Mahes Prasad

Mahes has spent the past 20 years in Financial Services, the last decade supporting a major banking institution grow their footprint in the Southwest. He recently struck out on his own with a number of former colleagues to help support advisor independence at Juncture Wealth Strategies.

Prior to rejoining Wells Fargo in 2004, he spent 4 years at Charles Schwab & Co. as a Financial Advisor. At Wells Fargo, he held a variety of leadership positions and lead multiple teams of Financial Advisors throughout Arizona. Helped increase revenue from $25mm to over $65mm in the Metro Phoenix Region during my time leading Brokerage. Dedicated time as a Financial Advisor Practice Management Consultant helping over 100+ advisors manage multiple aspects of their practice in order to grow both AUM and Revenue while continuously improving the Client Experience. Mahes has been recognized by On Wall Street Magazine as a Top 100 Branch Manager Honoree in 2011 and 2012.

Mahes is a Diversity and Inclusion Advocate who supported D&I efforts both internally and externally at Wells Fargo. He was active in supporting the National efforts for Wells Fargo’s Wealth Management D&I Council while also leading the Southwest Region’s Wealth Management D&I Circle.

Mahes also is a Sustainability Advocate who serves as Board President for Arizona Sustainability Alliance (AZSA). AZSA’s mission is to bring cutting-edge, projects based sustainability solutions to Arizona!

Where did the idea for Juncture Wealth Strategies come from?

Juncture Wealth Strategies genesis to helping advisor independence was born out of a strong desire to help advisors, whether they are financial advisors, attorneys, accountants, property and casualty insurance agents, etc. band together to serve clients in more harmonious manner.

We saw a shift in the industry towards advisors leaving large regional and national firms, striving to better serve clients thru independence, but struggling to make the jump successfully due to fear of the unknown.

We have an experienced group of professionals, with diverse backgrounds and skill sets, who are determined to ensure we can support advisors make the move successfully.

What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?

My typical day starts with an hour commute into the office where I catch-up on the day, the markets and listen to a pod-cast from time to time. I try to make effective use of this time. ABC news, CNBC and Podcasts industry and non-industry related are great.

I like making proactive outreach into the communities, clients and advisors we serve to gain a deeper understanding of their pain points and helping them develop a plan that we can support them with in achieving success. I try to schedule my breakfast, lunch and happy or dinner with someone.

How do you bring ideas to life?

Thru collaboration. I am an introvert by nature, but it’s only thru connecting with others does idea formation and execution take place.

What’s one trend that excites you?

Financial Advisors move to Independence! It’s fueled by demographic and cultural changes in our industry, but technology has now made it that much easier for someone to move away from a large organization, pay themselves more and develop true enterprise value in a business they own wholly!

It’s an exciting time to support advisors making the shift. It’s liberating for them and empowering for me and my partners to support them!

What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?

Staying intimately connected with my wife and daughters. My proudest accomplishments have been the times I’ve helped encourage and support them thru obstacles.

It’s both grounded me, and tested by abilities, to do so with others.

What advice would you give your younger self?

Jump. When the opportunity to do something great crosses your desk, jump.

Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.

Anchovies are great on just about everything! Pizza, Caesar Salad and even Raw.

As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?

Develop a strong network of friends and business colleagues. Then stay connected to them frequently, adding value when you can from a business perspective and being there for them personally as well. Life is about connecting with like-minded people.

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?

Learning from other’s successes and failures has proved the best strategy for our growth. Reaching out to founders who are starting the same journey, are 3-5 years in and then those that were early adopters to Independence 10+ years ago. I’ve found they are all willing to share their stories as they believe we can learn from each other and are stronger together.

What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?

Buying a business outside of industry and not doing enough due diligence on the individuals I was buying it from. I trusted comments from these industry professionals, but should have reached out to many other industry professionals to gain a better perspective.

I was able to still turn the business around to profitability and sell it in a short time frame. My biggest learning: surround yourself with people you trust irrelevant of the profit potential. Focusing on the “outcome” more than the people, process and journey was a mistake.

What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?

Business Consulting Service for the service industry focused on exit strategies to include partnerships, M&A, franchising, etc.

There are many “mom and pop” businesses in this country doing $1mm-$5mm+ in revenue that have owners/principals who are nearing retirement. They, like many other owners in other industries, are faced with a dilemma. As baby boomers the next generation talent is not available by sheer lack of numbers, but it is compounded by the fact that many children of these owners are college graduates who are pursuing other careers and don’t want to own the local pool, landscaping, cleaning business. There is disruption in these markets with new technology and a retiring owner base that is overlooked by many investment banking firms.

What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?

My $100 pair of new Brooks Trail Running Shoes. They are hands down the best trail running shoe and now with the weather getting cooler it’s time to enjoy the outdoor hiking Arizona has to offer.

What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?

LinkedIn hands down it the best web service I use throughout the day. It allows me to stay connected to friends, industry associates and changes/updates in my area. It is the new “Rolodex” for the 21st century and is invaluable means to stay connected.

What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?

I have 2: Grit, by Anglea Duckworth and Quiet, by Susan Cain. I heard Angela at a SIFMA conference a few years ago and the details she shares around being “gritty” are inspiring.

Susan focuses on the power introverts have as leaders when perception in the world can be that you must be extroverted to be successful. It helped me self-realize more of who I am and why I too can be successful even though connecting with others at networking events/happy hours can be draining emotionally and even stressful.

What is your favorite quote?

“Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.” Suzy Kassem

Key Learnings:

• Connect with others continually to both learn and grow, but also to be of service to others in your network.

• Due Diligence is critical before entering any venture and gathering input from many both in your industry and outside it is invaluable

• Independence and Freedom from large corporations is not a trend, but is becoming a reality as technological advances help support others entrepreneurial desires.

• “Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will”