Larry Ogden

I have been an entrepreneur since I was five years old, buying and trading bicycles, selling garden seeds, mowing lawns, and selling avocados that grew in my yard. My taste for challenge and adventure began early too. My 12th birthday rafting trip through the Grand Canyon inspired a lifelong love of whitewater rafting and all kinds of outdoor sports. During my undergraduate work at California State University, I began a 15-year career leading adventure travel that spanned 26 rivers across the U.S. and plus northern Europe, Africa, the Americas and the South Pacific.

Returning to my interests in business and economics in 1994, I began work at The Bank of California, managing the operations of a 401(k) platform. That led to an opportunity at Texas Commerce Bank in Houston before they were acquired by Chase. I then ran a much larger department for Chase for many years and became a key member of the transition team that integrated the Human Resource departments and platforms when banking giants J.P. Morgan and Chase merged into one entity.

Once again heeding the call to build something of my own, I partnered with another entrepreneur in 2001 to create Tricore, a boutique Payroll and Human Capital Management firm. Tricore grew quickly, landing on Inc. magazine’s list of America’s Fastest Growing Private Companies for three consecutive years.  In January 2020, we sold majority interest in this firm and my vision for the Afekt Company was born.

At the Afekt Company, we help mid-sized firms transition from the traditional carriers that monopolize the market to our proprietary version of Reference Based Pricing plans. This type of plan is getting national attention in our industry and firms are finding expense reductions of 15 – 30% of their annual healthcare spending.

ENERGY FOR LIFE

I live in Houston, Texas with my wife and one of our five children. My wife is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and a successful artist, whose creative work spans writing, photography and painting. Our son enjoys surfing and BMX biking among other things.

My life is centered around my family, my business and my passion for outdoor adventure—surfing, mountain biking, river rafting, and paddle boarding help me rediscover the freedoms of my childhood in Southern California. I find that outdoor adventure brings energy to my life and facilitates unique approaches to solving complex problems for our clients. Once in a while, I am lucky enough to work with a client who joins me on river trips, on exotic mountain bike adventures or even surfing in places like Costa Rica and Chile.