On the record.

Brandon Frere is a multi-industry entrepreneur and technology builder based in Sebastopol, California. Over a twenty-five-year career, he has founded, scaled, and operated companies across construction, wellness, financial services, and technology — building organizations from the ground up and leading them through the full lifecycle of growth.

In 2011, he founded Ameritech Financial and related companies, scaling the operation from a $5,000 bank account to several hundred employees serving tens of thousands of customers nationwide. In December 2019, Brandon pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering arising from his leadership of those companies. He has consistently and publicly accepted that failure as his responsibility. He served his sentence and has complied with every obligation imposed on him.

Today, Brandon designs and builds technology and advocacy products, manages his family's vineyard and ranch operations, and mentors entrepreneurs navigating career transitions. He is a proud father of two sons.

Brandon Frere is a multi-industry entrepreneur and technology builder based in Sebastopol, California. Over a twenty-five-year career, he has founded, scaled, and operated companies across construction, wellness, financial services, and technology — building organizations from the ground up and leading them through the full lifecycle of growth, from first dollar to national operations.

Brandon earned a Bachelor of Science in Construction Management from California State University, Chico in 2002 and started his career in residential construction — managing builds, timelines, subcontractors, and budgets at a scale that taught him how large organizations execute. From construction he moved into franchising and wellness, founding and operating multiple locations and learning the mechanics of scalable consumer businesses — unit economics, customer acquisition, multi-site operations, and the systems required to replicate quality across geographies. Each phase built on the last. By the time he entered financial services in 2011, he had spent nearly a decade building, operating, and scaling businesses across industries that had almost nothing in common except the demand for disciplined execution.

That year, Brandon founded American Financial Benefits Center, then Ameritech Financial, and related companies to help borrowers navigate the federal student loan system. He scaled the operation from a $5,000 bank account to several hundred employees across multiple states and nearshore operations, serving tens of thousands of customers nationwide — growth that earned him membership in the Young President's Organization (YPO), San Francisco chapter. In December 2019, Brandon pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering arising from his leadership of those companies. The case did not involve violence, organized crime, or concealed funds — it arose from operating a lawful business in a complex and evolving regulatory environment. Brandon has consistently and publicly accepted that failure as his responsibility. He served a forty-two-month federal sentence and has complied with every obligation imposed on him.

Today, Brandon designs and builds technology and advocacy products directly — architecture, product strategy, and development — combining two decades of operational experience with a hands-on technical capability that spans business modeling, platform design, and full-stack product delivery. He also manages his family's vineyard and ranch operations and mentors entrepreneurs and individuals navigating career transitions.

Brandon is a proud father of two sons. He writes about entrepreneurship, leadership, and building after failure at brandonfrere.com.