Conceive it. Believe it. Achieve it.
Steve Belkin is a marketing innovator, a serial entrepreneur, and a passionate philanthropist.
.png)
Steven B. Belkin founded Trans National Group in 1974. The Belkin remains its sole owner today. For more than 50 years, Steve's vision, innovation, and leadership have propelled the company’s growth. Learn more about Steve’s strategies, achievements, and community spirit below.
Steve Belkin Highlights
Cornell ‘69 (Engineering), Harvard Business School ‘71.
Cornell Tennis (Captain), Cornell Squash, member of the Cornell Squash Hall of Fame.
Founded Trans National Group in 1974, at age 26.
Creator of affinity marketing.
Started 27 companies.
Seasoned private equity investor.
Active philanthropist, particularly in the arts, medicine, faith, and education
Steve's Guiding Principles
Steve Belkin is a passionate entrepreneur who believes that vision, creativity, and a willingness to take calculated risks drive business success. His guiding principle is “Conceive it, believe it, achieve it.”
For Steve, the “believe it” part is the essence of entrepreneurship.
“Most people think conceiving it is the most important thing. But the crux of being a successful entrepreneur is believing it. You’re going to encounter obstacles. You need to possess the tenacity to keep moving forward. To truly succeed as an entrepreneur, you must believe in yourself,” he explains.
Steve values adaptability, viewing change as a chance for both personal and professional evolution. He also sees setbacks as valuable lessons, stating, “There is no such thing as failure. There are only lessons to be learned.”
This growth mindset is a hallmark of Steve’s approach, both as an innovator and as a thriving entrepreneur.
Steve builds skilled groups and promotes a relaxed environment. He knows that creativity flourishes when people feel at ease. More than just leading a team, Steve nurtures “a family of business entrepreneurs,” understanding that Trans National’s growth is tied to the development of its team members.
For Steve, success transcends mere accumulation. It involves giving back, maintaining balance, and fostering growth in himself and others.
A Born Entrepreneur
Steve Belkin, a Grand Rapids native, understood financial challenges from a young age. His entrepreneurial drive was evident early on—raffling off a letter opener at age five, peddling light bulbs in high school, and providing budget-friendly haircuts in college.
An accomplished athlete, Steve was the captain of the tennis team and earned induction into the squash hall of fame at Cornell. He credits competitive sports with instilling leadership, teamwork, and perseverance skills that have been beneficial his entire life.
While at Harvard Business School, Steve co-founded a strategic consulting company, later bought by a venture capital firm. Here, he discovered the travel sector. Soon thereafter, Steve, aged 26, established Trans National Travel, marking the start of the Trans National journey.
Under Steve’s leadership, Trans National has since launched 27 companies, most of them with affinity marketing in their DNA.
Creating a Marketing Revolution
Steve founded Trans National Travel in 1974 at age 24. Since then, he's led the organization to launch 27 distinct companies, most of them based on his initial strategic breakthrough: the marketing innovation known as "affinity marketing," broadly defined as association-based direct marketing.
By tapping into association loyalties and harnessing collective buying, Steve crafted a win-win-win system benefiting product providers, associations, and their members. It was a strategy that delivered clear, previously- unavailable value to each constituency.
And, by using the emerging field of direct mail marketing, Steve was able to promote his association-endorsed products in a cost-effective, surgical way.
Over time, Steve’s innovative marketing approach transformed industries. Trans National Travel served more than 2.6 million travelers. In credit cards, Trans National produced more than 10 million affinity credit card accounts, propelling partner bank MBNA America to global prominence. The company invigorated the credit card industries in the US, Canada, the UK, and across continental Europe.
Applying the affinity-marketing model to telecommunications earned Trans National’s communications business recognition as one of America’s fastest-growing companies by Inc. magazine.
The company further expanded into marketing affinity-based mutual funds, insurance, internet services, overnight delivery, and personal loans. Today, “TN Marketing” leads in hobby video-on-demand, upholding Steve’s legacy as a transformative figure in direct response marketing.
Beyond Affinity Marketing
Ultimately, Steve Belkin’s journey with Trans National made him a keen investor, both in support of other entrepreneurs and in pursuit of some long-held aspirations of his own.
The company ventured into real estate, acquiring 133 Federal Street in Boston. Trans National now owns and manages several commercial and residential properties in and around Boston.
In 1994, Steve introduced TN Ventures, dedicated initially to funding pioneering direct marketing businesses. To date, over $200 million has been invested in the entrepreneurial sector through TN Ventures.
Steve’s lifelong dream of professional sports ownership was realized in 2004, when he became the principal owner and NBA governor of the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks. He was also the principal owner of the NHL’s Atlanta Thrashers, and Atlanta’s Phillips Arena before selling his professional sports ownership in 2011.
He later revitalized Lookout Farm, established in 1651 and one of the oldest working farms in America, as Belkin Family Lookout Farm, preventing its closure and transforming it into a premier New England agri-entertainment destination.
Commitment to Community
“I define success as the ability you have to give, not your ability to take or to accumulate.”
As Trans National has evolved, so have Steve’s time commitments. Family and community have always remained his top priorities. Today, his professional success allows him to commit meaningful energy to each of them.
And it is meaningful energy. On the 20th anniversary of Trans National, Steve and his wife Joan took a group of children then being treated at the Dana-Farber Cancer Research Institute, their parents, and siblings – about 150 people – for an all expenses paid three-day trip to Disney World.
And, for 15 consecutive years, Steve and Joan have taken a planeload of interfaith leaders from Boston to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC. “It helps bring everyone together,” Steve says. More than 2,000 people have experienced the museum as the Belkins’ guests.
He continues, “I’ve made the decision to spend less time at business, but to still take the business skills I have and apply them to the community and to society. I’d like to give more.”
