Our Team

Jim Apostolides joined Needham & Company as a Managing Director in the Mergers & Acquisitions Group in 2008. He has more than 40 years of experience as an investment banker, a strategy consultant and a corporate executive, and he has completed transactions valued at well over $100 billion. Jim began his career at McKinsey & Company, helping clients develop strategies to address growth, resource allocation, turnaround and diversification issues. As an investment banker, he has worked at Salomon Brothers, Scully Brothers & Foss, Lehman Brothers, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup. Most of his banking career was devoted to working on large, extremely complex projects for some of the world’s most demanding clients, including GE, KKR, Accenture, GM, Hughes Aircraft, EDS, United Technologies and IBM. He also spent four years in executive roles at Accenture, Oracle and BearingPoint, executing special projects of a financial and strategic nature. Jim has a BS in Operations Research and an MBA in Finance, both from New York University. He is a frequent speaker regarding various aspects of M&A and activism at American College of Corporate Directors events and has achieved Professional Director Certification from the group.

Laura has over 30 years experience in high technology, business strategy and finance. As an investment banker for Needham, Laura has advised technology companies on over $30 billion of mergers, acquisitions, IPOs and other equity financings. At Needham, Laura has focused on a broad array of technologies ranging from software, IT infrastructure including storage, computing, security and data analytics technologies to industrial technologies. She previously served as head of corporate finance at Black & Company where she raised public equity capital and completed numerous M&A and strategic advisory assignments. Laura previously served as Director of M&A for TRW Avionics & Surveillance Group where she evaluated acquisition candidates, managed direct investments and divestitures, and raised venture capital to back spin-off companies. She began her career at TRW as a electronic circuit design engineer for spread spectrum communications systems. Laura earned an MS in management from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. She also holds an MSEE from Santa Clara University and a BSEE from the University of California at Davis. Laura is a Director of Viavi Solutions, a publicly traded global leader in network & service enablement and optical security & performance solutions, and Ichor Holdings, a leader in the design, engineering and manufacturing of critical fluid delivery subsystems for semiconductor capital equipment. She serves on the Audit Committee of Ichor and the Corporate Development Committee of Viavi. She served as a Director of Super Micro, a publicly traded provider of advanced computer systems, for seven years.

Steven Camp joined Needham & Company in 2007. His responsibilities include the origination and execution of public and private financings, and mergers and acquisitions. Prior to joining Needham, Steven worked for EMC Corporation, where he held positions in corporate development, executing numerous M&A transactions as well as the VMware IPO, and as a senior analyst in the global finance organization. Steven graduated magna cum laude from the University of Cincinnati, where he studied Finance and Accounting.

Will Cass joined Needham & Company in 2008 and is a Managing Director based in New York. Will works with emerging growth technology companies and their investors and strategic acquirers with a focus on enterprise application software. Will is responsible for originating and executing a wide range of strategic advisory and financing assignments for both public and private SaaS companies. While at Needham, he has completed more than 100 transactions, including sell-side and buy-side M&A, private capital growth equity and debt raises, initial public offerings, follow-on equity and debt offerings and SPACs. Will graduated from Syracuse University with degrees in Finance and Broadcast Journalism from the Whitman School of Management and the Newhouse School of Public Communications.

Matt Castrovince joined Needham & Company in 2011.  Matt leads Needham’s technology capital markets efforts and focuses on transaction execution for both public and private issuers as well as their investors.  He works closely with the investment banking and institutional sales and trading teams in order to help facilitate smooth and efficient transaction execution.  Throughout his career, Matt has completed more than 300 transactions.  Matt graduated from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland with a Bachelor of Science in Finance and International Business.

Samir Desai joined Needham & Company in 2002 and is the Head of New York Investment Banking as well as the Head of the Software and Services Corporate Finance team. Samir’s experience includes a wide variety of equity, debt and private placement financings and advisory assignments for a large number of technology clients over the last 20 years. At Needham & Company, he has been the lead advisor on a number of IPOs, Follow-on and Private Placement offerings, as well as buy-side and sell-side M&A transactions related to a large number of enterprise, application, network and infrastructure software as well as tech-enabled and IT Services companies. Prior to joining Needham, Samir was a Vice President in the Technology Investment Banking Group at Credit Suisse First Boston/Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, where he focused on clients in the Enterprise Computing, Software and Internet Consulting Services sectors. Prior to CSFB/DLJ, he worked at Cowen & Company, where he was an Associate in Cowen’s Technology Investment Banking Group. He also worked at Salomon Brothers Inc, where he was a Financial Analyst in Salomon’s Mergers and Acquisitions Group. Samir earned an M.B.A. with Honors from the University of Chicago, Graduate School of Business and a B.A. in Government and Economics cum laude from Dartmouth College.

