Doug Lowenstein's Email Addresses & Phone Numbers

FinTech Advisor @ Northeastern University Leading the development of a cohesive Northeastern University FinTech program for both students and professionals. Boston, Massachusetts, United StatesFounder and Managing Director @ Lowenstein Advisory, LLC/Independent Consulting • Delivered independent strategy consulting projects directly for CEOs at venture backed startups.• Advisor to MentorWorks, a Boston based startup that manages income share agreement...

FinTech Advisor @ Northeastern University Leading the development of a cohesive Northeastern University FinTech program for both students and professionals. Boston, Massachusetts, United StatesFounder and Managing Director @ Lowenstein Advisory, LLC/Independent Consulting • Delivered independent strategy consulting projects directly for CEOs at venture backed startups.• Advisor to MentorWorks, a Boston based startup that manages income share agreement programs, as an alternative to student loans, along with a mentor program to assist participants in their career development. (2019 - present)• Advisor to Head of Consumer and Small Business Lending at a Massachusetts-based $4BB community bank (2019).• Partnered with CEO of new startup to develop business model and go to market strategy for Gradifi. (2014).• Drafted strategy presentation to raise financing for customer care mobile app startup (2014).• As part of High Start Group, led high impact strategic business development consulting initiatives for the US Cards business of Santander Bank. (2014)• Advised SimpleTuition in developing its strategy to expand beyond its student loan marketplace business (2009).• Evaluated new market expansion opportunities for Copanion (now Drake Software), an intelligent data scanning technology solution with applications in the tax preparation market (2009). Boston, MAChief Operating Officer (2015 - 2018), Advisor (2014, 2018-2019) @ Gradifi, Inc. • Employee #2 and COO at Gradifi, the leading education finance employee benefits platform that enables employers to offer student loan paydown contributions, 529 plan contributions, and a student loan refinance marketplace to their employees. Gradifi was acquired by First Republic Bank in 2016 and later sold to E*Trade in 2019.• Thought leader in the development and execution of the company’s business model and operating processes from inception. • Led acquisition of SmarterBucks platform and intellectual property in 2015, previously developed under my leadership at SimpleTuition, enabling Gradifi to accelerate its time to market.• Created and led initial sales and relationship development with employer prospects and clients ranging from Fortune 100 companies to start-ups. Delivered all product demos over company’s first year in market. Negotiated and signed employer agreements with hundreds of employers. • Managed all company operations including client onboarding, customer service, payment processing, and regulatory and legal compliance.• Led business development and negotiated and signed strategic partnerships with four student loan refinance partners, as well as American Student Assistance (ASA) for student loan counseling. • Established direct collaborative relationships with most major student loan servicers.• Managed Gradifi’s RFP response processes for dozens of top tier employers.• Served as Gradifi’s subject matter expert on the student loan and student loan refinance markets and trained employees across the company. • Monitored all competitor and market activity to inform high impact strategic decisions and investments.• Partnered with CFO on product modeling, company forecast creation and budget development.• Sourced Gradifi’s largest angel investor.• Assisted in establishing office setup in Boston and led expansion of office space as company grew. From February 2015 to December 2019 (4 years 11 months) Greater Boston AreaSenior Vice President, Strategy @ Capital One • Built and served as senior leader and COO of in-house Strategy team chartered to drive strategic thinking and decision making on the highest impact issues facing Capital One reporting directly to the CEO and Chairman.• Led wide variety of high impact strategy and corporate development initiatives working directly with members of Capital One’s Executive Committee on issues at the enterprise, line-of-business, and functional levels.• Managed day to day administration of Strategy team in COO role. Held responsibility for leadership of recruiting, staffing, professional development, budget management, human resource issues, space management, risk management, regulatory requirements, and team events.• Led day to day strategy team that redefined direction of Capital One leading to its transformational moves into retail banking.• Served as head of Strategy and member of senior leadership team for Global Financial Services (GFS) division from 2004 – 2007. GFS was a portfolio of smaller diversified business lines including Small Business, National Direct Deposits, Installment Loans, Point of Sale Finance, Home Equity, and international business lines. • Managed many engagements with top-tier external strategy consulting firms.• Led exploration of potential entry into new financial services markets for Capital One including student lending, alternative payments, investments, insurance, and further international expansion.• Led strategy for corporate acquisitions and/or investments in the banking, auto finance, and home equity industries. • Developed substantial venture capital experience by working directly with North Hill Ventures, Capital One’s captive venture fund with $175MM in assets under management. Experience including leading investment transactions and sitting on Board of companies. From February 1998 to June 2009 (11 years 5 months) Boston MACase Team Director/Consultant @ Corporate Decisions (today Oliver Wyman) • Developed growth strategies via rigorous analysis including industry structure, competitor and customer research, financial analysis, and deep client interaction.• Managed all aspects of multiple projects over 18 months for leading Mutual Fund Company with over $60BB in assets under management.• Completed projects in variety of industries including cable television infrastructure, speech recognition software, chemical distribution, digital tape storage device, and software distribution. From September 1995 to February 1998 (2 years 6 months) BostonAnalyst @ Advent International • Sole analyst in four-person team advising venture-backed companies in strategic corporate partnering, minority investment, and joint venture transactions.• Gained experience in all aspects of transactions with primary responsibility of researching and authoring deal memoranda highlighting the strategic, market, product, and financial strengths of over a dozen high-tech clients. From September 1990 to June 1993 (2 years 10 months) BostonHigh School Tennis Coach @ Walpole High School - Assistant High School Tennis Coach for both Boys and Girls Varsity and JV Teams- 2019 Massachusetts Boys Division 2 South Sectional Champions and State Finalist EVP, Banking and Rewards @ SimpleTuition • SimpleTuition was a venture backed online startup that is a leading resource for students and their families to save on the costs of college via three main business lines: a student loan marketplace later sold to Lending Tree; a textbook marketplace later sold to Follett, and the SmarterBucks rewards program later sold to Gradifi.• Built business case from inception leading to Board approval and creation of the SmarterBucks and SmarterBank line of business. • Launched SmarterBucks rewards program in April 2012. SmarterBucks allowed members to earn rewards that were automatically redeemed via payments on any student loan. Rewards could be earned a variety of ways including the SmarterBank checking account featuring the SmarterBank Visa Debit Card that allowed users to earn rewards on every day spending, merchant funded rewards via an online marketplace with hundreds of merchants, completing surveys, and monthly giveaways.• Led all aspects of business including recruiting team, development of proprietary rewards platform, marketing, operations, business development, finance, compliance, product development, business analytics, public relations, etc.• Negotiated and completed complex partnerships with bank partner, card issuer, software development partner, online marketplace partner, and panel survey partner.• Brought FDIC insured SmarterBank online checking product to market including the SmarterBank Visa® Debit Card in partnership with Bancorp Bank. Led all aspects of bank product management.• Rapidly grew SmarterBucks membership base, approved bank account portfolio, and program engagement metrics with limited budget. • Provided strategic leadership and insight on range of other issues facing company, especially in core student lending business line. From April 2010 to October 2013 (3 years 7 months)