Meet Our Team of Advisors
Keiretsu Capital's Managing Partners and extended team of advisors combined have centuries of experience in successfully backing growth seed and early-stage technology companies. As a team, they have built the largest angel investor network in the world (ranked the most active venture investor in the USA), and several have managed multi-billion dollar investment funds and firms.
The senior advisor network provides valuable expertise before and during due diligence and then in support of portfolio companies once Keiretsu Capital has invested in them.
Joseph O’Neill
Joseph O’Neill serves as Managing Director of Sikich Investment Banking and is located in Seattle, Washington. With over 25 years’ experience in developing and growing businesses throughout the world, his work is focused on investment banking for high-growth technology companies. Prior to joining Sikich, Joe spent seven years with a boutique investment bank in Seattle, specializing in mobile and wireless technology, mobile payment, clean-tech, social media, social networking and enterprise software. Joe is a published author and industry speaker, and is registered with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) as a Series 7 General Securities Representative and a Series 79 Limited Investment Banking Representative.
robert Padulo
For over 25 years as an executive, entrepreneur, investor, board member and consultant, Robert has served numerous organizations in a leadership capacity, always seeking better ways to do things. In the mid-1990s, he was a consultant at McKinsey & Company (where, among other things, he helped develop the innovative concept, principles and action steps of "CRM" — a business practice new to the world, and a name Robert coined), and was president of TapeLicator, Inc. (maker of a patented one-handed tape applicator). In 1999, Robert pioneered the online HR services industry by founding iWorkwell, Inc. — the quality leader in HR information, guidance & tools — which he led as President for 17 years. He is now a professional angel investor and advisor, and currently serves on Keiretsu Capital's 5-person Investment Screening Committee for Co-Investment Fund IV and in its "Senior Advisor Network."
Bernard Rudnick
Bernard is Managing Partner of CapGenic Advisors, CFO of Atrin Pharmaceuticals and Chief Business Officer of NovoBioPharma. He is an active angel investor with the Philadelphia Chapter of Keiretsu Forum as well as with Mid Atlantic Bio Angels and Minority Angel Investor Network. Bernie's entrepreneurial career spans a number of startups, three of which grew to over $50 million in revenue before liquidity events.
Richard Samuelson
Mr. Samuelson spent the bulk of his career in investment banking, virtually all of it located in Asia. As an investment banker he specialized in equity and equity derivatives at both UBS and BNP Paribas. Mr Samuelson began his career as an analyst and in his final position he served as global head of equity and equity derivatives for both Asia and Japan at BNP Paribas.
Mike Stevens
Mike Stevens is an entrepreneur who has founded two companies and sold them both to Fortune 500 companies. Since selling his last company in 2011, he has become deeply involved in the Seattle startup community. Mike has invested in 22 startups that he’s engaged with on various levels, including consulting, Advisory Board, and special projects.
Denise Thomas
Denise founded ApplePie Capital to create a new, more efficient source of capital for franchise businesses. As CEO and Chairman, she oversees all aspects of the company. Denise has more than 20 years of executive leadership experience in business and market strategy development. Her public and private company expertise spans the financial services, technology, healthcare, hospitality and online services industries, and she has led companies backed by leading venture capital firms, including Kleiner Perkins, Mohr Davidow and Sequoia Capital.
Matthew Wahlrab
Matt Wahlrab is the CEO of Innovative Foundations, where he partners with innovative corporate clients to build and bring to market their intellectual property portfolios. With over 15 years of hands-on experience in IP licensing and capital raise campaigns, Matt knows IP drives business growth, not just a nice-to-have deliverable from R&D. Matt’s findings show that IP is a powerful business lever that innovative companies need to ignite their business success.
Andrew Baum
Andrew Baum has 25 years of experience in the Securities Industry. Andrew is an expert in providing PIPES, Institutional Research, Reverse Mergers, M & A as well as assisting small cap companies seeking to raise additional capital within the small cap private placement marketplace, short and long term strategic planning and crisis management.
Craig DIckens
Craig Dickens is a true serial entrepreneur, CEO, Certified M&A advisor, Investment Banker and Angel Investor. Having participated in virtually every kind of business dynamic from start-up to IPO, merger to acquisition, Mr. Dickens now serves as CEO and Founder of Merit Harbor Capital, a boutique M&A, Investment Banking & Advisory firm and Broker-Dealer with offices Nationwide.
Ken Ezra
Ken Ezra is a Director at Rossmore Partners. Working closely with a select number of emerging growth companies, Rossmore Partners has morphed into a consulting firm that make introductions with log standing relations relationships with hedge funds, private equity funds, family offices and high-net-worth individuals.
Philip Goodeve
Mr. Goodeve is Chairman of Integral Securities, a leading mid-market investment bank, which is very active in raising capital to emerging growth companies across North America. He has raised over $30 Billion in capital, done 100+ acquisitions, 15+ turnarounds and 10+ IPOs. He has had senior board and operating roles in various public and private companies for leading Venture capital and Private Equity funds, been an advisory board member for 3 funds and is an active venture capital investor personally. He has been a board member of over 26 companies, both public and private, on 3 continents.
Regina Leung
Regina is Executive Director at Bay Angels, an angel investment network and also partner at Innovari Fund which specializes in early stage healthcare assets. She has more than 20 years of executive leadership experience in business, market and reimbursement strategy development. Her expertise spans the medical device, life sciences, digital health, supply chain management companies backed by leading venture capital firms, including Kleiner Perkins. She is also a key advisor to UC Berkeley’s accelerator, SkyDeck and UC San Francisco’s Startup Innovation program and a board member at Global Healing.
Steve Kirschner
Steve is the Chairman of Package Perfect, Ltd. a consultancy specializing in packaging companies to increase M&A valuations. Steve’s professional background is in marketing, but he’s personally led 11 M&A transactions and uses a formulaic approach to improve exit valuations. When he’s not consulting, Steve also serves as a mentor to growing companies and as Chief Marketing Officer for the Harvard Business School Alumni Angels.
RICK LOWELL
Lowell started Traction to pursue his passion: helping fellow entrepreneurs scale and sell software companies. As a founder and CEO who has extensive acquisition experience, Lowell navigated the gap in the $5M-$50M merger and acquisition market. Traction was built to help others do the same.
Lowell twice built the leader in the online market research data collection industry - GMI (sold to WPP for $100M) and Toluna (sold to a Private Equity firm for $260M).
NATHAN MCDONALD
Nathan McDonald is a Managing Partner and CEO of Keiretsu Capital. Nathan brings a unique entrepreneurial business and organizational development background developed during many years of hands-on, active leadership and operational experience. As one of the Northwest's leading organizers of entrepreneurial and investor relations-focused media and funding events, he has facilitated scores of engagements and successfully promoted hundreds of privately financed high-growth companies.