Rob Garey

#CVEnvy: Victor Vescovo

Victor is a Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Insight Equity. He leads the firm’s activities in deal origination and portfolio management within the Aerospace, Defense, and Electronics industries and is Chairman of Insight’s four companies that operate in those areas. Along with Ted Beneski, he is the single largest investor in Insight’s current Fund III.
Before co-founding Insight Equity, Victor was Vice President of Product Development at Military Advantage, an internet community site sold to Monster Worldwide in 2004. Prior to that, he was a senior manager at Bain & Company where he focused on merger integration and operational improvement cases. In the early nineties, Victor worked in the mergers & acquisitions department of Lehman Brothers where he was responsible for company due diligence and transaction execution, as well as working overseas in the Middle East advising the Saudi government on business investments.


Victor received his MBA from the Harvard Business School where he was named a Baker Scholar for graduating in the top 5% of his class. He has also received a Master’s Degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and earned a double major BA in economics and political science from Stanford University.


Among other responsibilities, Victor currently serves as the Chairman of Micross Components, MB Precision Investment Holdings, Dustex Holdings, and VirTex Investment Holdings. He also serves as a Director on the Boards of Versatile Processing Group, Plasman Group, Panolam, Riverbend Foods, Strauss Brands LLC, and Eddy Packing Co., Inc. Additionally, Victor served 20 years in the U.S. Navy Reserve as an intelligence officer, retiring in 2013 as a Commander (O-5). His principal duties involved operational targeting (Iraq, Kosovo, and Afghanistan theaters) and after 9/11 he was deployed to support counter-terrorism efforts overseas.


In 2017, Victor became the 12th American to complete the “Explorer’s Grand Slam” which requires climbing the highest peak on all seven of the world’s continents including Mt. Everest and skiing at least 100 kilometers to both the North and South Poles. In 2019, he made history’s deepest solo submarine dive in the Pacific’s Mariana Trench, was the first person to do it multiple times, and in August became the first person to visit “The Five Deeps” – the deepest points in all five of the world’s oceans. Victor was also the first person to dive the second- and third-deepest points on the ocean’s floor, the Sirena and Horizon Deeps, and also made the first solo dive to the Titanic. He is also rated as a multi-engine jet, helicopter, and submersible test pilot.

From Victor’s official bio at Insight Equity

Questions to ask in meetings

This seems like a good question to ask midway through a meeting–

Does anyone have an opinion contrary to what we’ve been hearing?

Make > Complain

The best way to complain is to make things. —James Murphy

Founders showing up for Fatherhood

Each meeting is different, but the goal is the same—get their male founder husbands to take a substantial paternity leave in the hopes that their enthusiasm for the concept of embracing a work/life balance for parents will both help their own families and then trickle down to the rest of their company.


“We all know the limiting factor for women’s careers is motherhood,” says Ms. Henderson, who co-founded a consulting firm that runs work/family workshops for Silicon Valley companies. “So when men, especially male founders, show up for fatherhood, it helps to dismantle the old bro culture that believes families are lame and the single man reigns supreme.”


The Quiet Efforts to Battle Silicon Valley’s Bro Culture (WSJ)

Climb For Captives: $1 Million & Ten Years Later

UPDATE: a Climb for Captives alumni is generously matching all funds raised in our 2018 climb up to $100,000. That, coupled with Vanessa and I’s match (up to $5,000) will multiply every dollar you give to accelerate Rescue:Freedom’s mission to end human trafficking around the world.  Support us here!

Many of you know about the injustice of human trafficking around the world and even in our own communities here in the US. In the summer of 2008, some friends and I decided to celebrate Independence Day a little differently by climbing Mt. Rainier in an effort to raise both awareness and funds to fight human trafficking. It became an annual campaign that we call Climb for Captives, and since then, we have raised over $850,000 to bring freedom to victims of human trafficking around the world.

The Climb For Captives team after summiting Mt. Rainier in 2013

Each year, we give 100% of the funds raised directly to our non-profit partner, Rescue:Freedom International.  Vanessa, was even able to visit one of Rescue:Freedom’s Home of Hope in India in 2007, and see first hand the amazing work they do in rescuing and restoring children out of brothels.  You can learn more about Rescue:Freedom’s important work here.

 

The 2018 Campaign
This July, I’m coming out of retirement and our team is headed to climb this beast– Mt. Hood, the tallest peak in Oregon at 11,249 feet in altitude:

In the past ten years, we’ve raised $850,000 to fight trafficking around the world, and this summer, we will raise $150,000 to make it $1MM in ten years.

 

Who we climb for– several of the girls in a Home of Hope who have been rescued out of brothels

Every dollar donated goes to support Rescue:Freedom’s mission, and here’s a glimpse of what your support can accomplish together:

  • $38/month – Give one woman or child safe-housing for a month.
  • $167/month – Give one woman or child safe-housing and holistic care for a month.
  • $2,000 – Give one woman or child safe-housing and care for a year.
  • $5,000 – Provide a rescued girl with the opportunity to pursue a college education or vocational training.

 

JOIN US

  • If you have 30 SECONDS… Help us spread the word about the injustice of human trafficking by sharing this post and LIKING our Facebook page to raise awareness about our response.
  • If you have 3 MINUTES… Consider making a donation to Climb For Captives.  Vanessa and I are inviting our community to join us as we match up to $5,000 of donations to Climb For Captives.
  • If you have 30 MINUTES… Lets grab coffee or schedule a call to talk more about this issue!

I deeply appreciate the support this community has brought me in this venture over the past ten years, and we look forward to continuing the fight against human trafficking with your continued encouragement, inspiration, and generosity.

To the summit!

Rob
co-founder @ climbforcaptives.com

 

Climb For Captives in the News
The Climb For Captives community has been recognized in several publications over the years. Checkout some past articles featuring our team from around the country:

“Bothell father and son to climb Mount Adams for a cause” in the Bothell Reporter

“Monroe pastor climbs to fight slavery” in the Monroe Monitor

“Issaquah men climb Mt. Rainier for a cause” in the Issaquah/Sammamish Reporter

“Climbing with Purpose” at Knoxville.com

“Climbing for Captives works to stop human trafficking” at WBIR.com