How does a financier and entrepreneur view the critical infrastructure space? In this #NomadFuturist podcast, Peter Hopper who specializes in providing advisory services and investment capital for the telecommunications and critical infrastructure industries shares his love and enthusiasm for this space.
After college, Hopper did a stint trading foreign exchange before making the switch to telecom, working for his father-in-law who ran a successful cable television business. He filled various operating roles as the business grew in scope. When the business was acquired, Hopper went on to be involved in other ventures related to connectivity and infrastructure and ultimately co-founded DH capital, the preeminent advisory practice in the data center, cloud and managed hosting sector.
Hopper shares his history, challenges and successes.
“I had to downsize a company substantially which was incredibly painful. I learned a lot… It really gave me the respect for how important it is to operate a business well… the finance stuff is sexy but if you can’t operate it right, you’ll get yourself in a lot of trouble.”
He relates how he parleyed his experiences and relationships into success and how sometimes a great opportunity arises out of a setback.
“Things come full circle. That’s one of the wonderful things about this industry. It’s deep and rich in terms of relationships and interconnections. It’s a whole ecosystem. It rewards people who do the right thing, treat people the right way, are honorable and have integrity.”
Hopper highlights the importance of staying on top of industry trends, of being aware of customer pain points in order to see where the next business opportunity lies.
What does he look for in a company?
“The right culture...fostering the idea of teamwork, creating the right value system within the organization, those are the intangibles that separate the great companies from the good companies.”
Hopper is unabashedly optimistic about the future of the digital infrastructure industry:
“I think that the telecommunications, infrastructure ecosystem continues to be an incredibly vibrant career path for people to consider. There’s all different roles, whether it’s finance or engineering, human resources, sales, marketing… the full gamut of disciplines is available!”
Peter Hopper joined Abry Partners in 2020. Hopper is responsible for sourcing and leading transactions for Abry’s flagship, senior equity and heritage funds. His areas of focus include telecommunications, communications infrastructure, and tech-enabled services. Prior to joining Abry, Hopper co-founded and served as CEO of DH Capital, LLC for nineteen years. Hopper holds a B.S. from Lehigh University.
