Our Team
Jack Andrews
Serge Belanger
Scott Berg
Quinn Bolton, CFA
Alan Carr, Ph.D., CFA
Brad Erickson
Rajvindra Gill
Alex Henderson
Ryan MacDonald
Patrick Malloy
Thomas Maloney, CFA
Laura Martin, CFA & CMT
Mike Matson, CFA
Chad Messer, Ph.D.
Rick Patel, CFA
James Ricchiuti
Mayank Tandon
Richard Valera
Stephen Unger, CFA
Jack Andrews joined Needham & Company in 2017, where he covers big data and infrastructure software companies. Jack ranked second for earnings estimating in the software sector in the 2017 Thomson Reuters Analyst Awards. Previously, he was a senior research analyst at D.A. Davidson, and led that firm’s software equity research efforts across the big data/analytics, applications, and security sectors. Prior to D.A. Davidson, Jack co-founded and co-managed a long/short equity hedge fund focused on technology. He also worked in equity research at JP Morgan and Citigroup, following software and IT services companies. Prior to his technology research experience, Jack worked at Credit Suisse as a software developer and tester. He received his MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with three bachelor’s degrees.
Serge Belanger joined Needham & Company in 2009, where he covers the specialty pharmaceuticals and biopharmaceuticals industries. Prior to Needham, Serge worked as a research associate at Fulcrum Global Partners and Susquehanna International Group covering the biotech and specialty pharma healthcare sectors. Previously, Serge joined Adolor Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company, as a senior research scientist, where he was involved with the discovery and development of novel opioid receptor targeted molecules and non-opioid pain therapeutics. Serge graduated from McGill University with a BSc, Biochemistry/Pharmacology, and an MSc, Pharmacology and Therapeutics. He obtained his MBA in Finance from the Stern School of Business at New York University.
Scott Berg joined Needham & Company in 2015, where he covers the SaaS, application software, and human capital management industries. Previously, he was senior research analyst at Northland Capital Markets covering enterprise/application software. Prior to Northland, he was senior research analyst with Feltl & Company and research analyst/associate with ThinkEquity, both with a focus on enterprise software. Before his Wall Street career, Scott held a variety of internal IT management positions for 10 years. He holds an MBA in Finance and a B.A. in Economics from the University of Minnesota.
Quinn Bolton has been with Needham & Company since 2004 covering communication ICs and consumer semiconductor companies. Prior to Needham, he was a senior semiconductor analyst at Oppenheimer & Co., covering large capitalization, diversified semiconductor companies. Before joining Oppenheimer, Quinn was a senior analyst at CIBC World Markets, where he covered large capitalization semiconductor, personal computer device and communication IC companies. Prior to at CIBC, he was a research associate at BT Alex. Brown and held various positions in corporate finance, equity capital markets, and equity research at Salomon Brothers. He received undergraduate degrees in Electrical Engineering and Quantitative Economics from Stanford University in 1993 and is a CFA.
Alan Carr has been with Needham & Company since 2006, covering the biotechnology industry. From 2001 to 2006 Alan worked in Yale’s technology transfer group, the Office of Cooperative Research, where he out-licensed a number of technologies and therapeutic product candidates developed in Yale labs and helped establish start-up companies in the New Haven area. Prior to that he was at J. Bush & Co., a New Haven investment firm, where he covered companies in the research tool and healthcare space. His post-doctoral work was centered on the regulation of neuronal development during embryogenesis. He earned his undergraduate degree at Albion College and earned his Ph.D. in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University.
Brad Erickson joined Needham & Company, LLC in 2018 covering Internet Services. Most recently, he spent eight years with KeyBanc Capital Markets (and Pacific Crest Securities) in senior research and research associate positions covering digital markets, IoT themes, global payments, and wireless equipment. Prior to that, Brad worked in account executive and sales roles. He received his B.A. in Economics from Northwestern University in 2001.
Rajvindra joined Needham & Company in 2008, where he focuses on microcontrollers, analog, and mixed signal, consumer IC and multi-market, computing, and global memory. Prior to joining Needham, Rajvindra was a senior associate at Jefferies & Company where he covered large-cap enterprise storage and communication equipment companies. Prior to Jefferies, he was an associate analyst at Credit Suisse, where he covered large-cap IT hardware companies across multiple sectors, including PCs, printers, hard disk drives, enterprise storage, servers and distributors. Before transitioning to Wall Street, Rajvindra spent five years at Lucent Technologies where he held notable positions, including business development manager, product CFO and corporate M&A manager. He received a MS in Finance and Management from Babson College and undergraduate degrees in Finance and Information Technology from George Washington University.
