{"id":282801,"date":"2025-12-11T15:24:40","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T21:24:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/?p=282801"},"modified":"2025-12-11T15:38:33","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T21:38:33","slug":"the-last-word-embark-founder-on-building-family-office-and-venture-platform-ashla-as-a-flywheel-for-good","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/the-last-word-embark-founder-on-building-family-office-and-venture-platform-ashla-as-a-flywheel-for-good\/","title":{"rendered":"The Last Word: Embark Founder on Building Family Office and Venture Platform Ashla as a ‘Flywheel for Good’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cSuccess shouldn’t come at the cost of your life<\/a>.\u201d<\/span><\/h1>\n

Paul Allen<\/strong>
\nFounder, Ashla
\nFounder, Embark
\n… on launching Ashla, a family office and venture platform <\/i><\/span>\"\"<\/p>\n

Paul Allen<\/strong>, a Dallas entrepreneur who built financial consulting firm Embark on a “Happy Works” philosophy has launched Ashla, a family office and venture platform that backs founders and companies designed to make work, community, and innovation “more human.”<\/p>\n

The name comes from two places: In the “Star Wars” universe, Ashla is what the Jedi call “the light side of the Force.” In Hebrew, it means “happy” or “blessed.”<\/p>\n

“Everything I learned from building Embark\u2014the culture, the alignment, the belief that people matter most\u2014is baked into Ashla,” Allen said. “It’s a continuation of that same heartbeat, just expressed in new ways.”<\/p>\n

Ashla’s four verticals\u2014Labs, Ventures, Scouts, and Capital\u2014are already backing startups like Mother Home Services<\/strong>, a Dallas plumbing company where employees share in ownership; CoverZero<\/strong>, an analytics platform for coaches that tripled its user base in 2025; and Stonethrow<\/strong>, a <\/b>private families-only club in East Dallas founded by Nick Clark and Dawson Williams that secured a 3.65-acre property with plans to break ground next spring.<\/p>\n

The platform also includes the Ashla Foundation, which channels profits back into communities worldwide through partners like Acumen and Atlas Free.<\/p>\n

“The more successful we are, the more fuel we have for the Foundation,” Allen said. “Business can be a flywheel for good\u2014it can create dignity in work, bring people together, and shape a future that feels worth working toward.”<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a> in our story.<\/p>\n

For more of who said what about all things North Texas, <\/i>check out Every Last Word<\/i><\/span>.<\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Don’t miss what’s next. Subscribe\u00a0to\u00a0Dallas\u00a0Innovates.<\/h2>\n

