Jake Humphries, founder of 11 Point Partners

Growing up around small business gave me a lifelong goal: to run one myself.

I grew up in St. Louis, where my family ran a bike shop and a food processing plant. I worked the bike shop myself: building bikes, running the register, learning that every outcome, good or bad, was personal. Losing the bike shop was the toughest experience of my childhood. Since then I have yearned for that feeling of personal connection with business. That is why I founded 11 Point Partners, to help a current owner successfully transition their business on their terms.

The Touring Cyclist bike shop — The Touring Cyclist

Before this, I spent a decade building a skillset I’m excited to deploy.

Mizzou

I grew up in St. Louis and paid my own way through Mizzou. I never wanted to rely on someone else to tell me how a business was performing, so I studied accounting and earned my CPA. I remain a proud Tiger, and still watch Mizzou find a way to lose the big game every year.

Deloitte

I spent my first five years at Deloitte, auditing public companies and helping clients execute mergers and acquisitions. I loved the pace and the clients. What I missed was building something of my own.

Ryan Specialty

Like most people in insurance, I fell into it backwards: a recruiter called about a “wholesale broker,” and I didn’t know what wholesale meant. I said yes anyway, because Ryan Specialty was founder-led by Pat Ryan, who built Aon before it. I spent three years there learning how risk gets placed and underwritten, and I loved it.

11 Point Partners

Having built a foundation I’m proud of, I went to Kellogg on evenings and weekends to indulge my entrepreneurial curiosity. That’s where my vision took shape: buy and build a company that helps underwriters, brokers, and carriers do what they do best, distribute and underwrite risk. I want to partner with one great owner-led business, take it into its next chapter, and help it navigate the opportunities coming with artificial intelligence.

Named for a river Jake knows by heart.

The name comes from the Eleven Point River, which runs through southern Missouri into Arkansas, Jake’s wife’s home state and now his. He grew up floating and fishing it. We run this search from Northwest Arkansas, close to where it flows.