Loading
When Junior Achievement of Southwest Florida selects winners for it Business Hall of Fame Award, the organization asks the winners to dispense advice to young people during the induction ceremony.
Sometimes, you might learn a little fact about the winner's youthful indiscretions during his or her acceptance speech.
In that regard, David Diamond didn't disappoint. The entrepreneur who co-founded DeAngelis Diamond Construction in Naples told the 650 people at the Collier award dinner Oct. 29 that he once ran away from home to work on a horse farm up north where they taught dressage to young college women.
Diamond says his parents weren't to blame for his disappearing act when he was in high school, instead attributing the escapade to a spirit of adventure that is an essential ingredient for entrepreneurs. Besides the construction company he co-founded with John DeAngelis, Diamond has funded more than 20 successful startups in health care and technology as an angel investor.
After a few weeks sleeping in hay barns, Diamond says he reconsidered his equine adventure and returned home after he got tired of sleeping in the cold. But his taste for travel adventures hasn't waned as he's since visited remote locations such as Darfur, Sudan and southern Russia to raise awareness against human trafficking, his personal charitable endeavor.
Your free article limit has been reached this month.
Subscribe now for unlimited digital access to our award-winning business news.
Join thousands of executives who rely on us for insights spanning Tampa Bay to Naples.
