Cojourn
Firm Headquarters: San Jose, CA and Newport Beach, CA
Date Founded: 2015
Investments to Date: Under 10
This Page was Updated September 2020
Investment Approach
We are not a private equity fund but an operating company with a family of commonly controlled companies focused on long term success. We grow through acquisition followed by operational excellence. We are looking for business owners preparing for succession who care about the long term future of their company and desire their legacy to endure beyond their tenure as owner.
We believe work must be meaningful in order for it to work. We prioritize people and respect organizational history. We work hard to preserve company culture and core competencies, while creating enduring success through investment, innovation and operational excellence.
Cojourn invests its own capital and offers ongoing opportunities to aligned investors to invest in our companies. We focus on acquiring mature profitable businesses.
Focused Geographic Regions of Investment:
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Is all of your activity in the US?
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Yes, Western USA.
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What countries outside of the US are you active in?
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None.
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Focused Industries of Investment:
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We are open to a wide variety of sectors.
Previous or Active Portfolio Companies:
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Happy’s Car Wash
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Oil Stop Drive Thru Oil Change
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Reed Community Partners
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Vintra Al Video Analytics Software
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Supply Constrained Real Estate Investments
Investment Example:
In 2018 Cojourn acquired Oil Stop Inc. from its founder Larry Dahl who remained with the company as a shareholder and mentor.
Oil Stop is a 30+ year old profitable business with approximately 30 locations and over 250 team members. In the two years since our acquisition, Cojourn has substantially grown sales, added new sites and doubled profitability. Most importantly we have retained 100% of the leadership team and navigated the successor transition with excellence. We expect to hold and operate the business for the foreseeable future.
Capital Raise Strategy
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Total Assets Under Management: AUM = $95M (net of debt)
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Average Investment: $1,000,000 +
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Minimum Amount: $500,000
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Total Number of Investors: 19
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% of Capital from Top 3 Investors: Less than 25%
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Financial Reporting Frequency to Investors: Quarterly Reports
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Setup to accept charitable capital through the National Christian Foundation or other listing platforms? No.
Leadership Team
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Cumulative Leadership Experience in Accredited Investing: 50+ years
nick parisi | co-founder
Nick has spent his career operating and serving small and mid-sized businesses. After 12 years as the COO of Goble Investments and Goble Management Company, a multi-generational family office focused on investing in, growing and supporting small businesses, he founded what is now Cojourn in 2015. Nick‘s operational leadership style was cultivated when he was promoted to running a $100M+ business just three months before the start of the great recession. The following 12 months were some of the best real world business training of his career. Nick’s training continued with an MBA at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business where he now serves on the business school’s Alumni Council.
ryan callaghan | co-Founder
Ryan’s unique perspective on organizational leadership comes from having served over the years as COO, CEO, owner and board member of manufacturing, software and service businesses. He began his career in 1999 as an investment banker in New York executing large M&A transactions. He transitioned into private equity where he deployed capital in mid-sized businesses throughout the US, often taking on operating roles. After some failures and much success, Ryan began investing his own capital into profitable businesses that prioritize people and purpose. In 2017 he teamed up with Nick Parisi to found what is now Cojourn Companies. Ryan’s best acquisition ever was his wife Kelly. They live in Southern California with their four children and serve actively within their church, school and non-profit communities.
Greg Thorburn | VP, Real Estate & Retail
Greg identifies new commercial real estate and retail business opportunities while supporting the growth of Cojourn’s operating companies. He has spent his career focused on scaling and expanding companies at various stages of growth across multiple industries including retail, energy and sports & entertainment. He is an operator and team builder with a proven track record leading new store growth and ground-up development opportunities for retailers in the automotive, carwash, restaurant and healthcare industries. Greg values corporate cultures where people are seen, heard and cared for and is committed to partnering with founders and companies who share a similar mission to build something of significance as he helps lead them through their next phase of growth. Outside of work, Greg is actively involved in his church and can most often be found going on adventures, cooking and playing sports with his wife Lindsay and their three sons.
jon porter | vp operations
Jon identifies new business opportunities and provides regular support to Cojourn operating companies. Prior to joining Cojourn he founded and led two businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa that have grown to employ more than one hundred team members, including the first majority-Deaf company in Rwanda. He earned his B.S. from the University of Southern California and is a rabid cyclist.
Spiritual Integration and Impact:
Faith Driven Investing can span a wide range from high yield to concessionary returns that have a higher level of spiritual integration. Having clear expectations of this philosophy is key for the movement. Each investment is unique and you might want to select multiples but if you had to choose one quadrant that best fits your groups spiritual integration and financial performance targets … What would it be?
Above Market Financial Return with Medium-High Spiritual Integration
Describe the Spiritual Integration Activities of the Fund:
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At some companies we actively have chaplains, prayer teams and bible studies while at others we do not have any of those. We believe that spiritual integration in a company is best done through relationships and needs to be a pull not a push so to be sensitive to the power dynamic between owners and employees. We would be happy to share our Faith and Work white paper after a conversation. The only reason we did not put high is we don’t track or require formal integration rather its a part of our own personal faith that drives us.
Is Impact and Spiritual Integration Tracked?
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No.
Are you partnered with any other organizations?
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Yes.
A lot of Investing Conversations look at Social Impact related to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Is there one of these that most resonates with your organization?
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N/A
WHY The FAITH DRIVEN INVESTOR?
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Why are you compelled to be certified and a part of the Faith Driven Investor Group?
N/A
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Does the leadership align with the Unifying Principles on Faith Driven Investor and agree to the Code of Conduct? Yes
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Who nominated you to be listed on the FDI site?
Henry Kaestner, Faith Driven Investor
AFFILIATIONS- Are you a part of any third party groups, affiliations that you would like to list here?
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N/A
Learn More
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Key Contact Name: Jon Porter
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Email: jon@cojourn.com
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Mailing Address:
Newport Beach Location – 15 Corporate Plaza, Suite #250, Newport Beach, CA 92660
San Jose Location – 401 Reynolds Circle, San Jose CA 95112