Pete Donat joined Needham & Company in 2018 to help bolster the firm’s Investment Banking capabilities in FinTech and Payments. Pete has had a 25-year career in the payment industry with a variety of senior roles at First Data, Visa and MasterCard. During that time, he worked on over 30 transactions, including several industry-transformative acquisitions, divestitures, investments and IPOs. He was SVP of New Ventures & Business Development at First Data with responsibility for managing the company’s most disruptive partnerships (such as ApplePay and PayPal) and dozens of investments, acquisitions and partnerships with early stage FinTech companies. Earlier at First Data, he was responsible for Network Innovation, eCommerce and FDC’s Durbin and Regulatory response teams. Prior to FDC, roles include Senior Leadership roles in Strategy, Finance, Product at both Visa and MasterCard. Outside of Needham & Company, Pete is a Senior Advisor at the Boston Consulting Group’s Financial Services practice, a Strategic Advisor at Earnest Research (a data and analytics firm successfully monetizing payment data), and an advisor/board member to several FinTech and security startups. Pete holds an MBA from Wharton, an M.A. in International Economics & US Foreign Policy from Johns Hopkins (SAIS), and an AB from Dartmouth College.

Ehud Eisenstein joined Needham & Company in 2010. He has taken an active role in accelerating the firm’s business in Israel, delivering the full spectrum of financing and advisory capabilities to Israeli emerging growth companies, both public and private. Prior to joining Needham, Ehud was a senior research analyst at Oscar Gruss & Son in NYC and Tel-Aviv, where he covered Israeli-based technology companies on Nasdaq – supporting U.S. and UK-based institution investors. Ehud has over 10 years of experience working with Israeli public companies achieving their financials goals in the U.S. markets. Ehud has a Masters in Business Administration from Hebrew University in Jerusalem and B.A. in Business Administration from the College of Administration, Tel Aviv.

Simon Gill rejoined Needham & Company in January 2010, having previously been a senior healthcare banker at the firm. In the last 15 years Simon has completed over 200 transactions for life science companies. These include IPOs, Follow-on Offerings, PIPEs, Private Placements, Convertible Debt, Royalty Financings, M&A Advisory, Shareholder Rights Plans and Stock Buybacks. He has been a keynote speaker and panelist at numerous industry conferences, and has extensive experience in working with CEOs, CFOs and VCs in the life science community. Prior to rejoining Needham, Simon was Co-head of U.S. Healthcare Investment Banking at RBC Capital Markets. He began his career with Credit Suisse First Boston in London. In addition to RBC and CSFB, he has worked at SBC Warburg (now called UBS), Schroders, Inc. and Prudential Securities, where he was Head of Investment Banking. Simon graduated from the University of Oxford with Masters and Undergraduate degrees.

Scott Glaid joined Needham & Company in 2006. Prior to joining Needham, Scott was a senior analyst at technology investment bank Ion Partners LLC. He possesses a Masters of Finance from the Institute of Political Studies, Paris, and graduated with highest honors from Boston College. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder.

Julie Harbey joined Needham & Company in 2015. She has almost 2 decades of experience, specializing in the syndication and execution of equity offerings across a variety of sectors and geographies. Prior to joining Needham, Julie spent more than a decade at CIBC World Markets where she was a director of U.S. ECM and the U.S. Syndicate Manager. Ms. Harbey is also a former president and current board member of the Women’s Syndicate Association, an organization dedicated to promoting business knowledge, sharing industry information, and cultivating valued personal and professional relationships among women across the financial services industry. She holds a B.A. in Economics from New York University.

Jack Higgins joined Needham & Company in 2007 and is a Managing Director in the Technology Investment Banking Group. He has extensive experience advising private and public semiconductor, materials and industrial technology companies on equity financings and M&A advisory assignments. Previously, Jack was a senior banker at Janney Montgomery Scott for the firm’s information technology security effort. Prior to joining Janney, he spent four years with Adams Harkness, working in the semiconductor device and communications technology banking groups. Prior to working at Adams Harkness, Jack worked at Genuity (GTE Internetworking) in product management. He graduated from Colby College and received his MBA from Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management.