Alex Henderson joined Needham & Company in 2012, where he covers the networking and security technology industries. Prior to joining Needham, Alex worked at Miller Tabak, Citigroup and Prudential Securities, where he worked as a senior research analyst and served as Prudential’s director of technology research. He has been a senior technology analyst for over 25 years and ranked in the Institutional Investor All-Star Poll 17 times with #1 rank 11 times. He has also been elected to the Institutional Investor Hall of Fame. Alex was ranked #1 in the 2013 FT/StarMine Analyst Awards for stock picking in the Communications Equipment category. He started his career as a consultant at The Boston Consulting Group. He received a B.A. in Physics and Applied Mathematics from Bard College and an MBA from Vanderbilt University.
Ryan MacDonald joined Needham & Company in 2018, where he covers the enterprise software market with a focus on vertical SaaS applications. Ryan joined Needham from Dougherty & Company, where he was a senior research analyst covering vertical SaaS and business services. Prior to Dougherty, he was a senior research analyst at Wunderlich Securities, an associate research analyst at Sterne, Agee & Leach, and a research analyst/associate at Northland Capital Markets, covering a number of technology subsectors. Ryan holds a B.A. in Financial Management from the University of St. Thomas.
Managing Director, Co-Director of Equity Research
Patrick Malloy joined Needham & Company, LLC in 2017, where he led our equity sales effort in the Boston region prior to being named Co-Director of Equity Research in November 2018. Before joining Needham, Pat spent seven years at UBS as a senior producer, and nearly four years at Cowen and Company. Prior to that, he spent two years as an equities trader at Longwood Investments. He received his BA from Trinity College in History and was Captain of the school’s National Championship Squash team in 2004. Pat is active in the Boston community, including New England Aquarium, Board of Overseers; Squash Busters, Advisory Council; and University Club of Boston, Board of Governors & Admissions Committee.
Managing Director, Co-Director of Equity Research
Tom Maloney joined Needham & Company in 1999. He is a member of the firm’s Operating Committee and Investment Policy Committee. Prior to being named Director of Equity Research in 2006, he worked on the institutional sales desk at Needham, helping to disseminate the firm’s research ideas to institutional investors. Tom held similar roles at Tucker Anthony, Smith Barney, and Oppenheimer before joining Needham. His career began at Pepsi Cola as a business manager. He received a B.A. in Economics from Brown University in 1988 and also earned an MBA in Finance from Columbia Business School in 1993.
Laura Martin received her B.A. from Stanford and her MBA from Harvard Business School, and she is a CFA and CMT. Martin began her career at Drexel Burnham Lambert in media investment banking, followed by Capital Research & Management, where she advised $100 billion and managed a $500 million portfolio of media stocks. She moved to Credit Suisse First Boston in 1994 as the senior media analyst, where she was nationally ranked by Institutional Investor between 1999 and 2001. In 2002, Martin moved to Paris to become EVP of Financial Strategy and Investor Relations for Vivendi Universal. In 2004, she founded Media Metrics, LLC publishing equity research on the largest entertainment, cable and Internet stocks in the U.S., where she was nationally ranked as “Best of the Independent Research Boutiques” by Institutional Investor for many years. In 2009, Martin moved to Needham & Company, where she publishes research on the largest Internet and Entertainment companies.
Mike Matson joined Needham & Company in 2013 covering medical technologies and diagnostics. Prior to joining Needham, Mike spent nine years covering the medical supplies and devices industry for Mizuho Securities and Wells Fargo Securities. He previously worked in the medical device industry for Stryker’s Orthopaedics and Endoscopy divisions in marketing and product development. Mike has received multiple awards for stock picking and earnings estimate accuracy. Most recently, he was ranked first for stock picking in the Health Care Equipment & Supplies sector in the 2017 Thomson Reuters Analyst Awards. He was also ranked tenth in the TipRanks Top Ten Analysts of 2016 (across all sectors), third for earnings estimate accuracy in the Health Care Equipment & Supplies sector in the 2014 Thomson Reuters Analyst Awards, first for earnings estimate accuracy in the Health Care Equipment & Supplies sector in the 2013 Thomson Reuters Analyst Awards, second for stock picking in the Health Care Equipment & Supplies sector in the 2008 Thomson Reuters Analyst Awards, and fourth in the medical device sector for stock picking in the 2007 Wall Street Journal “Best on the Street.” Mike has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from North Carolina State University with a minor in Economics and MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business with a concentration in Health Sector Management. Mike holds a medical device patent (U.S. patent 6,919,914).
