About Us

Our Mission

We help people save for retirement.

Saving for retirement in today’s economy is hard. Gone are the days of the corporate pension earned after a lifetime of work. Now we’re on our own to figure out how much to save, what to invest in, and what accounts to use.

Some of us are lucky to get help from employers through 401(k) plans. Unfortunately this help lasts only as long as our tenure – and then we’re onto the next account, or on our own again.

The result is that many Americans do the wrong thing with their old 401(k)s. Many cash them out, paying taxes and penalties. Others leave their money in an old 401(k) where fees are high and the investments aren’t right for them. Some even forget about their money completely.

We started Capitalize to help tackle this growing problem. Call us crazy, but we think dealing with your retirement accounts should be easy. That’s why we’re here.

Our Commitment

Transparent and committed to you.

We're free for users

We’re completely free for people doing a rollover. We’ve been there ourselves and know how annoying it can be. We built Capitalize to help people simplify their retirement accounts so they can get back to doing what they love.

We win if you win

There are times when we might get paid a referral fee from an IRA partner (e.g. if you sign up for an account through us). This helps us keep the service free for users.

We work for you

We never let these arrangements get in the way of you finding the right option. We showcase providers who pay us fees and others who don’t. Our job is to help you find the best option. That’s our commitment.

Our Team

We're focused on fixing finance.

Gaurav Sharma

Co-Founder & CEO

Gaurav leads our mission to help people save for retirement. Before founding Capitalize, he worked for some of the best-known financial institutions, including JP Morgan, UBS, Morgan Stanley, and as an investor at well-known hedge fund Greenlight Capital. After seeing how hard it is for most people to understand their retirement accounts, he decided to build a company that makes it easier. An Australian by birth, Gaurav lives in New York with his wife and their adopted puppy, Lorenzo.

Chris Phillips

Co-Founder & CTO

Chris drives our technology team to build financial services that are easy-to-use and scalable. Prior to Capitalize, Chris served as CTO for several large technology companies, including a long career at publicly-listed IAC (NYSE: IAC) where he was CTO of the Applications division. He was inspired to help build a better way to manage retirement accounts after helping his own parents deal with their finances. Chris lives in New York with his wife, two kids, and many computers.

Alissa Cappello

Customer Service & Operations Manager

Alissa works with our customers to make the rollover process easy. Before Capitalize, Alissa led teams in the Service and Operations divisions of the Vanguard Group and Edward Jones & Co. Alissa is a Philly native and in her free time likes to chow down on cheesesteaks and hang out with her two dogs, Ace and Birdie.

Emily Lounsbury

Lead Product Designer

Emily designs user flows and product features for Capitalize. Before Capitalize, she was the lead product designer at Even Financial where she also led growth efforts across key verticals. A Florida native, Emily loves playing volleyball, watching comedy, and doing just about anything with her dog.

Barry Liang

Head of Strategy & Operations

Barry leads the strategy and operations team, spearheading business development, go-to-market, and product expansion initiatives. Prior to Capitalize, he spent 5 years at Two Sigma expanding the company’s capabilities into the insurance industry and enterprise software. Previously, Barry also worked as a VC, founder of a hospitality software company, and a management consultant. Ask him about the trials and tribulations as a Knicks fan, his latest travels and join him for a run on Strava.

Abdullah Soliman

Senior Software Engineer

Abdullah ensures everything on our platform is running smoothly. Prior to Capitalize, Abdullah worked in the engineering divisions of several well-known organizations including WeWork, Ipreo, and Thomson Reuters. Abdullah lives in New Jersey with his wife, three kids, and spends his weekends watching absolutely any sport on TV.

Aditi Bhatia

Chief of Staff

Aditi wears many hats at Capitalize, tackling projects across strategy, biz ops, finance, and recruiting. She was previously one of the first employees at Otis, a platform for fractionalized investments in art and collectibles, where she set up the investment strategy and led expansion into new categories. Aditi lives in New York and in her free time likes to go to museums and experiment with new recipes.

Brianna LaCanfora

Customer Relations Specialist

Brianna helps clients take control of their retirement savings by assisting them in the rollover process. Before Capitalize, Brianna worked in the Client Service division of the Vanguard Group. A SoCal native currently residing in Arizona, she’s a fan of West Coast weather and enjoys the outdoors with her spouse and trifecta of dogs: Ghost, Coco, and Motley Crue.

Ernst Ducena

Customer Service & Operations Senior Associate

Ernst helps clients organize their retirement savings by helping them through the rollover process. Before Capitalize, Ernst was a Financial Advisor Associate at Janney Montgomery Scott and previously worked at JP Morgan. A Brooklyn native, Ernst is a diehard (and forever hopeful) Knicks fan and enjoys spending time with his wife and precocious daughter.

Mike Mumma

Strategy & Operations Associate

Mike helps drive a variety of initiatives across the strategy and operations space. Prior to joining Capitalize, Mike was a consultant at Boston Consulting Group (BCG), where he helped clients address their long and short term strategic priorities. Mike lives in New York where he enjoys watching Yankees games and planning last minute weekend trips.

Ben Warburton

Senior Software Engineer

Ben brings years of customer facing fintech experience and most recently was at a leading no-code startup. Ben lives in NJ with his wife and daughter, and you can usually find him yoyoing or renovating his Victorian home.

Kelsey Hand

Growth Marketing Manager

Kelsey grows, builds, and scales customer-first marketing initiatives. Prior to Capitalize, she worked at leading startups like Maven Clinic, Dandelion Energy, and SoFi. She currently lives, works, and (most importantly) eats in Brooklyn, where she lives with her husband and majestic cat. Ask her for horror movie recommendations or where to find the best chicken fingers.

