As an experienced advisor to family offices and institutional investors in Fort Worth, Todd Mehall brings decades of expertise in structuring, managing, and exiting complex investments. At HillCap Partners, Todd Mehall leads the firm’s strategy for sourcing investment opportunities and fostering key relationships, leveraging his background at Tug Hill as well as his 25 years in finance.
From 2011 to the present, Mr. Mehall has served as president of Oak Savanna Investments, acting as an independent sponsor and managing transactions across various sectors. His previous role as chief investment officer for Tug Hill involved overseeing more than $1 billion in capital deployments, as well as co-founding several affiliates and leading significant asset sales to major industry players.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Mehall held leadership positions at FTI Consulting, PWC, and The GulfStar Group, where he advised on restructuring, capital raises, and mergers and acquisition transactions, and divestitures totaling over $700 million. He earned a mechanical engineering degree from Southern Methodist University and an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin. His continued presence in the Dallas and Fort Worth business community and its organizations reflects his long-term commitment to the investment space and his strong ties to regional and national investment networks.
What is your typical day, and how do you make it productive?
A typical weekday starts with a 5:30 alarm, transitions into a morning devotional, then off to the gym to work out with friends. Starting this way ensures that I am at least getting exercise and focusing on my faith, regardless of how the rest of the day might go. I see my kids off to school by 8 am, and I get to the office to assess my schedule for the day. An in-person meeting, coffee, or lunch meetings combined with video calls set the pace for the day, with screentime at my desk in between. I focus on the most important tasks first, delaying the less important ones as a productivity strategy.
How do you bring ideas to life?
When I come up with an interesting idea or opportunity, I spend time with industry participants and experts to learn from them and to develop perspective for the upsides and risks. It is more efficient to benefit from someone’s experience than to try and develop those skills overnight.
What’s one trend that excites you?
The growth in the demand for energy is stimulating creative solutions across the energy field. The search for more efficient and distributed power generation and technological advances in drilling and completion techniques of oil and gas wells is creating opportunity. These activities are required to support the data and AI revolution.
What is one habit that helps you be productive?
Avoiding social media, the internet, industry emails, the television, and staying focused on a few quality information sources helps me to stay focused but stay current with the industry. There is always more to learn and read, but it can be exhausting.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Stay focused on a skillset and industry with long-term potential. The world is becoming more specialized, and you must develop deep skills. But you don’t want to look up and have spent 10 to 20 years developing a skillset for an obsolete industry. Pick a growth industry that will always be around: healthcare, energy, financial services, etc. Don’t stray if it has a hard couple of years.
Tell us something you believe almost nobody agrees with you on?
God provided us with certain inalienable rights, and our laws are intended to protect our access to those rights, but the laws do not confer those rights to us.
What is the one thing you repeatedly do and recommend everyone else do?
Take care of your mental and physical health and build friendships around this. I can’t say I always do this, but it is perishable and requires constant maintenance. It is worth the investment.
When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?
I step back and reevaluate in an attempt to determine the most important task at hand. Sometimes, this takes a walk or maybe a day or two depending on the situation. But reflection and using trusted advisors or friends as a sounding board is invaluable for resetting your focus.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business or advance in your career?
Invest in relationships. Find people who you enjoy being around, with whom you share common business objectives, common hobbies, or with whom you share some sort of kinship. People want to do business with other people they enjoy. If you don’t find this with someone, then you won’t invest in that relationship and the other person likely won’t go out of their way for you either…
What is one failure in your career, how did you overcome it, and what lessons did you take away from it?
I spent time in various industries and developing different skillsets – consulting, financial restructuring, investment banking, asset management, and private equity. My varied background is a strength in many business dealings, but I would have been better served by remaining focused and developing a deeper skillset in one field.
What is one piece of software that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
I use all of the Outlook features to plan and schedule my day and to keep a list of tasks that are prioritized. This helps me order me time.
Do you have a favorite book or podcast you’ve gotten a ton of value from and why?
Most days I listen to Albert Mohler, a daily analysis of news and events from a Christian worldview. I occasionally listen to Stock Shot Secrets (golf) and Huberman, Hyman, Brecka and other health experts as well.
What’s a movie or series you recently enjoyed and why?
I enjoyed 1923. Most people forget how hard life was in parts of this country 100 years ago and take so many modern-day conveniences for granted and aren’t faced with daily hard work. It’s a great reminder, and I also love the West and the mountains.
Key learnings
- Take care of yourself.
- Stay focused – use discipline and software to help you.
- Invest in relationships.
- Have a long-term career plan.