Al Danto

Al Danto teaches the EMBA New Enterprise Class, the Enterprise Acquisition class and their corresponding E-Labs which give students the opportunity to work on their own startup company or begin the search for a business to acquire.

Al is the managing partner of the Danto Group which advises the owners of privately held companies in developing and completing exit strategies, valuations and due diligence representation. He is also a partner in Danto Langerud investments which makes investments and actively manages businesses in a variety of industries.

He has over 30 years’ experience with startup and entrepreneurial companies as well as the acquisition and divestiture of business interests. He started Structured Graphics at the age of 24 and grew the company through a series of acquisitions into a nationally recognized printing and document management company. The company was recognized as the 145th fastest growing company in the US by Inc. 500 and was acquired in 2000 by a Private Equity Group. After exiting the company, Al went on to fund and launch several enterprises, including Universal Worker an international healthcare training and recruitment firm which was started as a class project during his Rice MBA and Arcemus which was sold to publicly traded Iron Mountain.

Al has served as lead representative on a wide range of business acquisitions and has proven experience working with lenders, private equity groups and individual purchasers. He has served on a variety of boards, including the alumni board of the Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University and the Entrepreneurs Organization. Al is a Certified Valuation Analyst and received his undergraduate degree in Business Administration and Mathematics from Central Michigan University and an MBA from Rice University.

Teaching Interests: 

• Enterprise acquisition
• New enterprise
• Entrepreneurship