Team
The team behind Kapitall has extensive experience in finance, gaming, media and design, with brands ranging from Apple and Atari to Bloomberg and Morgan Stanley.
Michael Haller, Chairman
Mike has over 20 years of executive experience in the video game and Japanese anime industries.
He entered the video game industry as a licensor of Japanese anime properties, such as AKIRA and Ghost in the Shell to THQ. Later, as a member of the Board and Senior VP of THQ, Mike played a key role in enabling THQ to grow from a Nintendo-based handheld publisher to a full 3D game developer for PlayStation, rising to its present position as a Top 3 video game publisher in North America. Haller most recently served as Executive Vice President of Sammy Studios and Vice President of Electronic Arts, where he oversaw both Dreamworks Interactive/EALA and EA’s Japan studio.
Having served as a diplomat in the Embassy in Tokyo for 8 years, Mike is fluent in Japanese. He received his B.S. in television journalism from Northwestern University.
Stephan Roche, President
Stephan has nearly 20 years of experience leading “game-changing” financial services companies, and advising and managing high-profile global brands.
Most recently, Stephan was CEO of Guidant Financial Group, which provides innovative small business funding to entrepreneurs. Before Guidant, he was a VP and General Manager at ShareBuilder, which he helped grow into the leading online broker for younger, novice investors. Stephan spent eight years at Bain & Company, the leading global strategy consulting firm and began his career in brand management at Procter & Gamble and Church & Dwight.
An East Coast native, Stephan graduated from Princeton University and earned his MBA at Harvard Business School. He moved with his wife to Seattle to raise his 11 year old triplets amidst the beauty of the Pacific Northwest. He serves on the Board of Directors of Summer Search and holds Series 7, 63, and 65 FINRA licenses.
Gaspard de Dreuzy, Chief Executive Officer
Gaspard is an entrepreneur with experience in the entertainment industry, particularly as an executive producer of video game software.
He co-founded three game production, development and consulting companies and produced titles for PC, Xbox, PlayStation and Wii systems. He has worked with some of the world’s top game developers and publishers including Atari, THQ and Mattel on some popular franchises such as Ready 2 Rumble Boxing(R). Gaspard was also a senior strategic marketing consultant at Warner Music.
A native of Paris, Gaspard and his wife moved to New York in 2006. He received a Bachelors' Degree in Economics and Finance from the University of Paris Dauphine.
Serge Kreiker, VP Product
Serge was attracted to Kapitall because he wanted to “democratize finance” by providing financial information to everyone instead of a select few people at the top of the financial world.
Serge worked at Bloomberg LLP for 5 years as a Project Manager and Technical Lead in the Research & Development group in New York. He was responsible for designing and building tools used by Bloomberg’s trading system. Prior to Bloomberg, Serge served as a Research Assistant in the Artificial Intelligence Department for the French National Research Lab (CNRS), and as Application Developer/Programmer Analyst in the e-business department at Computer Science Corporation (CSC).
Born in Lebanon and raised in Paris, he speaks French, English and Arabic. Serge attended Mc Gill University in Montreal and graduated with Honors in Computer Science. He holds a Master of Engineering in Computer Science from Cornell University.
Sally Wood, VP Marketing and Business Development
Sally is a media expert with a knack for innovation. She has over 20 years experience running and advising businesses in the media and information industries.
Sally was President and Chief Operating Officer of Pearson plc's Family Education Network (FEN), a collection of Internet sites for parents, teachers and kids. Prior to FEN she was President of Pearson’s Prentice Hall Direct, a leading direct marketer and publisher of business and consumer titles. Sally has also held senior management positions at Simon & Schuster and Bertelsmann.
Formerly a board member of Agatha Christie Ltd., Sally currently serves on three boards including U.K.based Brilliant Films LLC and two non-profits, Mentor International, The James Merrill Writer-in-Residence Program. Sally received a B.A. in English from Bennington College and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Cordell Ratzlaff, Creative Director
Cordell leads Kapitall’s interaction design and user experience. He is passionate about creating products that people fall in love with. He has designed a wide assortment of software applications and hardware devices for all types of people—from six-year-old girls to astronauts.
During a nine-year career at Apple, Cordell led Apple's Human Interface Group, which designed major releases of the Macintosh operating system from Mac OS 8 through Mac OS X. As a Creative Director at Frog Design, Cordell designed compelling products for companies such as Disney, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, Yahoo!, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, and DaimlerChrysler.
Born and raised in the Midwest, Cordell has spent the past 25 years enjoying the California sunshine.
David Neubert, VP Trading
David has been in the financial markets his whole adult life, starting with his first stock trade in college and culminating in a fifteen year career in global financial markets. He has traded bonds, derivatives and equities. At 32, working out of London, New York, Tokyo and Sao Paolo, he was head of program trading and one of Morgan Stanley's youngest Managing Directors. In addition to Morgan Stanley, David also worked in trading positions at Lehman Brothers and as a Latin American Analyst for Chemical Bank (now JP Morgan)
In 2005, he retired from banking to publish the online magazine, ThePanelist.com. ThePanelist concentrates on socially conscious investing which reconciles his knack for financial markets and passion for corporate ethics. Often a contrarian, his analysis attempts to provide a fresh and independent understanding that only an ex-Wall Street trader would possess. In his TV, radio and written work he tries to help small investors learn how to take advantage of their strengths and save their assets for things that matter to them.
He has lived in Argentina, Brazil, Britain, Japan, California, Vermont, Massachusetts, and New York. David serves on on the boards of The New World Foundation, Performance Space 122 and Brother Jimmy’s BBQ Holdings. He holds a B.A with Honors in Economics from Pitzer College and a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard University.
Eben Esterhuizen, Editor
Eben is a fanatic of the financial markets. A prolific writer and analyst, he generates commentary on companies and financial markets.
Prior to Kapitall, he analyzed news content for hedge funds and investment banks at Trade The News. He has written for the business section of the Huffington Post, covers solar investments for ThePanelist.com and is often featured on SeekingAlpha.com. Eben is currently a level 3 Charted Financial Analyst (CFA) candidate.
He has lived in London, Paris, Los Angeles and New York. In addition to his work as a market analyst, he has worked as a radio DJ in South Africa and England. Eben's other interests include skydiving, rugby, Arsenal football club and PJ Harvey. He obtained his B.Sc. degree in Actuarial and Financial Mathematics at the University of Pretoria, South Africa.
Read Eben Esterhuizen Backstage