Meet Chad Cooper | Investor & entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Chad Cooper and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Chad, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Risk equals opportunity. Obviously risks need to be assessed and vetted as much as possible but taking risk can be essential in terms of growing and innovating. Risk is a constant in business. The key is to try to minimize your downside risk in any situation.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
After attending business school at Georgetown University, I joined Roth Capital Partners in institutional sales. During my tenure at Roth, I was exposed to the finance industry and learned how to analyze a business, including how to assess a business’s strengths and weaknesses. After my time at Roth, I had the opportunity to work with a NY-based hedge fund to search for investment opportunities, One of the tools I acquired from this experience was creating a framework of what defines a good business (ie: high gross margins, growth opportunities, solid management team, etc). This experience provided me with a great foundation and gave me the confidence to acquire and operate disparate businesses. When the Rusty’s Chips opportunity came along, I saw the potential, given the brand loyalty, the employee tenure and the founder’s continued involvement.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Great question! I am a total foodie so here are the places I would take a friend to eat on a long weekend in Orange County:
Javier’s in Crystal Cove. Not only a great people watching scene but the mexican food is TOP NOTCH!
A Restaurant – for that old school steak house vibe, complete with red vinyl booths and stiff cocktails!
Cortina’s – the Rocky Balboa sandwich is incredible
Bear Flag – the freshest fish around, awesome tacos, sandwiches, burritos and Poke!
Birdie’s Bodega/Sections – they have an awesome selection of products and their sandwiches are excellent!
Gary’s Deli – old school NY style deli. Gary’s is an institution in Corona del Mar.

Activities would have to include catching an Angles game at Angels stadium. A day trip to Catalina Island. A few hours walking around downtown Laguna Beach & Balboa Island. A round of golf at Big Canyon or Pelican Hill. And of course, a day at the beach!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
No one has success in a vacuum. The successes I have had in life would not have been possible without the support of family, employees, friends and strangers. Family of course provides the emotional support and drive to accomplish the task at hand. When I bought my first business, California Electronics, I had to sign a personal guarantee on a loan to purchase the business. If I didn’t have the support of my wife, it would not have been possible. Without the team at Rusty’s Chips, I likely would not have pursued the transaction. But the employees have been at Rusty’s for a long time, some as long as 20 years, which is why I issued stock to each of the employees. Most of my friends have been very supportive of me but there are a few individuals who really went out of their way to help me in the businesses I have bought, shout out to Scott Sullivan and Brian Gehl! And finally, thank you to the consumers of Rusty’s Chips! We are a small business but we’ve been around since 1986 so we must be doing something right!

Website: https://www.rustyschips.com