Glen Dakan, founder of Pure Pursuit Automotive, talks loving whiskey, being a cabana boy in Vegas and more in The Pitch questionnaire

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Name: Glen Dakan

Occupation: Founder of Pure Pursuit Automotive, a boutique sports-car dealership, which recently opened in the Crossroads (1619 Walnut).

Twitter handle: @GlenDakan

Hometown: Las Vegas, Nevada (Moved 15 times while in the Navy.)

Current neighborhood: Brookside (Moved to KC two years ago and not looking back!)

What I do: Former Naval aviator turned tech entrepreneur. Gentlemanly interests in cars, planes, boats, music and spirits, just not all at once.

What’s your addiction? Things that go fast.

What’s your game? Football to watch (go, Chiefs!), racquetball to play, skis or wakeboards to ride.

What’s your drink? Anything with whiskey in it, from Scotland, Ireland, Japan, the U.S. or anywhere else.

Where’s dinner? My wife cooks great fresh meals, and we love to check out any and all ethnic places like Indian, Vietnamese and Ethiopian. The more it looks like a gas station and less like a restaurant, the happier we are!

What’s on your KC postcard? The view from downtown airport (I’m a pilot!) with the skyline and river in view at sunset.

Finish this sentence: “Kansas City got it right when …” We invested $9B (and climbing) in one of the largest downtown revitalizations in a large metro and voted to begin the streetcar rail.

“Kansas City screwed up when …” We didn’t extend the streetcar into the close neighborhoods or through the Plaza, But I think that will come quickly with use.

“Kansas City needs …” A new airport to match other modern airports of cities our size to draw in business and tourist traffic. We also need to develop around our awesome sports complex to better host tourists the nine months out of the year Kansas City has sports teams playing.

What are the first two terminal points on your KC rail system? Brookside and the Plaza.

“In five years, I’ll be …” Looking for the next venture to start and trying to form an awesome team, much like today.

“I always laugh at …” Almost anything. I try to find reasons to laugh whenever possible, and I love the standup of Mitch Hedberg. I learned about Louis C.K. way before he made it big.

“I’ve been known to binge-watch …” Any series by HBO and Showtime — though I run a bit short on time these days to watch what I want. Luckily, my wife cues up our favorite shows like Bloodline and Orange Is the New Black.

“I can’t stop listening to …” Any kind of music from metal to jazz to blues (except country, sorry!). Anyone who knows me is annoyed at how much I love music, that’s for sure.

“I just read …” Get-Real Leadership from local author and inspirational businessperson Harry Campbell. And now my team and I are reading Performing Under Pressure.

What’s your guiltiest pleasure? Whiskey, the cause of, and solution to, all of my problems.

The best advice I ever got: From another entrepreneur, “Provide value, charge fairly for it.”

Worst advice: My guidance counselors who didn’t try to encourage me to challenge myself. Glad I didn’t listen to them.

My sidekick: My awesome wife. We have had adventures together all over the world. The most recent was in Argentina with our kiddos this spring for a month.

What is your nemesis? Failure. I hate it.

What’s your greatest struggle right now? Trying to keep it all in balance. It is hard to start a business in a new industry while having a family. I don’t know if I do well at it all the time.

My dating triumph/tragedy: I’m still friends with all my ex-girlfriends on Facebook, so I must be doing something right. Minor tragedy is some of them got overtaken by the Vegas lifestyle.

My brush with fame: I was a cabana boy in Vegas during high school and college for Caesars Palace and Paris and got to serve a couple of celebrities who are now B-list (Pam Anderson, Claudia Schiffer … I’m getting old).

My soapbox: Do what you love and you won’t work a day in your life.

What was the last thing you had to apologize for? I overbooked my schedule just after my company Pure Pursuit’s open house and missed an important interview. I felt terrible to have to reschedule.

Who’s sorry now? Still me! Lesson learned. 

My recent triumph: Hitting Pure Pursuit’s open-house date on time with all the small pieces that fell into place that day! I’m blessed to have a world-beating team.