Daniel Askew

Nashville, TN, United States0

Founder & CEO, Icon Business Advisors | M&A Advisory + Growth Capital + AI Operating Systems for Business Owners | Nashville, TN

Greetings from Nashville! I'm Daniel, a passionate entrepreneur and business advocate dedicated to empowering fellow founders on their path to lasting success. As a third-generation real estate and finance professional, I kicked off my career with rapid momentum, serving over 500 families and closing $125 million in residential sales in just four years. That foundation opened doors to Five Doors Network, where we acquired and scaled real estate businesses nationwide, landing on the INC 500 list as the #118 fastest-growing private company in America. With the arrival of my kids, priorities evolved toward building our family holding company, Owen Capital. We launched and integrated ventures like Living TN (serving 2,400+ families with $450M+ in sales), Hassle Free Lending for mortgages, title services, and Turf Clips for home maintenance—creating a seamless ecosystem while balancing family life. After some burnout, boredom and reflection, I realized what truly lights me up: being the trusted ally I always wished for as an operator. CEOs need friends too! I decided to leave good to chase great. That's how Icon Business Advisors was born in 2023—a founder-first firm where our team's hard-won expertise, networks, and scrappy lessons fuel entrepreneurs in real estate, healthcare, tech, and beyond. We're the "Jerry Maguire" for business leaders, blending empathy, innovation, and execution to scale companies, navigate M&A, raise capital, and craft legacies that create jobs and strengthen communities. When not diving into deals, I'm adventuring in Forest Hills with my wife Rachel, sons Charlie and Peyton, and our pup Delilah—or soaking up the sun with friends on Center Hill Lake. Thrilled to connect with entrepreneurs, investors, and fellow business enthusiasts. Whether eyeing growth, M&A, or just swapping stories, let's rap!

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Experience

Founder & CEO

Icon Business Advisors

Jan 2023 — Present · Nashville Metropolitan Area

Icon Business Advisors is a tech-enabled M&A and capital advisory firm serving lower middle-market business owners across the country — from our base in Nashville, Tennessee. We advise on sell-side M&A, capital raises, buy-side acquisitions, and operating partnerships for companies between $3M and $50M in revenue. Our edge is operator credibility — we've built, bought, and sold businesses ourselves. When we advise a client, we're not reading from a playbook. We're drawing from experience. Service lines include Icon Exit (sell-side M&A), Icon Capital (equity + debt raises), Icon Deal Flow (buy-side sourcing), Icon Partner (operating equity partnerships), and the Operator Command Center (our 72-hour consulting sprint product). → iconbusinessadvisors.com

General Partner

Margaritaville Fun Fund

Jun 2025 — Present · Nashville, Tennessee

Margaritaville Fun Fund is a hospitality-focused private equity fund targeting select-service and boutique hotel properties in high-traffic leisure markets across the Sun Belt and Southeast. As General Partner, I lead investor relations, acquisition strategy, and fund operations. The thesis: leisure travel is resilient, brand-driven hospitality outperforms independent properties, and the right operator can generate strong risk-adjusted returns in the $5M-$30M deal size. Actively seeking LP investors and acquisition targets.

Co-Founder & COO

OTTOYARD

Oct 2025 — Present · Nashville, Tennessee

Ottoyard is building the physical infrastructure that EV and autonomous vehicle fleets need to operate at scale — secure, tech-enabled depot facilities engineered for the next generation of commercial transportation. As Co-Founder and COO, I lead operations, capital strategy, and business development. We are currently raising our pre-seed round to build our first pilot depot in Nashville. The opportunity is straightforward: there are 3.5M commercial vehicles in the US today. The transition to electric and autonomous is not optional — it's a regulatory and economic inevitability. Ottoyard is positioning to own a critical piece of that infrastructure. → ottoyard.com

Advisory Board Member

ASD.me

Mar 2026 — Present

ASD.me is a telehealth platform focused on autism diagnostics, making credentialed assessment accessible to families regardless of geography or waitlist timelines. Serving as an advisory board member on business strategy and capital formation.