Will Folsom

Senior Software Engineer

Will is a full stack engineer with plenty of experience wearing multiple hats at startups. Motivated by anything related to financial technology, Will comes from a digital payments company, and previously worked at an online lender. He has mentored new coders throughout his career, and spends his free time biking through Atlanta and raising his puppy, Wylie.

Jackie Barrett

VP, New Initiatives

Jackie joins Capitalize after nearly 5 years at SoFi, where she served as Business Lead for SoFi at Work, SoFi’s enterprise solution, and previously managed its business development team. Prior to joining SoFi in 2016, she managed corporate relations for IIE, a 501(c) organization, and spent several years as a member of the Client and Partner Group at KKR, where she supported institutional fundraises across asset classes. When she’s not at work, you can usually find Jackie with her English bulldog Ruby or hiking with her husband (or both!).

Jason Simon

Head of Product

Jason leads the Product team at Capitalize where he and his team obsess over improving the way people save and invest for retirement! Prior to joining Capitalize, Jason served as Vice President of Product at LendingTree, where he built and oversaw the rapid growth of the financial wellness platform My LendingTree to almost 19 million members. Before LendingTree, Jason served as the Vice President of Product at data intelligence firm, Q-Sensei, and previously held roles at Red Ventures. Jason lives in Charlotte with his family and his doberman, Dante.

Bhavesh Shah

Head of Marketing

Bhavesh leads marketing at Capitalize. His team's mission is to help an ever increasing number of people discover and benefit from our services and put their old 401ks to work. Bhavesh comes to Capitalize with a track record in driving step growth, scaling marketing capabilities and building world class teams at Charles Schwab, Kaiser Permanente and Capital One. As a Bay Area resident, Bhavesh is always up for a good hike, good food and good wine - in any order! Weekends usually involve youth sport or travel with his wife, 2 kids and their Shih Tzu, Kiwi.

Lauren Pey

Senior Product Manager

Lauren joins the Capitalize product team after completing her MBA at Wharton. Prior to Wharton, Lauren worked in product at E*TRADE and in fintech product consulting. Originally from the Bay Area, Lauren now lives in New York, where she enjoys spending her time trying as many fitness classes and restaurants as she can.

Cormick Barnes

Strategy & Operations Lead

Cormick drives a number of strategic initiatives, with a particular focus on creating operational efficiencies within and across functions. Prior to Capitalize, he spent 4.5 years helping to build out SoFi's enterprise business, specializing in creating durable and scalable processes. Outside of work, Cormick is an avid music collector and has more than 1,100 vinyl records.

Stang Gappa

Director of Growth Marketing

Stang applies both traditional and contemporary growth tactics to drive customer acquisition, engagement, and retention. He has experience ranging from seed-round startups to Fortune 500 companies, and enjoys getting to work cross-functionally to drive business growth. Stang lives in Colorado with his wife and two dogs, Cohen and Pancake, and enjoys camping and playing guitar.

Daniel Murphy

Senior Software Engineer

Daniel is a full stack engineer that has experience working with a broad array of programming languages, though recently has been focused more on front end web development using React. Daniel has previously worked at a mix of startup companies and government contractors over the course of his career. A Maryland native and now Texas resident, Daniel enjoys anything outdoors, as well as anything that involves standing on a board (especially surfing and snowboarding).

Julia Reese

Customer Service & Operations Senior Associate

Julia helps clients consolidate their retirement savings by assisting them in the rollover process. Before Capitalize, Julia worked in the Client Service and Client Onboarding division of The Vanguard Group. An Arizona native, she loves spending time with her husband and dogs in the National Forests, and working on their cabin.

Jeff Van Demark

Software Engineer

Jeff is a full stack engineer who has experience working with cloud architecture and web systems. He previously worked at Vanguard as a software engineer primarily addressing cross cutting concerns affecting Vanguards digital advice initiative. When not at his desk, you can usually find him on a golf course.

Kim McLaughlin

Customer Service & Operations Senior Associate

Kim joins the Customer Service and Operations team at Capitalize after spending more than a decade working in Financial Services and Wealth Management. Focused on client success and facilitating rollovers, she ensures the process is seamless while emphasizing the importance of saving for retirement. Originally from the suburbs of Chicago, Kim now lives in South Carolina with her husband and son where she loves spending time with family, traveling and attending concerts.

Allan Oloo

Software Engineer

Allan is a full stack engineer who brings experience working with web technologies in various sectors. He previously worked for an intelligence startup, Bluestone Analytics, and was part of a team that focused on supporting law enforcement communities. Outside of work, he enjoys reading personal growth books, spending time with family, and building web apps using the latest technologies.

Eric Knott

Customer Service & Operations Associate

Eric loves guiding clients through the rollover process. Before joining Capitalize, Eric was a Financial Advisor at Edward Jones, and his passion for helping people and maximizing customer experiences was instilled in him at a young age, and enhanced during a long career in the restaurant industry. Eric was born in Kansas City, and has lived there his entire life. He’s a diehard Kansas City sports fan, and enjoys spending time with his family and friends and trying to keep his two dogs under control!

Amanda Ferrarotto

Director of Partnerships

Amanda joins the team with over a decade of industry experience to build out Capitalize's partnerships function. Amanda comes from Morgan Stanley, where she focused on product strategy and client management in their workplace-wealth division. She has previously held roles at Vestwell, Goldman Sachs and Skadden Arps, where she worked in various capacities across retirement and wealth management. A tried and true Brooklynite with a chronic travel bug, when Amanda is not planning her next trip she's fostering dogs or spending time with her family, friends and senior kitty Lionel.