Chad Messer joined Needham & Company in April 2012. He has over a dozen years of corporate and Wall Street experience with the biotech industry. From 2006 until joining Needham, he worked at Piper Jaffray & Co. as a research analyst covering biotechnology. In 2000, he joined Genaissance Pharmaceuticals, where he held a number of positions, including manager of corporate development. He was ranked #2 for earnings estimating in Biotechnology in the 2017 Thomson Reuters Analyst Awards. He earned his Ph.D. at Yale in Pharmacology, MBA from New York University, and undergraduate degree in Biology from Yale.
Rick Patel joined Needham & Company in 2017, where he covers the specialty retail and global brand sectors. He was previously at CLSA Americas, where he covered specialty retail, apparel, luxury, and activewear. Prior to this, he was a senior research analyst at Stephens covering the specialty retail/softlines sector. From 2007 to 2013, Rick was a senior analyst for small/mid-cap retail at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Earlier in his career, Rick was a healthcare analyst at Lehman Brothers, first as an associate on the major pharmaceuticals team and then as a senior analyst covering life science tools and diagnostics. Rick holds an MBA from NYU-Stern, and a B.S. in Finance, B.A. in Economics, and B.S. in Biology from Rutgers University.
Jim Ricchiuti joined Needham & Company’s equity research team in May 1999. Prior to joining Needham, Jim was with Lehman Brothers for over five years, where he focused on technology companies in the imaging and electronics businesses. His previous experience includes Bear Stearns from 1986 to 1993 covering a number of small-cap and mid-cap companies. He was ranked #3 for stock picking in the Electronic Equipment & Instruments sector in the 2017 Thomson Reuters Analyst Awards. He also worked at Argus Research in the mid-1980s. Jim is a graduate of St. John’s University.
Mayank Tandon joined Needham & Company in 2011, where he covers the financial technology and payments software and services industries. Previously, Mayank was a research analyst at Signal Hill covering the financial technology/IT services and BPO sectors. Prior to Signal Hill, he was the software and services equity research analyst/select portfolio manager at Fidelity Investments, where he led the software and services research effort and managed the select software and computer services fund for two years. Before joining Fidelity, Mayank spent several years at Janney Montgomery Scott as an analyst covering IT services companies with a focus on consulting and outsourcing. He was ranked #1 in the 2013 FT/StarMine Analyst Awards for earnings estimating in the IT Services category. He holds an M.A. in Economics from Northeastern and a B.A. in Economics from University of Bombay.
Richard Valera has been with Needham & Company since 1997 covering Communications Equipment and Technical Software. Prior to Needham he spent nine years in the EDA industry, most recently as a senior applications consultant at Synopsys, an industry-leading provider of logic synthesis and verification tools. Prior to Synopsys, he was employed at Viewlogic Systems and RacalRedac/HHB Systems in a variety of technical and marketing capacities. Richard has been recognized twice for his stock selection skill in The Wall Street Journal’s All-Star Analyst survey. Richard was ranked #2 in the 2013 FT/StarMine Analyst Awards for stock picking in the Communications Equipment category. He has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and an MBA in Finance from Rutgers University.
Stephen Unger joined Needham & Company, LLC in 2018 covering Life Science & Diagnostic Tools and Drug Development Services. He has over 20 years of financial and healthcare industry experience through roles in investment banking, public accounting, and industry. He is the former CFO of Quotient Limited, a diagnostics company developing a next-generation technology platform for the global blood transfusion market. From 2009 to 2012, he was a senior equity research analyst at Lazard Capital Markets, following the medical diagnostics, life science tools, pharmaceutical services, and healthcare information technology industries. From 1998 to 2008, he covered these industries at Bear Stearns & Co. He received a BBA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MBA with Honors from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Patrick Malloy
Thomas Maloney, CFA
Managing Director, Co-Director of Equity Research
Patrick Malloy joined Needham & Company, LLC in 2017, where he led our equity sales effort in the Boston region prior to being named Co-Director of Equity Research in November 2018. Before joining Needham, Pat spent seven years at UBS as a senior producer, and nearly four years at Cowen and Company. Prior to that, he spent two years as an equities trader at Longwood Investments. He received his BA from Trinity College in History and was Captain of the school’s National Championship Squash team in 2004. Pat is active in the Boston community, including New England Aquarium, Board of Overseers; Squash Busters, Advisory Council; and University Club of Boston, Board of Governors & Admissions Committee.