Carolyn Horn joined Needham & Company in 2015. She was appointed Co-Head of Needham’s Healthcare Investment Banking Group in January 2021. Prior to joining the healthcare banking team, she led the Healthcare Equity Capital Markets group for four years, and has overseen the origination and execution of all life sciences equities transactions. With a focus on emerging growth companies, Carolyn advises on both public and private financings including IPOs, follow-on offerings, convertible debt, and private placements. She has completed over 200 life sciences equity transactions over the course of her career. Previously, Carolyn was the Healthcare Specialist in Institutional Sales at JMP Securities, focusing on the biotech, medtech, and specialty pharmaceuticals sectors. Earlier in her career, she worked with a healthcare financial services firm in New York, and in the Emerging Companies group at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) in Washington DC. Carolyn earned her undergraduate degree from Washington University in St. Louis.

Jack Iacovone joined Needham & Company in 1995 and became Chief Executive Officer of Needham & Company in 2022. He has previously held the roles of President, Head of Investment banking and Head of Mergers & Acquisitions. While at Needham, Jack has assisted emerging growth companies complete over 125 equity financings and advisory transactions totaling over $80 billion in value in a variety of industries. He has also sponsored over 25 principal investments made through the firm’s Private Equity Partnership, Needham Capital Partners, and has sat on the board of directors or been an observer to the board of directors of six companies. Jack previously worked within the financial services line of business at KPMG Peat Marwick LLP. He received a B.S. in Accounting from Pace University. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and a Certified Public Accountant in the State of New York. Jack is a member of the Metro New York Chapter of the Young Presidents Organization.

Chad Keck joined Needham & Company in 1991. He has taken an active role in developing the firm’s business in Asia and in the Alternative Energy Sector, particularly solar. Since opening the Menlo Park office in 1991, he has been involved in over 100 transactions, including 30 initial public offerings. Prior to joining Needham, he was a managing director and head of Prudential Bache’s San Francisco Investment Banking Group. Other investment banking experience includes three years in First Boston’s Technology Group, and founding and co-heading Smith Barney’s Technology Financing Group. Chad became Vice Chairman of Needham & Company in December 2005. He works with a broad cross-section of the firm’s clients, particularly in the semiconductor sector. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy and received an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

Jim King joined Needham & Company in 1993. Jim currently heads Needham’s activities related to Solar and Semiconductor Capital Equipment. While at Needham & Company, he has been responsible for the execution of over 100 equity financings and advisory transactions worth over $15 billion for technology companies. Additionally, Jim has significant technology operations and business strategy experience, working in strategic marketing at Silicon Graphics, in enterprise sales for a start-up software company, and serving for three years as CEO of a demand chain software company he founded. Jim holds an AB in Quantitative Economics and an MBA, both from Stanford University.

Mel Lavitt joined Needham & Company in 2009. Mel’s professional career in investment banking has included hundreds of capital market transactions accounting for several billion dollars of equity and debt financing. In July 2007, he was vice chairman and managing director of C.E. Unterberg, Towbin, when it was purchased by Collins Stewart, LLC. Upon completion of the transaction, he formed Lavitt Group, LLC to advise private and public companies in finding and securing financing, structuring, and negotiating investment terms and advising on investor marketing strategy, but as of January 2009, his primary business affiliation is as a Senior Advisor to Needham. Mel started his career in investment banking in 1959 at Bear Stearns and then joined C.E. Unterberg, Towbin in 1962 and continued as a general partner and administrative managing director following the merger with L.F. Rothschild in 1977 at L.F. Rothschild, Unterberg, Towbin, Inc. until 1986. From June 1987 to August 1992, Mel ran his own financial advisory business, Lavitt Management Inc., before returning to C.E. Unterberg Towbin. He graduated from Brown University and serves as a Board member to several companies and institutions, including Jabil Circuit, Inc. and the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, Utah.

