Executive Street

Rick Andrade has over 25 years experience as a finance executive and business advisor.

After earning my BA & MBA degrees from UCLA, Rick began his Big 5 strategy consulting career at Accenture and later CapGemini Ernst & Young. Over time he would work with willing CFOs at Amgen, Mellon Bank, Sky Chef, and Warner Bros, for example, to design and implement state-of-the-art finance and performance management strategies and systems.

With first-hand knowledge of how the Fortune 500 can get great results, Rick turned my attention and experience to help middle-market companies do the same. In the mid 1990s he formed his own company to help middle market business owners get financing to grow. There he wrote dozens of business and marketing plans for clients that needed funding and began helping those that wanted to sell their business. From this experience Rick found financial advisory a true professional calling.

Over the last 15 years Rick has advised countless company executives at every level on how best to maximize the value of their company, leverage resources, and improve operations. Today Rick works for Calabasas Capital inLos Angeles, a middle market investment banking firm where he reaches out to CEOs and CFOs that need advice on buying, selling, and raising new capital.

“What I keep finding more and more these days is business execs who foremost want to trust they are in good hands. For instance, when looking to sell their family run company after 20 years in business, the Santa Barbara Olive Co, a multi-national brand you may know well, chose my team to represent them. I spent days just listening and understanding the owners’ goals.

The key is to listen, listen, listen. And after an exhausting buyer search, which included private equity buyers and strategic buyers from across theUSAandEurope, we found a best-fit buyer on the other side of the country.  I believe there is a likely buyer for every deal size if you know where to look.”

In his spare time, Rick writes and speaks to Sr Execs at various trade organizations and events around the country about market trends, economic forecasts, and Best Practices that help business owners improve the value of their company.

Rick lives in Encino, Ca nearLos Angeleswith his awesome wife Suzanne, a Los Angeles Deputy City Attorney. In addition to his BA & MBA from UCLA, Rick is a Managing Director in M&A for Calabasas Capital. Rick is a licensed California Real Estate Broker, a Series 7, 63, and 79 securities representative, and is a proud SBA/SCORE volunteer & instructor to small businesses in the region.