Returned to Tala to lead our efforts on business expansion & new ventures -- including opening new markets, leading our crypto/web 3 strategy & team, and innovating new revenue lines.

Early investor/advisor turned senior growth/product leader for venture-backed startup accelerating the emergence of 3 billion people into the global middle class. Backstory: Within a few months of joining Tala full-time, I got really tired of waiting and relying on partners (to acquire users, to lend against our credit scores, to let us know who repaid and who didn’t). It just made testing, learning and progress too slow. Process: So I led a working group that came up with idea of “instant credit” app for the emerging middle class and we launched a (borderline illegal) MVP of an “instant credit” Android app that could do everything we wanted with virtually no partner dependencies in just 4 weeks.Results: Just a year later, we scaled/optimized the product to thousands of borrowers with >80% repayment and repeat rates, and this little MVP has turned into one of the world's most innovative products (according to Fast Company). Our users love it, and millions of people across Africa can't wait to get access. Tala is backed by Lowercase Capital, Google Ventures, Collaborative Fund and other leading investors.

- Raised preseed financing from 500 Startups, Flying Ventures & serial angels. - Launched series of experiments including Mural (a new take on the professional portfolio -- for knowledge workers) and Makeshop (distributed genius bar for creative services).- Closed/ launched partnerships with VC-backed Acadium (apprenticeship platform for digital marketers) & Bond Collective (coworking space operator in NYC).- Mural was a Top 5 product on ProductHunt, has aggregated 6k+ exemplar knowledge work products (e.g. product specs), and remains a self-sustaining side project.

Seed-stage investor in & advisor to startups that push the world forward. I invest on my own & lead syndicates. Common symptoms include: - initially simple solutions with discernible traction - that accelerate a statistical/macroeconomic inevitability - by unlocking latent opportunity in informal or nascent markets.Selected investments: Tala, Compology, OkHi, Instrumentl, Bloom Credit, Hyphen Media, and Harvesting.

- Helped raise $3MM seed round from Core, 8VC, Kapor, Bessemer, and Equal.- Pivoted mid-pandemic from assisted-living focused concierge to suite of tools helping seniors age-at-home with support of a licensed social worker. - Launched/scaled efficient co-registration campaigns (<$2 per lead) and co-led channel partnerships with Nassau Re, The Senior Company, and other providers.Acquired in 2021.

Product & growth strategy consulting for seed -> series B startups & mature consumer/media cos. Recent clients include AARP, Cemtrex, Mighty, FuseMachines, Story2, Tala (formerly Inventure) & CreditIQ. Focus/specialize in: - finding product/market fit (e.g. experiment design/execution, user interviewing & cohort analysis)- early growth/scaling (testing channels, optimizing funnels & building replicable growth formulas)- CEO coaching (e.g. building data-driven culture/leadership & fundraising strategy/messaging)

Growth/product for Kaplan Techstars Ed Tech Accelerator 2014 class.

Backstory: When I joined Grovo, the company was generally focused on “internet education” and operated a platform where people could watch short videos on how to do things on various websites. Behaviorally, this meant that people could discover new sites on Grovo, learn to use sites they heard of or master sites they were already using. Process: As head of product, I used cohort analysis and messaging/email tests to establish that users who watched a lesson on a product they already used in their first session watched a lot more videos in their first 30, 60 and 90 days than others. My team then methodically optimized our onboarding to provide this “core product value’ instantly upon on signup and over time via lifecycle marketing. Results: Our efforts led to 6 months of >30% month-over-month growth in virtually all engagement KPIs and a Series A from Accel Partners.

Built interactive restaurant discovery engine in response to (at time - 2007) disjointed & tedious experience of making plans with friends. These included Tastrix (award-winning menu search technology), Take Me Out (venue recs based on who you’re going out with, later emulated by Urban Daddy’s The Next Move) and Taste-it button (bookmarking tool for foodie content). Featured one of the Best Ideas of 2009 by Restaurant Magazine and on Fox 5 & WPIX 11.Used underlying technology to develop & license cutting-edge web/social crawlers with outsourced support to large media portals including FiLIfe (joint venture between IAC and WSJ), Active Network and All Menus.

Hybrid credit/equity fund; invested in private, small/middle-market, non-distressed growth companies with $2-$5MM EBITDA.

Middle-market private equity firm focused on bankruptcy section 363 asset purchases and reorganizations, highly structured equity and debt investments, leveraged ESOP acquisitions, and difficult transactions with labor issues, environmental challenges or complex operating configurations.