Helen Li joined Needham & Company in 2011, with a primary focus on technology investment banking and Needham’s China practice. Helen has 20 years of combined operational and investment banking experience. While at Needham, Helen has advised over 60 transactions including public and private financings as well as M&As, with a total transaction size above $35 billion. Helen is specialized in cross-border IPOs and M&As involving complex deal structures and cross-cultural negotiation. Prior to Needham, she worked in the semiconductor industry serving in multiple roles including R&D, technical marketing, and strategic sales at Micron Technology, Marvell Semiconductor and InvenSense. She also worked for top-tier China VC firms, Qiming Ventures and Gobi Partners, on industry research, deal sourcing and due diligence. Ms. Li received her MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management, MSEE from the University of Southern California, and B.A. from Tsinghua University.

Andrew Malik was named Chairman of Needham & Company in 2008. Prior to Needham, he spent 21 years at Lehman Brothers, where he was a partner and subsequently managing director. During his time at Lehman, Mr. Malik’s duties included serving as head of Technology Capital Markets and head of the Banking Development Group. Prior to Lehman Brothers, he ran Capital Markets and Institutional Sales for C.E. Unterberg, Towbin (which became L.F. Rothschild, Unterberg, Towbin) from 1971 to 1987. Earlier in his career, Mr. Malik was a security analyst with Josephthal & Co. and a partner in charge of Institutional Sales with Muriel Siebert & Co. A well respected Wall Street veteran, he has worked on more than one thousand equity, debt, and M&A transactions. In addition, he has served on the Board of Directors of several technology companies and venture firms, including a number of years as chairman of the Audit Committee of Hummingbird, Inc. Mr. Malik also lectures extensively on college campuses on a variety of topics related to corporate finance.

Pooyan Mehdizadeh rejoined Needham & Company in September 2012. Prior to joining Needham & Company as a senior member of the M&A group, Pooyan was a managing director at ThinkEquity and has more than 20 years of investment banking experience. He has successfully represented public and private companies in over 100 completed transactions across the full spectrum of financing and advisory assignments, including acquisitions, exclusive sales, divestitures, spin-offs, take-over defense assignments and cross-border transactions. Earlier in his career, he was a consultant at Accenture plc. Pooyan earned a B.S. in Information and Computer Sciences from the University of California, Irvine.

Shawn joined Needham & Company in 2019. His responsibilities include the origination and execution of public and private financings, and mergers and acquisitions. He currently heads Needham’s activities related to the cannabis industry. Over his approximately 20-year career, Shawn has been responsible for 150+ equity financings and advisory transactions, representing over $12B+ in aggregate value. Prior to joining Needham, Shawn worked for Northland Capital Markets where he was Managing Director and Head of Energy Investment Banking. Prior to Northland, Shawn worked at Piper Jaffray. After serving in the U.S. Navy, Shawn graduated from Augsburg College with a bachelor’s degree in Finance and the University of Minnesota with an MBA in Finance.

Brian Perrault rejoined Needham & Company in July 2022, having previously been a technology banker and senior member of the M&A group at the firm. Brian’s M&A and capital raising experience includes substantial complex corporate carve-out, public-to-public mergers, founder-led going private, IPO, follow on offering and shareholder activism experience in numerous industries, end markets and countries spans almost 20 years. Prior to rejoining Needham, he worked as a Managing Director at Sage Park from 2019 to 2022, an operations-focused single L.P. family office investment firm. Earlier in his career, he was a member of the research staff in the Advanced Space Systems & Concepts Group at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory. Brian earned his B.S. in Physics from Saint Michael’s College and his MBA from Northeastern University’s D’Amore-McKim School of Business.

Navdeep Saini joined Needham & Company in 2007. At Needham, his responsibilities include the origination and execution of financing and M&A transactions. Prior to Needham, Navdeep has worked with technology companies, Motorola and Freescale Semiconductor, where he held positions in engineering and chip design. In the summer of 2006, he worked with a venture capital fund, where he analyzed investment opportunities for technology companies and supported portfolio companies. Navdeep holds a BE in Electronics Engineering from PEC, India, and an MBA in Finance from Duke University.

Chris Smajdor joined Needham & Company in 2008.  In his role as a Managing Director on the investment banking team, Chris works with both private and public Internet, Digital Media and Software companies, advising across a range of capital markets and M&A transactions.  Areas of significant focus include growth equity financings, initial public offerings, public follow-on offerings and both sell-side and buy-side M&A.  Prior to joining Needham & Company, Chris worked for AllianceBernstein, a global asset management firm.

