Michael Green's House

Founder of Dakota Financial, an equipment-leasing company, Michael Green is president of the Los Angeles chapter of the Tech Coast Angels, a group whose members invest seed money in start-up companies.

After earning an undergraduate business degree from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School in 1995, Green tried to produce a movie — “like every L.A. kid,” he said. But he couldn’t raise sufficient funding to make the film and eventually lost $70,000 of his own money. At the suggestion of a few friends, he set out on an even riskier path — launching a day-trading business. His timing was excellent. He opened a Santa Monica office of New York-based Momentum Securities at the height of the Internet-stock boom in 1997. The operation was lucrative but stressful as many customers lost money. “People were smashing keyboards, punching holes in the walls and throwing monitors off of desks,” Green said. Some customers became addicted and couldn’t be talked out of trading despite sizable losses. “I was very upfront with people about what the risks were,” he said. “There were some guys I was like ‘You are ruining your life. Please stop [trading]. I beg you.’”

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BUSINESS
Entrepreneurial angel
By WALTER HAMILTON, LOS ANGELES TIMES
DEC. 16, 2012 12 AM
The gig: Founder of Dakota Financial, an equipment-leasing company, Michael Green is president of the Los Angeles chapter of the Tech Coast Angels, a group whose members invest seed money in start-up companies. Green, 39, grew up in Los Angeles and now lives in West L.A.

The day-trading craze: After earning an undergraduate business degree from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School in 1995, Green tried to produce a movie — “like every L.A. kid,” he said. But he couldn’t raise sufficient funding to make the film and eventually lost $70,000 of his own money. At the suggestion of a few friends, he set out on an even riskier path — launching a day-trading business. His timing was excellent. He opened a Santa Monica office of New York-based Momentum Securities at the height of the Internet-stock boom in 1997. The operation was lucrative but stressful as many customers lost money. “People were smashing keyboards, punching holes in the walls and throwing monitors off of desks,” Green said. Some customers became addicted and couldn’t be talked out of trading despite sizable losses. “I was very upfront with people about what the risks were,” he said. “There were some guys I was like ‘You are ruining your life. Please stop [trading]. I beg you.’”

A new path: Green closed the business in November 2001 as the day-trading frenzy petered out in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and, for the second time in five years, he had to cast about for a new career. After a chance meeting on a golf course, Green co-founded an equipment-leasing company in 2002 (he bought out his partner six months later). He was drawn to the steady nature of the lending business, a contrast to the volatile day-trading industry. Dakota Financial borrows money from big banks and other institutions, buys equipment and leases it to small businesses in the trucking and construction industries.

He bought this 7,000 sq ft house in for $4,296,040 on Mar 8, 2002.