Localvest has built the #1 network of military veterans dedicated to investing in early-stage businesses and investment projects led by veterans. Supporting our network, our Fundraising Automation SaaS platform helps issuers raise capital in a securities-compliant manner providing ways to easily share an offering, track engagement, and automatically follow up with investors who express interest. * Conceptualized and managed the product and engineering teams to build out the service.* Partnered with our CEO to raise a $1.6 million seed round of financing* Established early marketing strategy and closed sales* Established partnerships with leading accelerators, venture firms, and angel groups.
Localvest has supported hundreds of businesses and has helped businesses close $100 million in new investment capital.

Acquired by Eventbrite - Jan 2017

I was the Co-Founder and CEO of Speek Inc. Conceived of product, built team, formed partnerships, and raised $5+ million in venture capital. Awarded a patent for Speek's innovative communication technology. AwardsWall Street Journal's "Top 25 Startups of the Year" , Entrepreneur Magazine's "100 Most Brilliant Companies" for 2013, and PC Mag's "100 Top Websites of 2013".Speek was acquired by Jive Communications in June 2015. What is Speek?Speek provides super-simple conference calling solutions with a visual interface. Use a personal or business link (i.e., speek.com/YourName), instead of a phone number and PIN for conference calls. Nothing to download and no elevator music. See who’s joined, who’s talking, record calls, share your screen, share files, use call controls and more. We have a patented voice and web platform - with native iPhone, Android, Blackberry, and Windows Phone 8 mobile apps.

Patch.com (June 2010 - July 2011) - leading news and information site for local communities and represents $200M+ investment by AOL.Led Patch business development efforts and sourced strategic transactions to distribute and build revenue for Patch. Supported Patch during growth phase building site from 100k users to over 10+ million users. AOL Communications (October 2008 - June 2010)Oversaw business development and communications for AOL instant messaging (AIM), AOL Mail and mobile products. Led efforts to establish interconnect agreements between the AIM Network and other major instant messaging networks. Secured agreements in support of new product launches to develop and distribute AIM Lifestream, AIM Voice/Video services and Virtual Goods products.AIM for Business (May 2004 - October 2008)Developed a new line of business within the AOL Premium Services Division to license access to the AIM network for business software and services companies. Established relationships with major enterprise IM providers including IBM, Microsoft, Cisco, Webex, Bloomberg, Thomson Reuters and other major partners reaching 90% of the enterprise IM market. Instrumental in the development of AIM Pro which was built in conjunction with Webex/Cisco. AIM Pro grew to reach more than one million users in its first year. Negotiated agreement to transition AIM Pro over to Cisco’s Webex business unit which continues to offer the product under the Cisco brand.

Worked as a startup consultant to the team of founders for this early stage startup company. Helped guide the product direction and secured initial customers and revenue including deals with Sprint and Reuters. Natural Messaging was acquired by Akonix Systems (now part of Quest Software).

Founding member of the team that built the Evite.com invitation service. Developed business concept and initial business plan and helped raise capital. Acted as early-stage COO, managing hiring, operations, marketing and finance. Led business development and marketing activities. • Developed initial plan/financial models and worked with CEO to help raise series A round of financing.• Established early distribution and marketing relationships that helped Evite become the leading website of its kind despite heavy competition from Yahoo, AOL and Microsoft MSN.• Led a partner marketing effort to establish relationships with major event planners and organizations that conducted thousands of events per year using custom Evite invitations.

Strategy consultant working with Fortune 500 clients in the Internet and telecommunication industries. Led consulting teams in evaluating opportunities and assessing operational capabilities for new markets.

Provided clients with strategic counsel and assistance with high-level decisions on implementing technology in their business operations. Acted as project leader on several consulting engagements and worked with senior level managers to redefine business operations using new technology and systems to dramatically reduce costs and speed processing times.