INTRODUCING MARSHALL PORTERFIELD
Family. Life. Investing.
When we launched the MAEVLO adventure, these were the pillars we set up as guideposts. Some slogans are there to make customers feel good but, as most of you know, the name MAEVLO is a word built out of the names of my children, a daily reminder of why I’m here and who I’m working for. Today, we want to take a moment to introduce someone whom you may not have had a chance to meet or speak with but has been integral to the growth of MAEVLO. He’s been on this journey since Day One in various capacities, advising and helping out. Since he has recently come onboard in a more formal role, we thought it right to make his ears burn a bit. So without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, let us introduce Marshall Porterfield.
Family
We’ll start with family because we don’t believe that the family is something tacked on to a bio to add a soft touch, it is our core, out from which we move and work. Marshall grew up in Houston but since his wife Cassie hails from San Antonio, the family gravity pulled them that way and it’s where they’ve made their home. They are in the midst of raising three boisterous kids: two girls and a boy (11, 10, and 6 years old). Tennis, softball, lacrosse, and baseball keep everybody busy. Marshall keeps active as well by getting out hiking and running unreasonable distances as often as possible. He is currently targeting a 50-mile rim-to-rim round trip run of the Grand Canyon. He’s been training for it in San Antonio by running laps up and down the steep banks of a powerline easement. He’s always learning and reading something new, anything that sparks his curiosity. Currently, he’s re-reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry, a lifelong favorite. Have you read it? You should. But anyway, full of life and enjoying life, that’s the Porterfield family.
Life
The best relationships take time to grow and Marshall’s relationship to MAEVLO has been growing for a long time. Marshall and I met in Fort Worth back in 2005 when he graduated from TCU. At the time, I was a landman for Dale Resources. We were buying leases and drill sites throughout the city limits for the development of the Barnett Shale deposit. I was Marshall’s boss then and spent the first several months training him on the basic land and title due diligence practices that we had. During this time together our projects consisted of researching, contacting, negotiating, and organizing land owners in an urban setting – oftentimes resulting in not tens or hundreds of leads and conversations, but thousands at a time.
As I got to know him, what struck me very early on was his innate attention to detail.
Marshall has a mind like a steel trap and a willingness to dig deeper and drill farther than anyone else in search of a clearer understanding of a situation, unexpected opportunities, and better deals. Marshall was also very comfortable in the chaos of organizing details in a fashion that was expeditious to our project and effective for our overall success.
Our career paths diverged for some years but we reconnected again when MAEVLO was first taking shape, in late 2018. In the intervening years, his skill set and experience base had grown, including gaining experience launching investment funds. So he was a crucial support in getting MAEVLO Funds I and II off the ground. As Fund III continues its launch this year, he is now working more exclusively with MAEVLO than in years past, which is why we wanted to introduce him to you.
Investing
I’m excited to introduce Marshall to you because, as we’ve found, the better you know him the more confidence you’ll have in what we are doing. He exemplifies character traits that I’ve always aspired to. He discovered early on in his career, as I did, that most “land men” (oil & gas deal hunters) are lazy. In fact, you’ll probably agree, most people are lazy. So he decided that he was just not going to be. He was going to work harder, not give up when others did, track down unlikely leads, take “no” answers as data points, research further…well, you get the idea. Marshall has developed a bloodhound’s skill for nosing out good deals—he considers himself a treasure hunter. He loves to dive into the details and build maps and spreadsheets that lay out all the factors in play on a set of properties that we are considering. He analyzes geology, historic records, municipal permits, rig counts, past returns, commodity markets, you name it. His willingness to wade into complex situations is an essential part of MAEVLO’s ability to unlock value in dispersed and small collections of wells that big companies don’t have the time for, or lazy landmen pass over.
What Marshall brings to our core values of family, life, & investing makes him a key player on the MAEVLO team. As we fill out Fund III and look towards future funds, having Marshall with us gives us a lot of confidence and optimism about the future. It was our hope to share a bit of that with you in this intro. And, if you’re down in San Antonio and want to learn more about the nuts and bolts of our trade, drop us a line and catch lunch with Marshall, it’ll be worth your time.