Managing Director, Co-Director of Equity Research
Tom Maloney joined Needham & Company in 1999. He is a member of the firm’s Operating Committee and Investment Policy Committee. Prior to being named Director of Equity Research in 2006, he worked on the institutional sales desk at Needham, helping to disseminate the firm’s research ideas to institutional investors. Tom held similar roles at Tucker Anthony, Smith Barney, and Oppenheimer before joining Needham. His career began at Pepsi Cola as a business manager. He received a B.A. in Economics from Brown University in 1988 and also earned an MBA in Finance from Columbia Business School in 1993.
Alex Henderson joined Needham & Company in 2012, where he covers the networking and security technology industries. Prior to joining Needham, Alex worked at Miller Tabak, Citigroup and Prudential Securities, where he worked as a senior research analyst and served as Prudential’s director of technology research. He has been a senior technology analyst for over 25 years and ranked in the Institutional Investor All-Star Poll 17 times with #1 rank 11 times. He has also been elected to the Institutional Investor Hall of Fame. Alex was ranked #1 in the 2013 FT/StarMine Analyst Awards for stock picking in the Communications Equipment category. He started his career as a consultant at The Boston Consulting Group. He received a B.A. in Physics and Applied Mathematics from Bard College and an MBA from Vanderbilt University.
Richard Valera has been with Needham & Company since 1997 covering Communications Equipment and Technical Software. Prior to Needham he spent nine years in the EDA industry, most recently as a senior applications consultant at Synopsys, an industry-leading provider of logic synthesis and verification tools. Prior to Synopsys, he was employed at Viewlogic Systems and RacalRedac/HHB Systems in a variety of technical and marketing capacities. Richard has been recognized twice for his stock selection skill in The Wall Street Journal’s All-Star Analyst survey. Richard was ranked #2 in the 2013 FT/StarMine Analyst Awards for stock picking in the Communications Equipment category. He has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and an MBA in Finance from Rutgers University.
Serge Belanger
Alan Carr, Ph.D., CFA
Mike Matson, CFA
Chad Messer, Ph.D.
Stephen Unger, CFA
Serge Belanger joined Needham & Company in 2009, where he covers the specialty pharmaceuticals and biopharmaceuticals industries. Prior to Needham, Serge worked as a research associate at Fulcrum Global Partners and Susquehanna International Group covering the biotech and specialty pharma healthcare sectors. Previously, Serge joined Adolor Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company, as a senior research scientist, where he was involved with the discovery and development of novel opioid receptor targeted molecules and non-opioid pain therapeutics. Serge graduated from McGill University with a BSc, Biochemistry/Pharmacology, and an MSc, Pharmacology and Therapeutics. He obtained his MBA in Finance from the Stern School of Business at New York University.
Alan Carr has been with Needham & Company since 2006, covering the biotechnology industry. From 2001 to 2006 Alan worked in Yale’s technology transfer group, the Office of Cooperative Research, where he out-licensed a number of technologies and therapeutic product candidates developed in Yale labs and helped establish start-up companies in the New Haven area. Prior to that he was at J. Bush & Co., a New Haven investment firm, where he covered companies in the research tool and healthcare space. His post-doctoral work was centered on the regulation of neuronal development during embryogenesis. He earned his undergraduate degree at Albion College and earned his Ph.D. in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University.
