one must make otherwise they do not have a shot at success. Those are trusting, and not being afraid to fail. He also says to avoid naysayers, or those who tell you that you cannot accomplish what you set out to do. Lastly, he suggests working like a pig. Working hard is without a doubt a necessity with any startup, and it requires a lot of your time.
Baur still maintains his work with the SSUF today in Switzerland with his fintech partners.
Louis Chenevert is an entrepreneur from Canada. He was, before, the chairperson and also held the position of the chief executive of UTC. Louis was also once the Head of Pratt and Whitney Canada.
He obtained his production management bachelor’s degree from HEC Montreal. He also received his honorary doctorate from HEM Montreal in May 2011. Still, in 2011, a United States of America magazine that focuses on aviation news named him the person of the year due to his significant efforts and achievements in the field of study and profession.
In December 2011, Chenevert was under the chairperson of the business council. In September 2015, he became a banking advisor, and this is where he gained respect and trust. What he did was offer advice on other business in the industry and aerosol sectors.
Chenevert left an impressive history in the fact that under his leadership UTC was able to keep its position in the market as a leader in terms of innovation. It was able to be so in building and aerospace without leaving its original position.
Louis Chenevert spent enough time in the company to enable him to run their related corporations with an equal code, and this led to great achievements. This was also reflected i the relations of UTC. UTC was able to benefit from invention of new commodities and also their supplication. Due to this, UTC, under the leadership of Chenevert was able to benefit from the life cycle of all the products in its business lines leading to a turnover for the business as a whole.