‍ Professional Experience

Close-up of a blue and red license plate with white letters and numbers, featuring the text 'The American Stock Exchange NASDAQ AMEX' at the top and listing company names such as 'Michael J. Frank' and 'Gateway Partners'.
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Black Monday-October 1987
Managing risk and protecting capital in real time as markets fall more than 20%

Capital Markets & Crisis Experience

Market Makers & Specialist Units
American Stock Exchange (AMEX)
Philadelphia Stock Exchange (PHLX)

Managed capital and risk across multiple structural market disruptions, including:

1987 crash · LTCM · Dot-com unwind · 9/11 · 2008 Financial Crisis · Flash Crash

These events shaped a durable operating philosophy:

  • Liquidity disappears faster than models suggest

  • Correlations converge under stress

  • Incentives drive behavior more than forecasts

  • Structure and discipline matter more than prediction

The experience of managing capital during multiple structural market disruptions shaped a lasting principle:

Risk must be understood in real time — not reconstructed after the fact

Experience operating within regulated exchanges and complex capital structures provides perspective
directly applicable to public companies, private equity portfolio companies, ESOP-owned businesses,
and multi-generational family enterprises

Founder, Operator & Capital Steward

Founded Gateway Partners, a market-making and specialist firm, registered
broker-dealer and a member firm of all U.S. options exchanges

Architected and built the Gateway Trading System (GTS) — a proprietary derivatives
valuation and firm-wide risk infrastructure platform providing real-time
exposure visibility across over 500 securities

Successfully exited to a NASDAQ-listed company

Hands-on experience with:

  • Building regulated financial infrastructure

  • Capital formation and balance sheet discipline

  • Scaling teams in volatile environments

  • Supervisory and compliance oversight

  • Strategic transaction execution and exit

This was capital at risk — not advisory from the sidelines

Technology, Governance & Long-Term Capital

I advise technology companies, venture-backed startups, and long-term capital partners on governance, strategic growth, and enterprise resilience.

As a Founder of Gildre, I built an invite-only community that connects founders with experienced operators, investors, and advisors to help companies move from product-market fit to scalable, durable businesses. Through this work, I regularly mentor founders on leadership, governance, capital strategy, and execution.

My advisory work focuses on:

• Board and governance effectiveness
• Founder and executive leadership development
• Capital allocation and financing strategy
• Product-led growth (PLG) and go-to-market (GTM) execution
• Risk management and long-term enterprise value creation
• Aligning incentives, control, and sustainable growth

I also serve as an Advisory Board Member to high-growth technology companies, providing strategic guidance on scaling operations, navigating growth inflection points, strengthening governance, and preparing organizations for long-term value creation.

Board-Relevant Themes

Across public, private, ESOP, and family-controlled enterprises, I contribute a perspective on:

  • Capital allocation under uncertainty

  • Incentive alignment and governance integrity

  • Risk transparency and early signal recognition

  • Technology oversight without narrative capture

  • Preserving enterprise value across generational transitions

The focus is durable value creation — not episodic performance