Mike Matson joined Needham & Company in 2013 covering medical technologies and diagnostics. Prior to joining Needham, Mike spent nine years covering the medical supplies and devices industry for Mizuho Securities and Wells Fargo Securities. He previously worked in the medical device industry for Stryker’s Orthopaedics and Endoscopy divisions in marketing and product development. Mike has received multiple awards for stock picking and earnings estimate accuracy. Most recently, he was ranked first for stock picking in the Health Care Equipment & Supplies sector in the 2017 Thomson Reuters Analyst Awards. He was also ranked tenth in the TipRanks Top Ten Analysts of 2016 (across all sectors), third for earnings estimate accuracy in the Health Care Equipment & Supplies sector in the 2014 Thomson Reuters Analyst Awards, first for earnings estimate accuracy in the Health Care Equipment & Supplies sector in the 2013 Thomson Reuters Analyst Awards, second for stock picking in the Health Care Equipment & Supplies sector in the 2008 Thomson Reuters Analyst Awards, and fourth in the medical device sector for stock picking in the 2007 Wall Street Journal “Best on the Street.” Mike has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from North Carolina State University with a minor in Economics and MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business with a concentration in Health Sector Management. Mike holds a medical device patent (U.S. patent 6,919,914).
Chad Messer joined Needham & Company in April 2012. He has over a dozen years of corporate and Wall Street experience with the biotech industry. From 2006 until joining Needham, he worked at Piper Jaffray & Co. as a research analyst covering biotechnology. In 2000, he joined Genaissance Pharmaceuticals, where he held a number of positions, including manager of corporate development. He was ranked #2 for earnings estimating in Biotechnology in the 2017 Thomson Reuters Analyst Awards. He earned his Ph.D. at Yale in Pharmacology, MBA from New York University, and undergraduate degree in Biology from Yale.
Stephen Unger joined Needham & Company, LLC in 2018 covering Life Science & Diagnostic Tools and Drug Development Services. He has over 20 years of financial and healthcare industry experience through roles in investment banking, public accounting, and industry. He is the former CFO of Quotient Limited, a diagnostics company developing a next-generation technology platform for the global blood transfusion market. From 2009 to 2012, he was a senior equity research analyst at Lazard Capital Markets, following the medical diagnostics, life science tools, pharmaceutical services, and healthcare information technology industries. From 1998 to 2008, he covered these industries at Bear Stearns & Co. He received a BBA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MBA with Honors from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Jim Ricchiuti joined Needham & Company’s equity research team in May 1999. Prior to joining Needham, Jim was with Lehman Brothers for over five years, where he focused on technology companies in the imaging and electronics businesses. His previous experience includes Bear Stearns from 1986 to 1993 covering a number of small-cap and mid-cap companies. He was ranked #3 for stock picking in the Electronic Equipment & Instruments sector in the 2017 Thomson Reuters Analyst Awards. He also worked at Argus Research in the mid-1980s. Jim is a graduate of St. John’s University.
Brad Erickson joined Needham & Company, LLC in 2018 covering Internet Services. Most recently, he spent eight years with KeyBanc Capital Markets (and Pacific Crest Securities) in senior research and research associate positions covering digital markets, IoT themes, global payments, and wireless equipment. Prior to that, Brad worked in account executive and sales roles. He received his B.A. in Economics from Northwestern University in 2001.
Laura Martin received her B.A. from Stanford and her MBA from Harvard Business School, and she is a CFA and CMT. Martin began her career at Drexel Burnham Lambert in media investment banking, followed by Capital Research & Management, where she advised $100 billion and managed a $500 million portfolio of media stocks. She moved to Credit Suisse First Boston in 1994 as the senior media analyst, where she was nationally ranked by Institutional Investor between 1999 and 2001. In 2002, Martin moved to Paris to become EVP of Financial Strategy and Investor Relations for Vivendi Universal. In 2004, she founded Media Metrics, LLC publishing equity research on the largest entertainment, cable and Internet stocks in the U.S., where she was nationally ranked as “Best of the Independent Research Boutiques” by Institutional Investor for many years. In 2009, Martin moved to Needham & Company, where she publishes research on the largest Internet and Entertainment companies.
Rick Patel joined Needham & Company in 2017, where he covers the specialty retail and global brand sectors. He was previously at CLSA Americas, where he covered specialty retail, apparel, luxury, and activewear. Prior to this, he was a senior research analyst at Stephens covering the specialty retail/softlines sector. From 2007 to 2013, Rick was a senior analyst for small/mid-cap retail at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Earlier in his career, Rick was a healthcare analyst at Lehman Brothers, first as an associate on the major pharmaceuticals team and then as a senior analyst covering life science tools and diagnostics. Rick holds an MBA from NYU-Stern, and a B.S. in Finance, B.A. in Economics, and B.S. in Biology from Rutgers University.