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Paul Allen\u2019s Ashla platform has already backed Dallas ventures including Mother, a modern plumbing company, and Stonethrow, a private family club founded by Nick Clark and Dawson Williams.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":282807,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,179949,179948,14],"tags":[208425,208327,208426,208331,200002,8674,10255,208330,7685,191353,208334],"class_list":["post-282801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-enterprise","category-every-last-word","category-follow-the-money","category-social","tag-acumen","tag-ashla","tag-atlas-free","tag-coverzero","tag-dawson-williams","tag-embark","tag-family-office","tag-mother-home-services","tag-nick-clark","tag-paul-allen","tag-stonethrow"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Last Word: Embark Founder on Building Family Office and 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We're a catalyst for connections, here and beyond.\\\" Covering the Dallas-Fort Worth Innovation Economy \\\"Dallas-Fort Worth has all of the core assets that drive an innovation economy,\\\" Preston told D CEO about the launch. \\\"We felt Dallas Innovates could be the center of innovation in business in DFW, from startup to enterprise, and include all the great impact work happening here.\\\" One of our superpowers is our diverse economy: \\\"A lot of places want one thing to hang their hat on, but DFW has many centers of innovation,\\\" she noted. \\\"And the fact that small businesses can work with very large companies here as a Fortune 50 market is a huge advantage.\\\" Preston founded media company Dallas Next in 2021 and publishes Dallas Innovates in a collaboration with the Dallas Regional Chamber. DRC innovation and research chief Duane Dankesreiter and Dallas Innovates co-founder says it's \\\"the drumbeat\\\" for the innovation economy in the region. 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During her long tenure at the Dallas Business Journal, Preston managed budgets, project schedules, resources, and talent; she also developed several cost-saving and income-producing initiatives that were adopted across the ACBJ chain of more than 40 newspapers. Preston's first editorial job was working for a fashion magazine at the Dallas Apparel Mart with an office a few doors down from Lucy Billingsley, daughter of legendary real estate developer Trammell Crow. At the time, Billingsley was running the market center where she led three expansions and a ~7 million-square-foot development. It was good company to be in. Later, when Preston launched an agency that she ran through the early nineties, Billingsley helped her with tough-but-kind advice\u2014and some pivotal connections. Today, Preston helms Dallas Innovates and the DALLAS\u00ae publications group, published by Dallas Next for the Dallas Regional Chamber. The growing DALLAS\u00ae platform includes sister publication Dallas Innovates. Together they focus on Dallas-Fort Worth business, including real estate, relocation, economic development, and innovation. 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Allen, shown here giving his son a piggyback ride, built his new family office and venture platform on the belief that when people thrive, business does too. 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Preston launched the Dallas Innovates' media platform to tell the story of innovation in Dallas-Fort Worth. It was official in 2016 when the Dallas skyline turned purple for innovation. Since then, Dallas Innovates has become a must-read among business leaders and forward thinkers in North Texas. \"Our partners call us 'the tip of the spear for innovation news in North Texas,'\" she says. \"Now it's our tagline.\" The media-with-a-mission brand covers what's new and next in North Texas business. \"Our lens is lift,\" Preston says. \"We want to inspire ideas and opportunity. We're a catalyst for connections, here and beyond.\" Covering the Dallas-Fort Worth Innovation Economy \"Dallas-Fort Worth has all of the core assets that drive an innovation economy,\" Preston told D CEO about the launch. \"We felt Dallas Innovates could be the center of innovation in business in DFW, from startup to enterprise, and include all the great impact work happening here.\" One of our superpowers is our diverse economy: \"A lot of places want one thing to hang their hat on, but DFW has many centers of innovation,\" she noted. \"And the fact that small businesses can work with very large companies here as a Fortune 50 market is a huge advantage.\" Preston founded media company Dallas Next in 2021 and publishes Dallas Innovates in a collaboration with the Dallas Regional Chamber. DRC innovation and research chief Duane Dankesreiter and Dallas Innovates co-founder says it's \"the drumbeat\" for the innovation economy in the region. Dallas Next also publishes the DALLAS\u00ae publications in partnership with the DRC. Dallas Innovates' sister publications include the DALLAS\u00ae Regional Economic Development Guide, the DALLAS\u00ae Relocation + Newcomers Guide, and the\u00a0DALLAS\u00ae Commercial Real Estate, which is a partnership with the DRC and The Real Estate Council. \"It's hard to say no to Quincy Preston when she believes in something,\" wrote D CEO Editor Christine Perez in the magazine. \"She won't stop until she makes it happen.\" In a previous role at D Magazine Partners, Preston incubated Dallas Innovates and published the DRC's brand publications. There, she also led the launch of D Healthcare Daily at D CEO and the launch of D TV. Preston developed data solutions to provide insights and measurement for growth across D Magazine Partners brands. Preston has worn many hats in her media career, including stints as a writer, photographer, and award-winning designer. During her long tenure at the Dallas Business Journal, Preston managed budgets, project schedules, resources, and talent; she also developed several cost-saving and income-producing initiatives that were adopted across the ACBJ chain of more than 40 newspapers. Preston's first editorial job was working for a fashion magazine at the Dallas Apparel Mart with an office a few doors down from Lucy Billingsley, daughter of legendary real estate developer Trammell Crow. At the time, Billingsley was running the market center where she led three expansions and a ~7 million-square-foot development. It was good company to be in. Later, when Preston launched an agency that she ran through the early nineties, Billingsley helped her with tough-but-kind advice\u2014and some pivotal connections. Today, Preston helms Dallas Innovates and the DALLAS\u00ae publications group, published by Dallas Next for the Dallas Regional Chamber. The growing DALLAS\u00ae platform includes sister publication Dallas Innovates. Together they focus on Dallas-Fort Worth business, including real estate, relocation, economic development, and innovation. Connect on social media: LinkedIn, Twitter\u00a0 Send news and tips here.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.dallasinnovates.com","https:\/\/x.com\/quincypreston"],"url":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/author\/quincy-preston\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=282801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282801\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/282807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}