About Sakira

Josh Cogan

While I grew up braving the cold winters of Chicago, I’ve been fortunate to live in more than ten different states during my lifetime. Today, I live in Brooklyn, NY, where I relocated after completing my MBA from The Wharton School in 2022.

I started my career at Goldman Sachs, advising Fortune 500 companies on mergers & acquisitions and financing transactions. Wanting to work more directly with management teams on critical business initiatives, I joined Genstar Capital, a growth-oriented investment firm based in San Francisco. At Genstar, I partnered with CEOs and the management teams at a number of portfolio companies on many strategic projects to accelerate growth and create value.

While at Genstar, I discovered my passion for building high-quality businesses and came to value the independence and autonomy that result from entrepreneurship. This led me to pursue my MBA and seek a more entrepreneurial career path. Upon graduation, I founded Sakira LLC to acquire and operate a single company, and to make that company the sole focus of my professional life for years to come.

I find a wide range of businesses exciting and am eager to learn more about yours. I look forward to meeting you!

Advisory Board

I'm grateful to have the support of a group of talented entrepreneurs, executives, and investors in my pursuit to identify, acquire, and build a small business. Learn more about their backgrounds below.

Jason Jones

CEO of Applied Concepts

Jason is the CEO of Applied Concepts, a successful sales & performance training small business that serves automotive dealerships across the U.S. and Canada. He is also a former attorney at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, and a former U.S. Marine.

Clayton Sachs

Vice President at Datacor

Clayton is Vice President at Datacor, a leading provider of process manufacturing and chemical distribution ERP and CRM software. He is also an active investor in many entrepreneurial ventures across a wide variety of industries. Clayton is a former growth investor at TA Associates.

Rick Taketa

President of Taketa Capital

Rick is the President of Taketa Capital, a family office that supports high-growth, entrepreneurial companies. He also serves as a board director of Palomar (NASDAQ: PLMR) and Veritone (NASDAQ: VERI) as well as numerous other private companies and charitable organizations. Rick is the former President and CEO of York Risk Services.

Dave Welling

CEO of Mercer Advisors

Dave is the CEO of Mercer Advisors. Under his leadership, Mercer has grown to become one of the largest and most successful full-service wealth management firms in the U.S. Dave was Managing Director and Co-General Manager of SS&C Advent, a leading provider of technology and operational support to advisors and investment managers.