David Gilbert, 32, and Dan Feder, co-CEOs and co-founders of San Diego’s Five Point Capital, were best friends, roommates and fraternity brothers at USC, where they earned degrees in business administration with emphases in entrepreneurship. They knew they would go into business together, and their 1999 collaboration, FPC, is among the nation’s fastest growing small-ticket equipment leasing firms.

FPC provides the capital needed by thousands of small, emerging and medium-sized companies to acquire equipment quickly and easily. Since its customers represent over 30 industry sectors, the company enjoys a cushion of protection from cyclic impacts unlike some equipment leasing firms. From a two-man operation, FPC has grown to a company of more than 200 in a 30,000-square-foot facility. Revenues have doubled annually since inception, with projected sales for 2007 exceeding $150 million.

Gilbert formulates and executes major policies, programs and objectives for continued success and growth. Last year, Inc. magazine ranked FPC No. 82 among the nation’s 500 fastest growing private companies. In March, the Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at USC’s Marshall School of Business honored Gilbert and Feder as Alumni Entrepreneurs of the Year.

Gilbert, who resides in Rancho Santa Fe with his wife, Melissa, supports numerous community causes and organizations, and is an adviser to The Gilbert Family Foundation, established by his parents and focusing on stem-cell research and cure leukemia. “I like to consider myself a leader in the community and a family man,” he says.