Mike Staff joined Needham & Company in 2006. His responsibilities include the origination and execution of public and private financings, and mergers and acquisitions. Prior to joining Needham, Mike worked as a research associate for Aurora Investment Management, LLC (formerly known as Harris Alternatives, LLC), a $10 billion fund of hedge funds. He possesses a Masters in Finance from the ICMA Center at the University of Reading and graduated from Georgetown University with a Bachelor of Arts in Government. He has passed Level 2 of the Chartered Financial Analyst program.

Matt Stavris joined Needham & Company in 2017. He is a member of Needham’s Software & Services group, focusing primarily on the Digital Health sector. Prior to joining Needham, Matt held various strategy, operations and partnership management roles at athenahealth, Inc., a leading cloud-based practice management and care coordination services company. He holds an AB from Princeton University and an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.

Bobby Steinkrauss joined Needham & Company in 2019. He currently co-leads Needham’s activities related to the blockchain/cryptocurrency industry. Bobby is a member of Needham’s Mergers & Acquisitions team and focuses on the execution of a wide range of advisory assignments for growth companies both public and private. Prior to joining Needham, Bobby held corporate development positions at Fidelity, Dell Technologies Capital and EMC. Over his career, Bobby has worked on 40+ completed transactions including mergers and acquisitions and private capital raises. He graduated from the Carroll School of Management at Boston College with a BS in Management, concentrating in Finance.

Brian Stollar joined Needham & Company in 2022 and has over 20 years of Wall Street experience specializing in the Life Sciences sector. Prior to Needham, Brian spent 7 years at Oppenheimer as a senior member of the Healthcare ECM team. During his tenure at Oppenheimer, Brian was responsible for deal execution as well as other investor outreach initiatives. He successfully placed over 150 book run financings, raising approximately $6B for the issuers. Before joining Oppenheimer, Brian’s financial career highlights include senior roles at Cowen, LifeSci Advisors, and B Riley. Brian holds a BS in Chemistry from Rutgers University and before joining the Wall Street ranks he enjoyed time in the lab and was a successful business development professional for several firms including Thermo Fisher, Covance and Icon Labs.

Ryan Walters joined Needham & Company in 2011. Ryan is a member of Needham’s Mergers & Acquisitions team and focuses on the execution of a wide range of advisory assignments for growth companies both public and private. Prior to Needham, Ryan began his career at Moody’s Investors Service. Ryan graduated from the Stern School of Business at New York University with an MBA in International Finance and Banking and from the Carroll School of Management at Boston College with a BS in Management, concentrating in Finance and Marketing.

Erick Volp joined Needham & Company in 2018. He leads Needham’s Financial Sponsors coverage within the investment bank. Erick joined Needham from Crito Capital, a boutique placement agent, where he was a Director responsible for private markets fund and direct deal origination as well as institutional investor coverage. Prior to Crito, Erick was a relationship management professional at GCM Grosvenor Private Markets (formerly known as Credit Suisse Customized Fund Investment Group), a $21 billion private equity funds of funds group. He began his career at AllianceBernstein, a global asset management firm. Erick received a B.A. in Government from Hamilton College.

Matt Wagner joined Needham & Company in 2017. Since joining Needham, Matt has advised companies across a wide range of corporate finance and strategic matters, with a focus on capital raising transactions for public and private life sciences companies. Additionally, Matt has advised on multiple M&A transactions in the healthcare sector, including strategic buy and sell-side deals. In 2014, Matt began his career with the Private Equity and Venture Capital Group at OrbiMed Advisors in New York. Matt holds a B.Sc. in biochemistry from Denison University.

Anna Andreeva joined Needham & Company in 2021 covering Ecommerce & Global Brands. Anna has spent 15+ years as a Research Analyst and Investment Banker covering the Consumer space. As an Analyst at J.P. Morgan, Anna was a member of the # 1 I.I. ranked Equity Research team covering the Specialty Retail sector; during her tenure at Oppenheimer, she was recognized as a top Analyst by both client votes and sales force and trading. Most recently at B Riley FBR, Anna was a Senior Consumer Investment Banker with coverage across Retail, Apparel, Consumer Products and Services, Food & Beverage, Beauty, and Footwear industries. Anna is passionate about the Consumer space and has consulted both public and private early stage consumer/technology companies. Anna received her MBA from the Stern School of Business and also attended College of Charleston and Moscow University of Foreign Affairs.

Serge Belanger joined Needham & Company in 2009, where he covers the Biotechnology sector. 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 was part of 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.

