David Howitt
We introduce Meriwether Group by saying that entrepreneurs are our heroes and that it’s our mission to help them fulfill their journeys. No one embodies this more fully than our founder, David Howitt. As the New York Times bestselling author of Heed Your Call, frequent speaker and coach, board member for multiple businesses and educational institutions and, most importantly, the visionary and guiding spirit of the Meriwether Group, David is committed to making his expertise, wisdom and unwavering support available to as many founders and business leaders as possible.
David isn’t just a champion of entrepreneurs—he’s lived the dream. Starting with a stovetop kettle, David was a partner in founding Oregon Chai, grew it to an $80-million business and had a successful exit in 2004. Oregon Chai was built while David was Corporate Counsel and VP of Licensing and Business Development at Adidas America (he always offers the caveat that he’s a recovering lawyer). The two sides—entrepreneur and advisor to an iconic brand—inform Meriwether Group’s mission of helping the next generation of consumer brands find soul and purpose in their business while thriving financially. Knowing what he needed as an entrepreneur, David has built a team of hands-on consultants and advisors with real-world experience who can fully serve the entrepreneur every step of the way.
Embracing the “Power of &” is David’s core philosophy. It gives him a unique appreciation for businesses built on purpose, meaning, heart, beauty and authenticity as well as an appreciation for solid business, operations, brand, finance and market strategy. From this perspective, he’s advised a generation of iconic brands. Stumptown Coffee and Dave’s Killer Bread are representative of the Meriwether Group approach, with investment banking and consulting processes that created significant wealth for the founders while setting the brands up to become household names.
David never stops looking for new ways to support growing brands, their founders and the Meriwether Group team. Most recently, he led two key initiatives that give entrepreneurs and founders access to growth capital and best-in-class financial resources: He led the formation of Meriwether Group Capital and developed an exclusive partnership (and investment) with First Fed Bank (Member FDIC), a Northwest Community Bank with a commitment to serving entrepreneurs.
Career highlights
- Founded The Meriwether Group in 2004 and developed it into a highly successful business accelerator, investment banking and private lending investment firm that it is today.
- Assisted with and supported the launch of the popular beverage company Oregon Chai, playing a key role in developing the business into a $40 million global category leader and a successful 9-figure exit to a large international food company.
- Published New York Times bestellerHeed Your Call and delivered the TEDxHollywood talk “Repair the World and Abundance Will Follow,” both in 2014.
- Developed and managed a $300-million licensing portfolio for Adidas America, which contributed more than $25 million to the company’s bottom line each year. Worked on a wide spectrum of business development issues, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and strategic alliances with numerous companies.
- Served as corporate counsel for Adidas America, providing strategic business and legal advice on all matters across the corporation including litigation, employment law, e-commerce, antitrust law, sales legal issues, consumer product safety and athletic sponsorship agreements.