Raising Private Capital for your Small Business

A free Defense Alliance Webinar

Wednesday, February 26

11:00AM - 12:00PM CST

11:00 AM: Defense Alliance - Welcome Remarks

11:05 AM: Anacostia & Pacific Company - Peter A. Gilbertson

11:10 AM: Business Development Advisors, Inc. - John J. Alexander

11:30 AM: Mairs & Power - Scott Burns

11:50 AM: Q&A

12:00 PM: Conclude

MEET THE PRESENTERS

John J. Alexander

President, Business Development Advisors, Inc.

John has 30 years of experience operating and building medical technology businesses. He is currently President of Business Development Advisors, Inc., providing corporate development services [leadership team development/coaching & board governance, strategic and operating planning, M&A, licensing, exit strategy and execution, and project management & intra-preneurship] to early-stage and dynamic growth companies. John was previously: COO/CFO, initial consulting to restructure the company (revalue business and correct legacy capital structure issues), develop a new operating plan, budget/forecast, pitch-deck & executive summary, prepare process & structure for potential-investor due diligence, communicate with shareholders, assist with realigning and augmenting the team before raising funding and assisting manage this company with its non-invasive, technology to treat & stabilize vision for patients with a range of retinal diseases {AMD, retinitis pigmentosa, Stargaards, diabetic retinopathy and others) for which there is no treatment, nor cure; CEO of Chameleon Scientific, leading a turnaround and raising $11 million resulting in projects/revenues with 9 major medical device customers. He was formerly Vice President of Corporate Development for St. Jude Medical now part of Abbott Laboratories (ABT). His M&A leadership transformed StJM from a single product line, $200 million dollar company into an $840 million multiple platform company in 3 years increasing shareholder value by 3.5 times. He has held leadership positions in corporate development at Baxter Diagnostics, W.R. Grace & Co., and G.E. Venture Capital. 

He holds an MBA from Darden / University of Virginia, and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering / Carnegie-Mellon University. He is Founder and Chairman of Twin Cities Angels (now raising its fourth Fund), led the business/citizen efforts resulting in the successful enactment of the Minnesota Angel Investor Tax Credit (and 3 subsequent revisions of that bill) and was appointed by the Governor to serve on the Science and Technology Council, served on the Advisory Board for the Schutz School of Entrepreneurship at the University of St. Thomas, and is an Executive in Residence at the University of Minnesota’s Medical Industry Leadership Institute {MILI}, is an advisor to an IT-centric bootstrapping group and an advisor to the University of Minnesota’s Medical Device Center (MDC) since inception, and has been a mentor/mock-judge for the Minnesota Cup.

Scott Burns

General Partner, Mairs & Power

Scott Burns joined Mairs & Power Private Capital Management in 2023 as General Partner after nearly 25 years leading venture-stage companies. With a deep-rooted passion for supporting entrepreneurs, Scott brings his own extensive entrepreneurial experience across multiple successful ventures, having founded GovDelivery and Structural. GovDelivery was one of the first companies to move governments into the cloud and was sold in 2016 to an investment group led by Vista Equity Partners for $153 million. Structural was an employee connectivity and engagement platform that was sold to Augeo, a global leader in enterprise engagement and loyalty, in October 2022. Scott has been an active investor in startups and growth enterprises since 2010 through his own direct investments and through investments in a number of venture capital funds. He’s served as an informal and formal advisor to countless entrepreneurial ventures. Scott is a graduate of Dartmouth College with a bachelor’s degree in economics and environmental studies. He started his career at McKinsey & Company in the Chicago / Minneapolis Office. He is committed to the St. Paul and Minneapolis community, sitting on the board of the Star Tribune currently and serving in past board leadership roles with the St. Paul Chamber of Commerce, Friends of the St. Paul Library, and the St. Paul and Minnesota Foundation. In 2021, Scott was appointed by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to serve on the Council for Economic Expansion.

Peter A. Gilbertson

Founder & CEO, Anacostia & Pacific Company

Peter A. Gilbertson is an entrepreneur and investor. He is the founder and chief executive officer of Anacostia & Pacific Company and Anacostia Rail Holdings. Anacostia is a transportation investment, development and management services firm. It has formed, and its shareholders control, six operating freight railroads operating in seven states.

He is a member of the board of trustees of the University of Denver, the executive advisory board of Brown Brothers Harriman Capital Partners, the board of the Seven Pines Symposium on the Foundations of Physics, the advisory board of the Northwestern University/Vanderbilt University Intermodal Analytics for Network Energy Decarbonization project, the board of Precision Terminal Logistics, FBI InfraGard, and an alternating member the board of the Association of American Railroads.

He formerly held posts as chairman of the Regional Railroads of America; member of the Executive Committee of the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association; chairman of the Railroad Shipper Transportation Advisory Council of the U. S. Surface Transportation Board; chairman of the Hill Reference Library, and member of the board of the Center for Neighborhood Technology.

He has degrees from the University of Denver and University of Minnesota.

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