Paul Schock

Paul Schock is a Sioux Falls–based private-equity investor with roughly four decades in finance. He began his career around 1981 as VP and manager of the commercial loan department at First Bank of South Dakota, where he credits mentor Dave Birkeland for the lesson that "it's the people you invest in that matters most." In 1988 he served as CFO of American Western Corporation, where he orchestrated a leveraged buyout. He was educated at Augustana University (Sioux Falls) and Stanford University.

In 1989 Schock co-founded the private equity firm that became Bluestem Capital (co-founded with Steve Kirby; an earlier entity was known as Schock Financial Services, rebranded Bluestem Capital in 1996). Over 16 years leading Bluestem he raised multiple funds, took several portfolio companies public, and returned more than $500 million to investors. Bluestem's best-known success was VeraSun Energy, the Brookings, SD ethanol producer that Bluestem helped capitalize (raising $100M+) and that went public in 2006 before merging with US Bio Energy — Schock served as SVP of Development at VeraSun during that period.

Schock also founded and built The Prairie Club, a destination golf resort in north-central Nebraska ranked among the nation's best public courses. In 2010 he co-founded Bird Dog Equity Partners with Chad Hatch (originally named Nordic Venture Partners, rebranded Bird Dog in 2014). Over time the firm narrowed its strategy from minority stakes with board seats toward 100%-ownership buyouts, concentrating on the hospitality sector through the Bird Dog Hospitality platform.

Today Schock co-leads Bird Dog as head of strategy alongside partner Chad Hatch, and his son Kyle Schock joined in 2018 to run the hotel-management business. The firm, roughly a dozen people based in Sioux Falls, runs a "People First, Business Second" philosophy. Schock lives in Sioux Falls with his wife Nancy; he has five adult children and is an avid South Dakota bird hunter, fisherman, and golfer.

• People first. "Whenever we evaluate anything, we start with the people." Schock repeatedly frames investing around backing the right operators over the underlying asset.
• Current focus: hotels in the Upper Midwest. Bird Dog buys and operates hotel properties, typically kept within ~500 miles of Sioux Falls, targeting moderate risk and durable returns for investors.
• Control ownership. The firm evolved to a 100%-ownership model rather than minority positions with board seats.
• Historical growth-equity discipline (Bluestem). Backed profitable or near-profitable companies with a unique market offering; per aggregator descriptions, avoided the earliest-stage bets and sought strong ROI, writing roughly $500K–$3M checks.
• "Anyone who comes into our door, we try to help in some way" — a stated open-door, relationship-driven approach to founders and operators.