#9 | Suresh Narayanan: I Picked Aviation's Least Glamorous Job

Suresh Narayanan's father was a Concorde mechanic. When he started his own company, he picked the least glamorous corner of aviation on purpose.More on Suresh Narayanan and this episode: thedealtablepodcast.com/episodes/suresh-narayananNarayanan is the founder and CEO of Jets MRO, which opened in Dallas in January 2024 doing heavy scheduled maintenance on business jets, alongside a component repair station the company acquired. He was previously chief operating officer of JSX and an aerospace engineer working on military jet modifications.His argument is that the business jet aftermarket never matured the way the airline world did, which leaves an obvious gap for anyone willing to run it properly. He sells to the maintenance manager rather than the aircraft owner, treats mechanic turnover as the industry's real constraint, and designed the facility around the people working inside it rather than the aircraft parked in it.The deal content is unusually practical: raising capital for a greenfield operation on nothing but a business plan, acquiring and integrating a repair station, how he thinks about strategic fit against building new, and what quality of earnings and diligence look like from the seller's side of the table.Suresh Narayanan is the founder and CEO of Jets MRO, a Dallas business jet maintenance, repair and overhaul company launched in January 2024. He was previously chief operating officer of JSX and an aerospace engineer at AQRD working on military jet modifications.KEY MOMENTS00:00 Choosing the unglamorous corner01:59 Launching Jets MRO in Dallas07:56 People first, as a business model18:33 The gap in business jet maintenance26:08 Who actually decides on a repair33:19 Designing a hangar around mechanics37:38 Raising money on a plan alone41:39 Acquiring the repair station51:47 Strategic fit against building new55:32 Quality of earnings and exit planningNewsletter: thedealtablepodcast.com/connectLane Carrick on selling a business, The Optima Advantage: amzn.to/48nLElWInstagram: instagram.com/thedealtablepodcast/LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/the-deal-table/The Deal Table is hosted by Ryan Harper and Lane Carrick, filmed in Dallas, and produced by Harper Belmont Media.