Quinn Bolton has been with Needham & Company since 2004 covering communication ICs and consumer semiconductor companies. Prior to Needham, he was a senior semiconductor analyst at Oppenheimer & Co., covering large capitalization, diversified semiconductor companies. Before joining Oppenheimer, Quinn was a senior analyst at CIBC World Markets, where he covered large capitalization semiconductor, personal computer device and communication IC companies. Prior to at CIBC, he was a research associate at BT Alex. Brown and held various positions in corporate finance, equity capital markets, and equity research at Salomon Brothers. He received undergraduate degrees in Electrical Engineering and Quantitative Economics from Stanford University in 1993 and is a CFA.
Rajvindra joined Needham & Company in 2008, where he focuses on microcontrollers, analog, and mixed signal, consumer IC and multi-market, computing, and global memory. Prior to joining Needham, Rajvindra was a senior associate at Jefferies & Company where he covered large-cap enterprise storage and communication equipment companies. Prior to Jefferies, he was an associate analyst at Credit Suisse, where he covered large-cap IT hardware companies across multiple sectors, including PCs, printers, hard disk drives, enterprise storage, servers and distributors. Before transitioning to Wall Street, Rajvindra spent five years at Lucent Technologies where he held notable positions, including business development manager, product CFO and corporate M&A manager. He received a MS in Finance and Management from Babson College and undergraduate degrees in Finance and Information Technology from George Washington University.
Jack Andrews
Scott Berg
Ryan MacDonald
Mayank Tandon
Richard Valera
Jack Andrews joined Needham & Company in 2017, where he covers big data and infrastructure software companies. Jack ranked second for earnings estimating in the software sector in the 2017 Thomson Reuters Analyst Awards. Previously, he was a senior research analyst at D.A. Davidson, and led that firm’s software equity research efforts across the big data/analytics, applications, and security sectors. Prior to D.A. Davidson, Jack co-founded and co-managed a long/short equity hedge fund focused on technology. He also worked in equity research at JP Morgan and Citigroup, following software and IT services companies. Prior to his technology research experience, Jack worked at Credit Suisse as a software developer and tester. He received his MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with three bachelor’s degrees.
Scott Berg joined Needham & Company in 2015, where he covers the SaaS, application software, and human capital management industries. Previously, he was senior research analyst at Northland Capital Markets covering enterprise/application software. Prior to Northland, he was senior research analyst with Feltl & Company and research analyst/associate with ThinkEquity, both with a focus on enterprise software. Before his Wall Street career, Scott held a variety of internal IT management positions for 10 years. He holds an MBA in Finance and a B.A. in Economics from the University of Minnesota.
Ryan MacDonald joined Needham & Company in 2018, where he covers the enterprise software market with a focus on vertical SaaS applications. Ryan joined Needham from Dougherty & Company, where he was a senior research analyst covering vertical SaaS and business services. Prior to Dougherty, he was a senior research analyst at Wunderlich Securities, an associate research analyst at Sterne, Agee & Leach, and a research analyst/associate at Northland Capital Markets, covering a number of technology subsectors. Ryan holds a B.A. in Financial Management from the University of St. Thomas.
Mayank Tandon joined Needham & Company in 2011, where he covers the financial technology and payments software and services industries. Previously, Mayank was a research analyst at Signal Hill covering the financial technology/IT services and BPO sectors. Prior to Signal Hill, he was the software and services equity research analyst/select portfolio manager at Fidelity Investments, where he led the software and services research effort and managed the select software and computer services fund for two years. Before joining Fidelity, Mayank spent several years at Janney Montgomery Scott as an analyst covering IT services companies with a focus on consulting and outsourcing. He was ranked #1 in the 2013 FT/StarMine Analyst Awards for earnings estimating in the IT Services category. He holds an M.A. in Economics from Northeastern and a B.A. in Economics from University of Bombay.
Richard Valera has been with Needham & Company since 1997 covering Communications Equipment and Technical Software. Prior to Needham he spent nine years in the EDA industry, most recently as a senior applications consultant at Synopsys, an industry-leading provider of logic synthesis and verification tools. Prior to Synopsys, he was employed at Viewlogic Systems and RacalRedac/HHB Systems in a variety of technical and marketing capacities. Richard has been recognized twice for his stock selection skill in The Wall Street Journal’s All-Star Analyst survey. Richard was ranked #2 in the 2013 FT/StarMine Analyst Awards for stock picking in the Communications Equipment category. He has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and an MBA in Finance from Rutgers University.