#237: Frank Edwards, Managing Partner of Aqueduct Capital Group – Relationships are earned, not assumed

How Leaders Lead with David Novak

David Novak Leadership

Entrepreneurship, Business, Management

4.8 • 596 Ratings

🗓️ 1 May 2025

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Want to build the working relationships that open doors—and keep them open? In this episode of How Leaders Lead, David talks with Frank Edwards, Managing Partner of Aqueduct Capital Group. You’ll see how Frank has built a stellar reputation—not through flashy networking, but by showing up consistently, giving credit freely, and treating every relationship with long-term respect. It’s a masterclass in building trust that lasts! You’ll also learn: What your top priority should be as you’re scaling One key element of a strong sales culture How to follow up after someone opens a door for you Why you need a support system Take your learning further. Get proven leadership advice from these (free!) resources: ⁠The How Leaders Lead App⁠: A vast library of 90-second leadership lessons to stay sharp on the go ⁠Daily Insight Emails⁠: One small (but powerful!) leadership principle to focus on each day Whichever you choose, you can be sure you’ll get the trusted leadership advice you need to advance your career, develop your team, and grow your business.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	My whole world, I feel like, is built on relationships. And I think your reputation is the most important
0:07.3	thing you have in the world. Let's protect that every single day.
0:20.7	Welcome to How Leaders Lead. I'm David Novak, and every week I have conversations with the best
0:25.4	leaders in the world to help you become the very best leader that you can be. My guest today is
0:30.4	Frank Edwards. He is the managing partner of Aqueduct Capital Group, a firm that helps investment
0:35.9	managers raise the capital they need to grow.
0:38.9	You know, people say that success comes down to who you know. But after this episode,
0:44.4	you'll see, it's not just who you know, it's how you treat those that you know. And if you
0:50.3	want success for the long haul, you can't take your relationships for granted.
0:54.6	It takes effort.
0:55.9	You've got to value and respect and recognize people you work with.
0:59.8	That's how you create long-lasting partnerships and a reputation you can be proud of.
1:04.4	And let me tell you, I've known Frank for a long time and nobody models it better.
1:09.0	So here's my conversation with my good friend and soon to be
1:12.8	yours, Frank Edwards.
1:18.0	You know, you got a nickname, D-Dog. You got to tell me, where in the hell do you get the name D-D-D-D
1:29.0	from?
1:30.8	David, I've had it my whole life.
1:33.9	I grew up in the eastern part of North Carolina in a very, very small town called Roanoke Rapids,
1:40.3	and people in the eastern part of the state are very lazy in their speech and rather than saying
1:45.6	this, that, them, and those, they'll say distat, dim and does. And my sisters were 1613 when I was
1:53.3	born. And one of them looked through the window at me and he said, oh my God, he looks just like a hot dog.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from David Novak Leadership, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of David Novak Leadership and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.