Gil Blum, Ph.D., joined Needham & Company’s Biotech research team in August 2017. Gil joined Needham from Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft, New York oldest law firm where he was a Scientific Advisor in intellectual property law and prosecution. Prior to Cadwalader, Gil held a postdoctoral fellowship at the Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, developing early drug candidates. Gil holds a Doctoral degree in Chemical Biology from Cornell University and a B.Sc. in Chemistry from Tel-Aviv 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.

Mike Cikos joined Needham & Company, LLC in 2019 and covers the Infrastructure & Analytics and Security Technology sectors. He has more than 10 years of equity research experience covering software, including 5 years on the buy-side. Before joining Needham, he was an equity analyst at Systematic Financial Management and equity research associate at RS Investments. His prior sell-side experience includes roles as senior equity analyst at Macquarie and equity research analyst at Sidoti. Mike is a CFA charterholder, and holds a B.B.A. in Finance from the University of Notre Dame.

Ami Fadia joined Needham and Company in May 2021 covering Biotechnology with a focus on targeted oncology and neuroscience. Prior to joining Needham, Ami spent four years as a Managing Director and Senior Analyst at SVB Leerink and previous to that spent six years at UBS where she most recently held the position of Senior Analyst. Ami also spent time working in industry as Head of Strategy & Operations at Sandoz where she was responsible for building a high performing team responsible for strategic planning, sales force strategy, training, project management, budgeting, and business development. Ami began her career in consulting working at KPMG and then McKinsey & Company in their healthcare practice. Ami holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, her Bachelor’s of Commerce from the Shri Ram College, Delhi University and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

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 Koontz joined Needham & Company in 2021, covering the cloud communications and broadband sectors. Prior to joining Needham, Ryan covered the cloud communications and networking equity sectors at Rosenblatt Securities for 3 years and previously founded two independent research businesses at Woodside Capital and Inflection Point Research. Prior to equity research, Ryan held key management positions at Advanced Fibre Communications, Ericsson, and AT&T. Ryan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering as well an M.B.A. and M.S. in Engineering Management from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.

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.

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.

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 BA from Stanford, her MBA from Harvard Business School, and she holds a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) as well as a Chartered Market Technician (CMT) designation. Since 2009, Martin has been the senior entertainment and internet analyst at Needham & Company, where she publishes research on the largest internet and media stocks in the US. Prior to Needham, Martin was the senior media analyst at Soleil Securities, where she was nationally ranked by Institutional Investor magazine as “Best of the Independent Research Boutiques” for many years, and at Credit Suisse First Boston, where she was nationally ranked by Institutional Investor in 1999, 2000, and 2001 as one of the top cable and entertainment analysts in the US.

Mike Matson joined Needham & Company in 2013 covering medical technologies. 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).

Matt McGinley joined Needham & Company in 2019, where he covers the consumer health & wellness and cannabis industries. He previously worked at Evercore ISI and Morgan Stanley covering consumer stocks where he was primarily focused on restaurants and retail. Prior to business school, he worked in brand management at Kraft Foods in the beverage category, and was an Infantry Officer in the U.S. Army before leaving the military in 2004 at the rank of Captain. He holds an M.B.A. from New York University and graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pittsburgh.

Bernie joined Needham & Company in 2021 as a Senior Research Analyst based in NYC covering the Internet & Consumer Technology sector. Bernie has 11 years of equity research experience on the sell and buyside. Most recently Bernie was a Senior Analyst at Rosenblatt Securities, prior to that he worked as an analyst at PineView Asset Management a TMT Hedge Fund in CT, and before that he worked in equity research at Morgan Stanley covering the TMT space.

Kyle Peterson joined Needham & Company in 2018 covering the financial technology sector and currently focuses on the financial data and information space. Previously, Kyle was an equity research associate at FBR Capital Markets covering regional banks and online lenders. Prior to FBR, he served as an analyst for The McLean Group, a boutique investment bank focusing on the government services industry. Kyle is a CFA Charterholder and a licensed CPA in Virginia. He holds a BA in Economics and a BS in Accounting from the University of Richmond.

Chris Pierce joined Needham & Company, LLC in 2020 as a research analyst covering Internet Services, transitioning from an equity trading background. He also covers Transportation Technology. Most recently, he spent four years Balyasny Asset Management trading TMT & HC out of their San Francisco office. Prior to that he spent 10 years as a trader at Ascend Capital LLC. He received his B.B.A. in Marketing from UMASS-Amherst in 1997, and an M.B.A from Pepperdine University in 1999.

