Ownership 1.qxp_Finance 22/03/2022 10:45 Page 1
OWNERSHIP
Don Catalano: Business Growth Equals Flying Growth Moving from a piston single, then a turboprop, into a twin-engine HondaJet today, Fabrizio Poli asks Don Catalano how business growth and Covid have transformed the company aircraft from a ‘nice-to-have’ tool into a ‘must-have’ tool…
D
on Catalano joined the US Army out of High School and eventually found himself serving in the Special Forces HALO scuba team. This experience really shaped him, helping him realize how a small team can be more powerful and effective than a large team. After his experience in the military, Don began a career in Real Estate and took up flying as a hobby. Today he is President and CEO of his own Real Estate brokerage called iOptimize Realty (www.ioptimizerealty.com), with his flying playing a part in his professional success. Don’s company is a Commercial Real Estate (CRE) specialist representing tenants, not landlords. By analyzing property metrics, the company’s dedicated tenant representatives regularly achieve rents 30% below market using iOptimize’s proven and proprietary systems. They also work with a global network of commercial real estate advisors to find the best deals. In 2007, the iOptimize Realty team foresaw the economic tsunami and subsequent rollback of market rents. Don and his team showed their clients how much over-market their CRE portfolios had become, and offered an easy way to optimize them. Today, they
54 Vol 26 Issue 4 2022 AVBUYER MAGAZINE
are doing this again in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. The company’s unique take on the CRE market accommodates client needs in secondary and tertiary markets that most other firms don’t want to work within.
Airplane Ownership: Upsizing with the Business
It was twenty-five years ago that Don bought his first airplane, a Mooney piston single, and started using it for business. Flying his Mooney to visit clients, he soon realized how the airplane was becoming a valuable business tool. Eventually, his work required trips further afield, and he upgraded to a Piper Meridian single-engine turboprop before purchasing the twin-engine Light Jet he flies today: A HondaJet Elite. Dan’s business focussing on commercial Real Estate during the Covid lockdowns necessitated a change in the way he did business. With his small team working from home, iOptimize Reality began showing clients property via video-conferencing technology. Virtual visits only worked to a certain extent, however, and Don upped his game by flying the HondaJet to pick up certain clients to fly them to see www.AVBUYER.com
