169: The Largest Aircraft Brokerage Firm in Russia detours to Aircraft Valuation ✈… Find Out Why w/ Jason Zilberbrand of VREF

169: The Largest Aircraft Brokerage Firm in Russia detours to Aircraft Valuation ✈… Find Out Why w/ Jason Zilberbrand of VREF

Background on Jason Zilberbrand of VREF:

Jason Zilberbrand is an aircraft valuations expert and the President of VREF Aircraft Value Reference & Appraisal Services. He is an Accredited Senior Aircraft Appraiser with the American Society of Appraisers (ASA), former broker, former inventorying dealer, acquisition agent, aircraft owner, aircraft operator, contract negotiator, consultant, teacher, conference speaker, and author. Fifteen years as an inventory aircraft dealer with a $300-million-dollar credit facility, and over $4.5 billion in aircraft transactions.

After spending 25 years in General Aviation working directly with aircraft owners, operators, and owning and operating his own personal aircraft, Jason knows the international aviation marketplace. He is considered an expert in aircraft valuations, and his background is diverse with knowledge in technology and aviation.

He graduated with National Honors from Roosevelt University in Chicago as well as a lifetime member of the Benjamin Franklin Honor Society. Jason is an avid Triathlete, marathon runner, swimmer and cyclist and enjoys spending time with his family.

Time-Stamped Show Notes:

[2:46] Jason Zilberbrand is the president of VREF, which is a full and comprehensive appraisal company and one of the largest aircraft-specific appraisal companies.
[5:36] Jason has been in the aircraft industry for 26 years. He shares the story of how he and his father got into the aviation industry.
[9:25] His father was characterized as a serial entrepreneur and started several successful businesses until they got into the aviation business.
[15:27] Growing up with his father, Jason had the opportunity to see various places abroad. He got exposed to aviation at a very young age.
[18:05] In his early 20s, his father decided that he should make it on his own and sent him to Detroit, Michigan. Jason describes it as one of the scariest things that happened to him.
[23:18] In the first couple of years in Detroit, Jason was doing great and he was making about 150 to 175 thousand in commission. However, the recession came and 9/11 happened, which had a major impact on the aviation industry.
[26:18] The partner of Jason’s dad got sick and never fully recovered, which prompted his father to sell their company.
[34:00] At 33 years old, Jason was making a lot of money in profit buying and selling airplanes.
[45:43] In 2008, the market collapsed and everything went downhill very fast for Jason. He had to deal with litigation, death threats, hired guns, and it cost him a lot.
[53:37] Jason got tired of his brokerage gig and he wanted to start a new business, which involves VREF.
[1:02:44] There were so many obstacles in taking over an appraisal business, but an opportunity came that would allow him to buy out aircraft Bluebook.
[1:09:28] Acquiring and taking over VREF was a massive undertaking for Jason.
[1:13:39] The first thing he did after taking over VREF was rebuilding it. Jason wanted to make the company better than before.
[1:16:30] Jason introduced the monthly 30-day subscription for VREF and he bought the VREF.com domain name for $7,000.
[1:32:19] According to Jason, aviation is an amazing industry with many opportunities and a lot of things to offer.

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Fabulous 4 Questions:

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