Joshua Reilly joined Needham & Company in August 2018. He covers SaaS, application software and GovTech industries. Joshua joined Needham from Canaccord Genuity, where he was a research associate covering IoT, mobile devices and semiconductor industries. Prior to Canaccord, he was a research associate at Northland Securities, covering enterprise software. Joshua began his career at Okabena Investment Management. Joshua holds a B.B.S in Finance and Accounting from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota cum laude. In addition, Joshua was an undergraduate member of the Carlson Funds Enterprise. Joshua is a CFA charterholder.

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.

David Saxon joined Needham & Company in 2017 covering medical technologies. Prior to joining Needham, David worked in asset management at firms including Merrill Lynch and Baker Avenue Asset Management. David holds an MBA from Boston University’s Questrom School of Business and a BA in Economics from Boston University. David is a CFA charterholder.

Charles Shi joined Needham & Company in 2019. He became a research analyst in 2021 covering Semiconductors and Semicap Equipment. Prior to Needham, Charles spent six years at Applied Materials, where he started as a global product manager in the metal deposition products division, and later became a business development manager covering the division’s foundry accounts. Charles received a PhD in materials science and engineering and an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley, and a bachelor’s degree from Tsinghua University.

Joseph Stringer joined Needham & Company in 2017, where he covers biotechnology companies. Prior to Needham, Joseph worked as a research scientist at Ra Pharmaceuticals. He conducted postdoctoral work at Yale University, earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, and received a B.S. in Chemistry from Southern Illinois University – Carbondale.

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.

John Todaro joined Needham & Company in 2021 to cover the Crypto asset and Blockchain sector. John joined Needham from TradeBlock, a crypto asset research, indexes, and analytics provider, where he was the Director of Research & Markets managing a team that conducted, analyzed, and distributed blockchain and crypto asset research. Prior to TradeBlock, he co-founded a crypto asset management fund. He has been active in the crypto and blockchain community since 2014 and has been quoted in various major media publications including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Reuters, CNBC, CoinDesk and others discussing his insights on the space. John began his career at Citigroup where he spent time on the Equity Sales and Residential Mortgage Securities Trading desks. John holds a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.

Andrew Malik was named Chairman of Needham & Company in 2008. Prior to Needham, he spent 21 years at Lehman Brothers, where he was a partner and subsequently managing director. During his time at Lehman, Mr. Malik’s duties included serving as head of Technology Capital Markets and head of the Banking Development Group. Prior to Lehman Brothers, he ran Capital Markets and Institutional Sales for C.E. Unterberg, Towbin (which became L.F. Rothschild, Unterberg, Towbin) from 1971 to 1987. Earlier in his career, Mr. Malik was a security analyst with Josephthal & Co. and a partner in charge of Institutional Sales with Muriel Siebert & Co. A well respected Wall Street veteran, he has worked on more than one thousand equity, debt, and M&A transactions. In addition, he has served on the Board of Directors of several technology companies and venture firms, including a number of years as chairman of the Audit Committee of Hummingbird, Inc. Mr. Malik also lectures extensively on college campuses on a variety of topics related to corporate finance.

David Laufer joined Needham & Company in 2019 as Head of Institutional Equity Trading. He leads the firm’s trading unit where he is responsible for high and low touch execution services, firm capital facilitation, sector desk content and equity capital markets deal stabilization efforts. David has over 20 years of Institutional Trading experience, having spent 8 years as a Managing Director at Oppenheimer and Co, where he headed up the Technology and Industrial Sector trading. Prior to Oppenheimer, he spent several years at BMO Capital Markets as a position trader in the Technology and Industrials verticals. David earned his undergraduate degree in Economics from Denison University.

Kevin McGrath joined Needham & Company in 2019. He leads Needham and Company’s corporate and venture services unit, responsible for delivering Needham’s capabilities to the firm’s corporate and venture clients. Kevin has 25 years of public and private capital markets experience, most recently at JPMorgan, where he led the directed share plan team and sales for corporate sponsored 10b5-1 sales. Kevin also worked at Merrill Lynch, Smith Barney and Banc of America Securities in similar roles as a financial advisor focused on corporate services. Kevin earned his undergraduate degree from Southern Connecticut University State University.