List of special guests at OC Boy Scout Leadership Breakfast reads like a Skull ‘N Bones alumni dinner—Year 1, 2015: fmr Secretary of Def. Robert Gates; 2016: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (p.1) and Year 3, 2017: Secretary of Success, Rob Friedman. Eagle Scouts all.
Friedman and partner Jeff Frieden aren’t int’l stars but they are local business celebs. OC foaled and bred to start businesses … Costa Mesa swap meet, then stereo stores, a smog-repair in a rough part of L.A.—“best location, next to the busiest smog-testing shop,” recalled Friedman. Robbed the first day he made peace with the perps—he’s a salesman, and they liked beer.
The pair learned the real-estate auction biz from Aussies: “When you’re kind to people they’re kind to you.” They sold their first clients’ stock, 54 homes, in one day. Years later the internet. And luck. Bought the domain auction.com. and hired well. “Everyone could do something better than our execs.” $50B in auction sales later, the boys sold Ten-X this summer to P/E firm Thomas Lee for $1B.
“Learned business from Scout Law,” Friedman told the Scouts on Wednesday. “Be kind, trustworthy, generous … be on time. Helps to have a partner that doesn’t like to lose.”
Friedman held an auction at breakfast, prodding guests to sponsor a troop. He’d match.
“Old-fashioned guy,” said event underwriter Allen Boerner. Rob will still do a deal by handshake and you can take it to the bank.”
Newport Beach loud-and-proud conservative David Bahnsen hosted Pres. Trump’s Tax Squad last Monday (p.1). Last time. Bahnsen held fire long enough to tweet a pic with the first daughter then ripped the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act as class warfare. Homeowners here may prefer the Senate plan—keeps mortgage deduction at $1M.
Some NFL vets are helping their own. OC res., gold medalist and Rams alum Ron Brown announced NFL Retired Players Congress will sell one-of-a-kind sports memorabilia on OC Goodwill’s ShopGoodwill.com. Proceeds to NFL vets, military and Goodwill’s Tierney Center.
Concordia Univ. opened SSG Matthew Thompson Veterans Resource Ctr. Friday. Green Beret medic Thompson was killed by an IED in Afghanistan Aug. 2016.
Harvard laterals to Yale … Pres. Reagan loved to tell a story from his Iowa radio days. He called a back named Smith running free to the goal line when his stat man whispers, ‘Wrong guy!’ Gipper in stride, “Smith laterals to Johnson who goes in.” 90 years later, Insider pulled a Gipper. Our story about a Smith named Fred, C-student at Harvard who started FedEx—all true … but the Harvard part. Ouch! Fact checker Tim Tunney (Yale ’66) should know … Smith was his frat brother. So was another Skull ‘N Bones man, middle initial W. Gotta be stories there.
